Five Myths about TV Antennas and Over the Air TV

In this video I talk about five common myths, rumors, and misconceptions about TV antennas and over the air TV. These myths include the idea that you need a special “HD Digital” antenna to pick up the signals, an antenna won’t work for rural areas, HOAs can prohibit outdoor antennas, there aren’t any DVR options for antennas, and the picture quality from an antenna is bad. THESE ARE ALL FALSE.
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[@AntennaMan]

🚨 Make sure to share this video as I'm probably preaching to the choir. 🚨 My goal is to get this video to spread around to inform people about some of the false rumors about antenna and OTA TV! 📺 Thanks to Rockspace for sponsoring this video. You can find their wifi range extender at one of the affiliate links below: amzn.to/3nDLQU6 bit.ly/35Cqn7I - enter coupon code CKERGEBTSWS8 📡 Do you have reception problems? Consider an antenna recommendation from me below! antennamanpa.com/antenna-recommendations.html

[@3nineteen319]

I have a Rockspace. You definitely need a good line of sight from the modem/router for it to work well.

[@friesareyummy]

@@schoolmaster1945 Explain

[@Pallidus_Rider]

Saved my marriage

[@spaceghost4474]

I live in an area of Florida where lighting is a huge issue. Maybe I'm wrong, but putting an antenna on my home seems tantamount to attaching a LIGHTING ROD. Am I correct or just misinformed?

[@mrhashtagpickle]

What is the best “deck” antenna? I use a deck....

[@charleswilliams7746]

Two antennas got married. The reception was wonderful. :o)

[@cybergriffin2976]

XD

[@imnotyleranymorefbidenandt1392]

😐

[@mistergrandpasbakery9941]

Hahaha! 😂

[@paulthepainter2366]

Uhf and vhf lived happily ever after

[@coltonmaccune]

BRUH

[@RachelDerGolem]

I worked in Radio Shack in the 70's. A woman came in and asked for a "Color TV Antenna" because she was afraid her, "Black and white antenna" would damage her color TV.

[@JRobert111111]

I am still currently using a Radio Shack VU-90 antenna I purchased in the 90's, wonderful antenna.

[@kawaiimariagamez872]

@@JRobert111111 I do miss my local Radio Shack. I heard it was run by a HAM radio enthusiast. It was packed with all kinds of goodies I couldn't find at other shacks.

[@RachelDerGolem]

J, It might be time to replace it!!!!

[@JRobert111111]

@@RachelDerGolem Absolutely NOT! It's still in good condition and brings all of the stations in great and reliably!

[@brianolson6366]

Makes sense 😁

[@mchenrynick]

@3:15 Even funnier when the digital antenna ad misspells it "digtal" LOL!

[@Excitable67]

I know when I switched to Antenna I was BLOWN AWAY by the picture quality! There's just no comparison. Antenna is WAAAAAAY better!

[@michaelcorkery7108]

When my old analog TV died and I bought a flat screen I was blown away by the picture quality with an antenna. When I go to work their channels are on cable and my antenna picture looks way better.

[@foxyccc1316]

I have a question why did you switch to one

[@Excitable67]

@@foxyccc1316 I switched to antenna because cable sucks. I wasn't finding much of anything I liked to watch and the price just kept going up and up. I'm on fixed income and something had to give. When I tested out using an antenna, I found I was watching antenna WAY more than cable, so the switch was easy. i do have Sling for those shows I can only see on cable and netflix, but I'm paying SO much less now and getting more of what I want. Netflix is hanging by a thread. They're having less and less of what I like to watch and so I've recently downgraded to the SD package and may end up getting off it all together.

[@MrBillmcminn]

The ‘HD antenna’ or ‘digital antenna’ is the descendant of the ‘colour antenna’ myth the consumer electronics industry pushed in the 1960’s. Even into the early 1990’s my local Radio Shack store sold a Colour Eagle Supreme V set top rabbit ears with UHF loop and pre-amp for 89.00 dollars.

[@user-yg4kj2mf1p]

Once a company starts doing it then everyone else has to, because not doing it could cost them in sales. The more honest of the bunch clarify in the smaller print that their antenna can be used to pick up HD digital signals. One thing I am not sure if it's a scam is indoor antennas with 50db amplifiers. Some people claim it makes a difference, some people claim it doesn't and 25db is the maximum that makes sense. Any clues Antennaman? Please don't tell me to get an external antenna, it's the landlord's house and I can't just start drilling holes, so indoor it has to be.

[@nekansasfisherman2334]

I put a clear stream 4 antenna on the RCA rotator that Tyler recommended. I also mounted a winegaurd fm antenna above it and ran them both into a splitter. Because I listen to the radio often. I wasn’t sure if the fm antenna would interfere with my tv reception. It doesn’t! I actually think the 4 arm dipole antenna may be helping my vhf reception. Many of my broadcast are 50 miles away and I get 71 channels. It’s amazing what a couple of degrees on the rotator will do to fine tune a station. My antenna is on a second story eve. Went from $164 satellite dish bill to antenna and the $ 30 sling tv package to receive ESPN . Couldn’t be happier.

[@patrickwestover4272]

The reality is Vermont, the state I live in, has very hilly terrain, and in quite a few cases, mine included, the hills block TV signals. On top of that, the owner of the apartment building I live in will not let us install outdoor antennas...when I tried using an amplified indoor antenna I was lucky to get two Montreal channels. It is frustrating that I can't cut the cord, and that my options are limited

[@actionsub]

This is true. "Antennas don't work in rural areas" is true depending on rural areas like that. I lived in such an area in Illinois that was 50 miles from where the transmitters were in the Evansville IN/Henderson KY area. Even rabbitears.info came back with the best possible reception on a couple of channels being "fair" with the remainder being "poor" or "bad"...and this with an antenna 30 ft. in the air to account for earth curvature, hills, and trees...

