Indoor antenna advice?
 

Since getting this TV from my grandfather and restoring back to full working condition, I am saddened that I get ONE channel.. Just one channel, and the garbage on it is pretty sad. I need something better than this, but my budget is limited. aka, basically nothing more than $10, so I got this 7 dollar antenna at Best Buy, and still only got one channel.. And barely.

This just isn't entertainment:
https://i.imgur.com/KRZsuXC.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/2rJwp9M.jpg

Soi need advice, what kind of antenna should I get indoors that works with ATSC broadcasts? Amplified even? This TV has an ATSC tuner built in, and has a decent standard def picture on it, but I'd like to pull in something more than just WMOR. Maybe ABC, CBS, NBC, the regulars would be nice.

I've never seen any good indoor antenna. I've tried many and have been disappointed. An outdoor antenna, with a mast amplifier, even mounted in an attic is the only sure way to receive ATSC acceptably. I receive 20 channels including some not on cable.

My grandparents won't allow an outside antenna. They have cable but won't let me get a box.

Unless you are in a fringe or deep fringe area for Orlando TV stations (which I doubt, as Google says Oviedo is only 15 miles from Orlando), you should get every station in that area using only an indoor antenna. I just looked at TV Guide's web site and, after inputting your zip code, found a very long list of stations serving the Orlando area. In addition to all of your area's locals, there were a bunch of independent stations listed, so you should be getting much more than just one channel, even with an indoor antenna.

Have you tried moving the antenna around the room to find the strongest signal? This is important, since DTV signals are nowhere near as strong as analog TV signals were. There will be areas, even within a room, where the signal will be weaker or stronger than in others; in fact, there will even be dead spots, as this is the nature of DTV.

The only other suggestions I can give you, aside from using an amplified indoor TV antenna, are to put up an outdoor antenna or to get basic cable. However, given your living situation and your limited budget, you may be limited to using amplified rabbit ears (for want of a better term), as I suggested above.

[QUOTE=Jeffhs;3205538]Unless you are in a fringe or deep fringe area for Orlando TV stations (which I doubt, as Google says Oviedo is only 15 miles from Orlando), you should get every station in that area using only an indoor antenna. I just looked at TV Guide's web site and, after inputting your zip code, found a very long list of stations serving the Orlando area. In addition to all of your area's locals, there were a bunch of independent stations listed, so you should be getting much more than just one channel, even with an indoor antenna.

Have you tried moving the antenna around the room to find the strongest signal? This is important, since DTV signals are nowhere near as strong as analog TV signals were. There will be areas, even within a room, where the signal will be weaker or stronger than in others; in fact, there will even be dead spots, as this is the nature of DTV.

The only other suggestions I can give you, aside from using an amplified indoor TV antenna, are to put up an outdoor antenna or to get basic cable. However, given your living situation and your limited budget, you may be limited to using amplified rabbit ears (for want of a better term), as I suggested above.

Edit: I looked up your area on CityData.com and found that Oviedo is at least 90 miles from Tampa, not Orlando, as I said in my post; therefore, you are in a fringe area for Tampa-St. Pete TV.

I just read two new replies to your post and now realize why you aren't using an outdoor TV antenna (it's your grandparents' house, so what they say goes), but I can't imagine why your grandparents will not allow you to get a cable box. If you are willing to pay for the extra connection, there should be no reason at all why they should forbid you to have a box.

I'm in New Port Richey now not Oviedo sadly.

My grandparents are for a lack of a better term, illogical.

The larger issue today is the hash created by switch-mode power supplies in various devices, cheap LED bulbs, cheap CFLs, etc

Circa 1946-1947 and well into the 1960s, the noise level was substantially lower and you could get reasonable reception at fairly substantial distances with little more than a pair of rabbit ears.

Hell, we have a cousin who lived in Charlevoix, Michigan in the northern lower (he was a captain on a lake freighter). He could routinely pick up the Detroit stations with a massive outdoor antenna and fairly simple mast mounted preamp. We're talking 200+ miles as the crow flies. Those days are over.

Get your antenna high, away from any other electronic devices, and pray to the TV gods for reasonable reception.

Here is a TV Fool report for your rough location:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...90382629a15fd6

You should be able to pick up at least two to five stations with little trouble.

Hmm ok I'll have to try and relocate some things. I'm getting WMOR but none of the other ones. I wonder if an amount would help as well. Currently the TV is sitting next to my desktop computer but it does have a well designed PSU and the case is grounded as well.

