Trying to cut the Cable TV cord - Please Advise

[Raymond Fries]

I found the plans to make an HD antenna. I did so and put it in my attic. The picture is amazing and better than the cable we pay for. It worked flawlessly for a week. Then it was raining a little and some of the channels were pixelating (SP?) So, last week I went to Menards and bought an amplifier for the home made antenna which helped but did not resolve the problem.

Next, I decided to buy an RCA multi-directional antenna with an amplifier which has a 35 mile range. Note that all TV stations are less than ten miles from my home. The RCA works better than my home made one but today in the rain it started pixelating as well.

Both antennas were pointed in the direction of the stations. That is the story and here is where I need some advice:

Will a stronger long range antenna be better at pulling in the local stations that are less than ten miles away? I am hoping to keep this in the attic as antennas that are visible on the homes are against our covenants.

I cannot believe the difference in picture quality between the free TV and what we pay for. If you want a better picture, check out options for yourself.

Hoping to cut that cord.

Thanks for any advice or tips.

[Scott T Smith]

Raymond, check out the Mohu Leaf antenna. It's one of the best on the market. I had a ultra-long range Channelmaster antenna on top of a rotating mast on top of my house, and the little Leaf antenna does a better job.

Location is key - the less obstructions between the antenna and the broadcast station the better the reception.

[Jebediah Eckert]

I tried everything when it went digital. I probably live more rural then you. The picture is great during the day when the sun is shinning, any little variation it pixelated. Quite maddening because I want it to work and there is no good reason it doesn't. I found it impossible to watch, shows would freeze, pixelate etc. I hope somebody posts a better way. I'm happy with just the networks channels.

[Jerry Thompson]

Our antenna will pixilate in the rain. It is not bad and I can put up with it easier than I can with the cable providers. I now have the same amount of channel I watch, 4, as I did with cable. The antenna cost $107 shipped. I doubt I will ever go back to the cable hassle.

[Pat Barry]

It might be better to lobby for an antenna. An antenna in the attic is really asking too much

[Jerome Stanek]

Rain on the roof will degrade the digital signal. Any rain will but trying to go through the wet roof is not good. That is why you need a clear view to the satellite with no trees in the way for a dish.

[Chris Padilla]

Not to get too technical on you, Raymond, but water has a very high dielectric constant. That is a bit of a fancy way of saying that has a lot of 'resistance' or 'impedance' to signals trying to get through it. The signal will degrade, lose power, lose amplitude and therefore lose signal content. It is much worse in your attic because the water sits on the roof in a thin layer (it doesn't take much as you're finding out) and almost acts like your roof was made of a solid sheet of metal. I'm sure your attic has some kind of venting but it just isn't enough when a wet roof covers most of the antenna. In free air, the water (in the form of rain) isn't quite as bad but can still be a problem. What is on your roof? Asphalt shingles? Cedar shakes? Clay tile? You might try an experiment and put your antenna outdoors temporarily and see if it helps. Hopefully you can leave it out there long enough to get rained on to see if what I'm saying is true.

[Raymond Fries]

Thanks for the tips all of you.

Chris - Asphalt shingles. I could mention that the antenna is hanging about 12" away from the gable vent on the east end of the house. If I ran a coax cable through the attic to the other end of the house, it would be facing the direction the signals are coming from right next to the gable vent on the west end of the house.

[Bert Kemp]

Why not just hook your computer to you big screen and watch free tv ,well you pay for internet but not the tv channels. Oh I do pay 8 bucks a month for netflix but thats so I can watch a lot of the old shows too. But just about every channel in the world is on the net.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Your HOA rules about outside antenna may be illegal. Congress years ago addressed this for the Sat. TV industry. Look around your neighborhood and see if there are Sat. antennas on the houses, or in the yard. If they are, then you are definitely home free to install an outside antenna. Did you make an antenna with a reflector? They will greatly improve reception. As silly as it sounds, get and old Sat dish, and mount your ant. at the focal length.

[Joe Skinner]

I have two antennas. Rabbet ear HD in the living room, and HD roof mount. Rabbit ears into TV, roof mount into receiver to TV. Depending on the weather, I will switch. I have not really figured out why one works and the other doesn't, but I rarely don't have a signal.

[Rick Potter]

Back in the old days, our CCR's prohibited having a TV antenna on or above our roof. Our house was tucked in behind a hill and received very little reception. I stayed within the letter, if not the intent, of the rules by putting a tall antenna pole anchored in a chain link fence post, and put it as high as I could without it being on or above the roof. That got us three or four of seven available channels for probably 15 years before cable was put in.

Yup, we had a dial phone too.

[David Masters]

A good place to start is http://www.antennaweb.org to determine the right type of antenna you should use for your address. Most antennas are classified by a CEA color code and antennaweb.org will display for you the channel list in your area, the direction of the station, and CEA color code necessary to pick up a specific station from your house.

I live within 15 miles of most stations in relatively flat terrain, and I was able to use a small disc style antenna mounted to the side of my house, about eight feet off the ground. The antenna is powered, but I am close enough that powering the antenna wasn't necessary. I've never seen picture degradation caused by weather using this antenna. I don't remember the model number of the antenna, but I bought it from Radio Shack, which had a wide selection of antennas.

Dave

[Marion Smith]

We had the same reception issues when they made the switch to digital, our reception went bad. After finding a knowledgeable guy to ask about my problem, I learned that the new digital signal can degrade by 50% or more indoors. Getting the best line of sight possible was his suggestion, as well as replacing any old school antenna with new digital version, and switching out any and all RG59 with RG6. I wound up with a new Winegard 8200 antenna and rotator on a 24' tower off craigslist. Put it up, and we get awesome reception. During heavy precipitation, cloud/fog, it does pixilate/freeze here. But, that doesn't happen often. I would insist on your rights to erect a suitable antenna for your needs. Anything else constitutes generating business for cable/dish companies. We go on dates galore with the money we save NOT getting a cable bill.

[Raymond Fries]

Cut the cord today. YAY...

Moving the antenna to the other end of the house fixed the problem. We went through two rains and a snow storm with no pixelation. We bought a Channel Master DVR+ and an external hard drive so we can record as before. We even have internet music via Pandora. Loving the better picture and it is free HD TV.

Thanks again for all of the feedback.

Take Care and Enjoy Life...

[Todd Willhoit]

I'm glad that you finally made the move. The previous owner of our home left an old outdoor VHF/UHF antenna with a broken element or two. It is about 10' long, but I managed to shoe-horn it into the attic. I NEVER get pixelation. The picture quality is fantastic. I also have the DVR+ with a 3 Tb HDD. It gets a workout. Make sure you update the firmware and, if you have the thin (original style) remote, be prepared to replace the button cell batteries. The ones supplied are low quality and the voltage falls below a threshold that causes the remote interface to do strange things.