How To Watch Free TV Over The Air With An Antenna: A step by Step Guide for 2023
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How To Watch Free TV Over The Air With An Antenna: A step by Step Guide for 2023
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How to watch free over the air TV with an antenna: a step-by-step guide.
Streaming TV through subscriptions services continues to get more expensive but antennas can be had for as little as $5, or free in some cases, and the programming is free.
Step 1: Make sure your TV is able to receive digital channels. The FCC required all high-power analog U.S. television stations to turn off their signals and move to a digital-only transmission On June 12, 2009. Any TV's made after that time are digital.If you have an older TV, you can buy an analog-to-digital convertor. Convertors are cheaper than buying a new TV but you will be stuck with an old TV. There are links in the description to
Step 2: You will need an antenna. The good news is that you don't need a complex or expensive antenna to capture digital broadcast signals. You can build a perfectly usable antennas for less than $5. It all depends on how far away you are from the broadcast tower and what obstacles might be between you and the tower, such as tall hills. Living in a steep valley will prevent the signal from reaching you.
The antenna doesn't have to be real fancy. Be cautious of antennas claiming a range of 150 miles or more. There is a misconception that the bigger the antenna, the clearer the picture will be. This was true with the old analog signals. It doesn't work that way with digital signals. With digital, the signal is either on or off, nothing in between. The picture is never fuzzy, just on or off.
There are lots of antenna configurations but there doesn't seem to be any one configuration that is better than others. It either works or it doesn't. So don't get roped into paying more than necessary based on claims of how great a particular antenna is.
Starting with a cheap antenna or a homemade should be enough to tell you if you will be able to receive Over The Air broadcast signals from your location or not. You will find that the number and strength of channels doesn't increase in a poor coverage area when replaced with a more expensive model, even with a gain amplifier. In other words, if the cheaper internal antennas don't work, it's likely nothing else will work either. That's because your location is the single biggest factor in whether or not you get reception -- your antenna configuration is a far distant second, at best.
Step 3: Connect the antenna to the TV. The antenna should have a coax cable attached to it so you can attach the other end to the antenna input on the back of the tv or the antenna input on the convertor box. The cable attaches by screwing the end in a clockwise direction.
Step 4: Turn your TV on and go to the setup menu and look for antenna setup. This will allow the TV to scan for available channels. It should only take a few minutes at most to do a scan. Make sure your antenna is on the side of the house closest to the broadcast towers and that you are above the ground level.
That's all that is to it. Depending on the type of antenna you have, there might be times when a picture doesn't come in unless you move the antenna around a little bit, sometimes as little as a few inches one way or the other. Reception quality is dependent on how far you are from the broadcast towers and what obstructions might be in between such as hills or buildings. Buildings and hills can sometimes be overcome by raising the antenna high enough when possible.
Roku Box link https://amzn.to/3G3EGVr
Converter Box link https://amzn.to/3HROovx
Indoor Antennas link https://amzn.to/3FHqSyy
How to watch free over the air TV with an antenna: a step-by-step guide.
Streaming TV through subscriptions services continues to get more expensive but antennas can be had for as little as $5, or free in some cases, and the programming is free.
Step 1: Make sure your TV is able to receive digital channels. The FCC required all high-power analog U.S. television stations to turn off their signals and move to a digital-only transmission On June 12, 2009. Any TV's made after that time are digital.If you have an older TV, you can buy an analog-to-digital convertor. Convertors are cheaper than buying a new TV but you will be stuck with an old TV. There are links in the description to
Step 2: You will need an antenna. The good news is that you don't need a complex or expensive antenna to capture digital broadcast signals. You can build a perfectly usable antennas for less than $5. It all depends on how far away you are from the broadcast tower and what obstacles might be between you and the tower, such as tall hills. Living in a steep valley will prevent the signal from reaching you.
The antenna doesn't have to be real fancy. Be cautious of antennas claiming a range of 150 miles or more. There is a misconception that the bigger the antenna, the clearer the picture will be. This was true with the old analog signals. It doesn't work that way with digital signals. With digital, the signal is either on or off, nothing in between. The picture is never fuzzy, just on or off.
There are lots of antenna configurations but there doesn't seem to be any one configuration that is better than others. It either works or it doesn't. So don't get roped into paying more than necessary based on claims of how great a particular antenna is.
Starting with a cheap antenna or a homemade should be enough to tell you if you will be able to receive Over The Air broadcast signals from your location or not. You will find that the number and strength of channels doesn't increase in a poor coverage area when replaced with a more expensive model, even with a gain amplifier. In other words, if the cheaper internal antennas don't work, it's likely nothing else will work either. That's because your location is the single biggest factor in whether or not you get reception -- your antenna configuration is a far distant second, at best.
Step 3: Connect the antenna to the TV. The antenna should have a coax cable attached to it so you can attach the other end to the antenna input on the back of the tv or the antenna input on the convertor box. The cable attaches by screwing the end in a clockwise direction.
Step 4: Turn your TV on and go to the setup menu and look for antenna setup. This will allow the TV to scan for available channels. It should only take a few minutes at most to do a scan. Make sure your antenna is on the side of the house closest to the broadcast towers and that you are above the ground level.
That's all that is to it. Depending on the type of antenna you have, there might be times when a picture doesn't come in unless you move the antenna around a little bit, sometimes as little as a few inches one way or the other. Reception quality is dependent on how far you are from the broadcast towers and what obstructions might be in between such as hills or buildings. Buildings and hills can sometimes be overcome by raising the antenna high enough when possible.
