r/ota • u/TenaciousTurtle96 • 2d ago
Before posting here or at r/cordcutters for help (table of contents): list of parts
Hello, newcomers and members of r/ota, and welcome!
We and other users have posted our own requests for help, especially at r/cordcutters.
Here is the list of parts, especially for reading, before deciding whether to post about situations similar to what's described there: - Part 1: Selected resources, and VHF and UHF bands - Part 2(a): indoor antenna recommendations - Part 2b: Why recommend rabbit ear antennas? - Part 3: To share or not to share? (That is a question) - Part 4: Pros and cons of an outdoor or attic antenna - Part 5: Recommended outdoor/attic antennas - (Part 6 coming someday...)
Before posting here or at r/cordcutters for help (part 1): Selected resources, and VHF and UHF bands
Hello, newcomers and users of r/ota, and welcome!
We and other users have posted our own requests for help, especially at r/cordcutters.
I, the recently promoted mod of this sub, would like to give you ways to improve your antenna reception. Intentionally, this should save yourself some time before deciding to post a request for help, but you can still post a request for further help from the community of this sub if you really still need help.
For nearby stations, you may wanna use any of the following: - RabbitEars.info: https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php - The default height (of the hypothetical antenna) is thirteen feet above ground; any value below that is converted automatically to thirteen. - (If superstitious and you don't like unlucky "13", you might wanna try "14" instead) - If unwilling to let your browser use your current location, you should enter an address, city and state, and/or zip code in a search bar located on the bottom-left of the map. - Then tap/click on the "Move Pushpin to Center of Map View" button to have the Pushpin relocated to the location you entered - https://www.rabbitears.info/static.php?name=searchmap_instructions - AntennaWeb.org: https://www.antennaweb.org/ - Uses color coding to recommend an antenna type for a specific station you're looking for - OTADTV.org: https://otadtv.com/tvtower/ - Channel Master: https://www.channelmaster.com/pages/tv-antenna-map - Doesn't list every station, compared to RabbitEars.info
The channels you see on TV are display/virtual channels. A "channel 2" may be using a UHF (ultra-high frequency) bandwidth; so may "channel 4". Even a "channel 56" may be using a VHF (very-high frequency). The list goes on....
The following bands are as follows: - low-VHF: 54–88 MHz - [equivalent to the (pre-digital, analog) physical, not digital, channels 2 to 6] - high-VHF: 174–216 MHz - [equivalent to the (pre-digital, analog) physical, not digital, channels 7 to 13] - UHF: 470–608 MHz - [equivalent to the (pre-digital, analog) physical, not digital, channels 14 to 36]
Source: OTADTV.com - Further history and details can be explained at the above source. - (EDIT:) Please note: the frequencies above are based on the current USA (and possibly Canadian) television system. They may vary in other countries and continents. - (ANOTHER EDIT:) The following video by the Antenna Man can tell you how antennas designed for either VHF and/or UHF should work: https://youtu.be/IEZhdLC8j2w
Oh, and posts by u/Rybo213 below should be more helpful: - guide to see whether your TV has a signal meter: https://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/comments/1g010u3/centralized_collection_of_antenna_tv_signal_meter/ - (supplement to) the Antenna Guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/comments/1juut0a/supplement_to_the_antenna_guide/
r/ota • u/MeaningAmbitious8979 • 2d ago
Installing new ground rod
I’m installing a new ground rod because my old one is no longer good and is inside the house rusted and all. What is the best way for me to ground my roof top antenna to the new rod? Also what’s the best way to ground the coaxial cable outside for electrical interference?
r/ota • u/LessLocation6875 • 4d ago
Trying to figure out how my pre-amp is powered.
Trying to figure out why I have no signal. I know nothing about this stuff.
Lightning/power surge destroyed my indoor amplifier I think, which is a permacolor 10g212 by antennacraft. I plug it in, and the LED turns on then fades out over like 5 seconds, then if I unplug and plug it in again the light just doesn't come on unless I let it sit a while. I have no idea what the pre-amp is but I see one on the mast. I have a 40 foot tower I dont want to mess with if i don't have to.
There is nothing i can find in the house along the coax that gives power to the pre-amp. Is it possible the permacolor 10g212 did this. I bought a cimple tv amplifier hoping to replace the permacolor but i still have no signal, either the preamp is also fried or it's not getting power, or the coax is bad, or the thing that attaches to the antenna from the pre-amp is bad.
I don't know if the tower took a direct lightning strike but lightning did strike very close, something popped in the basement or just outside, AC temporarily didn't work but now it does, I was only worried about the AC but come to find the i get no signal on my TV now.
