[thunderbrick]

Thinking of dumping cable, and I hear mixed things about over-the-airwaves antennae.  I'm 100 miles SW of STL (I-44), and have a an antenna tower on the house but the Pacific hills are in the way.

Would I be wasting my time to put up a digital antenna?

Thanks!

'brick

[electricbear]

go to www.antennaweb.org. You can punch in your zip and street address and it will give you a list of the stations you could potentially receive, their strength and bearing. The stations are listed with a color code that will indicate what type of antenna is required. If you do get an antenna get it from somewhere that will allow you to return it if it does not work. www.antennadirect.com is a good source for antennas but I don't know their return policy.

[thunderbrick]

EB, that's a great resource!  Thanks!

The bad news?  I'm screwed.  No stations possible.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Hey Bob, have you seen the "Cutting the cable cord" thread in the HT Circle?

[thunderbrick]

Yeah, been watching that thread.  Bad news all 'round for me.   

[macrojack]

Bob - I cut the cord on June 5th. Surprisingly, reception here is not the piece of cake I assumed it would be. Tomorrow the rooftop antenna gets installed. But in the meantime I found a way to feel good about my current situation. Consider that the TV is how Billy Mays and all of his counterparts got into your home. And now they are excluded until you reconnect.
I am able to get Jeopardy and PBS right now along with a few other channels we don't watch. The only reason to put the $59 rooftop antenna up there is to perfect reception. If it doesn't do that, then I'll send it back to Denny's Antennas. Meanwhile I invested $27.99 in a Fiio D-3 DAC with optical in from my Sanyo plasma to my 2 channel integrated amp for sound. That and $7.99/month for NetFlix will have to do.
Actually, Bob, you should be glad to have a moat around your living site that does not let Billy through. Bless those Pacific Hills. They are contributing to your mental health. Or they will be once you cut the cord.
I think it was George Orwell who referred to advertising in general as "the rattling of a stick in a swill bucket".

[kentj1948]

I have an digital antenna sitting unused in the rafters of my garage.  it is in good shape.  If anyone would like to play with OTA TV, let me know.  I have a mast extension and may have the mounting tripod as well.  You must, however, contact me by telephone.  No PM, no text, no email, only a phone call.  Kent 636-399-8053