digital antenna warren county area
Is anyone using a digital antenna in warren county? I wanted to know the kinds that are out there and if they are any good. Also how many channels can be picked up? I would so love to ditch Comcast for my mother but there is no way a firestick, etc could be utilized by her due to low vision. She struggles with a regular remote but she manages.
Nutcracker Depending where you are, your not going to get much. If you want NYC channels you more or less need line of sight. Line of sight for most of us means the antenna needs to be pretty high up. What type of antenna were you considering? What part of the area?
OP Washington. I think even high up maybe the line of sight may not be good. I remember she didn't have much luck with a dish probably for the same reason. I was just looking at the different types.
You might be able to get Philly stations in Washington, but your going to need a sizeable antenna properly installed. Comcast does have a basic deal for seniors.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Winegard-Omni-Directional-Outdoor-HD-UHF-VHF-TV-Antenna/1001846698
https://www.antennaweb.org/
Use this site to tell you what channels you will receive = with what antenna, what direction, etc..
Josh i put up a antenna about 4 years ago and still use it.i get about 35 channels. its pointed in a south direction towards philadelphia.im about i mile west of hackettstown.got it on amazon for about 60 dollars.it was a winegrard hd 7694p.
zeak Doesn't look like much will come in allamuchy according to the above website. But each location is different and totally worth trying.
ItiswhatitisBefore Comcast (Storer) came to this area (Stone Age), we all had an antenna on our roof, usually with a motor that we could rotate from a box on top of the TV. You could aim it east to NY or west towards Phillie. We got all the basic channels. Why wouldn't an antenna still work?
Lonesome Dove For digital TV reception - you get either a good picture or no picture at all. If you are away from the signal source you do not receive any picture.
OnTheEdge Don't forget years ago we weren't blocked by massive trees. They were either not there or seedlings.
BobK If you have internet
Better to use the locast.org ap on roku and firetv
Has all the local subchannels for $5 a month
In regards to the Comcast basic deal for seniors, they won't let her do it. It's for new customers. I said then cancel it and I'll sign her back up. They said she can't do that either. You would think that they would want to keep customers who have been with them for 30+ years instead of just giving new customers good deals.
Ain't nothing free it's a pay to play world .If you lived close enough to NYC to get a clean digital signal rent or property taxes would be astronomical compared to Warren County . Our moms do so much for us while growing up - just cancel that cable then renew it under your name and pay it for her . That's what I would do anyway .
97XBAM I'm pretty sure that they would be on to that one too, 97XBAM. I'm on almost all of her bills already because I have to speak for her. I have been going around and around with Comcast about this for 2 years nearly and I'm about to call it quits. She doesn't want all these useless channels. So even if I could somehow screw them over and re-sign up under my name, I wouldn't be able to get the senior rate at my age and I'm also not a new customer so I still wouldn't get any kind of deal. I just don't understand why it has to be this way or why they charge a broadcast fee that just jumped up to $15.30 along with the regional sports fee that went up to $10.75 That's $26.05 tacked onto the already high ass bill.
While I'm never one to side with Comcast or any cable company...part of the problem with cable bills is on the content side. All of these channels (including broadcast ones) charge cable companies a fee to carry their channel. And Comcast passes that right along to us. Until enough people cut the cord, that's not going to change. Even then content providers will be happy to just charge you directly (i.e. CBS all access) for their content and cut out the middleman. And said middleman will probably start putting in data caps...if you know what I mean.
Digital antennas don't really do anything more than regular antennas. It's the TV itself that will decode the signal for digital channels. That being said, when I use an antenna I get 4 stations out of PA that are mostly PBS stations. Not the NYC or Philly metro networks though.
+++ from https://justplaintv.com/digital-antennas/
Digital antennas are simply TV antennas that pull in digital channels. However, the term is a bit of a misnomer. All antennas (whether they claim to be digital or not) can receive digital channels. It is simply a matter of what is being broadcast near your location.
moderateMike I use a bowtie antenna that came with a set of rabbit ears I bought 40 years ago. I use it inside through glass window pointed toward Scranton. We get ABC (16), CBS (22), NBC (28), PBS (44), FOX (56), and a dozen side channels.
