How To Get More Antenna Channels

Over-the-air TV has been around for years, and it'southbuilt right into your Tv -- all y'all need is an antenna. Local channels broadcast in your area provide sports, news and Television receiver shows from ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, PBS and more with excellent Hard disk image quality. It's no wonder that OTA is 1 of the starting time stops for anyone looking to cut the string or supplement their streaming diet.

The best office is the price: admittedly free. Unlike cable oralive Tv streaming services, antenna broadcasts don't require you to pay any ongoing fees, and if you alive in an surface area with decent reception you can go OTA TV with an indoor antenna for less than $20 all told. In other parts of the country you may demand to spend more on an outdoor antenna.

Antenna TV is simple to go set. Here's where to beginning.

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It'due south inexpensive. Why non give it a go?

Indoor antennas are then inexpensive that my best advice is to just buy one, connect it to your TV and see what channels you pull in.I reviewed the meridian indoor antenna models from Amazon and found that the best in an urban environment is theChannel Master Flatenna. In my testing I found that the number and strength of channels didn't increase in a poor coverage expanse when replaced with a more expensive model, even with a gain amplifier. In other words, if the cheaper internal antennas don't work, information technology's likely goose egg like will. That'due south because your location is the single biggest factor in whether or not you get reception -- your antenna tech is a distant second, at best.

If you're having trouble getting reception, y'all might get some improvement with an outdoor antenna. They cost more, nevertheless, and are significantly more difficult to install, because they typically require access to a roof or an attic and y'all may require professional assist.

Nosotros haven't tested external antennas at CNET, but highly rated ones from Amazon and tech site Tech Hive start from $lx. Try to get an antenna compatible with both UHF and VHF, for while well-nigh channels have moved to UHF with the advent of digital transmissions, some legacy stations are notwithstanding using VHF.

At present playing: Watch this: How to cut the cord for $10: installing an indoor antenna

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Tips for installing an antenna

Given the complexity (and potential dangers) of installing a roof antenna we're going to stick with internal antennas for this article. Here'south what you demand:

An indoor antenna
Adhesive (optional) -- affiche putty is the best
A tuner, either built into your Television receiver or an external box similar adigital video recorder

Most modern indoor antennas are apartment and designed to be installed high on a window, preferably facing in the direction of a broadcast antenna. How do you decide which way that is?

In improver to selling its namesakes, Antennas Direct is as well an excellent cord-cut resource and offers maps based on your location, likewise as the direction of the nearest antennas. Keep your compass or Google Maps app handy!

Antennas Direct offers a map showing where your nearest broadcast towers are.
Screenshot by Ty Pendlebury/CNET

Some antennas include agglutinative strips for mounting but if yours doesn't, you lot'll need masking tape or poster putty. Try non to use duct tape, as it can marker your walls or windows.

Install the antenna as high equally you can because neighboring houses and buildings can block TV signals. Experiment with placement -- if a window doesn't piece of work, try a wall as information technology may give you meliorate reception. Attempt to keep the antenna away from magnetic metals such equally security bars and radiators if possible.

Many indoor antennas accept a long, detachable coaxial cable, but if your TV and best reception placement are too far away, you may need a longer cable. Once you have enough slack in the cable, connect the spare end of the coaxial cable to the back of your TV or DVR. Spiral it in dainty and tight. Finally, y'all can at present set your tuner to scan for available channels.

How many channels can you get?

Air TV 2 — Local TV shows and stations, seen here in Sling Goggle box's OTA interface via AirTV 2.
Sarah Tew/CNET

Whether you're using the tuner built into your Tv or an external box such as TiVo, y'all'll even so receive OTA TV as a digital signal: analog signals wereswitched off in 2009. In the Settings carte du jour of your device, you should find either a Channel or Tuning department, and from there you should exist able to activate an Auto setting. The tuner on the TV or DVR will then notice all of the bachelor channels, and if information technology's got a program guide information technology will then adjust all of the upcoming shows into a grid for you.

If you live in an area with good reception y'all'll be able to get at to the lowest degree the major network channels and their affiliates, including your local PBS station. Depending on where your business firm is you lot may have some problems due to natural or man-made obstacles, and searching for a trouble channel on Google can tell y'all if it'south a common 1.

In addition to the Antennas Straight site mentioned above, the FCC maintains a DTV Reception Maps page where you can enter your address and notice the channels available in your surface area. It grades each station co-ordinate to frequency as well equally signal strength but information technology won't tell yous which direction the antenna is in.

If y'all live in a poor reception area you could try a model with a built-in amplifier. Merely exist enlightened that this can overload your tuner and you could terminate upwards with a lot less channels. If you have a model with an amp, effort it without commencement.

Because y'all're receiving digital signals, instead of analog ones, you won't get snow in the example of suboptimal reception. If y'all take poor to no reception, you'll either get a jumpy or pixelated movie or nothing at all, just black.

Finally if you lot become a proficient movie and make up one's mind you like using antenna TV, y'all might desire to invest in an antenna DVR. It volition let you to schedule and tape shows for playback later, skip commercials and even stream your antenna TV outside the home.

Read more: Best antenna DVRs for string cutters

08-amazon-fire-tv-recast — The Amazon Fire Television set recast is our favorite antenna DVR.
Sarah Tew/CNET

Volition I demand a new antenna for Next Gen Tv set?

Side by side Gen Boob tube, aka ATSC iii.0, is the next-generation version of free OTA TV, rolling out in select areas of the country now and over the side by side few years. Among other improvements it supports 4K HDR video and an net back-channel which is used for on-need video and usage data.

To get Next Gen Tv set yous won't need a new antenna. That's the skilful news.

The bad news is that you will need a new Boob tube or external tuner box. TVs with Next Gen Idiot box tuners are but starting to arrive and they're generally expensive, and only a couple of tuner boxes are available at present.

In other words, your cheap antenna volition be useful for a long time.