Question Why TV antennas are still popular?

[stefs12]

I have dtv and Cable provider with satellite receiver.
https://www.cafago.com/en/p-v5192.h...5&tagtag_uid=caa5ab9e675c8cfc4086af0669f12aa5
https://www.cafago.com/en/p-v1236.html
Now, i have a question, if i buy hd antennas, do i get something? Do this allow me to have all channels without cable provider? But, when i try to scan fr chanels without receiver, i get nothing.
Thanks..

 

[LTC8K6]

I get quite a few channels with an antenna. Useful if the cable or Sat quit working.
I have the antenna connected to a smaller TV.

I sometimes use the antenna and the cable at the same time to watch two different sports events.

If there is bad weather expected, I will often leave the smaller TV tuned to a weather broadcast.

I think there are web sites that will tell you what channels are broadcasting in your area.

 

[Ken g6]

I think there are web sites that will tell you what channels are broadcasting in your area.

Yep. Here's one: https://www.rabbitears.info/tvq.php

 

[BurnItDwn]

Cable and Satellite cost money.
Channels from antenna are $0.

 

[bbhaag]

My wife and I have never had a cable or dish subscription just OTA channels using an antenna and Netflix plus Prime video to supplement.
We recently purchased a new home so I purchased an RCA Compact Attic Antenna and it works wonderful. So much better than those leaf antennas.

The cool thing is after I mounted it in the attic I punched a hole out the side of the house and ran the coax cable from the antenna down to where the existing coax comes into the house. Once I hooked it up there was no more need for each tv to have its own antenna. Now it's just a coax cable from the tv to the wall plate. It's awesome and the reception on all 4 tvs is perfect.

Anyway, to answer your question OP. The reason we have an antenna is because we never saw the need to pay for tv especially considering how much it costs a year and an antenna for OTA channels is a must if you want good reception.

 

[whm1974]

My wife and I have never had a cable or dish subscription just OTA channels using an antenna and Netflix plus Prime video to supplement.
We recently purchased a new home so I purchased an RCA Compact Attic Antenna and it works wonderful. So much better than those leaf antennas.

The cool thing is after I mounted it in the attic I punched a hole out the side of the house and ran the coax cable from the antenna down to where the existing coax comes into the house. Once I hooked it up there was no more need for each tv to have its own antenna. Now it's just a coax cable from the tv to the wall plate. It's awesome and the reception on all 4 tvs is perfect.

Anyway, to answer your question OP. The reason we have an antenna is because we never saw the need to pay for tv especially considering how much it costs a year and an antenna for OTA channels is a must if you want good reception.

With the cost of Cable and DirectTV, which I can't blame people for only using watching OVA. I myself just stream video from onlne and watch that.

 

[killster1]

was this question to help boost visits to the website selling things? of course the reason people have them are free channels and channels not offered always by your provider. I purchased the same RCA yagi antenna over a year ago and have not hooked it up yet i just plug it in ? no special power box or coax power booster bla bla bla? i plugged it into a plasma pioneer tv and it picked up a total of zero channels (but the antenna was hooked up indoors ontop of a server rack with wifi going) also i fear that when i get channels i will turn the TV on for no reason other than to see whats on and end up watching something i dont even want to watch! cable / antenna / satellite free for 13+ years now.

 

[Indus]

I with my antenna get 78 channels.. About 15 of them are HD but I get ABC, CBS, NBC, WB, PIX, and a few others.

Better than paying for them.

 

[whm1974]

I with my antenna get 78 channels.. About 15 of them are HD but I get ABC, CBS, NBC, WB, PIX, and a few others.

Better than paying for them.

78 channels should be enough for anyone. With that many channels why does anyone even need cable or satellite for? Actually I don't even watch TV as I prefer to watch shows online.

 

[Ken g6]

78 channels should be enough for anyone. With that many channels why does anyone even need cable or satellite for?

They're mostly reruns, I suspect. You can't get new episodes of cable shows or premium cable shows that way.

Actually I don't even watch TV as I prefer to watch shows online.

And that's a good way to get new episodes of premium cable shows, in many cases.

 

[NutBucket]

And another added benefit: the signal you get with an antenna will be higher quality. All that stuff on cable/satellite is compressed as they have limited bandwidth. OTA has the least amount of compression.

When there's less crap on TV, you'll also find yourself spending more time doing more productive things. Well, at least I do. It's winning all around!

 

[Indus]

They're mostly reruns, I suspect. You can't get new episodes of cable shows or premium cable shows that way.

And that's a good way to get new episodes of premium cable shows, in many cases.

True but I refuse to pay for Fox News.