Dr.Pipes You must be high.... up that is ;-)
I had to raise it really high, couldn’t get nyc, couldn’t get scranton, just phili and that was with rotator and lots of amplification. Weather damage made cable a no brainer, especially after lightning drilled a pinhole through all the gizmos. Just couldn’t keep climbing up there.
Strangerdanger A good guy to watch for guidance on antennas is the "Antenna man" on Youtube. He's based in the Allentown area, which ironically is where cable started. He has antenna reviews and how to select antennas. Of course being down in the valley, it depends on where you're at as far as what you may be able to pick up. You can go to:
https://www.antennaweb.org/
to try to calculate what you can be expected to receive, but it isn't always completely accurate, since there's no accounting for local issues that may work against you or in your favor.
Here's the antenna man's channel. He also has info on the new ATSC3.0 TV Standard that is supposed to be in the process of being phased in soon:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCySjheRcVJ21B3Jo3HcWMTQ
Phil D. Nutcracker
Happy to help! During my college days, I used to "DX" for distant TV Stations in my spare time. It's something like the way Ham Operators try to receive Stations from as far as possible, as well as rarely heard stations, except I was trying to receive TV stations. From Western PA I was able to pick up stations from PA, New York State, Ohio, West Virginia, and even Michigan in the case of one UHF station. Digital Stations bring their own challenges, since they're an "all or nothing" deal, for the most part.
Things to think about:
The higher your location the better
The higher your antenna the better
If you can mount it outside or possibly inside in an attic, the better
Having an antenna rotator is also better
If you live in a valley, look on the Google (or other) maps with terrain enabled. See which direction the mountain ranges trend and which cities are in direct line with your valley. Use local landmarks shown on the map to set a direction close to where you need it to aim it towards those cities or the transmitting towers' locations as shown on the antennaweb.org map.
The towers are often likely not located in the city itself (well NYC has tall buildings, so many of theirs are in the city itself), but are usually on an adjacent hilltop after being relayed there, often by dedicated microwave link.
Once you make the general aim, then use the signal strength app or whatever you TV has that's similar to fine tune your aim.
Best of luck all. Makes me want to see what I can do at my place. While we're not allowed to mount external antennas here, I'm now curious to see what I can get if I try!
The funny thing is, the "old" regular TV antennas may still work to pick up digital signals as well. It's all radio waves, just transmitted with a different signal. As long as you still have one up, that's in good shape and the connections are all clean, it's worth a try.
I always wondered if a local town that has a high location,like Schooleys Mt, could receive the NY/PA TV stations with a high antenna and then rebroadcast as a repeater it to the local residents down in the valleys. Financed through tax dollars and shared services of some sort. A not for profit service to the community. Probably all kinds of laws about that.
Wal I live on the mountain. Few years ago I put the most expensive antenna from Amazon on the roof. I got 0.0 channels.
Phil D.
Curious why you can't mount an external antenna. Watching the Antenna Man he states that restricting that is illegal for something like an HOA to do. So you may be able to fight it if thats your issue
MakoMiller1984 MakoMiller1984
It's in my Townhome leasing contract with Victoria Village. I only rent, and don't "own" it, so no "HOA".
Sacks cousin
It depends on what side of the mountain you're on, or if you're on the top of the mountain. It also depends on whether or not that mountain is higher than the surrounding peaks as well as if you have the antenna pointed in the correct compass bearing to the stations that "should" be visible to you. Then you have to perform a scan with the TV itself first before you can pick up any stations in many cases.
My Uncle lived on the backbone of the Alleghenies in PA years ago and was able to get Pittsburgh from inside his house with amazing clarity using only a homebrew UHF antenna that stood no more than 18" high. It's all about location, elevation and line of sight with no competing signals interfering.
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