[@JRobert111111]

Another comment here for "marketing hype". I remember years ago (don't know about now), that car speaker manufacturers would put "Digital Ready" as a big feature of their speakers! As you know, even speakers from the 50's can play music from a CD or Digital radio. The principal has never changed.

[@JonnyMorgan18]

They're still confusing people with "Hi-Res Audio" stickers, mainly on speakers and headphones. Just because it has that sticker doesn't mean it will sound good and some very affordable gear without it can be the best quality you ever heard. The hi-res or HD audio label is important for the source music player, phone or DAC so it's known they're capable of decoding the files/stream.. still doesn't mean it's guaranteed to sound good just like a 4K TV can be crap.

[@Toto4730]

I suggest a Antenna recommendation from Tyler.I did and get a steady 60 channels.👍👊

[@Aquatarkus96]

I can almost physically feel the exasperation coming through the screen. As a freelance audio technician I often deal with people who have similar vague misconceptions over sound. Truth be told, I was in stitches this whole video because you're basically saying the exact word for word things I try to tell people, I can 1000% empathize with your point of view. People just don't want to learn and often think they know enough. Just the thought of someone saying the word hd antenna as something they think really exists is humorous to me for some reason. Like someone saying they're looking for a phone that supports "4g wifi" or a laptop with "hd speakers"

[@AntennaMan]

It's great to have someone who knows what I deal with. Some of my viewers get annoyed I keep saying "there's no such thing as an HD antenna" in all of my videos. I have to keep saying it because most people do not get it.

[@joshm264]

Another thing to mention about attic antennas is that many newer houses have a "radiation barrier" that act like a shield, preventing most of the signal from getting in

[@joshm264]

@TsunamiFPS well of course how thick the walls are will also play a small role here, but yes, it's usually like a layer of foil

[@davidho2977]

@@joshm264 Is the radiation barrier put there intentionally? If so, why?

[@genesky61]

Truth and Quality , Practical and Useful Information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Metal Foil on one side of the insulation reflects the heat to some degree. However is not 100% effective. ------ And yes the thin layer of metal foil also reflects Tv Transmissions to some degree. Disrupting reception.

[@trevordance5181]

In the UK all the tv signals meant to be received in a specific area are all broadcast from the same transmitter mast. Therefore to receive all the tv stations you are entitled to get at your address you only need to point your aerial (antenna) in one direction for optimum reception of all stations available.

[@PC4USE1]

I love the fact that you mentioned 'kickbacks' to HOAs from Cable Providers. My realtor restricts external antennas and Satellite services and has a "brochure" for Comcast in their office. They are not an HOA but I have always suspected a kickback program in place. They own multiple bldgs. in our suburban area.

[@900Yugo]

HOA's legally cannot stop people from installing outdoor antennas. According to the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Unless you joint own a house or a condo. They cannot do anything about it.

[@lakorai2]

It is illegal for them to prevent you from installing an tv antenna, dish or wifi antenna.

[@genesky61]

Truth and Quality , Practical and Useful Information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ www.fcc.gov/over-air-reception-devices-rule

[@angelinacamacho8575]

I used a flat antenna when I used to live in an apartment and it worked fairly well especially when paired with my digital converter.

[@GeorgePerakis]

I can confirm, my household here in Greece has had the exact same antenna since the mid-2000's. And we've picked up every single channel available in our area, be it analogue, digital, SD or HD, since then. No modification required.

[@davidebacchi9030]

Have you renovated? Here on the other side of the Adriatic (Italy) I got the same antenna since the 80s (I must admit it needs an overhaul)that still recive all main multiplexes

[@russspaur9937]

The August 10th Derecho wind storm blew over my Oak tree into my neighbors yard and it has been like magic since with with reception. In addition to that , I have a better view of the sky, sunrises, grass and plants will grow better, a lot less yard work. Insurance company paid for my side of the fence. Long story short. God is great.

[@williampalenik7306]

So very true there in what you said the only fuzzy TV stations you get are the ones that are far away from you but still close enough to get the signal all other stations will be clear as they should be.

[@JFrenchRennier]

Final Update on my setup Tyler, The Televes Eclipse Mix that I picked up at Lowes is beyond excellent. Using the Televes pre-amp & combining the Clearstream 4 with a long distance VHF both aimed 140 degrees opposite toward another tower 75 Miles distant then ran together on a UHF/VHF combiner made for purpose then attached to the pre-amp on the 2nd input. End result is 56 channels which is the maximum possible. Greatly appreciate your review on the Televes products, I had previously never heard of this company & would have otherwise passed over their products which I have discovered to be 1st rate. The antenna is receiving a tower at 78 miles which for this area is outstanding & it is set in place at 24 feet. Rotor is not an option, wife would burn up the motor within a week. Realize most will think I have gone overboard, No this setup is for the wife's bedroom TV & the patio TV by the pool. Added to this using Smart TV's & wifi, she receives over 200 channels total which satisfies her channel scanning compulsion making her happy. I personally stream everything using 1,000MB/s fiber ISP & an NVidia Shield on a 4K 80" Sony, she is incapable of using a Firestick which all the other 4 TV's use. Initially 3 years ago when I cut the cord on a $260 Direct TV monthly bill, I installed the exact Ping/Ding/Bling Tyler loves to drop. She received 12 channels & made frequent "remarks". Long story made longer - Satellite & Cable TV bills are like tossing $100 bills in the toilet.

[@charlessmith1890]

I am glad you covered this I have been trying to tell people these things for 15 to 20 years now and some people just can't listen, Thankyou.

[@Madness832]

I'll admit, I'm still using one of those flat, card-type aerials. Only because it was bought, both before I discovered your channel and long before the repack BS. (and I've just been lazy in replacing it). It is, amazingly, receiving WGBH, 2, Boston (physical 5), on the new Sony Bravia, that I bought over the holidays.

[@joshm264]

Then I'm guessing you're pretty close to the transmitter

[@TheBaldr]

They are actually really good for FM radio. I tried all kinds of antenna, but the flat show the best signal strengths using my USB SDR receiver.

