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HD Antennas?

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
So I am charged with streamlining our crap and I hate paying a ton for cable when we don't watch it! That being said, we're in the market for a whole house HD Antenna (can power multiple TVs so must have an amplifier) that will work in a rural area. Help me get rid of the excessive cable bill and tell me what do you have and what do you like about it?
 
Dec 3, 2007
75
33
Start at antennaweb.org. That will give you compass orientation and distance for all your local broadcasters along with some antenna suggestions. We tend to stay away from powered antennas as they can be very directional in their reception, which can be a problem if your broadcast towers are spread out relative to your location. If you're connecting several tvs, use a high bandwidth splitter and distribution amp if necessary. Mount the antenna outside and as high as possible, keep your cable runs as short as possible, and use RG6 cable and quality connectors.
 

DirtyMike

Turbo Fluffer
Aug 8, 2005
14,437
1,017
My own world inside my head
I use an antenna myself because it's rare that I watch TV....... Went through five before I just nutted up and spent the 150 on a quality unit mounted in the attic. Don't be cheap, buy the good one to start with
 

TreeSaw

Mama Monkey
Oct 30, 2003
17,669
1,847
Dancin' over rocks n' roots!
Start at antennaweb.org. That will give you compass orientation and distance for all your local broadcasters along with some antenna suggestions. We tend to stay away from powered antennas as they can be very directional in their reception, which can be a problem if your broadcast towers are spread out relative to your location. If you're connecting several tvs, use a high bandwidth splitter and distribution amp if necessary. Mount the antenna outside and as high as possible, keep your cable runs as short as possible, and use RG6 cable and quality connectors.
Thanks! I went to the site already and got their suggestions and was hoping to compare them to real live people (on the internet lol). I will need to look into high bandwidth splitters but do plan on short cable runs (hopefully). Husband is anal about good cable and connectors so that should be good to!
 

4130biker

PM me about Tantrum Cycles!
May 24, 2007
3,882
447
We made the switch and really like it (even though our antenna is a POS). We still get the local and national news, and everything else we YouTube or Netflix.
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
Last edited:
Dec 3, 2007
75
33
We've used two of these pointed if different directions (so we can get good signal for the stations in various directions) at our facility and they work great along with a separate amplifier for long runs to three TVs in the building. Zero problems for the 9 years we've had them:

https://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master-CM-4221-HDTV-Antenna/dp/B000FVTPX2/
We've had pretty good luck with this one and it's little brother around here, but our towers are all within 35-40 miles. Channel Master and Winegard have pretty similar offerings and have been in the antenna biz forever.
 

skibunny24

Enthusiastic Receiver of Reputation
Jun 16, 2010
3,281
585
Renton, WA