Non Cable people!

Timothy Reason · « **on:** 1 Feb 2005, 06:46 pm »

My brother and I just moved into a new apartment. Neither of us watch enough TV for use to justify $50.00 a month for basic cable. Yes I live in an area where you have cable or nothing so they can charge us anything they want it seems. The deal going now is Cable with HBO for 3 months at $65.00 ! Yikes I hate to know what regular price is.
So anyway, the house has what looks like a very good Antenna on the side of the house. Its currently pointed the wrong direction so I do not get much of anything at the moment. My question is, are there any other pieces of equipment, or tricks of the trade anyone knows of to get better reception? All I have right now is a Toshiba 27" Tube TV, so not HDTV yet.
There may not be anything out there, but I thought I would check.

Red Dragon Audio · « **Reply #1 on:** 1 Feb 2005, 06:56 pm »

When HDTV hits your area, and even now, you will want to find out where the local broadcast tower is and point your antennea that direction. That will be the most effective thing right now too. Unless your antennae isn't directional then it won't matter but I think most HDTV versions will be directional but don't quote me on that. Good thing is that it's on your roof. The higher the better the reception.

Timothy Reason · « **Reply #2 on:** 1 Feb 2005, 07:03 pm »

I do not need HDTV yet, as it may be months untill I can afford a HDTV ready TV. My parents have a HDTV Tunner in there home theater that they get through the cable company, (Not by antenna) But since they get it, it may already be here. At any rate, like I say, I do not have a HDTV ready television, so the only signals I will be picking up are standard signals. I was just wondering if there is anything else I could put on or in line with the TV to antenna to increase its reception. And yes the Antenna is about 5 feet higher then the top of the house.

JoshK · « **Reply #3 on:** 1 Feb 2005, 07:05 pm »

My wife and I are non-cable people too, and non satellite as well. I live in the NYC area and can get decent (not perfect) signals with an antenna on my roof. It didn't take long at all to learn that we don't need or often watch much cable so why pay the gouging price?

Antennas are not all the same, some perform a lot better than others. Generally avoid Terk or other antennas at your local CC or BB. Channel Master or Antenna's Direct are good places to start. Antenna's Direct has a bit of info on which antenna's work best in which areas, which matters.

rosconey · « **Reply #4 on:** 1 Feb 2005, 07:27 pm »

wish i could remember the name of a sight that shows what direction to ain your antenna.you just type in your address and it shows directions for your local tv company antennas.antenna .org or gov somthing like that.
you might also think about a rotor for your antenna

electricbear · « **Reply #5 on:** 1 Feb 2005, 07:29 pm »

anytime you are trying to find where your local towers are go to
http://www.antennaweb.org. You can put in your zip and your street no and it will show a birds eye view of your house and where the towers lie in relation to it.

ctviggen · « **Reply #6 on:** 1 Feb 2005, 07:34 pm »

I also watch very little TV, but I'd have a hard time giving up some cooking shows (low carb cooking and Good Eats), certain bike races (Tour of Italy, France, Spain, some classics), and Tennis. I'd love to be able to pick the 5-6 channels I watch and get rid of the rest. It seems obscene to spend a ton of money for the amount of channels I watch.

rosconey · « **Reply #7 on:** 1 Feb 2005, 07:39 pm »

thanx electricbear thats the one -a very good sight

jmzzz01 · « **Reply #8 on:** 7 Feb 2005, 06:00 pm »

Tim-

Obviously it is dependant on your location, but you should be able to get at least a couple of channels if you're near a larger city. If you can access the antenna, one of you can get up there and slowly rotate it while the other one watches the reception (the holler-when-it's-good method). This should allow you to see what you have available. You may find that two different stations require different antenna positions. If this is the case, you could think about purchasing a rotor.

You did mention that this is an apartment, though, so all of this is also dependant on being able to run additional wires for the rotor and/or antenna. Be sure, if you do this, that everything is properly grounded using a ground rod prior to entry into the house. It could prove to be very dangerous and foolish otherwise. You don't want to mess with Mother Nature! Good Luck-

Jim

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #9 on:** 7 Feb 2005, 08:00 pm »

I don't know what I'd do without cable!

Not so much for TV- I don't watch a lot (I like History, TLD/Discover, Food Network & 1 show on SCI Fi). But cable internet isn't something I'd ever wanna give up.