[@ClassicGuy57]

*ATTENTION NEW COMERS* First, subscribe to Tyler! He does a great job of explaining all thing OTA. He also spends a lot of time doing it. The more subscribers, the more recognition his channel will get. Second, truly cut the cord. Don’t get rid of cable and switch to a service like KZbin TV. Sure, it’s cheaper, but your still wasting money. Hopefully more people will truly cut the cord! Tyler, don’t forget to tell people about your “10 Advantages of OTA Television” video. That’s the video the made me subscribe and become more aware about all things OTA! Thanks for all you do and can’t wait to see more comedy...and hopefully more Tyler the Conspiracy Nut.

[@davidcarter8874]

Thanks. I've been using antenna for a few years now. The picture is much clearer and sharper

[@kathym6603]

I'm in the middle of NC doing pretty well with an indoor UltraPro Signal Finder HD Amplified Antenna by GE. (Bought and returned two others looking for a satisfactory one.). Thanks for this video and for being so clear and interesting in your presentations. 🍂🍁🌿🍁🍂

[@sped6954]

I quit cable services well over 10 years ago, and haven't missed it once the entire time. I currently live in an apartment complex in a sem-rural town. I'm located about 20-25 miles in each direction from two markets in two different states. The market and some of the broadcasting towers are further away in my home state, but due to line of sight, I generally get better reception from the further away stations. Anyway, it's a small, one bedroom townhouse style apartment, and my antenna has to be indoors because the apartment complex obviously doesn't want the tenants installing any devices on the outside of their buildings. The indoor antenna I use is an RCA brand "amplified" antenna that doesn't mount to anything, in other words, it's a desktop, or shelf type or whatever you want to call it. Upstairs, in my bedroom, located on the front wall, is a small cubby or indent past the main part of the wall. This cubby is just wide enough and just deep enough to allow a dresser to fit in it, and ther's a narrow window that stops about a foot shy of the ceiling and extends about a foot below the top of the dresser. In other words, it's the perfect location for an indoor antenna being in a window, and the shape and size of the window is the perfect location to hide the antenna from view in my room. Certain things regularly interfere with its reception such as aircraft flying by, seasonal changes, and even large flocks of birds. In the winter it gets kind of bad, but usually takes a good 15 minutes of fiddling around with it to bring most stations in. For some reason, I have trouble picking up the ABC stations from either market, I can usually get the NBC stations from both markets, the CBS, FOX and The CW from my home market, the PBS stations from both PLUS the PBS stations from a third, further away market. For some reason, and I haven't figured out why yet, I have to rescan the stations about three or four times a year. For instance, sometimes out of nowhere the FOX stations in my scanned list stops coming in at all, but if i press the numbers in manually from the remote, they come in just fine. then trying to bring them in from the list fails again. All I have to do is rescan for stations, and it's fixed again, usually for a few months. A scan usually brings in around 40-45 stations, and after I eliminate the stations that I'll never watch, I have about thirty viable stations to watch from the two markets. The two sets of PBS stations closest to me have identical programming, so one of them could go, but depending on weather conditions I could have one set not willing to come in so i keep them both around, not like it hurts anything having both of them there. The third set of PBS stations is still in my home state, but it's the furthest from me and it has completely different programming, so I keep it around. Out of those 30 or so channels, at any given time I can get about 25 to come in clearly. As far as my antenna being amplified, I highly doubt it. It has to be plugged into a 100v wall outlet, and turning it off also eliminates every single station and prevents the TV from broadcasting anything at all. In fact, I have a small lamp on that dresser, and every time I turn it on, I lose FOX and The CW. As far as I know, the rest of the stations remain unaffected. I think that's about it. I think that antenna probably cost me around $20 or $25 at Best Buy, probably around 10 years ago.

[@ericinla65]

BEEN USING OTA since June 13, 2009. The start of Digital OTA. We have over 100 Digital/HD channels available using my basic roof antenna. Also using my OTA TiVo with 3TB of space with a Lifetime Subscription.

[@dennisanderson3895]

Some decades ago, working at Radio Shack - I had an elderly couple couple who needed to replace their antenna come in, prodded by the advertised one in the home flyer. In qualifying the customer, I quickly realized that, for their conditions and geography, the advertised item would not provide the results they desired. I explained this, and why, and explained why another model is what they the really needed. They wanted to talk about it, so I helped a couple other customers. When I got back to them the wife told me, "Well, that's a little more than we wanted to spend. But you've always been honest with us, so we'll trust you." My *proudest* moment in sales. (B/c, yes, they were delighted with the model I recommended.)

[@classic287]

You can explain something to some people til you're blue, and they still don't get it. People seem to make up things to fit their situation 🤣

[@johnecker4217]

You are correct sir! 100%

[@comicdude1996]

Honestly, I wish he would stop repeating hd antennas in every video. People are lazy even if you suggest it in the video. People are going to not see some of your videos. That is how youtube works. Not everyone has watch every video.

[@randystegemann9990]

That explains a lot in politics.

[@John-1984]

I'm glad I found this video. I live in an single story apartment that shares 5 other units and my landlord told me that I could have a TV antenna, but it couldn't be above the gutter line. According to the FCC's website, thats not true. Looks like I'll be having a talk with her with the rules in hand. Thanks for the video and providing the website.

[@davecc0000]

"HD Antenna". You may want to use the phrase "marketing hype" to describe why companies use that term. I think everyone relates to marketing hype because we've been bombarded with it from every angle for decades.

[@patrickmartin4996]

My brother in law tried an outdoor antenna years ago and said it never worked. I have no idea what type of antenna he used and he said he never used an amp. I told him several times to try again as in the old days we only had 3 analog stations ABC, CBS, & FOX. Now we have ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, FOX, MYTV, and others adding up to 26 free OTA channels, including METV, Comet, Get TV, Grit, Antenna TV, and COZI to name a few. But I have been unable to get him to try again. He has Dish and pays the $12 a month extra for locals. Except for ION & Univision, the rest are available OTA here.

