Attic TV Antenna

[Hawkman98]

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a good attic or indoor antenna? I have a huge one that I want to get rid of come junk day, and I want to replace it with something smaller and better.

@Bank of Hawk suggested this one a few years ago https://www.menards.com/main/electr...-attic-tv-antenna/ant950e/p-1531463379874.htm Are you still using it? Inside or outside? Any issues? TIA

 

[Colonoscopy]

 

[bagdropper]

Search Youtube for a contributor called Antenna Man. That guy tests out just about everything out there indoor as well as outdoor. I have a tough reception location - a year ago he put me in on a fantastic outdoor antenna (a Televes DAT BOSS) for my rooftop rig.

I've lived where I live for 18+ years - for the 1st time I get all the CR locals perfect always no matter the conditions. Before, there was always one station(s) that gave me issues (KWWL and IPT out of Waterloo). Not any more...

My personal opinion is unless you live say 20 miles or less from your local tower farm, there isn't an indoor antenna made that'll work perfect no matter what market you're in. They can work, but every and I mean EVERY install/location is different. What works for your next door neighbor may simply not work for you.

Antenna basics haven't really changed in 60+ years. What worked in the 1950's still works today. Go as high as you can, with as high of gain antenna as your individual install will allow - that is what will work best for your situation.

 

[NorthernHawkeye]

You can also add an antenna amplifier. I did that on a home roof top antenna we had several years ago and it improved things to the point where we were able to receive two different markets (we lived much closer to one). That was prior to DirectTV Sunday Ticket. It resulted in being able to select two different NFC and AFC games.

Here's a recent article.

The 7 Best HDTV Antenna Amplifiers of 2024 For a Better Signal

If your local channels come in fuzzy, an antenna amplifier may clear things up.

www.popularmechanics.com

 

[Nole Lou]

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a good attic or indoor antenna? I have a huge one that I want to get rid of come junk day, and I want to replace it with something smaller and better.

@Bank of Hawk suggested this one a few years ago https://www.menards.com/main/electr...-attic-tv-antenna/ant950e/p-1531463379874.htm Are you still using it? Inside or outside? Any issues? TIA

I have an antenna in my attic, and had one at my last house.

Honestly, I've had the best luck building it myself with this design:

There are numerous instructions on the internet for this design, some put some kin kind of foiled shield mounted on the back side of it. I think the bigger you make it, the more powerful it is.

When I moved to my new place, I didn't take it with me, and I bought and tried several antennas in my attic and finally just broke down and built another one. I am certain if I had continued to spender higher amounts of money I would eventually have found an antenna that worked better than this, but I got up to about $200 without finding something better.

In my experience, the smaller, flatter, more attractive the antenna is, the worse it works. All you can do it try it, but my guess is that if you were getting good reception with a big, bulky and antenna, it will be hard to duplicate with something smaller. But maybe.

 

[Rifler]

Cable,.. nuff said.

 

[Titanhawk2]

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a good attic or indoor antenna? I have a huge one that I want to get rid of come junk day, and I want to replace it with something smaller and better.

@Bank of Hawk suggested this one a few years ago https://www.menards.com/main/electr...-attic-tv-antenna/ant950e/p-1531463379874.htm Are you still using it? Inside or outside? Any issues? TIA

Antenna tech has not changed, bigger is better, outside is better. All depends on where you are in relation to the broadcast towers and any interference between the two. If you can get all you want with smaller, indoor, then that's your best option

 

[dekhawk]

Find out how far you are from your local tv station antennas. Use that to decide what you need. I have a 50 mile indoor antenna, looks like a piece of paper.

Antennas Direct | TV Transmitter Locator and Mapping Tool

Find your nearest digital TV transmitter with Antennas Direct's mapping tool. It's a quick and easy way to find digital television transmitters (DTVs) nearest to your location.

www.antennasdirect.com

 

[ping72]

I was also going to ask how far you need to pull a signal.

I have a random tv that has a $5 piece of plastic on an hdmi cord plugged into it and I get like 60 channels with that, including all major networks.

 

[83Hawk]

Go to TV Fool website and you can enter your address to see where and how far the TV transmitter towers are from you. It will also indicate by color code the types of antenna needed to pick up each local station. Start there.

When you see which type of antenna will pick up every station in our area, then you can narrow your search to just that type. You Tube is a good source. Beware the cheap ones that claim they can pick up stations from 100 miles away.

I have a Channel Master that works great. It's small and it is an outdoor model, but it will work in an attic, too.

 

[Obviously Oblivious]

I don't even try to use antennas at my home anymore. We are in such a low lying area I would likely need a 100 foot tower to have even a chance to pull in a distant transmitter signal.

 

[bagdropper]

Beware the cheap ones that claim they can pick up stations from 100 miles away.

It is incredible that some of the el cheapo antenna makers make claims up to 150 miles away. It is scientifically impossible to pull something that distance away unless there's some tropospheric stuff going on.

It is outright lying. The BEST one can hope for regarding a lockable, consistent signal is roughly 70 miles and that's with an almost perfect site (living high upon a hill with a rooftop antenna aimed perfect, no line of site anything in the way between the tower and your antenna, and a great antenna with a perfect install cable and amplifier-wise).

Yes, my old antenna, one day I scanned about 7pm on a hot and clear as a bell early evening, and picked up WGN Chicago here in Cedar Rapids. But that happened once and only once.

Like I say, some nights and early mornings I can pick up QC locals - using antennaweb's site that's a distance from my address of about 85ish miles. But once you get to roughly 9am...that signal disappears until about 7pm.

 

[Hawkman98]

Cable,.. nuff said.

I have dish, but looking for something for severe weather when the dish goes out. Also, if I get all the locals free of the antenna I can stop paying for my locals through Dish.

 

[Hawkman98]

Go to TV Fool website and you can enter your address to see where and how far the TV transmitter towers are from you. It will also indicate by color code the types of antenna needed to pick up each local station. Start there.

When you see which type of antenna will pick up every station in our area, then you can narrow your search to just that type. You Tube is a good source. Beware the cheap ones that claim they can pick up stations from 100 miles away.

I have a Channel Master that works great. It's small and it is an outdoor model, but it will work in an attic, too.

Thanks for the info. This is what shows for me, so I'll do some research.

https://ibb.co/MnrSvby