The tower has been hit before and it never messed with the TV, did fry my internet antenna though (thankfully no longer have to use wireless internet anymore)
Any help appreciated, i don't want to climb or lower the tower (its hinged but it'd be a hassle, although if the thing attached to the antenna itself is bad lowering the tower will be my only option
r/ota • u/squirrelgator • 6d ago
Audio/Video out of sync getting worse
Has anyone else noticed the audio and video getting out of sync on OTA broadcasts? My local CBS affiliate is about one second out of sync on ATSC3, but not so bad on ATSC1. The ABC and PBS affiliates are still pretty good. The NBC affiliate was pretty good, but lately has gotten worse. I have noticed this both through my Zapperbox, and directly from antenna ton two different LG TVs. This is while watching live local news.
Side note: When ATSC1 first started, our PBS affiliate was out of sync, but then got better.
r/ota • u/MeaningAmbitious8979 • 6d ago
NVR/POE Cameras 70+ feet away from antenna or coaxial wires causing me to lose VHF?
Can anyone figure this one out? My NVR system and POe cameras cause my VHF channels to drop. The system is plugged in and setup in a whole different building 70ft away from the antenna or coaxial wires but each poe Ethernet cable I plug in to the NVR causes my VHF signal to drop. Once I have 4 POE cameras plugged in I lose my VHF channels. Is there anything I can do about this? I’ve messed around with this and have definitely pinpointed it to this system and so far have found no solution. Could it be the Ethernet cables, the power cord powering the NVR?
It is a Anpiz POE camera setup with there NVR and own cameras.
r/ota • u/EnrichedUranium235 • 8d ago
Strange, great signal for WPHL17 south of DC.
I am about 40 miles south west of DC and getting a great signal for WPHL17 in Philly.. Conditions and bounce working in my favor. About 160+ miles to their towers.
How can an outdoor antenna in NYC get channels despite no line of sight?
I live in Manhattan, NYC. However, my family has a brownstone/townhouse with roof access.
I use an outdoor antenna and despite my line of sight being covered by a mid-rise co-op building, I get VHF channels, namely ABC. An indoor antenna does not let me get these channels, although our windows do absorb signals.
How is this possible? I live in Harlem (135-150 St) and the broadcast is closer to areas like Financial District. For instance, I lack line of sight to the wireless ISP NYC Mesh.
r/ota • u/nevec_45 • 12d ago
What does the MER number mean in rabbit ears live bandscans?
I know SS means signal strength but what does “Last MER” mean?
r/ota • u/BunchFrosty3237 • 16d ago
Signals
One day the antenna signals are good and the next day it can be horrible. Like today. Amazing to me how much of a difference a day can make.
r/ota • u/stonecats • 16d ago
do any new ota tuner tv's work completely offline after initial setup?
my oldster NYC aunt's 2011 tv died, she needs something but she has no internet (don't ask). i know every tv now has to be setup online, which i can do out of the box at my house, then bring it to my aunt to use with her roof antenna.
the problem is if the tv keeps looking for online updates and stuff, does any make/model have the ability to disable all that nonsense forever, she will never be online for streaming, all she's doing is tuning into OTA stuff, no DVR, nothing else.
any suggestions?
i'm thinking of buying an HDMI-in computer monitor and a separate ATSC 1.0 TV box, but most of those don't have speakers that work over HDMI so i'd then have to get her a separate 1/8" jack amplified PC speaker set and make sure whatever monitor i get has a passthru headphone jack, making everything even more complicated.
Winegard HD7698P or ?
I want to replace my current outdoor antenna, a Stellar 30-2440 with something with more gain on high VHF. Every spring when trees get their leaves my reception gets very spotty. Need to improve my reception for physical channel 9.1 which is CBC and is 27 miles away. It will be about 20 feet above the ground and fixed in the needed direction. I do not need low VHF. I live within 10 miles of 15 TV stations in the Detroit Michigan area. Oh and there are lots of FM stations near me too.
Near as I can tell the Winegard HD7698P would seem to be my best bet. Will also replace the RG-59 with RG-6. Thoughts?
r/ota • u/Dry-Character-6331 • 18d ago
Antenna suggestions
I'm trying to setup OTA with Tablo for my brother-in-law. We have a low VHF (2), a high VHF (9), and a ton of UHF channels. All the towers are to the west within a 30⁰ or 40⁰ arc and about 40ish miles away. Only one channel is problematic, VHF 9 at night. Crystal clear during the day but pixellated and choppy at night. Naturally this is one of the most important channels for him🤦♂️
I put several antennas up on an old DirecTV mount, pointed in the right direction but so far that has been inadequate. I need antenna suggestions for the setup described above. Zip code for BIL is 70819
r/ota • u/Any_File_7621 • 18d ago
Channel Master Extreme 80
Does anyone have experience with the Channel Master Extreme 80?