[@TheHandOfGovernment]

With all these riots and chaos these days I’m glad we can get back to the real issue. Antenna reception.

[@07GoldWinger]

2 comments: (1) I live for my Tablo. I love it! I schedule recordings of all kinds of shows 24 hours a day, download them to my PC once a week, and spend a few hours ripping the commercials off and them populate my Plex for years of TV show content to come. (2) I’d love for you to do a video on mounting external antennas. I have one on a 10 foot pole but would benefit from a higher eve mount I suspect.

[@villumschroeder1255]

He's done one already

[@unclefester6033]

I recently bought a Winegard antenna & they have stamped all over the box HD antenna, Digital, 4k ready. the design of this model dates back into the mid 70's just cut down to high vhf & uhf!

[@genesky61]

Truth and Quality , Practical and Useful Information. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yes the Quality Antenna Sellers use the Buzz Words because that's what the Humans Respond To. ------ Humans do not respond to the Truth. ------ Here is Truth. Antennas are sized for reception of channels. UHF Band Tv Channels 14 thru 36. after the FCC Repack. ------ VHF High Band Tv Channels 7 thru 13. ------ VHF Low Band Tv Channels 2 thru 6. ------ This type and kind of Truth makes the Humans Very ill and they throw up.

[@mikegriggs2291]

For anyone struggling to get an antenna up and working, and with a smidgen of gadget intelligence, look into Locast, an app that gives you all the local OTA channels for free on PC, Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Android in about 30 or so Markets. Even if you don't live in one, you can fool your location with a VPN. This is especially useful if all your local channels don't come in so well. I use both. My antenna gets most of the local channels well enough, but a few that I like that are weak. I get on the Locast app. It's also great for watching sports in other cities that you don't get in your locality.

[@techstormster]

Hello fellow Pennsylvanian. It`s good to see such quality content coming from someone relatively local. I hope your video can inspire people to stand up to their tyrannical HOA if they have one.

[@GokuMcDuck]

Scranton?

[@techstormster]

@@GokuMcDuck I've never actually been to Scranton. The farthest east I've ever been in PA was Clearfield.

[@sidharthchand8072]

Using binder clips on your antenna Systematically placed all around actually helps the reception I know because it’s worked for me, I’m talking about the flatscreen screen antennas

[@MrCashoos]

I'm from Mexico and I once worked for a call center that gave customers service for Comcast latin/spanish speaking suscriptors and what I noticed that seemed very strange to me was that they offered very VERY basic cable packages that mostly included air TV channels. I didn't understood why anyone would want to pay for channels that could be easly picked with an antenna, after all here in Mexico people pay for cable to escape from the poor vairety and quality of air TV being that even the most basic cable package here incluedes more channels at almost the same cost of those barebones Comcast packages. Now I undertand why. It's simply inconceivable to me that some people think you can't install WHATEVER you want on the roof of your own house specially for something as trivial as a air TV antenna just because some made up home owners associaton says so.

[@curtisdingus9868]

The picture quality is great for OTA tv I was amazed will be 3 years in February since I cut the cord. I have used the homeworx box since 2017 works well has a few quirks only drawback the remote interferes with my sound bar. KEEP UP THEY GREAT VIDEOS.

[@genesky61]

Truth and Quality , Practical and Useful Information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- www.epvision.com , has advanced external Tuner/Recorders.

[@LaskyLabs]

I bought a TV from a resale shop years ago for like $30 It had a feature where you could plug in a usb stick and record TV to it. It's one of the smaller digital televisions I have, while it's not great for gaming, works fine for TV.

[@bubbapate5740]

I live in central Texas and have a HD outside antenna hooked to all the same ones I have my Directv hooked to. The reason during sever weather like tornadoes we get here, the dish system loses signal and the over HD signal is still there. Same for wen we lived in the mountains of Nevada. Heavy snow storms no dish signal but the HD signal was still there.

[@louf7178]

Only antenna people _might_ find it funny: I often use my computer to listen to TV to save electricity - this is an antenna sore spot. But the funny part - in college, a friend/colleague said for his radio receiver he would put it in the room's indoor tree decoration. Later, I was like "That's brilliant...completely versatile, virtually completely hidden, and get this, GOOD RECEPTION! Sometimes, now, I hide FM or whichever antennas behind curtains, Roman-type blinds, etc... especially with these, it puts the antenna at the window.

[@AspectStudio]

I'd love to know which type(s) of antennas will work well in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Thanks a lot for the great info and video. I'm now a subscriber.

[@AntennaMan]

I now offer antenna recommendations for a small fee at the link below. One from me can prevent you from spending hundreds of dollars and time wasted on setting up the wrong antenna for your area. antennamanpa.com/antenna-recommendations.html

[@goofyahhslimjackson1942]

I live in the hills outside cave creek AZ and have a huge old antenna on the roof. Get all the channels from Phoenix including the Tru crime network with great ID shows

[@jefferyburns7893]

I got an antenna YOU recommended to me and I got less channels then I get with the cheap flat antenna. I got the one u suggested off antenna direct for my in door setup. I’m disabled I can’t put an outdoor one up or afford to get it put up. You got me into cutting the cord but it seems like for most people just the cheap flat ones if u put it on a window works as well as the “better” more expensive ones like the one u recommended

[@AlGoYoSu]

Did you look at a signal map before choosing your antenna? I had one of those cheap Amazon antennas somehow claiming 60 mile range before discovering this KZbin channel. I could not get NBC at all no matter what I did with that piece of Chinese made junk. I ended up learning that I needed a directional antenna pointed SW where the closest NBC transmitter is in relation to where I live. Ended up mounting the Televes Dinova Boss (chose based on his review and my needs) in my attic pointing towards the gable end vent which fortunately faces SW. Tested it before mounting in the attic, and the antenna was able to pick up NBC from the 2nd floor hallway as long as it was pointing in the right direction. Pointing my new antenna in a different direction in both locations caused NBC to cut out which makes sense. You just need to figure out what channels you want to pick up, where they are transmitting from, and what antenna can pick them up for you.

