Washington, NJ and Life Before Cable?
 

My report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...8d17d942c26c51

As you can see, I'm in an area where I'm not able to get many channels. Looking at this, I guess it's safe to say that I'll be beholden to Comcast and or Dish/DirecTV for the foreseeable future, right?

Just out of curiosity, how did people in my town watch shows on CBS/NBC/ABC in the 60s and 70s, before cable companies? Did these people just not watch television?

- Sung

You are not in an entirely hopeless situation, but reception of a full lineup of the major networks would require the largest antennas available. If you have trees nearby, a tower would likely be needed to put the antennas above the tree tops.

How much are you willing to spend? And how tolerant of erratic reception will you be?

Basic cable is $13 a month, so I was hoping the antenna would start paying for itself within a year. So about $150, I'd guess. Erratic reception wouldn't be the end of the world. I know it wouldn't be anything near cable, stability-wise, and that's all right.

I don't think a tower is anything I'd do, though. Top of the roof would be as high as I go, and that's about 30 ft.

I am still curious about life before cable -- what did people do in my town when all they could pick up were public access channels? How did they watch Carson, the Super Bowl, the World Series, etc.?

- Sung

Tv Antennas and Reception
 

How many Tv's will connected??

A total of three, two analog and one digital.

- Sung

An Antennas Direct XG91 is currently $69 at Amazon and Antennacraft offers their Y10713 for $46 at their web store. By the time you add a 10' mast, tripod, preamp... etc. you are at the $150 mark or a bit more.

If you are not clear of the nearby trees at 30' (your roof top) you will very likely get only those stations with positive NM figures. And erratically at that.

I've not lived in that part of the country so I can only guess... I suspect that in the old analog days, people were happy to see 'snowy' 'ghosty' TV, in part because that was all they had ever seen. Now that we have transitioned to DTV, reception is all or nothing. Here in the Seattle area, I can see the stark contrast between the quality of US DTV broadcasts and the weak analog signals from the Vancouver, BC vicinity. Even though they are weak, I can watch two or three of the Canadian stations, snow and ghosts included. I have yet to see any DTV signals from the Vancouver area because they are too weak, buried in noise.

Do you have family, friends or acquaintances in the area who are at higher elevation? It's possible to use current Home Theater PC technology in a remote controlled arrangement. Even with modest DSL speeds you could record shows and then view after downloading to your location. Products such as 'SlingBox' can offer real-time remote viewing at lower resolution on IP links running at less than broadcast rate.

You may also want to look into Free to Air Satellite services.

Tv Antennas and Reception
 

In the old analog days these Tv stations were transmitting strong signals and were easly received at your location , the transmissions were strong and very easy to receive. KYW 3 NBC Begin operation Sep. 1941 , WFIL 6 ABC Begin operation Sept. 1947 , WCAU 10 CBS Begin operation March 1948 , WPHL 17 Independent Begin operation July 1960 , WKBS 48 Independent Begin operation Sep. 1965 , WNET 13 now PBS Begin operation May 1948 , WNJT - WLTV - WNJB - New Jersey PBS April 1968.

Tv Antennas and Reception
 

For the present day reception of Digital Broadcast Tv channels I suggest a Winegard HD7084P antenna pointed somewhere between magnetic compass 206 and 252 for best reception of Tv stations of the Tv stations in those directions. I also suggest a Channel Master CM 3414 distribution amplifier.

Tv Antennas and Reception
 

Here are reliable converter boxes , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=380

Thanks for the great info. Even though I like the pretty HD pictures, the all-or-nothing nature of it really does stink. I have Comcast here, and they're doing everything they can to make you pay more for HD. I no longer get NBC or Fox in HD unless I rent a $9/month STB.

- Sung

That's exactly what I would do too. Aim the Y10-7-13 at 91° for WABC, WPIX, WNJB, and sometimes WNET. Aim the 91XG at 194° for KYW, WPHL, and WCAU. Use a 7777 preamp in the separate UHF/VHF input mode.

The key to reliable reception will be tweaking the height of the antennas to make the weakest station as strong as possible. i.e., adjust the height of the 91XG for the strongest signal on WCAU. Adjust the height of the VHF antenna for the strongest signal on WNET. If another station on the list turns out to be weaker, optimize the antenna height for that station, or work on a compromise for all stations.

If one end of the house has issues, the other end may be better. http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/siting.html