free TV questions

Fri, 11/06/2009 - 22:23 — libuse

Jill....I am VERY interested in trying out the free TV, as your article, "saving on television" indicates. However, as I have been researching this antenna that I need to buy, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed....not sure which antenna to buy, which is best for my home, what exactly does that amplifier do? How do I know I'm buying the correct one for my house, etc. It seems confusing to me. I went to Menards today and they had a Phillips brand antenna (old-fashioned looking kind) for $80 that has an 80 mile radius. I live in Montgomery, IL 60538 (near Oswego, about 40 miles west of Chicago). Also, did you have someone install yours? Sorry so many questions...I really want to do this, but I'm not sure how to go about doing it without buying the wrong thing or not getting it to work correctly. If you or anyone in my area have any suggestions that might help, I would GREATLY appreciate it! :) Thanks!!

Off-Topic

Sat, 11/07/2009 - 10:56 — J.R.

I haven't shopped for an

I haven't shopped for an antenna for 2 decades, but...

What I've seen recently has some sort of logo on it indicating what area it's appropriate for. It's a group of colored circles or something like that. Use that as a guide. If in doubt, go bigger. The folks in the electrical department should know what is appropriate for your area. Realize that if you're stuck putting an antenna inside the attic you lose 50% of the signal, so go up a couple sizes to compensate for that.

I'm about 40 miles NW of Chicago. When we built the house I got a 10' long Channelmaster antenna at Farm & Fleet, along with a matching rotor. It's on a 30' mast behind the house (east side, facing Chicago) that sits on a concrete pad instead of being hung off wall mounts.

You might also benefit from an amplifier. I installed one of those that had a 4 way splitter to feed signal to the various places in my house where we have TVs. It's in the closet with all the other wiring for TV, phone, and computer.

Before the digital conversion I was able to get great reception from Chicago, Rockford, Milwaukee, and even Madison. One night I was surfing and caught ST:TNG from Grand Rapids. I haven't tried any DX reception since the digital conversion, but still get great signals from Chicago.

Sat, 11/07/2009 - 22:27 — libuse

thanks for your input

i'm guess i'm going to have to look into this more. I really want to do this bc I don't watch TV that much and it was save us a lot of $$. I just hope I do it right the first time, you know?!

Sat, 11/07/2009 - 23:32 — J.R.

The other option is watching

The other option is watching TV shows on the internet. Since the digital conversion, I can't program my DVR, and have used the internet to watch shows I missed when they were broadcast. The only one I haven't been able to find is "Big Bang": clips but no whole episodes :-( If any one knows where I can find the shows, please post the link.

Sun, 11/08/2009 - 01:30 — clipsalot