[@AntennaMan]

There could be several reasons for this - mainly you usually have to fine tune each antenna you get to find the best spot for it. I'm not sure what you're referring to about the antenna I "recommend." There's no one antenna I recommend for everyone. Unless you signed up for my antenna recommendation service I have no way to give you an accurate antenna recommendation.

[@jefferyburns7893]

@@AntennaMan I signed up for a specific antenna recommendation sir. In the end I’ve come to the conclusion I’m probably in what would be a good service area but I ended up getting no better or worse reception from the one I got from the recommendation compared to the cheap flat ones. Maybe if I could get an outdoor one I could get better but because of my physical situation it’s not possible for me here.

[@fatlarry1184]

When cable first came out my sons cursed me out for not subscribing. I told them TV and radio are "free". They moved out. I'm still on antenna ..they're paying. Still the best way to get the kids to move😁.

[@MagnumForce51]

Definitely agree with you on those junk antennas you tend to find at Wal-Mart or Amazon. I live about 40 miles from the city where all my stations are based and now that things are on ATSC standard I have to have the antenna in the attic to get most of the channels. It's gotten harder to get channels after the analog to digital transition but I was able to do it without using one of those silly "HD" antennas. My parents may have gotten one of those junk ones at some point and they definitely didn't really work. As I recall about 10 or so years ago I got an antenna intended for an RV (at least I think that was what it was originally for. It's been so long I forgot. :P ), removed the amp (unneeded for the cable length and contrary to what some might think slapping an amp onto something doesn't instantly mean better signal quality. :P ) and wired them into a gutted coax adapter and plopped it up in the attic. It did a great job of getting all the channels I wanted for my PC which I have an ATSC TV Tuner installed. I did this mainly because it was cheap and I couldn't afford a proper setup so I figured I'd have better luck modifying a cheaper solution to fit my needs. Though now that I've switched to the other bedroom now that my mom is taking care of my sister's 3 year old son, I have to use a longer cable route to get it connected. I ended up having to also move the antenna a little bit further back in the attic though I think the elevation hasn't changed. I think it's just the added cable length that caused a few channels to drop out on me. I wonder if a proper antenna might bring those channels back. It seems like I don't need to go as far as an outdoor one and can probably get away with having it in the attic still. I may try at some point to reduce the cable length as I think that's the main reason I lost a couple channels. I still think the cable length is too short to use an amp. I think I'll lose more trying to add one of those things in my setup. I think those are meant more for outdoor antennas that tend to me mounted outside have have pretty long cable lengths and splitters to multiple devices an what not. Right now the antenna goes directly to my PC with no splitters to any other devices. (my mom now mainly uses internet services for video entertainment. Though for some reason still has a DirectTV subscription. I guess she uses it. I personally haven't watched much TV either since I've moved on to stuff like KZbin and streaming. Though I still like to maintain an antenna. It's a good backup if the internet goes down or something I want to watch is only available on OTA TV. (like certain sporting events). There's still some things I want to keep to using the good ol TV Tuner for rather then streaming it. On a related note it's a shame that Microsoft pulled support for TV guide data in Windows Media Center. I used that as my DVR/TV program for watching TV on my PC. Now it no longer is updated. I wonder if there is any way to restore that without resorting to third party apps or maybe just give up on Windows Media Center and move on to something else to handle my TV Tuner...

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

The transition from analog broadcast to digital broadcast is the best thing to happen to TV since the color picture. When it comes to antennas, nothing has changed. Antennas are nothing more than a piece of metal, bare or covered in plastic, meant to pick up the radio frequencies from the local broadcast towers, which include those crystal-clear channels and subchannels (your local stations).

[@Justin-Hill-1987]

You can get these channels via an antenna in these three countries: * United States: ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, PBS, Ion, Univision, Telemundo, Azteca America * Canada: Global, Citytv, CBC TV, Ici Radio-Canada Tele, CTV, CTV Two, Knowledge Network, TVOntario, TeleQuebec, TFO, TVA, Noovo * Mexico: Canal 5, Las Estrellas, Foro TV, Nu9ve, Azteca 1, Azteca 7, ADN 40, a+, Imagen TV, Excelsior TV, Multimedios/Canal 6, Milenio TV, Teleritmo, MVStv, Canal Once, Canal Catorce, Canal 22, tv-unam, Ingenio TV, Canal del Congreso

[@joeberning4007]

God bless you Antenna Man!

[@cashonly6117]

Well by using the indoor antennas in every room the max is 4 to 6 channels. I got one on top of the house and still only about 8 channels that are crappy reception. Yes, rural area.

[@msthalamus2172]

Issue I've always run into with antennae is that everything is fine until it rains. Seattle is a tough place to live with that caveat! :)

[@user-yg4kj2mf1p]

Which is why "normal" people pay for cable tbh. They want to get TV day and night, even if it's raining or windy, and if the signal quality is bad it's someone else's responsibility to solve.

[@msthalamus2172]

@@user-yg4kj2mf1p Yeah, although I think anymore the amount people spend on cable can be used to pay for streaming services and buying videos on platforms like Vudu to better effect. This is what I've done for years and I've never looked back.

[@dingo137]

Thats odd - I've never noticed rain affect reception. And I live in England, so if rain stopped people watching TV we wouldn't have any TV.

[@user-yg4kj2mf1p]

@@dingo137 You correctly used the word "affect" in that sentence, instead of "effect". That's against the KZbin terms of service.

[@msthalamus2172]

@@dingo137 UK IIRC uses DVB-T? The US uses ATSC. It could be that ATSC is more prone to interference, or that the geography of where I live weakens the signal enough that it becomes more easily disrupted.

[@griffinfreeman6384]

Hey Tyler- I have been watching your channel for a few weeks. and I love this cord-cutting stuff. Thanks! Also you should, make a video on the Locast streaming service. I want to know what you think of it as it’s over the air TV but just over-the internet.

