UPDATE: Installed in the attic finally! I’m getting 90-100% reception on most of the local channels where with a cheap inside antenna I was getting 50-60%. I’m setting up my Plex DVR system now in addition to that. For those that don’t use Plex, you are definitely missing out. What a great program.
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i am in the mtns of wnc chattanooga is closest ot channels i have ota 15 ft up in the are on the hill behind my house and i get 14 channels
in a weather emergency i would go to my ham radio kn4uty there i have the weather channels and things like the hurricane net
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What is the farthest station u get? In miles.
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I currently have it pointed to our local new stations in Youngstown, but if I point it towards Cleveland (50+ miles), I can get some channels up there also.
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i am 60 miles away from chattanooga
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to give you an idea on 2 meter radio i can talk 125 towards the west but east i am good for less than 30 its all due to line of sight with hills and mtns and whats between you and the transmitter antenna
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Had 1 of those, works real well but could not pull in towers located 68 miles away thru the trees. Gave it to my MIL.
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Also add a TABLO to your tv antenna and you have an awesome guide EPG and a way to record anything.
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I just moved to Kingsport (Tri-city area) Lovin’ it so far. Live out in the country on the side of a hill/mountain.
here i run a walmart 45 dollar antenna up on a 15 ft mast pointed towards chattanooga 65 miles away
i get 22 channels on it i ran the coax to where the old dish wiring was and installed it there so it was wired within the house dish uses a sspilter in their wiring replace this with a new one
i struggled mightly till i did this something about their splitter wouldnt let ota signal thru
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Here is my OTA setup:
- Channelmaster EXTREMEtenna 80 & Antennas Direct ClearStream 4MAX
- Televes 2-Input TForce Mast Amplifier with BOSS-Tech and “F” Power Supply Unit
- HAUPPAUGE WinTV-DualHD Dual USB 2.0 HD TV Tuner for Windows PC
- Plex Media Server app
- Windows 10 Media Server (my old gaming rig)
I run this setup through Plex to get LiveTV. I can record as well (which I don’t use too often), and the recorded file goes into my media server hard drive. I also am not huge on having the picture pause and roll (trying to load), which it does occasionally with a lot of channels that aren’t 100% strength. Is it worth upgrading the Tuner I have currently to a SiliconDust HDHomeRun Flex 4K ATSC 3.0 NextGen TV (I can currently access 3 next-gen channels)? Could it be the USB based tuner limiting the quality? Should I consider not going through Plex? Would I be able to do that if I switched to the HD Homerun box?
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Really cool setup AMD237.I started dabbling back in the ota department earlier this year.Bought this amazing antenna as we live in a pretty fringe area.Lots of mountains as well.
It works great get between 50-60 channels depending on weather conditions.I do have a rotator hooked up as we get channels from 3 different dmas.
I really went overboard with this new hobby lol…Bought a Tablo 4th gen works great,can watch on any tv in the home and 120hrs of recording.Then I decided I wanted to try the Sling Tv Airy2,I bought it second handed on the cheap.It works well although the way they do the guide isn’t as user friendly.The one bonus of it is that you can watch your local channels when traveling.
Finally I just couldn’t give in to the urge to try a Zapperbox,it’s not cheap,but I gotta say it’s my favorite of the lot.ATSC 3.0 tuner with DRM,so when those pesky broadcasters lock the channel down you will have the key so to speak.It has a very sensitive tuner holds signals better than the other devices,also a very handy signal meter to fine tune those channels.
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I went a little overboard as well lol…that’s why I was asking where you all thought my weakest link was. I have 2 really good antennas pointing in two directions, so wanted to make the most out of the investment.
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One thing I forgot to ask.Does the silicon dust unlock drm encrypted channels?
I have 2 dual hdhr tuners which are the older version but they still work great. The hdhr tuners will play most antwhere on your lan even without a server. Sadly Tivimate does not natively grab the tuner channels however Sparkle does as well as a few others. The tuners just need an antenna attached and hooked via ethernet to your lan. Emby can see the channels and drags them in with epg(im sure plex does too). Now days I use a mini server(n100 mini pc) to run docker and most of my setup is contanerized…very simple.
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Just want to say I’m a believer in ota and that’s why 15 years ago I put a channel master antenna on my roof and also got a channel master dvr for it (that still works). To those without one, I’d recommend an antenna whether indoor or outdoor as a backup. If the internet goes down, poof! If mine goes down, I just switch my tv input to the antenna and now I have my locals and lots of other channels to watch (for free) and many in beautiful HD quality. A lot of classic channels were first on the antenna - like Grit, Getv, Antenna tv, Cozi, etc. which are all now streaming of course, and that’s great because long before I had to switch to my antenna input to watch them! Back then my main source of tv watching was DirecTV… lol
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Since day 1 that I started cord cutting, I have always believed in having as many backups for everything as possible. Things like verifed apps and OTA systems are just about 100% fail safe, where unverified apps could go any time. I also have a ChannelMaster antenna in my attic. I know if I wake up to none of my IPTV working, I still will have my OTA/local channels.
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Sure wish we could get OTA channels here, but way to far from any signal.
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