Over the air TV antenna question

LVSteve

LVSteve

Member
Joined
Feb 21, 2005
Messages
23,072
Reaction score
34,993
Location
Lost Wages, NV
Seems our local CBS affiliate has got into a big fight with the local cable company. Short version, the CBS affiliate may not be available on the cable network after 29 January.

Cox customers could miss Super Bowl if dispute with KLAS-TV continues | Las Vegas Review-Journal

As corporate entities I believe that both blow chunks, so I'm not going to try and decide who has the better case.

Anyway, many of us may be forced to watch CBS over the air (OTA), but of course I, and many others, don't have external antennas. Been rooting around for an indoor antenna like the old VHF/UHF rabbit ears but all I keep finding are what look like loop antennas with broadband amplifiers attached. Many carry the "HD Antenna" moniker which I know is bovine excrement.

Have any of you here used these active antennas with success? I'm concerned about the amp getting blasted by the sheer amount of RF in the Vegas valley, what with four airfields, a slew of TV channels and a VHF radio spectrum that is extremely crowded. It's not that the amp will burn out, I'm concerned that the intermodulation effects may make the thing useless.
 
Register to hide this ad
I don't understand a bit of the last paragraph, but I do have an indoor antenna that gets me local channels. I don't do cable.

Mine works. It suffers when there is bad weather anywhere between me and the broadcast tower, so it is not guaranteed.

(as to external interference, I live between two major airports, 15 mile radius. Never saw that as an issue)
 
Last edited:
I agree, you lost me with all the Vegas modulation stuff.
We have direct TV plus a couple of TVs on rabbit ears with the new converters or whatever they're called.
They have increased our channels from 3 to about 12, so I can't complain.
I do see adds on Direct TV occasionally about certain shows or channels that may be dropped/canceled.
I ignore all that drivel. That's their problem, not mine. It's all about how much they're getting paid to broadcast something.
Hogwash, not my problem
 
Last edited:
I bought a Mohu MH-110583 from Amazon to mess around with in case I ever decide to cut the cord. I hooked it up to my little Vizio in my den and got all kinds of local stations just fine. It's a leaf antennae with a pretty small footprint. You can hang it on a wall behind your TV.

I'm in Henderson in the shadow of Black Mt. so if I can get reception with it, anyone in Vegas should be able to. ;)

Not sure about the technical details you're concerned with, but it worked as advertised. If I decide I really want to watch the Superbowl, I may hook it back up. Who's playing again?
 
My son put one in our mtn cabin and we get a dozen or so channels .... and yes they are all in HD. Go figure.


Charlie
 
Use antennaweb.org

As you said,no such thing as an HD antenna. During the "co-broadcast" phase of NTSC to ATSC, UHF is what was mostly available so the marketers began to sell UHF antennas as HD. HOWEVER, most large markets have both VHF and UHF stations carrying ATSC signals after the transition.

And yes, over amplifying is just as bad as a weak signal.

Looks like CBS in Las Vegas is on RF channel 7 (VHF).

LVSteve said:
Seems our local CBS affiliate has got into a big fight with the local cable company. Short version, the CBS affiliate may not be available on the cable network after 29 January.

Cox customers could miss Super Bowl if dispute with KLAS-TV continues | Las Vegas Review-Journal

As corporate entities I believe that both blow chunks, so I'm not going to try and decide who has the better case.

Anyway, many of us may be forced to watch CBS over the air (OTA), but of course I, and many others, don't have external antennas. Been rooting around for an indoor antenna like the old VHF/UHF rabbit ears but all I keep finding are what look like loop antennas with broadband amplifiers attached. Many carry the "HD Antenna" moniker which I know is bovine excrement.

Have any of you here used these active antennas with success? I'm concerned about the amp getting blasted by the sheer amount of RF in the Vegas valley, what with four airfields, a slew of TV channels and a VHF radio spectrum that is extremely crowded. It's not that the amp will burn out, I'm concerned that the intermodulation effects may make the thing useless.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
LVSteve said:
I, and many others, don't have external antennas. Been rooting around for an indoor antenna like the old VHF/UHF rabbit ears
Click to expand...

