Indoor HD antenna

[OCMD]

Sick of Dish's BS getting rid of a few local channels but I conned a $50 credit out of them to buy an indoor antenna. I see many on amazon for under 50 bucks. Anyone have success with one or the other? Obviously a ton to choose from so here I am, going to the experience rather than having to buy one and return it when it doesn't work out.

 

[drewkaree]

Sick of Dish's BS getting rid of a few local channels but I conned a $50 credit out of them to buy an indoor antenna. I see many on amazon for under 50 bucks. Anyone have success with one or the other? Obviously a ton to choose from so here I am, going to the experience rather than having to buy one and return it when it doesn't work out.

Dollar amount has absolutely zero to do with quality of reception. Directional need, distance, & mounting requirements are more important to hammer out.

Some things to know for success in picking up the locals:

1 - How far away are the local channels that you're looking to pick up?
2 - Are they all in the same direction, or are you going to need a moveable antenna?

To answer 1 & 2, go here and enter your location via the link at the top of the page. Based on a simple search of Silver Spring, MD it seems like you might be just fine running a small indoor antenna, like this one here:

https://www.channelmaster.com/products/flatenna-35-indoor-tv-antenna-cm-4001hdbw

If you prefer to shop via Amazon, you can get it here for $8 more

https://www.amazon.com/channel-master-flatenna-ultra-thin-antenna/dp/b074twsqfm

I am partial to Channel Master, as I have 2 of them that are awesome performers for me. Our lake house is 50 miles from the closest antennas, and I get a better picture for football games with that thing than I used to with cable when we were at home. I also run a Channel Master at home, mounted in the attic. I can get away with something like the one I linked you to above, but I'd need one for each individual tv. I went with the attic mount because it allows me to run a distribution block with signal booster, and distribute the antenna reception to all the tv's in the house. We ditched our cable several years ago, and stream everything other than local OTA stuff that we use an antenna for. At $18-25 for a quality brand, if that type of antenna linked above is acceptable but not pulling in the stations as well as you'd like, they have an amplified version of that one for $39-49. If that doesn't work, I can point you to something better, but AntennaWeb will have you headed down the path to success as well.

 

[zipper]

We have a few. We use this old one we have had for at least 10-12 years upstairs. And has out performed others I purchased to replace it.. We have returned a few. https://www.terk.com/indoor-antennas/?sku=LOGTVAZ
We use this one for the TV in the apartment/her she shed sewing room. https://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Dir...ocphy=9003034&hvtargid=pla-323258090106&psc=1

And this one on the Beneteau. We set this on deck or in the v berth for reception and put into a locker when done watching TV. https://shakespeare-ce.com/marine/product/3015-seawatch-hdtv-antenna/ The 3015 has a range of 40 miles. The 3019 has a range of 75 miles and is 19" dia versus the 15" dia of the 3015.

They are not all indoor types.

 

[Beachbummer]

I got this in April and it has worked well..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B089G4WRC4/

 

[Bluewater272]

We installed this up in the attic, works flawlessly for football games. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DNJZ58M/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

We're about 30-40 miles from most stations.

 

[King]

www.TVFool.com has some rather cool mapping features when it comes to signal location and antenna aiming.

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

When we lived in Glen Burnie, we used them for a while to pick up the local Baltimore TV stations when we had Sling (internet TV). When we got fed up with Sling, we changed streaming services and got rid of all of the antennas except the one in basement on a dumb TV that I used to watch local football.

Being in Silver Spring you have access to good internet services, while not just get streaming packages or individual subscriptions that carry what you want to watch? Most of the streaming services are month-to-month and you can keep whatever you like for as long as you like. We are currently using YouTube TV as our base service (also has local TV) and we add Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc., for a while, watch (usually binge) the show we like then pick up something else.

Jim

 

[Beachbummer]

I have a Tablo and it works great with that good antenna I mentioned earlier. Any package for me that has locals is $25+ per month. Tablo has been a great solution for me, allowing DVR on locals at a relatively low cost.

 

[djetok]

Sick of Dish's BS getting rid of a few local channels but I conned a $50 credit out of them to buy an indoor antenna. I see many on amazon for under 50 bucks. Anyone have success with one or the other? Obviously a ton to choose from so here I am, going to the experience rather than having to buy one and return it when it doesn't work out.

I am a cable cutter. I used a indoor antennae inside my office at the front of my house. It was then connected through tablo. With tablo, we could watch OTA on all tv's connected to the internet. Tablo is connected to the router. The indoor antennae worked but would get losses of signal sometimes. I ended up with a less than 100 attic antennae, it works way better. Your situation may be different, but we love it and especially connected to the tablo with commercial skip.

Tablo QUAD OTA DVR | Over The Air (OTA) DVR | Tablo (tablotv.com) you can find it cheaper on other sites. I use the same antennae that @seanmclean posted and uses

 

[Bluewater272]

Wow, that Tablo device is pretty neat. I have a Fire TV Recast that does something similar, but its only compatible with FireTV devices. I've been considering dumping the FireTVs for something else, but distributing the antenna signal (easily) was my only hangup. Will have to look into it a little further.

 

[TimW451]

+1 on using antenna web (link provided by @drewkaree ). Once you know the kind you need, I’d buy a 2-3 of them and field test. I’m too far away from civilization for something inexpensive or uncomplicated to work. I stream everything via cable internet now.

 

[Beachbummer]

The channel changing delay on the Tablo is horrendous, but I rarely use it to watch live TV. Once you are on the channel and for recordings, the interface and responsiveness is there. Just to alert you in case you decide for one. otherwise it's hard to find fault on it. works great.

