Help me out with free TV.

[LD48750]

This might be a dumb question, but...

If I mounted an antenna on a tower outside, could I feed the coax from that antenna into the splitter that our current cable system is plugged into? In other words, could one antenna "supply" multiple TVs?

I'd love to cut the cord but my only concern is my other half. I'd still want to get something like SlingTV so I can get some of the channels that I like on cable (DIY, HGTV, etc.) but that's probably going to require more than one remote. While she's super smart about most things, for some reason figuring out which remote to use is one of those things that frustrates the crap out of her. But the prospect of saving about $60/month (cable cost less the cost of Sling TV) is something I'd like.

No

I tried it with the TV in our upstairs bedroom.
Hooked antenna to cable feed with splitter in basement & from another splitter in bedroom to cable box & TV.
It didn't work.

 

[LD48750]

I'm tired of paying for DirecTV. Cable is worse. My wife and I don't even watch much TV. Kind of nuts spending almost $100 a month for something we only use an hour or less a day.

So I want free TV. I'm not talking about stuff like Hulu or Amazon Prime. I'm talking about digital TV over an antenna. We live about 15 miles south of Charlotte, NC and about 70 miles north of Columbia, SC. So there should be towers within that range.

I wondering several things. How many channels is it possible to get? What type of 'box' do I need? What sort of antenna do I need? Will the antenna need to rotate like the old Channel Masters like we had when I was a kid? What type of cable? Coax? About how much money will it take to put all this together?

Started with this for a "test" 15MILES OUTDOOR TV ANTENNA MOTORIZED AMPLIFIED HDTV HIGH GAIN 36dB UHF VHF 68955787953 | eBay

It worked GREAT!
Had some problems after a couple years, tried new coax then this Leadzm 15Mile Rotating Outdoor Amplified HD 18P Digital TV Antenna UHF/VHF/FM 68115538249 | eBay
It works as good as the other one and I am now getting 34 {I think) channels OTA for free.

If one of those work, you can always get something more expensive just to satisfy the get what you paid for people.

Mounted outside on my deck with a 10' length of PVC pipe.
Higher side of the house mount on the "To DO" list.

 

[ray66v]

This might be a dumb question, but...

If I mounted an antenna on a tower outside, could I feed the coax from that antenna into the splitter that our current cable system is plugged into? In other words, could one antenna "supply" multiple TVs?

I have 6 tv's on my antenna.

The cable and splitters I have seen for cable tv were the same, so they may work fine. You'll have to try it.

Depending on how strong a signal you have, how many tv's, and splitters, and, how long your cable runs are, you may, or may not, need a signal amplifier.

With digital tv, you don't get a weak, ghosting, or fuzzy picture. It either works, or it doesn't.

If you try your set up, and the picture is freezes, is frozen, or pixelated, and or, works one day but not he next, on certain channels, you can usually cure that with a signal amplifier. I do not have one on my current system. Only the furthest tv has issues on one channel.

Some amplifiers have a splitter built in. The amp can go anywhere in the line, before the tv(s) having an issue, but will work best, as close to the antenna as practical. It will need AC power.

I get an incredible a HD picture, (slightly better than my Directv), with my antenna.

Also keep in mind, on most newer tv's the picture is adjusted separately for each different input. And, can look much different from one source or the other. So, when using your antenna input for the first time, you, or someone qualified, may want to do some tweaking, for the best picture.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

One antenna can definitely supply multiple TV's. Someone else will have to tell you about compatibility with the cable hardware, and SlingTV.

I believe you can supply multiple TVs, you just need an amplifier.

Antenna Amplifiers | Channel Master

Maybe you can look them up on Amazon to get reviews. Let us know if you do and what you find out.

 

[tallyho8]

I have Cox cable at home. Every 6 months I call up to cancel and they ask me why. I answer it is not worth that much to me and they reply that they will see what promotions they have and always come back with one for 6 months for about half the price. I go with that but even half the price is still too much for TV. I got the Firestick which gives me thousands of movies and programs for free over my internet but if you use it too much they charge more for the internet so it helps to have a decent antenna to get over the air tv also.

My camper trailer has a decent antenna and when we go camping we get up to 35 channels at some places and rarely are in an area where we can't pick up anything.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

The thing I miss, and there are solutions, is my DVR I had with DirecTV...but I don't miss the $135/month payment.

 

[/pine]

Honestly...before you spend time and money on an outside antenna...go to a second hand/thrift store and buy a set of rabbit ears (antenna)...hook it up with an analog to coax connector and set the TV to search for available channels...you will be amazed at what you can get with just rabbit ears...including HD...once you see what can be had on the cheap...look into outside antennas...

Good Luck...

 

[George2615]

I have the first antenna shown in LD's link (post 11) and use it on my travel trailer. Depending on where I go I average between 25-35 digital channels crystal clear. Much better than the stock bat wing the camper comes with although it is 5' higher than the bat wing. I mounted a 5' EMT to the rear bumper and the antenna on a 10' EMT that slides into a coupler when I get to camp. It comes with a rotator and can connect 2 TV's. I bought a second one for home use when cable or power goes out and can watch TV with the generator.
I haven't cut the cable cord at home yet as I like to watch several channels not available over the air.
TVfool.com can also give you an idea how many channels you can expect to get.

 

[radios1]

Answering a question like this can be difficult. Once you come up with a proposal, you find out that the viewer lives in a basement up on a hill. I did a little research based on Rock Hill, SC. Sixty miles is about the practical limit for receiving reliable signals in most locations. Based on that, I would forget about Columbia unless there is a busty blonde weather girl that you MUST watch. ;-)

Easy questions first:

Coax - RG-6, no need to buy the extra cost quad shield types.
Stations - Hard to say, but you should be able to get all the major networks.
Box - If you don't have a digital TV now, you'll need a digital converter box.
----- I don't know if they are even made anymore.
----- Best to invest the money into the TV.
----- If you get a converter box, the output is the old 525 line analog signal.

Antenna - That's often the hardest decision. Charlotte offers all the networks and the signals are strong in Rock Hill. I'm not in favor of rabbit ears and those flat panel antennas. There's a good chance that they will work out for you. A couple of the signals in the area are very strong, so I would not go with any amplified antenna due to potential preamp overloading.

What channels do you want to watch? All the commercial networks in the area are on UHF, so a small 2 or 4 bay UHF antenna will be fine. Some of the stores sell a little 2 bay for around $20. You have a PBS station (WTVI) that is on channel 11. That is a VHF-High channel. If you want that one, then you'll need a VHF-High/UHF antenna. My first choice antenna would then be the small RCA ANT751(R). A little bigger good unit would be a Winegard HD7694.

Rotors - You won't need one. Point the antenna North and the antenna patterns and signals should give you everything you need.

For those reading this that want to receive signals from two vastly different directions, you and install two separate antennas. You can use a combiner to join the signals together (Winegard CC-7870). You can also purchase a cheap A/B switch to switch back and forth. I personally use an old Radio Shack remote A/B switch from eBay at my location. They aren't made anymore, but they often show up for purchase on eBay (Radio Shack 15-1957 or 15-1968).

Ronald, I can get an S3 signal from New York to Florida with an indoor antenna 2M SSB, so sometimes you can go much further on VHF.. but, KODI on a computer that has internet can get nearly everything wanted. a bit of a learning curve though..

 

[bigtiller]

The thing I miss, and there are solutions, is my DVR I had with DirecTV...but I don't miss the $135/month payment.

My feelings also. What's the solution?