Another way around this problem is to use an Internet TV device, such as one of the Roku players. This box is about the size of a hockey puck, and connects to your computer and TV, allowing you to watch live TV over the Internet without an antenna. You will see all of your local TV stations in crystal-clear HD on your RCA "SDTV", which sounds like a good set, if old by technological standards. Apps are available which will allow you to stream all four major TV networks and PBS, as well as most other major cable channels, including ESPN, the NFL Network, et al. I've used a Roku device on my own flat-screen TV for some time now, and am enjoying it very much. Internet TV is not at the mercy of atmospherics or other issues which can mutilate or destroy regular OTA TV reception. Since I "cut the cord" almost two years ago and am now watching TV over the Internet, I am enjoying TV more than ever before. I'm sure you will too, once you get everything working.

Indoor antennas are rarely suitable for reception of digital terrestrial television. This is due to the fact that the digital signal has a high data rate, and any reflections from buildings, walls, appliances or even people (especially if they are in motion) will interfere with the desired signal. If you set gets a corrupted stream, you will get no picture or sound (in analog TV, your picture could be a mess of ghosting, picture rolling, snow, or all of the above, but you could manipulate your antenna to improve reception).
With digital, you're working blind until you happen to get a signal to lock.
If your residence has aluminum, brick, or stucco siding (the equivalent of steel because a metal mesh holds the stucco in place), your indoor antenna will need to be in the attic (but not a metal roof) or in a window facing your local transmitters (which are often NOT in the city of license). You can use a distribution amplifier to run cables through the basement and back through the ceiling to all the other sets.

It goes without saying, use an outdoor antenna if you can.

Punch your address in at tvfool.com and you'll get accurate info of what antenna you need to receive which channels in your area.

I'm very partial to the old 1960's-1980's UHF bowtie antennas for UHF...I have one that I desoldered the original 300-ohm twin lead from and attached a 300 to 75ohm balun with the shortest leads practical...That antenna has outshined every modern indoor offering I've compared it to.

If you can get a DTV box with a signal meter (like most Zenith boxes) it will make optimizing your setup a lot easier.

The OP said he cannot use an outdoor TV antenna because his grandparents, for whatever reason, will not allow it.

As to DTV reception using indoor antennas, it is possible if you are within a reasonable distance of the TV stations you wish to receive. My own situation is a case in point. I am 40+ miles from the Cleveland TV stations' towers; however, I can get all but two channels, using an amplified indoor antenna. (An outdoor antenna is out of the question as I live in an apartment building, FCC regulations allowing such antennas be darned.) The reason I cannot receive the two stations is because their signals are transmitted over VHF frequencies (channels 8 and ten), which for whatever reason simply do not reach my area. The other stations are on UHF channels and do reach here just fine, using an indoor amplified antenna. Since one of the channels I don't get on the indoor antenna also carries MeTV (one of my favorite DTV subchannels) and is the CBS affiliate for northeastern Ohio, while the other is a FOX affiliate and also carries Antenna TV, I don't use my indoor amplified DTV antenna, preferring instead to use a Roku Internet device which gets every one of my area's local TV stations. This device gives me an excellent picture on my 32" flat-screen TV, and there are no antenna problems since, with the Roku, the antenna is not needed; moreover, as I mentioned in another post, apps are available to stream the major TV networks and PBS, as well as many if not most cable networks. This is why I suggested to the OP that he should try a Roku (or other) streaming device and forget about using an antenna. Many people today are doing just that (a national phenomenon known as "cord cutting"), and not looking back. I did, over two years ago, and have never regretted it.

Let me make this clear.

Adding more signal amplification when digital TV reception is affected by multipath will not improve your reception if the signal is convoluted by multipath.

An American who has never studied Mandarin will not understand anyone speaking Mandarin, no matter how loud his speech is amplified, and adding amplification to a signal affected by multipath is as futile as the truck driver who thinks he can drive his 13'6" truck under a 11' overpass, if he carefully slows down while driving under it.

What the OP needs to do is get the indoor antenna away from the TV set and into a window, if it all possible, the window that faces the local television transmitters.

We are assuming though multipath IS the problem, and I honestly don't know. This TV's ATSC tuner doesn't show signal strength. I have one in a bin in the car that does and may need to use it.

https://i.imgur.com/7QeuPa5.jpg

The TV is North of my bed where I'm sitting, so the window there is East. There is a window south as well behind me.

The only reason I haven't chosen to use my Roku which I do have next to the TV unhooked right now, is I have no subscription to anything. I'd be stuck using Crackle and YouTube basically, no Netflix. Can't afford it. And as far as I know, using the local station apps require me to have some kind of account with the ISP? My grandparents won't provide me any credentials, they honestly don't know it. It's a lost hope with them, I'm lucky to have wifi right now.

This is the TV fool for the exact address I am currently at: https://i.imgur.com/KQCIzFn.png

You can see the cheap antenna I'm currently using and where it's currently located.