 

[djetok]

Wow, that Tablo device is pretty neat. I have a Fire TV Recast that does something similar, but its only compatible with FireTV devices. I've been considering dumping the FireTVs for something else, but distributing the antenna signal (easily) was my only hangup. Will have to look into it a little further.

It is . The one thing that you have to pay for is the channel guide service.
Tablo Premium Service Subscription
All Tablo OTA DVRs come with a free 30-Day trial of both the TV Guide Data and Premium Service subscriptions.
Once enabled in a supported Tablo app's settings screen, Tablo Premium Service makes it possible for your Tablo OTA DVR to play the majority of completed recordings without ads on our most popular apps.
After the first 30 days, you can choose to subscribe and continue enjoying Automatic Commercial Skip with Premium Service on all eligible recordings.


USA
CANADA

Monthly
$2.00 USD
$3.00 CAD
Buy Now

Annual
$20.00 USD
$30.00 CAD
We rarely watch live tv either and use it like @Beachbummer does. We love the commercial skip. For a harddrive , I used a 2 tb portable drive. I store and keep all my favorite shows.

 

[Babin Farms]

Make sure you get one that can pull in UHF & VHF.

We just put the big ol' one on the roof and it works great most of the time. Well worth it. One thing to remember with it being a digital signal is there is no more fuzzy picture, either it pulls the signal or it doesn't. Weather does play a role in this as well. Some days we get everything to come in perfect, other not so much. Sunny, cloudy rain snow, it seems to be randomly that we can't get certain channels in but we are 40-50 miles from the towers.

 

[mark_m]

Make sure you get one that can pull in UHF & VHF.

We just put the big ol' one on the roof and it works great most of the time. Well worth it. One thing to remember with it being a digital signal is there is no more fuzzy picture, either it pulls the signal or it doesn't. Weather does play a role in this as well. Some days we get everything to come in perfect, other not so much. Sunny, cloudy rain snow, it seems to be randomly that we can't get certain channels in but we are 40-50 miles from the towers.
View attachment 167036

Pair that thing up with a silicon dust hd homerun and you’re golden.

 

[OCMD]

Super responses, as expected and thanks to all. Being the cheap ass I am, I will try the $10 one @drewkaree and go from there. Especially since I got DIsh to give me a $50 credit for it since they continue to screw us over with losing local channels and more important the NBC sports channel so we can't watch the Caps anymore. (Thank the Lord for stream east, by the way. Watch any live sport for no charge, just have to kill the ads when you log on.) To answer you @Jim_in_Delaware I get that, but we went with DIsh when Direct TV went south and they couldn't be bargained with anymore for discounts after they merged with thieving AT@T. Dish has a technology with their Dish anywhere App where I could watch all my Silver Spring local channels and whatever I subscribed to (Netflix and Prime video) and most important, my DVR content whenever I am in my Florida house as well as my Ocean City house without having to get another tv provider in the 2 other locales. The kicker was the access to my DVR content in my Florida and OC homes. Just saves alot of cash having just one provider which permits access to your DVR anywhere.

 

[Julian]

Super responses, as expected and thanks to all. Being the cheap ass I am, I will try the $10 one @drewkaree and go from there. Especially since I got DIsh to give me a $50 credit for it since they continue to screw us over with losing local channels and more important the NBC sports channel so we can't watch the Caps anymore. (Thank the Lord for stream east, by the way. Watch any live sport for no charge, just have to kill the ads when you log on.) To answer you @Jim_in_Delaware I get that, but we went with DIsh when Direct TV went south and they couldn't be bargained with anymore for discounts after they merged with thieving AT@T. Dish has a technology with their Dish anywhere App where I could watch all my Silver Spring local channels and whatever I subscribed to (Netflix and Prime video) and most important, my DVR content whenever I am in my Florida house as well as my Ocean City house without having to get another tv provider in the 2 other locales. The kicker was the access to my DVR content in my Florida and OC homes. Just saves alot of cash having just one provider which permits access to your DVR anywhere.

All the streaming TV apps are now pretty much competing on similar playing fields now. Dish Anywhere sounds like YouTube TV. This article gives a pretty good comparison of the services - as you can see, many are very comparable in price and channels and features (like watch anywhere on any device).

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/best-live-tv-streaming-service-for-cord-cutters/

We use Youtube TV.

 

[mark_m]

All the streaming TV apps are now pretty much competing on similar playing fields now. Dish Anywhere sounds like YouTube TV. This article gives a pretty good comparison of the services - as you can see, many are very comparable in price and channels and features (like watch anywhere on any device).

https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/best-live-tv-streaming-service-for-cord-cutters/

We use Youtube TV.

We use Direct TV stream.

 

[Julian]

We use Direct TV stream.

What I didn't like a Direct TV stream is its lack of profiles for users (so if my daughter watches something, I cant tell where I left off), and also not being able to skip commercials in the DVR - drives me bonkers on Hulu that I can't skip them (but I'm too cheap to pay their next tier so I can!)

 

[mark_m]

What I didn't like a Direct TV stream is its lack of profiles for users (so if my daughter watches something, I cant tell where I left off), and also not being able to skip commercials in the DVR - drives me bonkers on Hulu that I can't skip them (but I'm too cheap to pay their next tier so I can!)

Gotcha. I’m considering dumping it. We really don’t watch except for sports and I wonder if there is an alternative without all the bloat. I might look at YouTube tv if the pricing is equivalent.