Walmart has exactly that, for less than $10:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/RCA-UHF-VHF-Digital-Indoor-Antenna/20976672

k2-_ce7a86f4-819a-4be1-890c-b7169f4833ef.v1.jpg
 
I do in home warranty repair on major mfg HDTV's and sometimes when I arrive onsite, there is nothing wrong with the TV - it's with the environment or something the end user is doing wrong. Many people get a TV home and call the manufacturer because it gets no OTA channels. :) They didn't know they needed an antenna.

I can recommend the Mohu MH-110583 that Playtheaces mentioned and also the Winegard FL-55YR which is what I carry in my vehicle for people who need a amplified "rabbit ear" immediately.

There are other solutions you can try before you pay for something.... if you live within 5 miles of and have few buildings or hills between you and the transmitting towers, a small-size unfolded paperclip inserted into the center conductor hole may be all you need. Be sure it's the small (normal 1") and not the larger 2" size paper clip. Unfold it into a U-shape, with flashlight and reading glasses :D carefully insert one end into the center hole. The small paperclip wire is smaller than many center cable copper conductors but the tension will hold it in. It should slide in without force. If excessive force seems to be required, find out why - we don't want to damage the coax port.

I have also made inexpensive non-amplified antennae out of a length of coax cable. What you do is take a 4' coax cable, cut one of the ends off, and strip everything away from the center copper wire except for the first 3 inches that is attached to the cable's connector. Don't disturb this end. What you should be left with is a normal looking coaxial cable for the first 3 or 4 inches and then 3 or 4 feet of bare copper wire. As a safety measure, do something to the end so no one gets poked in the eye - tape or twist a small loop.

Don't waste you money on a non-powered antenna. They don't work any better than my makeshift coax antenna described above.

Here's a tip for coax: Before screwing the cable on to your TV's threaded jack, put a right-angle bend in the cable about 1/2" away from the coax connector. Many TV have a "shelf" below the connection panel and the coax faces down. The bend releases tension and facilitates screwing the thing on.

AND LAST - these things should be screwed on barely finger tight. I can't count the times I've seen a coax port on a mainboard destroyed by an owner who thought he was tightening a hydraulic brake line.

Also worth mentioning and most already know this but scanning of the channels is necessary. It's in the channel section of the menu and you will want to set the band on "Antenna" or "Air" and not "Cable". TV signals are directional and to point the leaf-type antenna, face the antenna toward the transmitter tower so that the radio waves hit the flat side of the antenna and not the edge. You can use this site to get a compass heading to point the antenna: AntennaPoint.com - Antenna Locator
 
Last edited:
When it comes to electronic stuff that I'm not quite sure about, I buy one at Bestbuy and see how it works. If it don't work I take it back.
 
My husband got this (Mohu Leaf) for the bedrooms, instead of renting cable boxes. It gets enough stations for that purpose, but breaks up a bit in the rain.

There's a very accurate interactive map on the internet, that takes your address and displays the available channels and their signal strengths.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Amplified-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B00HSMK59E"]Amazon.com: Mohu Leaf 50 Amplified Indoor HDTV Antenna: Electronics@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/311vlJK6soL.@@AMEPARAM@@311vlJK6soL[/ame]


Found the coverage map. It's from the FCC. Just plug in your address. It was very accurate for us.

https://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/dtvmaps/
 
Last edited:
I get a surprising number of channels with my wineguard brand antenna in my rv and have used it in many different locations. I recently purchased an antenna for my home to use as a backup to dish I'm planning to install it before summer. I have a rental house (my previous home) and have an antenna in the attic. Once set up, it has worked great.
 
