In responding to the question about OTA channels and Antenna (Houston: sale, homes)

[NTT]

Originally Posted by elnina

Even off air - don't you need an outside antenna?

Yes, we do but we wouldn't have monthly bill. It is the same as in the time of prior to cable networks. Except that now it's digital signals and we get more channels over the air (OTA).

I got this antenna (below) on sale for $64 at Fry's awhile back. Even with its regular price, it sells quickly.
FRYS.com*|*PCT

Currently, it is sitting on the floor in my living room, hooked up to the HDTV. Yet, it's picking up 61 channels as is! The HD channels are very clear, better than channels from cables and dish networks. It's because OTA channels come in uncompressed.

I'm waiting for my brother to come over and help me to put the antenna up in the attic. Sigh... I'm still waiting .

[elnina]

Wow!!! I am going to check on that!!!!
Thank you

"Also, if you'd like to pull in signals from different areas, consider a rotor to aim your antenna in the right direction."
Are you going to go up and down to adjust the picture??? Maybe living room is a better place for it?

[NTT]

If you're getting that same antenna that I have, you don't need a rotor. I believe it's a multi-directional antenna. I haven't had the need to rotate it so far, and I live almost 35 miles from the Antenna Farm.

What you'd need to remember when installing it is to point the antenna toward the Antenna Farm down in Missouri City (South of Stafford). Here's a map of where it is: Missouri City "Antenna Farm"

Next, what you'd need to know is, if you're installing the antenna on the roof, you'd need to ground it. There's a Ground post on our residential homes. You'd need to find where it is located on your roof and mount the antenna near it for easy ground connection. I'm bypassing all this by trying to place the antenna in the attic. That is if my brother ever get the time to help me with it. My attic does not have any radiant barrier or anything that will block its signals.

If you have an HDTV, most likely the digital tuner is built in. If you have one of those old analog TV, you'd need to have a digital converter box. The antenna cable is hooked up into the box and another cable is hooked up from the box to the old TV.

[wheretogo]

My $10 antenna from Walmart feeds about the same number of OTA channels to my LG TV. I just placed it behind my TV and the ears are just above the height of TV.

Channels are crisp are clear. For example, watch COPA America Soccer on Channel 45.

Originally Posted by NTT

Yes, we do but we wouldn't have monthly bill. It is the same as in the time of prior to cable networks. Except that now it's digital signals and we get more channels over the air (OTA).

I got this antenna (below) on sale for $64 at Fry's awhile back. Even with its regular price, it sells quickly.
FRYS.com*|*PCT

Currently, it is sitting on the floor in my living room, hooked up to the HDTV. Yet, it's picking up 61 channels as is! The HD channels are very clear, better than channels from cables and dish networks. It's because OTA channels come in uncompressed.

I'm waiting for my brother to come over and help me to put the antenna up in the attic. Sigh... I'm still waiting .

[NTT]

Originally Posted by wheretogo

My $10 antenna from Walmart feeds about the same number of OTA channels to my LG TV. I just placed it behind my TV and the ears are just above the height of TV.

Channels are crisp are clear. For example, watch COPA America Soccer on Channel 45.

Yes, I have those too but a roof type antenna does it much better and will work for all the TVs in my home. I have 2 rabbit ears and 2 of those amplified digital antennas. All did not compared to the Channel Master 4228HD. It's not the clarity of the picture but how strong the signal is picking up and how many channels it's picking.

[Dopo]

No need for fancy antennas.
One of my TVs is using a metal hanger and it picks up all the channels just fine.

One thing that helped me when I lived in San Antonio was an amplifier that came with an antenna that bought.
The antenna didn't do much (ended up not using it) but the amplifier allowed me to get more channels.

BTW,
channel 39-3 is Universal Sports and they show a lot of rugby (for the rugby fans)

[NTT]

Originally Posted by Dopo

No need for fancy antennas.
One of my TVs is using a metal hanger and it picks up all the channels just fine.

One thing that helped me when I lived in San Antonio was an amplifier that came with an antenna that bought.
The antenna didn't do much (ended up not using it) but the amplifier allowed me to get more channels.

BTW,
channel 39-3 is Universal Sports and they show a lot of rugby (for the rugby fans)

How many channels are picking up with your metal hanger? Do you need to rotate it when you're changing channels? How far do you live from the Missouri City Antenna Farm?

All these questions need to be taken into consideration in making the decisions when obtaining an antenna. What you have may works great for you but may not to someone else.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by NTT

All these questions need to be taken into consideration in making the decisions when obtaining an antenna. What you have may works great for you but may not to someone else.

You don't have to go to the mall to buy a metal hanger,
the point is that anybody can grab a metal hanger hang it on the wall and see how many channels they can get, saving them a trip to the store and 50-80 dollars.

I did that in San Antonio, and I lived in Cibolo and the antennae farm is in Elmerdorf (25 miles away) and I could get all the channels except for one.
Actually, I wasn't using a hanger, I was using a 14 gauge metal wire that I used to make an antenna

[sheikh.yerbouti]

TV Fool and AntennaWeb both have tools to show which direction to point your antenna to get the most channels. It also lets you know what type of antenna will work best given its location and elevation above ground level. Outdoor antennas will work best, but if you're close enough to the Missouri City antenna farm, they may not be necessary.

And if you're really into geek projects, just search for "coat hanger antenna" on Youtube.

[NTT]

Originally Posted by sheikh.yerbouti

TV Fool and AntennaWeb both have tools to show which direction to point your antenna to get the most channels. It also lets you know what type of antenna will work best given its location and elevation above ground level. Outdoor antennas will work best, but if you're close enough to the Missouri City antenna farm, they may not be necessary.

And if you're really into geek projects, just search for "coat hanger antenna" on Youtube.

In other words, when it comes to antennas, we're pretty much going back to the old time prior to cable era.

At beginning of the year, Antenna TV (39.2) channel was borned. I was hooked to it. Didn't realized that at the same time, another Chicago channel, MeTV (57.5), became available nationally. These 2 channels are available OTA, and they keep this lil' retired lady entertain all day long . They have the old time sitcoms, dramas and classical movies. Remember shows like Quincy ME, Bonanza, Sanford and Sons, I Love Lucy, George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Gidget, The Flying Nun, Denise the Menace, Father Knows Best, Hawaii 5O, Here Comes the Brides, and Gunsmoke? Those were good family programs and still are IMHO. I'm so glad that these channels are bringing these great shows back!

I know that Antenna TV was available on Comcast and not through sattelite networks at the beginning. I'm not sure about now. I'm wondering if MeTV is available through cables and satellite networks or not. If not, some folks out there are sure missing something here.

If one is a sport freak, paying for cable and satellite networks makes sense. If not, there are so many OTA channels now in Houston that paying extra to watch TV sure does not make much sense. Now, if you have the money, sure, enjoy it. If money is tight, OTA channels deliver good entertainment and will save you at least $500 a year!