Q. I’ve been thinking about getting a rooftop antenna, or an indoor antenna, to get my local channels. I hear the picture is better and I could get rid of my cable TV service and cut the cord, as they say. So, Answer Man, is it true? Is the picture better? Should I get an antenna? — Mark, Kansas City, Missouri.
Yes, your local channels can deliver a better HD picture via a TV antenna. Cable and satellite (and telco) TV services compress the signals of local channels, which tends to dilute the picture quality. The TV providers do this for several reasons, including creating more system room to deliver more channels. The signal your antenna receives directly from the local channel is purer (layman’s term, folks) and therefore a better one.
Click Amazon: Today’s Best-Selling TV Antennas!
However, before you run off to buy an antenna (and drop your cable or satellite service), you need to know that depending upon the location of your home, your antenna may not be able to pick up the signals of all your local channels. You may live too far away from the channel’s tower to get a decent signal, or you could have a major obstacle in the signal’s path, such as a high-rise office building or mountain.
What’s today’s best-selling streaming device? Click here to find out!
Also, since the nation’s transition to Digital TV, many antenna owners complain that it’s been more difficult to capture local signals. Unlike the old analog signal, you need a perfect connection to capture the digital signal or it will not display on your set. There is no middle ground. You either get a digital signal or you don’t.
Click Amazon: Roku Ultra 4K Streaming Device: $99
So how can you tell if an antenna at your home will receive all your local channels?
Antennaweb.org, a web site co-sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association and the National Broadcasting Association, offers an easy-to-use guide to determining what kind of antenna you would need — and how many channels that antenna will pick up.
You type in your address, zip code and whether the antenna will be 30 feet or higher above ground level and then antennaweb.org will display a list of stations that you probably will be able to receive. I say ‘probably’ because until you actually test it at home, you can’t be 100 percent sure.
The web site also tells you what kind of antenna you’ll need to receive a specific station.
It’s a great resource tool.
Finally, in the last few years, the antenna companies have done a great job of beefing up their products, offering indoor antennas now that can pick up signals as far away as 50 miles. Yes, indoor antennas.
Check out these best-selling antennas at Amazon.com.
Need to buy something today? Please buy it using this Amazon.com link. This site receives a small portion of each purchase, which helps us continue to provide these articles.
Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvpredictions.com. Please include your first name and hometown in your message.
— Phillip Swann|
Photo credit: Free photo by Marie.mclt via pexels.com
@swanniontv
I have been using a roof top antenna for over 20 years. I am now living in the hills in a wooded area and so am not in an ideal location. I still get 12 channels. I cut the cable TV because it was too expensive and I don’t watch much TV, especially in the summer months. Installing a roof top antenna requires a certain amount of time and effort and research, but an expenditure of less than $300 for good supplies, including the antenna and upgraded coax cable and boosters, can save $100.00 month or more. The main people who will not benefit are sports fans. I admit to amusement that everyone acts like this is a new concept, when it is not. When people learn I don’t have cable, they wonder how I survive. I have internet, which is too expensive, Netflix, and I do fine. The only time I have had to replace the antenna was back in 2002 in a bad ice storm, which took out the power for 5 days as well.
Bought a digital rooftop antenna 4 years ago. I get more work done around the house and I’m saving at least $960.00 per year and used the money I saved to pay down my home mortgage.
I have been working to get an antenna system working. I have a CM-3020 antenna, a CM-7778 preamp and a 50′ RG11 cable to one TV pointed at Mt Wilson. I have been getting almost perfect pictures and sound on about 15 channels during the overcast condition called June gloom in California. Now that the overcast is gone everything is pixelating and is unusable. Do you think going to the CM-7777 preamp would solve the problem? Do you have any other idea? Are there professionals that deal in these things? I would appreciate any information. Thanks Richard Atchison Santa Paula Ca 93060