[@catholiccontriversy]

When I moved out I took the rabbit ears my grandpa had on his bedroom TV that were probably close to 20 years old, and my parents were surprised that the old antenna could be used in 2018 on my 4K tv.

[@AntennaMan]

Yup that's because an antenna is an antenna. It doesn't matter if the standard is analog or digital it will pick it up

[@kiwistraw159]

Antennas Direct has a pretty good locator tool for finding stations/channels on their website. AntennaWeb only reports a fraction of the channels I get.

[@AntennaMan]

Yes, I no longer recommend antennaweb.or gas the main website to analyze reception.

[@filipstefanovski2077]

Great video keep it up, however there are rare times when you get no channels i tried many antennas and it didnt work

[@SuperRetroid]

Cable TV is *extremely* rare in the UK and just about every house has an antenna on the chimney. It's just how it's always been in Britain so it's a slight surprise antennas seem much rarer in the US. I use a £1.50 (~$2) antenna I bought a few years ago in a discount store with my BT YouView set-top box and that has full DVR & internet catch-up (so long as I have the ethernet plugged in) with HD channels. Another advantage with this box is that it has RGB Scart as well as HDMI so I can watch on either my Trinitron or HD TV.

[@chilicheesejay]

I bought an old RCA rabbit ears antenna from an antique store for $3 and it works light years better than 90% of these newer indoor antennas.

[@awizardalso]

We dropped cable TV about 20 years ago and went to Dish Network, I dropped that when they bumped my favorite channels up to the next tier in January 2016. I haven't missed TV ever since. All the shows I like are found on KZbin. Our large screen TV is only connected to a DVD device, and I have about 100 DVD's.

[@genesky61]

Truth and Quality , Practical and Useful Information. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tyler will recommend a antenna and reception situation that is the Truth. He charges a small fee for the service.

[@JRobert111111]

As for picture quality, I can honestly say that DirecTV has come a long ways for better picture quality. Years ago I had a Hughes HR10-250 DirecTV TiVo (very expensive). It had a built in OTA tuner along with the DirecTV channels. When comparing the picture quality between DTV and OTA on paused frames, on a Mitsubishi 1080p 65" TV, there was a big improvement with the OTA broadcast. Presently I run a THR-22 DirecTV TiVo and a TiVo Bolt OTA with a 65" Panasonic plasma TV. The TV's picture quality is excellent, easy on my eyes, and no gimmicks as used with LCD sets with their LED back lighting. Currently, the picture quality on paused frames is pretty much identical, which says a lot about the improvements over the years DirecTV has made. Although more money, I still prefer TiVo DVRs with a large capacity hard drive far much over the small boxes with thumb drives and cloud based gadgets. I do use a real "old fashioned" yagi antenna as you picture at times on your video mounted on the roof, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Great video and information though, keep up the great work!

[@Vlad2319]

My best antenna was a 'back-hoe' in the side yard and old copper co-ax cable tied to a bolt. The area we were in, while the middle of the city, was pretty bad as far as reception because of hills and trees. Got better reception than the other side of the duplex and it was fairly solid during a bad storm that blew through (a tornado touched down on the highway approximately 10 miles from my location that was head straight for my location.)

[@TechnoboxOG]

Idk why but I find something soo cool in having a massive antenna in your attic

[@makkel2525]

Same

[@danpete6623]

Was looking up atsc 3 converter boxes and atsc 3 antennas come up now

[@jonpatterson7211]

I think the biggest reason people try an antenna then keep their cable/satellite service is because they have favorite channels that they just can't get using an antenna. If it weren't for my wife's love of HGTV and Lifetime, I'd have dropped streaming years ago. I use an antenna that I built and get 50+ channels reliably in my area. Trouble is, by the time you subtract duplicate channels, channels that you wouldn't watch anyway (Telemundo for example), or channels that are strong enough to register on a scan but too weak to give a reliable picture, you're down to about 40 or so. Still plenty to watch if you're into TV. The old black and white shows, especially westerns, are great fun. Hey, it's not a re-run if you aint seen it.

[@Laura-6887]

HGTV and lifetime you should be able to stream them on the Internet. You may have to pay something like five or six dollars but it be worth it instead of the having the cable

[@jonpatterson7211]

@@Laura-6887 Actually, that's what we do Laura. We have an internet/streaming package from our local provider. It's not too pricey, but it's irritating when you look at the channel lineup on the streaming side and realize we're paying about $40 a month to watch a handful of channels that I can't get over the air. I like your idea better, but we can't "buy" individual channels, we have to buy a block. Have a great day!

[@vistaredgt]

Maybe a video on how the different materials an antenna is made of affects the reception, ex stainless steel vs aluminum vs fiberglass vs copper.....

[@johnecker4217]

I can tell you one thing if you use fiberglass you won't get anything! It's an electrical current through the air, so just like electricity going through a wire the best conductors are Platinum, Gold, Cooper, Aluminum.......then steel

[@douglascalhoun6471]

Good information, too many people think that they have to pay to get the networks. You are helping to change that.

[@erlicthemad]

My HOA has a restriction of antenna being no more than 4 feet above the roofline. All of our stations are about 30 miles away.

[@jsurfinreverbchristmassurf3560]

Never had cable. Best rabbit ears are on my 30.plus year old zenith. Use them in parallel with new TV. I recommend do not use antenna amp. They can overload your front end transistors in the RF circuit which ultimately desensitizes your receiver. Used antennas decades before the zenith. Agree with you about the HD nonsense.