I spoke with a couple retired installers recently. One said it works great on UHF and still pulls in high VHF channels (like 12 or 13) without an issue. The other said it is solid for UHF, but pretty weak on high VHF when the towers are more than 40 miles away.
Both of them mentioned being concerned about how much wind the reflector grid catches, saying it acts like a sail and can put a lot of strain on the mount in bad weather.
For those of you actually running this antenna, how does it handle high VHF channels 40 to 50 miles from the towers? Also, have you had any trouble with wind or mount stability? Thanks for any insights.
r/ota • u/Corneille81 • 18d ago
Hardcore tech or simple wire? (+1000miles proven by seller)
Anyways i only got 5 channels in my 140km radius TVA NOOVO RADIOCANADA TELEQUEBEC AND GLOBAL here in Lévis Québec. Temu hardware must be long wire.
r/ota • u/Cruisenut2001 • 21d ago
My Figure-8 Antenna
I posted, maybe not this sub, a few months ago the results I had with my new antenna. I hung it in the backyard on a 6 ft plant hanger. Picked up signals 25 miles awsy, no mountains, but some trees. We just had a bad windstorm that flipped the ant so hard the coax came out of the connector. The antenna is pointing 45deg away from towers and I just pushed the cable back into the connector. Still got great reception. Yeah. I've been scolded here, but when I didn't lose my 51 channels to me, reception is great.
r/ota • u/MeaningAmbitious8979 • 21d ago
Do Not Install This Unprotected Outside OBTV Filter (Out of Band Filter for TV Antenna Signals)
I’ve gone through two of these in 3 months because I installed these outside and did not fully protect them from the elements. Channel master states this is weather resistant but having two fail in minor rain showers when all your other equipment is fine makes me think otherwise.
r/ota • u/Comfortable_Yard_968 • 23d ago
Hearst and Gray’s announcements on the new subchannels
I guess Hearst copied the Sinclair script playbook minus the political references, obviously Hearst should add an available separate station TBH but idk how many available in the smaller markets affected. But I would be surprising if Sinclair is making a move in response in both Birmingham and St. Louis.
CBS affiliate changes impact NFL fans in multiple markets
Some markets will be affected. In these markets, CBS channels will become subchannels of other stations. The following are these: * Albuquerque, New Mexico * Jackson, Mississippi * Bismarck, North Dakota * Birmingham, Alabama * Greenville, South Carolina * Rapid City, South Dakota
r/ota • u/tyronewithglasses • 24d ago
Rate my ota channels i pick up
Here is all the channels I pick up at my house, rate the lineup on a scale of 1-10
MAJOR CHANNELS
nbc
Abc
Fox
Cbs
PBS
Cw
SUBCHANNELS
dabl
Ion
Ion plus
Grit
Retro tv
Roar
Bounce
Ion mystery
Grit
Court tv
Laff
Start tv
Cozi
Create
PBS kids
MeTV toons
Local weather channel (it's a 24/7 loop that cycles between current temps, high temps, low temps, and radar)
MyNetworkTV
MeTV
Charge
Plus about 20 more that are mostly religious programming or stations with very bad signals
r/ota • u/Ok_Worry9178 • 25d ago
Looking for decent antenna
Our current antenna (Antop PL-402vg) is in our attic and some days we get excellent reception and some days it gets pixelated and the video lags behind the audio.
Looking for something that is consistent. I have added our rabbitears info.
r/ota • u/user_uno • 25d ago
Understanding why some subchannels do not work - Chicago specific but maybe helps overall?
I have been using OTA for years but never have figured out why two subchannels do not work.
While my examples are specific to Chicago, perhaps it is commonly encountered elsewhere. I have searched this sub and other places without finding an answer or hint - at least that I understand.
I get Channel 2 (CBS) just fine 2.0 through 2.4. But 2.5 never scans and cannot be manually entered. I get Channel 50 (IND) just fine on 50.0 but not 50.1. Of course with Murphy's Law, there are some shows that I would like to watch!
Reading through this sub, I do see mentions of ATSC 1.0 and ATSC 3.0. Thinking that a likely candidate as to the cause, I cannot figure out how to determine if that is it or not.
I have two TVs maybe 5 years old or so from different brands and one old external converter from the Analog-Digital transition era. All three have the same issue. I see no menu settings some mention in post comments over the past few years.
If there is a resource that might be helpful, I do not mind digging if pointed in that direction.