Lasting success? We can only hope!

[Eddy-Smiles]

For around 8-10 years now or whenever the idiots in Washington mandated that local television networks go digital, my wife and I have been using OTA antennas. Our first one was an RCA exterior model that really didn't work any better than the subsequent interior antennas that we purchased. Each antenna was supposedly an upgrade to the one we were replacing but in truth we didn't see any difference. This past weekend my grandson took time out of his busy schedule on a very, very, blistery cool day (for Florida…that is!) and installed a new OTA outside antenna. And it turned out to be a rousing success as we went from 57-channels to 112 over the air channels. I had recently approached our internet company about subscribing to their most basic television program and discovered that their $29.00 a month package actually ends up costing closer to $49.00 a month. And that’s not the worse of it. After a year it increases another $20.00 a month. So, in approximately 3-months of payments we covered the cost of free television for a year just by purchasing this new outside antenna and hardware. Now in full disclosure at least half of the new channels are either religious, commercial or home shopping, or in Spanish (unfortunately we're not bilingual), but having an antenna that gives us all the main networks plus PBS makes it all worthwhile. The new antenna has a 65-mile range. Most of the local networks are around 30-miles so this antenna has more than enough range. Its my understanding that television signals are line of site so the capability of any antenna, no matter what the claim, is limited by the curvature of the earth. As I said, my wife and I have been using OTA antenna’s for quite a few years. Two years ago when we up-graded to a new antenna we purchased one that was strictly indoor and not made for exposure to the weather. It worked better than previous antennas but our major problem was still that the exterior wall of the room in which we were using it is stucco on metal lathe and there is aluminum foil on the insulation in the ceiling. Between these two factors we basically have a Faraday Cage which limits television signal reception. Outside antennas eliminate those problem. If anyone is interested in learning more about this cost saving way of watching local channel TV just drop me a PM.


Douglas Mounting New OTA Antop-800SBS 1-14-2023 (6).jpg

[pallin]

It's too bad you can't fix the quality of what's broadcast.

[woodburner807]

Gave up on TV a few years ago...lot happier.

[Arthur C.]

I don't know how many channels we get on cable, but it's probably in excess of a hundred. My wife records what she likes (and a very few that I like, too) for viewing while zipping through the asinine commercials. If it was just me, I'd ditch cable in a heartbeat. I've tired of football and have zero interest in other sports, and the few good programs are hardly worth the exorbitant cost. As Phil pointed out, the content is mostly appalling.

[NoDNA]

We have Starlink. The cost is a bit high , but what we get is a whole world of items we can watch. Most all "news" is recoded for an earlier time, also we have Netflix and Roko for any movies and You Tube for real items that are of interest.

Chuck