[@johnecker4217]

Listen to Tyler "The Antenna Man" he speaks the truth! I live in South Jersey and had to do a lot of research on antennas because I have 2 stations on the low band vhf (ch 2 & 6) which I couldn't pick up with those little antennas. I just bought a yagi style "Winegard ya7000c" which has the long elements (100 inches) to pick up the low band vhf signal. I'm going to put it up tomorrow outside about 30 ft I'll let you know how it works 🤪 [just for kicks I set it up last night inside my porch and without any pre amps I got 54 channels] I live 40 miles away from the broadcast towers which are located in Roxborough Pa. PS- The Antenna Man is correct, you haven't seen real HDTV UNTIL YOU SEE IT WITH AN ANTENNA!👍🙃🙂👍

[@mhagnemae5202]

We live 20 miles east of the same tower array. We have the small RCA yogi and get 69 channels. Even ABC comes in sometimes. We’ll probably get a CM larger yagi to round out the major stations. Loving not having a cable bill 😋

[@Juliaflo]

I use a digital converter box that has dvr capacity; I use an external hard drive, and am able to store a multitude of programs.

[@squirmingcoil7889]

I live at least 30 miles from any major cities and mounted my recycled antenna from the 80s about ten feet above my center roof line and get between two and three hundred channels. Antennaweb is useless.

[@noscrubbubblez6515]

Different TV's have different signal sensitivity; My SONY55 needs antenna adjustments daily- My LG 75 uses the same indoor rabbit ears placement since I removed it from the shipping carton. But it is the worst time of year here (west coast) for reception.

[@Juliaflo]

Kudos and plaudits with your most informative videos. In many cases, they help me save money. Keep up the good work, stay safe, and may God go with you.

[@Smarttube01]

Hey antenna man, i know i'm very late to this video, but i use internet tv at home. I live in the netherlands and i pay 55 euro's a month for internet and tv for alot of channels. You see, i have 1 local regioal tv channels broadcasting over-the-air in my area. However some people in some areas have 2 regional channels. I received 2 regional channels in utrecht, but i don't live there. There are 4 channels over-the-air in my area but i do have an antenna, dtv box, and an extra tv. Wich works great and i see that antenna tv is better quality, but i'd rather watch more channels.

[@TheTowertime]

Howdy Brother just a suggestion might want to start the video with cutting the cat5 cord instead of the cable that you can use for connecting an antenna. Thanks for all the great info on antennas. Stay Blessed

[@mhagnemae5202]

We cut the cord 2 years ago. We will never go back!

[@jacoblang2906]

My dad spent $2200 on a new tower and antenna ..when I told him what I pick up with the indoor flat ..and even brought it to him and hooked it up ..worked just as good. For 20 bucks

[@michaelgrant5697]

You commented that TV stations now broadcast a digital signal, often in HD (Time 8:24). This sounds like a contradiction and will confuse some people. It would have been helpful if at some point in you explanation you would have explained the difference a carrier wave and how it's modulated. ...a small point, but, otherwise, I love your videos. N9RKX

[@billbyrne1136]

A lot of shady television installers made a killing telling people they had to replace their current antenna if they wanted to get the new digital signal being broadcast. True, a digital signal is less forgiving than an analog one to receive.

[@greenacresfan768]

Buy all the antennae you want. I have two pieces of thin wire about 8 inches long in an L configuration, mounted on a 1x4 and pick up all Knoxville channels with very little problem

[@tbkulavik]

We have a city ordinance that states our antenna cannot be 12 feet above our roofline without a permit. I got mine mounted to the eve of my roof about 50 feet high and receive every channel possible from both the Chicago and South Bend market.

[@AntennaMan]

That's reasonable - the city ordinance.

[@genesky61]

Truth and Quality , Practical and Useful Information. The 12 feet is above the highest part of roof line. Read it in the , www.fcc.gov/over-air-reception-devices-rule. This is a reasonable rule because it takes into account that many Humans will install a antenna 500 feet above the roof without properly securing the installation so it does not fall over. The FCC rules do every thing possible to make it possible for the Humans to receive broadcast transmissions and also transmit as required by services such as and not limited to wireless internet. However the FCC is also mindful that many Humans on all sides of issues are completely stupid. Am I favorably impressed with the general population of Humans?? No I Am Not.

[@hokusman100]

I use a Clearstream TV wifi antenna receiver and Plex to DVR broadcast TV

[@vinyl_guy..]

I cut the Cord several months ago don’t miss cable!

[@bretlinden8248]

Your beginning video shows scissors cutting a coax cable. If you cancel your sat or cable subscription, you can save money and time by reusing that same length of coax. Don't cut it, save it!

[@AntennaMan]

Very true!

[@Buglet720]

Thank you for addressing antennaweb. This was what prevented me from considering an antenna.

[@genesky61]

Truth and Quality , Practical and Useful Information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Find Tv Transmitters. ------ www.rabbitears.info ------ www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps . Also known as FCC reception maps. ------ www.otadtv.com , reception information.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

"Digital antenna" or "HD antenna" (HD includes 4K) is almost as dopey as one brand like GE charging more money for "component video" coaxial cable sets that are the same exact length and quality of product as stereo/composite video cable sets other than 2 of the 3 colors of the ends, just _because_ of the 2 different colors (green and blue instead of white and yellow)! It drives me INSANE that they think we should be that stupid!

[@abrundag]

In the middle of your piece about there being no such thing as a "digital tv antenna" an ad came up for what they said was a HD antenna

[@comozo924]

"Range" is another buzzword that people buy into.

[@patrickmartin4996]

Add to that the terrible junk ads. People buy into that and when the junky antenna does not work, they feel none will work. I like my Antenna Direct 91XG. 6 feet long and a ton UHF elements. I live in an area where we only have UHF translators. No VHF here.

[@thomasvlaskampiii6850]

As someone that works at a local TV station, I will say that "range" or as we call it in the industry, the "coverage area" is a real thing. However, it's wildly overstated. I've seen some antennas on Wish stating a range of 20,000 miles. That means I'd be able to pick up literally ANY TV station that is within the frequency range of that antenna on the planet! That's literally impossible. For a wide variety of reasons

[@patrickmartin4996]

@@thomasvlaskampiii6850 Those ads are garbage. Trying to pick up a DTV station regularly deals with the curvature of the earth. 50-60 miles is probably more believable. Maybe in the flat Midwest it might go out farther, but that would an exception to get perfectly clear DTV with no drop outs at 80+ miles. 20,000 miles? What are they shooting for, Outer space? Even the other side of the World sits at 10,000 or so miles.

