Cut the cord, setup free to air TV, with an HDTV Antenna, let me show you how!
I still remember the days when I had to adjust the rabbit ears on the tv to watch my favorite shows, sometimes I had to stand there and hold the antenna just to get a good picture, you would think those days are long gone, with cable tv, the Internet, and IPTV, but in reality it is still here and I don’t believe it is ever going away.
Of course, it isn’t exactly what it use to be, TV’s are now digital, as well as the picture and TV signal. Also known as FTA, or “Free to Air” is the ability to capture free wireless TV signals over the air, this could be through the aid of an antenna or satellite dish, in this case, we will look at the antenna technology and how to set up one of your own.
Check out Amazon for some nice deals on antennas, there are many shapes and sizes, If you do live in a House the antenna you see below is ideal, but if you are in a condo there are antennas you can stick on the window and even the rabbit ears, make sure to read the reviews for some more incite.
Antennas nowadays are getting more affordable as many cable customers are cutting the cord and looking for alternate methods of watching local TV, now in my case I installed an antenna in my attic, my house is newer and had running cable from the basement to the attic and then split it from there to all the rooms (I would recommend doing this way) I was able to acquire 25 channels most in 1080i (great quality for a free feed!) now this number will depend on multiple things.
- Where you live
- How high up your house is located, in terms of elevation
- How you install your antenna
- The type of antenna
What I did to amplify the signal my antenna picks up, I used a 50 to 900 MGhz signal amplifier this helped me go from 11 channels to 25, my antenna didn’t come with one but now I see most will come with an amp unit designed for it.
before installing your antenna head on over to tvfool.com, this is a great tool! punch in your local address, and you get a list of TV stations all around you, just imagine your house in the middle of the circle it’s up to you to pick the stations you would like, by pointing your antenna in that direction.
After you have chosen the TV stations of your liking it’s time to do the install, I recommend putting it in a spot where it will point in the right direction according to tv fool and there are no obstructions like buildings and houses, another tip is to use a compass, if you have an iPhone this comes standard, just point according to the azimuth on tvfool.com.
Once installed run the cable to the back of your TV, keep in mind that in the US on June 12, 2009, and in Canada August 31st, 20011, over the air signal has gone digital so this means if you have an older TV set this will require a converter box which converts the digital signal to an analog signal that the TV understands, and some even work as a PVR, if you have a flat-screen HDTV you should be good to go.
After connecting the antenna to the TV go into your antenna settings and do a channel scan, I would recommend scanning at different times of the day as there are stations that will only be available at certain times, as well as depending on the weather this can affect the signal strength, so feel free to scan as often as you would like.
If you are happy with your new local channels, you can even split the signal to all the TV’s in your house through a cable splitter, and now with the advancement in technology, there are some nice solutions that will split the signal from the antenna to all your network devices through the aid of a digital box which means you can record your favourite tv shows and access your content from virtually anywhere, check out the HD Home Run.
I hope this has been informative for you and that you set up an antenna in your home, join the thousands that have cut the cord in search for other alternatives, if you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below.
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