Cutting the cord; moving to OTA TV

[Anonymous]

The cheap indoor TV antenna I bought does not get all the major local stations. Also, we have a TV in bedroom and another in the den. House is wired for cable TV, if that helps, and the cable TV comes in at the basement level.

What should I get instead to get reasonable TV reception from western Fairfax County ? and get the signal to both rooms ?

[Anonymous]

Roof antenna plus distribution amplifier. Disconnect the cable TV coax from the cable side and plug the antenna into it. Note that you probably want a professional to do this sort of thing, as there are some lightning-protection bits that need to be done in order to meet code (and not burn down your house).

[Anonymous]

Where do you currently have your antenna placed?

You need to have the antenna in a window facing Silver Spring.
If you have a bunch of trees or other buildings right outside that window then the antenna won't work. You will have to mount the antenna on the roof.

[Anonymous]

How does one find a TV antenna installer ? And what is the ballpark cost ?

Thx

[Anonymous]

I have a Channel Master CM4228 in my attic. It works well for me becasue everything I want to receive is to the North.

Use antennaweb to get a good idea of how much antenna you need.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How does one find a TV antenna installer ? And what is the ballpark cost ?

Thx

You could use either an electrician or a handyman. Grounding the antenna mount is what’s important for protecting your house, but you may need to reroute or splice some coax elsewhere. Keep in mind, you can’t just cut the coax going into your house and use that as an antenna input, as you’re likely getting your internet through that line. You’ll need to isolate the Jack you’re using as an input to your modem from the jacks you want to use to distribute the antenna signal.

[Anonymous]

Western Fairfax - also tried cheap indoor antenna - no joy. Hoa doesn't allow roof antenna but, when built
our house was wired for an in-attic antenna. Installed a large directional in-attic antenna myself. Works well enough for us.

Agreed with the antennaweb recommendation.

Note - you probably won't need one around here, but, when I was a kid we had a rotator motor on our attic antenna because feeds were in significantly different directions.

[Anonymous]

So you aren't going to have internet?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you aren't going to have internet?

What? Getting rid of cable doesn’t mean getting rid of the internet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So you aren't going to have internet?

We have Internet, but it is visibly cheaper without any sort of cable TV — and we don’t watch the cable channels anyway.

[Anonymous]

What channel/show are you hoping to watch?

Football?

[Anonymous]

Hoa doesn't allow roof antenna

These rules are invalid, per FCC regulations. You can install a roof antenna or small dish legally, and HOAs can do nothing to prevent this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you aren't going to have internet?

We have Internet, but it is visibly cheaper without any sort of cable TV — and we don’t watch the cable channels anyway.

In 3 months, you will back to cable or paying more than cable for whatever combo of streaming services you choose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you aren't going to have internet?

We have Internet, but it is visibly cheaper without any sort of cable TV — and we don’t watch the cable channels anyway.

In 3 months, you will back to cable or paying more than cable for whatever combo of streaming services you choose.

No audio/video streaming and no cable channels. We haven’t watched even one cable TV program in years - and we never have done streaming. It saves a pile of money…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Hoa doesn't allow roof antenna

These rules are invalid, per FCC regulations. You can install a roof antenna or small dish legally, and HOAs can do nothing to prevent this.

This https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/installing-consumer-owned-antennas-and-satellite-dishes