[…]moved to Los Angeles and have amassed a collection of different types of indoor antennas. I figured it was time to re-test my TV antennas to make sure I’m still recommending the best ones. After all, what worked well in Providence might not work well in Los Angeles, right? The Antennas So, here’s what I’m calling the “great antenna shootout”. I’ve taken a representative selection of different types of indoor TV antennas and tested them in my condo. These are the ones I tested: These represent some of the most popular types of antennas from some of the leading antenna […]
[…]blocking the signals, like a mountain. Go to the antenna section to find out more. If you don’t have access to your roof (i.e., you live in an apartment), I would suggest using the Mohu Leaf antenna. It’s thin and easy to hide indoors. It’s what I use. Here are some more tips on getting better TV reception and more channels. If you’re not getting any channels at all, check out the link below: One thing I want to stress: the difference in the number of channels you can get with different indoor antennas is pretty small. If one antenna can get five channels, you are not […]
[…]mode and go do something else for 30 minutes (or you can stay and watch the progress). When it’s done, step through all of the channels using your remote, and write down all of the channels it found. Pick a channel that is coming in intermittently and adjust the antenna until it comes in consistently. Re-check your other channels to make sure they are still OK. Then do a re-scan to see if you TV can find more channels. If so, record them. Repeat steps 2-3 a few times (until you don’t get any new channels). At the end, you […]
[…]soon as I turned it off, all my stations came back… thank you again. How about this one: We figured it out… The ‘new appliance’ was the new motorized recliner! Unplugged, the channels come in fine. How ’bout that?!? Here’s a video from Channel Master demonstrating a particular LED lightbulb interfering with TV reception: If you have a lot of electronic equipment near your TV, it might be helpful to use a longer cord for your antenna to move it away and even into a different room to isolate it from interference from the equipment. Wi-Fi routers can be especially […]
[…]are, some of your TVs will get worse reception than others due to the location in your home. So, don’t go out and buy a whole bunch of antennas. Just get one, and confirm that it works with all of your TVs before getting an antenna for each TV. I recommend the Mohu Leaf. Method #2: One Antenna with Tablo or Other DVR Tablo is a whole-home DVR (digital video recorder) that works with your broadcast TV antenna. Plug your antenna in, and watch live and recorded TV on any TV in your home that is connected to a streaming […]
[…]another position, the lower channels would be good, but the upper ones would be bad. If you’ve done your own antenna experiments, you know what I’m talking about. I was getting desperate, even considering an outdoor antenna, when I tried something crazy: putting the antenna on the inside of my front door. This gave a tremendous improvement in reception! My front door is further out than my windows, so it has a more direct line of sight to the transmitters. Plus, it’s solid wood with no metal, unlike my double-paned windows with metal screens. The lesson from this is to go […]
[…]you didn’t get any green channels, and just got yellow or orange ones, you probably need an outdoor antenna (in your roof or attic), possibly with an amplifier. Skip ahead to my recommended outdoor antennas. If you didn’t get any channels at all, or just got orange ones, you are probably too far away from the transmitter towers to get good reception. Try some of these streaming TV services. An Even Better Resource Online antenna guides are great, but it’s impossible for them to be 100% accurate given the variables of location, antenna type, antenna height, local obstructions, local interference, and so […]
Here is a way to see if you can receive digital broadcast TV signals. You can do this even if you don’t have an antenna and don’t want to buy one right now. Note this is just a test, not a permanent set up! Before you start, type in your zip code into the Station Finder to see what channels are available in your area. If you got green or yellow channels, you can proceed. If you got only red channels or none, there are no broadcast TV signals in your area, and you won’t be able to use an antenna to […]
[…]radio (because that will work even if the power goes out). Cable and Internet Infrastructure is Vulnerable Cable and Internet service can be pretty flaky, even when there isn’t a disaster happening. How often does your Internet go down even when everything is normal? During a natural disaster such as a severe storm, earthquake, or flood, the Internet infrastructure is that much more vulnerable. All it takes is for the cable or optic fiber to be cut somewhere along the way to your home for you to lose Internet access. Telephone/internet poles go down all of the time during large storms. […]
[…]necessary in some situations such as with very weak signals or long cable runs, in many cases they don’t significantly help reception and can even hurt your reception. Here are a few situations to determine whether or not an amplified TV antenna is right for you: If You Have Strong TV Signals (a few miles from transmitters)… When I lived in Providence, RI, I had a mixture of very strong signals from just a few miles away along with some weak ones. In my testing there, the amplified antennas I tested got me FEWER channels than my un-amplified Mohu Leaf! […]
