Those folks that are aware of OTA broadcasts, rarely seem to be aware that the signal you can get is clear, beautiful and in HD. This is not your father's OTA broadcast. The days of adjusting the antenna to avoid a picture of "snow" are long gone. With today's digital signals, either you have the signal or you don't....you might get some pixelation due to a weak signal, but not snow. Finally, nowadays you also get what are commonly referred to as "back channels" with an OTA antenna. For example, in my area NBC is channel 2.1. However, I also receive channel 2.2 and 2.3 - which are "back channels." In all, I am able to get about 44 OTA channels in my area. The programming on these "back channels" can vary from movies to weather. The "back channels" are usually in standard definition (SD), but the main channels are in HD as I mentioned.
NOTE: I AM ASSUMING THAT EVERYONE READING THIS BLOG HAS A HDTV WITH A BUILT-IN TUNER. IF YOU HAVE PURCHASED A TV WITHIN THE LAST 5-7 YEARS, THEN YOU MOST LIKELY HAVE A BUILT-IN TUNER.
Probably the best place to start is at AntennaWeb. Here you can type in your address and get an idea of what type of antenna would work best for your specific location - based mostly on how far you are from the broadcast towers. I am not going to go into too much more detail about types of antennas, how to install them nor which is best. You can read about all of that, and more, at AntennaWeb, or the countless other websites dedicated to OTA antennas (hint: Google search OTA antenna).
The only thing I will say is do not spend a ton of money on an antenna. You just need to select an appropriate antenna for your area. For our family, we identified the Channel Master 3010 as our choice. Many people will mount an OTA antenna in their attic. However, we have a radiant barrier in our attic, and I did not know how that might impact an OTA signal. Therefore, I decided to opt for outdoor installation. Although I have always heard that the higher you mount an antenna the better, I wanted to keep the install as "clean" as possible. For this reason, I also purchased the Winegard DS-1111 antenna mount.
Once I received my antenna, I was concerned the mount that I planned to use might be too low for the antenna to receive a quality signal. However, I figured that I would take the 'easy route" and if it didn't work I'd just need to move the antenna to the peak of my roof. I am happy to report that the 'easy route' worked perfectly. I installed my antenna and received a crystal clear HD signal immediately. Here are some photos of my installed antenna and mount:
While your install may vary, here is a brief summary of my installation:
1. Climbed into the attic and identified where the existing coaxial cable from the satellite was running.
2. Removed the dish from its base and arm mount (disposed of the dish).
3. Attached the Winegard DS-1111 antenna mount to the existing dish arm mount.
4. Attached the Channel Master 3010 antenna to the Winegard DS-1111 antenna mount.
5. Ran a 50 foot coaxial cable from the antenna, through the Winegard DS-1111 and into the attic. I originally intended to use the existing coaxial cable from the satellite system, but it was too short to reach the antenna.
6. Climbed back into the attic, attached the new coaxial cable running from the antenna to the existing splitter in my attic Your splitter probably looks something like this.
7. That's it. Adjusted the antenna to maximize the signal strength. I did end up replacing the splitter with a signal booster because I had some signal strength issues with FOX after a few days. NOTE: The weak signal was due to a long coaxial run and splitting the signal. This booster does not help the antenna pick-up out of range broadcasts. You may not need a booster, but I wanted to clarify its purpose should you need it.
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