[@ApostKef]

In Greece, it is the norm to have antenna.. the picture quality is very crisp!! (since 2012, when the transition to dvb -t took place )

[@michaelhord]

i get great reception with my antenna. the amazon fire recast relies on wifi to send the signal to the other tv. Im going to try a wifi extender to stop the frequent pausing on the upstairs tv.

[@Machi74005]

It's ironic that the picture of the antenna you showed past the mid point of this video you downplay yet that is an antenna you recommended over a year ago which I purchased and works far better than I even expected it to.

[@AntennaMan]

I wasn't downplaying it. Just staring it doesn't work the best for weak signal areas like any small directional antenna.

[@AntennaMan]

I'm glad it works for you though. Thanks for watching my videos 🙂

[@genesky61]

Truth and Quality , Practical and Useful Information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tyler is not downplaying the antenna. He is driving home a truthful point that he he drives home , over and over and over and over and over again and only 20 Humans on the planet get the truthful point. The Humans , a real head shaker. Like Tyler , I am not the smartest Human on the planet , but come on !!!!!! This is not directed at you Machi74005. It is directed to what is happening on this planet.

[@Bluethunderboom]

Speaking of Outdoor Antenna, will home-made copper pipe outdoor antenna for the TVs will pick up strong and get a clear signal without a loss of signal, or a vintage outdoor antenna will work flawless? I know I still happen to have a vintage Japanese Made VHF bunny-ear indoor antenna and UHF bowtie antenna with the twin lead for the TVs really works fine that I got it for between 25¢ to $1, hook them up to my DTV Converter Box, works really well.

[@stevejohnson1321]

Ha, the "broadcast TV surcharge" for my cable region just went to $12.90. That's for channels (fewer) than I can get from the rooftop -- every single month. Of course that's over-and-above other TV charges and taxes You also can't option-out of local tier and just get the premiums. Screw cable.

[@Jacarroll417]

Funny enough I use one of those junk Flat antenna's and pick up 30-40 stations. Though I got lucky and found the "Spot" in the house where reception seems to be good.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Which possession of an antenna were you trying to refer to/ And why are you thinking that "flat" and "spot" are brands, and that "spot" even needs quotes around it? Just curious. Maybe you can help me understand.

[@HelloKittyFanMan.]

Hahaha, @! Of course, right? 😁

[@jmad627]

I live in a rather flat area and I have a simple leaf antenna for $25. It works great.

[@NY411Info]

Wait a minute Tyler, My foam square mouse pad said in the enclosed booklet that it could be used as an antenna as well as a mouse pad at the same time. It was specifically made to pick up all signals of any wavelengths, including outer space blips of RF energy. Are you telling me this was all lies ?? It was $300.00 for this thing. "SIGH".

[@PaperBanjo64]

In the fall months I get somewhat poor signals from my NBC affiliate.

[@Moe69u]

Here's one that puzzles me. Setup: HD TV and an indoor amplified uhf/vhf $20 antenna (works great). I pick up everything perfectly except ch 11 and 15. I can pick up 15 but to pick up ch 11, I have to move the antenna 1" one way and visa versa. Antenna is in the upper most window facing the broadcast antenna to the north about 4 miles away. Lots of tall buildings around too. No big deal but it is puzzling how 1 inch can make a difference with HD broadcasts.

[@Moe69u]

And the wind blowing... forget about it.... can't pickup crap.

[@AntennaMan]

Yes, it's all about location when you are using an indoor antenna since TV signals don't travel well through building material. If the wind blowing affects your signal you'll need an attic or outdoor setup.

[@damianjez4336]

After listening to so much about false claims of antenna range (150 miles) and quality (4K HD!), I have reason to believe that the flashy promises on the wifi repeater are outlandish and predicated only under ideal conditions :/

[@ClassicGuy57]

Same here. Sounded a little far fetched. But remember, those people are sponsoring Tyler. I believe the only reason he’s doing is to get money to invest in his channel. I would like to see a video on that WiFi Repeater. Tyler, could you do a video on that WiFi Repeater?

[@damianjez4336]

@@ClassicGuy57 I totally get it. I hope Tyler makes money because he did put in some work to his channel. No argument there. But I would like to see people truly stand behind the product that has earned their seal of approval to a point where they will recommend it to their followers, who often times gained the youtuber's respect.

[@lakorai2]

Wifi repeaters suck ass. You are repeating a weak signal. Look in to MoCA 2.5 and installing ethernet. Use access points, such as the Ubuquti and Engenius systems witha ethernet backhaul. If you absolutely cannot run MoCA, Powerline G.hn or ethernet then consider getting a mesh wifi network with a dedicated bakhaul channel.

[@suelynch]

I live in Australia. Australia has been transmitting in Air Digital for over 10 years. I bought a PVR over 10 years ago and I am still using that PVR to this day. It records in HD and I get every channel available at 97% to 100% signal strength 24/7. (Note: If you live near a building site cranes and other heavy equipment will interfere with a digital signal if line of site of transmitters). We also have digital radio stations for those who have portable digital radios which our TV's pickup as well. All up I have 32 TV channels plus around 32 duplicate. I also have numerous radio stations (not sure how many they keep adding new ones all the time and I haven't bothered to rescan channels for a while) My antenna is about the same size as a standard computer keyboard in length/width and height. Aussies were hip to the scams about set top boxes, SDTV and HDTV scam. The HD antenna scam only worked absolute morons. The property managers tried to claim that TV antenna's were not their responsibility as they were not part of the building, they changed their tune pretty quickly when 12 out of 18 refused to pay rent until the problem was fixed. 12 people share a single antenna perched on the roof 8 metres high and the other 6 share another.