I can just get a subscription to HBO for Game of Thrones and Netflix.

 

[bbhaag]

was this question to help boost visits to the website selling things? of course the reason people have them are free channels and channels not offered always by your provider. I purchased the same RCA yagi antenna over a year ago and have not hooked it up yet i just plug it in ? no special power box or coax power booster bla bla bla? i plugged it into a plasma pioneer tv and it picked up a total of zero channels (but the antenna was hooked up indoors ontop of a server rack with wifi going) also i fear that when i get channels i will turn the TV on for no reason other than to see whats on and end up watching something i dont even want to watch! cable / antenna / satellite free for 13+ years now.

Ouch...sorry your experience with the yogi was not as pleasant as mine. FWIW I did just plug/screw it into the existing coax with no special power box or boosters and it works great. Perhaps your wifi and server rack was causing interference which prohibited your tv to scan for channels and get a good signal.
IMO don't give up it's a good outdoor/attic antenna for the price.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I installed a Winegard HD 9095 antenna just above our rooftop on our chimney, and I am able to occasionally pull in channels from up to 130 miles away on clear nights. This is with a channel master amplifier. I do it in part because when I was a kid, my Dad and I loved using the rotor and seeing what distant channels we could pull in. We would occasionally pull in watchable signals from up in Canada from about 200 miles away across Lake Erie. (granted, they were a bit fuzzy back in those days)

So I guess it's sort of a hobby for me, and fun getting to watch stations from cities in different areas.

 

[whm1974]

I installed a Winegard HD 9095 antenna just above our rooftop on our chimney, and I am able to occasionally pull in channels from up to 130 miles away on clear nights. This is with a channel master amplifier. I do it in part because when I was a kid, my Dad and I loved using the rotor and seeing what distant channels we could pull in. We would occasionally pull in watchable signals from up in Canada from about 200 miles away across Lake Erie. (granted, they were a bit fuzzy back in those days)

So I guess it's sort of a hobby for me, and fun getting to watch stations from cities in different areas.

I would like doing that if I did watched TV, that is.

 

[bbhaag]

I installed a Winegard HD 9095 antenna just above our rooftop on our chimney, and I am able to occasionally pull in channels from up to 130 miles away on clear nights. This is with a channel master amplifier. I do it in part because when I was a kid, my Dad and I loved using the rotor and seeing what distant channels we could pull in. We would occasionally pull in watchable signals from up in Canada from about 200 miles away across Lake Erie. (granted, they were a bit fuzzy back in those days)

So I guess it's sort of a hobby for me, and fun getting to watch stations from cities in different areas.

My father in law did something similar back in the '80's and early '90's before he switched over to cable. I've known the man for almost 17 years and he still loves telling me the story about when they lived in Ashtabula Ohio. He had a motorized antenna that would pick up channels from Cleveland and on a clear night could pick up channels from across the lake.

 

[RScottyL]

I have dtv and Cable provider with satellite receiver.
https://www.cafago.com/en/p-v5192.h...5&tagtag_uid=caa5ab9e675c8cfc4086af0669f12aa5
https://www.cafago.com/en/p-v1236.html
Now, i have a question, if i buy hd antennas, do i get something? Do this allow me to have all channels without cable provider? But, when i try to scan fr chanels without receiver, i get nothing.
Thanks..

If you buy an OTA (over the air) antenna, you will just get your local channels and nothing else! Depending on how big of an antenna you get and how far away you are from the broadcast antennas, will determine how many channels you can also pick up.

You will not get any channels you normally get on cable, such as HBO, Cartoon Network, ESPN, etc.

There are webistes like https://antennaweb.org/Address that you put in your address and antenna info and it will tell you what you should be able to pick up and what direction you need to point your antenna!

 

[killster1]

If you buy an OTA (over the air) antenna, you will just get your local channels and nothing else! Depending on how big of an antenna you get and how far away you are from the broadcast antennas, will determine how many channels you can also pick up.

You will not get any channels you normally get on cable, such as HBO, Cartoon Network, ESPN, etc.

There are webistes like https://antennaweb.org/Address that you put in your address and antenna info and it will tell you what you should be able to pick up and what direction you need to point your antenna!

So my 25$ RCA yagi gets a total of 8 channels with 3 of them being spanish.. i did get two pbs which was all i wanted but i never turn it on yet since plugging it in last week.. I tried putting it loosely on the roof and same 8 channels show. i can try pointing in different in diff directions etc or maybe i got a bum one. There are people in the country side with small window antenna that say they get 60+ channels that look very good. (i didnt see all 60 but they have more than me for sure)