View Single Post
Old 1-Aug-2013, 5:51 PM   #1
sm237
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 9
Noob OTA Progressing Good So Far, But Here's a Few Questions

Hi… I’m another cable cutter “noob” with a few questions.

We cut the cable, and while we’re enjoying the usual streaming media products, we miss some local, live stations. I ran the TV Fool report and we’re apx 30 miles from the nearest transmitters and are in hilly terrain. To make matters worse, our house has aluminum siding. A local installer familiar with our area said he could do an installation (rooftop with rotor and amplification) for $300-$400, but he didn’t know if we would have any reception, considering our location. I’m not at all familiar with what would be a fair cost, but I wanted a little more assurance that it would work before I shelled out the $.

I decided to try a cheap (very cheap) attic-mounted antenna by myself to see if we could pick up anything at all before going any further. I mounted it high in the attic and aimed through the roof, missing the aluminum siding. The antenna is a $39 GE 34792 attic antenna from Wally World. I assembled it, and carried a TV up there (it’s a walk-up attic) to check it out. To my surprise, not only did I receive the few local channels that we wanted (in apparently very high def), we received a total of 22 digital channels. Nice!

Here are some questions: 1) I used the compass on my phone to set the antenna to the general direction of the transmitters (from TV Fool report). Is it true that with digital, I will get the picture, or will not get it at all? So I assume there is no need for “fiddling”? 2) We only have two TV’s to connect downstairs, so is a one-into-two splitter all I need, and is this one sufficient (Lowes – IDEAL Zinc 2-Way Coax Video Cable Splitter 5MHz – 2.3GHz)? 3) Is running two coax cables down from the attic from a splitter placed near the antenna a good idea? 4) Should I wait and see the results before buying any “pre-amplifiers” or “DA’s”. 5) Would it be better to run one coax down and split it closer to the TV’s?

Suggestions, comments, tips, criticism, heckling (yeah… I’m cheap!) are welcome!! Thank you very much!

My TVFR: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...46ae447bc10451

Last edited by sm237; 1-Aug-2013 at 7:14 PM. Reason: Add TV Fool Report
sm237 is offline   Reply With Quote