Last edited:
My son doesn't have TV service to his large screen TV, using it for gaming etc.?
He also sent pictures of he and his girlfriend ice fishing, not in a ice fishing enclosure, ( MN.thing). Do what he does, Sports Bar, and enjoy the game with a lot of loud, obnoxious people drinking and eating! Otherwise tcon has it covered!!! 🙆
Ever wonder why these TV signal disputes come up just before some big TV event?
Why there outa be a law, maybe this could a plank on some 😷 politicians 😷 plank?
 
I'm using one of those amplified HD antennas. I get about 20 stations and many are high definition. Mine plugs into a wall socket, has a long cable and hangs in my window (it's a rectangular sheet about the size of a piece of paper). The weather can bother reception. There are no ghosts; it pretty much either gets the station perfectly or nothing.
 
I find no difference in digital vs regular antenna, a length of wire would likely work provided you aren't too far from the transmitter and don't have a mountain blocking your signal. If you have any signal at all rabbit ears should do just fine.
I find the quality of over the air picture to be far superior to what cable delivers.
 
I have never had cable TV or anything other than over the air. I use the same LARGE antenna in the attic of my home that has been up there for the past 25+ years. I get many HD digital channels perfectly. However, after I weed out the shopping, non-english channels etc., I have about 15 that I watch regularly. I have a DVD player that has Netflix and others that I use for the movies and such.
 
Last edited:
We're currently having a similar issue with out local FOX channel and AT&T in the Miami area. Luckily we have our old antenna still hooked up on the house, so we were able to flip over and watch the Panthers vs Cardinals game last night.
 
About 10 years we bought one in the STL area, didn't work well.

We bought one after retiring to KS. We pick up stuff that is central Kansas City or closer but any bad weather causes some channels to keep broken up into a digital camo pattern or a channel not found screen.

Yesterday I was able to watch the Bronco-Patriots game perfectly. The Cards-Panther game was nothing but digital camo. I heard I did not miss much anyway.

I am not sure of the brand, it sticks to a window with suction cups. Works well on all channels on clear days.

Most receivers have a built in Automatic Gain Control, AGC, which reduces strong signals.

HDTV is designed for specific bandwidth reception, in the same range as FM radio. Unless the airfield transmitter is in your lap I would not worry.

Back in the 70's truckers would use illegal and over powered CB's. Some of you may remember a neighbor who overpowered their CB transmitters and you would hear them while trying to talk on the phone.

The FAA set up was and probably still is, an airplane in flight uses land link towers. Sort of like Cell phones today, you get your signal from the closest tower.

The FAA had a land tower next to a major interstate in my first area. The FAA traffic, both ways, would go land line from the tower to the FAA and were transmitted to the plane.

We had many trouble reports, the FAA finally moved the tower 20 miles from the interstate.

I would be on the line with the FAA trouble shooting and a passing trucker would be talking about girl parts or his girl friends uniqueness and other x-rated topics with their yakking going on to pilots and the FAA with many, WHO IS THIS? responses, but the CB boys never heard the FAA traffic.

So unless you have a retired trucker next to your HD TV should work.

I have a little knowledge on radio frequency and have an FCC license to manage radio station transmitters as an engineer. A phone company bonus so I could be responsible for microwave stations and hang my license in them.

Today's equipment is designed to work in a specific bandwidth signal and if it varies it will not work. I'm not sure an FCC licensed engineer is even required for Microwave towers anymore.
 
You'll be okay. I've seen about ten of these fights between local networks and small regional cable systems around here over the years, and nobody ever misses a minute of the Bold and the Beautiful. Cox is a pretty good sized outfit. Besides, KLAS woudn't want you to miss out on Dave Courvoisier, who starred in Casino (the movie), and got his network news start right here in the Bootheel. It will settle . . .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
TV reception question: losing cable service!
2 3 4
Replies
62
Views
3K
kwselke
kwselke
erj_pilot
"HDTV" UHF/VHF Antenna setup
Replies
6
Views
894
RobzGuns
RobzGuns

Latest posts

Back
Top