No Cable TV - How to get the best signal...?

[lilmann40]

Hey guys, I don't have cable, so the signal gets choppy and cuts out when cars drive by, etc.  It's really annoying to be honest...we just have the rabbit ear antenna.  I see on Woot and 1SaleADay deals for these HDTV tuners that are advertised as the best in the business, blah blah blah.  My question is...do these actually work better than normal antennas?  And if so, recommendations/links?  And if not, any suggestions on what works best in general without getting cable?

 

[sundoobie]

I went without cable for a month and used this. Worked perfectly and IMO the picture quality was much better!

Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception

View media item 135375
Also your TV must have a tuner or else it won't work.

Here's more info

http://www.antennaweb.org/Address.aspx

 

[n3rd]

Ive been without cable for about 6 weeks and Im itching like a fiend. Only because I catch watch professional basketball, and I can't figure out a solution to that problem.

That antenna looks good though, I need to get an indoor one. About how many channels were you able to get? TNT, USA, TBS, CNN, etc., along with your local-national(NBC,CBS,ABC) channels?

 

[Bert.]

i dont undertand the point of those? what channels can you possibly get?

 

[trueprada]

[COLOR=#red]i have bunny ears on a hdtv in office room works pretty good may check out that one above though [/COLOR]

 

[servechilled81]

i keep bunny ears on deck for when the cable goes out, I get a pretty good HD signal on the local channels.

 

[championboyz7]

Stop being cheap and get direct tv B.

 

[stealth 23]

Stop being cheap and get direct tv B.

You mean get FiOS B. 

 

[lilmann40]

Stop being cheap and get direct tv B.

lol, I don't watch TV enough to warrant getting cable. I just like to watch football and other sports on fox, NBC, ABC, etc. Without having To worry about the signal going in and out and being choppy.

 

[n3rd]

If I could just get a TNT HD signal Id be pretty happy, for thursday night basketball. along with abc once football is over. BUT....there are no choices.

 

[five30]

The Mohu leaf antennae works very well.

 

[championboyz7]

Stop being cheap and get direct tv B.

lol, I don't watch TV enough to warrant getting cable. I just like to watch football and other sports on fox, NBC, ABC, etc. Without having To worry about the signal going in and out and being choppy.

Stop being cheap and get cable B.

 

[robpzee612]

Stop being cheap and get cable B.

This is all you see on cable.
reality show
reality show
reality show
reality show
reality show
kids show
reality show
reality show
reality show
reality show
reality show
sport
reality show
reality show
reality show
weather

 

[160jordansdeep]

use this hang it from the TV antenna

 

[mychenny]

The Mohu leaf antennae works very well.

Heard a lot of positive reviews about this.

 

[romedadude]

Ive been without cable for about 6 weeks and Im itching like a fiend. Only because I catch watch professional basketball, and I can't figure out a solution to that problem.
That antenna looks good though, I need to get an indoor one. About how many channels were you able to get? TNT, USA, TBS, CNN, etc., along with your local-national(NBC,CBS,ABC) channels?

You realize no cable = only ABC, NBC, PBS, FOX etc. The channels you listed are cable channels. You shouldn't expect more than 15 channels w/o cable.

Having Internet > Cable/Satellite

 

[thadocta]

get that rca joint that comes with an amplifier and put it by ur window

u get good connectoin

 

[n3rd]

You realize no cable = only ABC, NBC, PBS, FOX etc. The channels you listed are cable channels. You shouldn't expect more than 15 channels w/o cable.
Having Internet > Cable/Satellite

Yea I realized after I wrote it. Im with you, I watch or "get" everything I need from netflix, or other internet sources. But streaming live HD sports is nearly impossible, even on the internet. Thats what cable still has control of, live sporting events.

 

[captnaj phd]

This is all you see on cable.
reality show
reality show
reality show
reality show
reality show
kids show
reality show
reality show
reality show
reality show
reality show
sport
reality show
reality show
reality show
weather

Kinda. I haven't had cable in 2 years and don't miss it one bit. I watch my NFL games on Sunday, got a Roku for Netflix/Hulu/Amazon Instant/etc., and I'm chillin. **** I look like paying $100+ a month to watch SportsCenter? (I live in a Comcast monopoly zone.)

Only one that wants cable (when we live together) is my woman so she can watch her hoodmouse theatre shows. I'm good.


On topic tho, just get yourself a good quality antenna if your TV has a digital tuner. If you have a smartphone, there are apps to tell you which way to point the thing for optimal reception for this or that channel.

 

[crcballer55]

First off, there are not "HDTV antennae's". If you have rabbit ears, you can pick up HD. If you're over 30 miles from a TV mast, you'll probably have a difficult time picking up any channels consistently.

If you're into that sort of thing, here are a couple good projects to build your own antennae for cheap.

http://lifehacker.com/5138746/build-your-own-dtv-antenna

http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Large-DB8-HDTV-Antenna-Big-Bertha/

That Terk one above works pretty well too if you want a directional antennae.