OTA Antenna Reception

[olbriar]

I found out yesterday that CBS will be airing the Super Bowl in 4K. After a quick look I find that my provider, DTV, will have a special channel for the 4K broadcast. I then made certain that I was ready for the big game in 4K and I'm not.
It seems it will take an upgrade to my current equipment and possibly an upgrade of my subscription to receive the special broadcast and all 4K content they host. I'm not interested in upgrading my plan or equipment at an additional expense to see what little 4K they have. Besides, if I upgraded the equipment, my wife would lose the million BS shows she has recorded. Happy wife... happy life! I'm not upgrading!!
As an alternative 4K source I'm considering a cheap inside TV antenna for over the air reception. I find there are many such antennas to be had and realize their ability to receive signals have so many variables that it's impossible to claim one is better than another. I thought I'd ask anyway if someone has an inside OTA antenna that they like. I will check out Walmart and Target today and have time to order one from Amazon. I thought a local purchase would be best for an easy return option if it doesn't do the job.

 

[AugieTN]

Inside my house I still use the OTA antenna I have in my attic, and the channels come in fine. Just don't believe any OTA TV antenna that says it can pick up stations 200 miles away. As I recall it's not possible with the curvature of the earth.

 

[olbriar]

I just need the networks and local jazz. I'm not going to the expense or the trouble to mount an antenna in my attic. It's simply not worth the effort. What I'm looking at are modern age rabbit ear sort of antennas. I don't know how well they work but they claim to do the job for the 40-60 mile range transmissions. I need twenty to forty for my broadcasts.

 

[kate]

Does your TV and local broadcast stations support 4K OTA?

Even if you have a 4K TV it needs an ATSC 3.0 turner to receive 4k OTA signals and most TVs have an older ATSC 1.0 tuner which is for 720p and 1080i. Your local station also has to broadcast in ATSC 3.0, and right now not many do.

 

[olbriar]

Does your TV and local broadcast stations support 4K OTA?

Even if you have a 4K TV it needs an ATSC 3.0 turner to receive 4k OTA signals and most TVs have an older ATSC 1.0 tuner which is for 720p and 1080i. Your local station also has to broadcast in ATSC 3.0, and right now not many do.

I bought a new TV in September that is 4K capable so I'm good. My local CBS station is supposed to broadcast the Super Bowl in 4K and this afternoon I bought an over the air antenna. I should be set for max viewing of the big game. I get a great signal from all five CBS related channels.

When I scanned for channels the new antenna found 30 OTA stations and 114 stations streamed on the internet. Most of what was added is nothing to brag on. It will be something to watch when the weather is so bad that I have no dish reception.

 

[Dannydet]

I use this with no issues

Amazon.com

 

[olbriar]

That is the very antenna I was going to order if the local purchase didn't do the job. I don't remember now if it was CNet or someone else recommended it. It would have saved me fifteen bucks.

 

[Clementine_3]

I have tried a few over years and none have worked for me, I'm just in a bad reception area and nothing comes in well. The only way might be an antenna in the attic or on the roof - not gonna happen. Oh well, I'll stick with a few streamers because I don't watch that much TV anyway.

 

[olbriar]

I have tried a few over years and none have worked for me, I'm just in a bad reception area and nothing comes in well. The only way might be an antenna in the attic or on the roof - not gonna happen. Oh well, I'll stick with a few streamers because I don't watch that much TV anyway.

Baseball season is around the corner Clem. Where are you getting the package this year?

 

[Clementine_3]

I'm assuming MLB is still going to offer their package. I hope.

 

[olbriar]

I'm assuming MLB is still going to offer their package. I hope.

I just started thinking about this summer. I will try to find somewhere that I can watch all the games and the Royals not be blacked out. It's not like they will see much if any air time otherwise.

 

[Clementine_3]

I live in NY so 99% of Boston's games are available to me, no blackouts except for the Mets and Yankees (which I'd like to see). It's the only/best option for me really.
Go Sox!

 

[olbriar]

When I had the package through DTV they showed all of the games and there was no blackout for the Royals. Before DTV I had a cable provider that had Bally regional sports with all of the Royal games. Blackout are observed by MLB but I hope a streamed service with a package option won't observe the blackout area for the Royals. I can't believe they have such a huge area wrapped up and no fans.

 

[Clementine_3]

When I had the now defunct NHL package I couldn't watch the NJ Devils games because MSG network and blackouts. I don't care about the NY teams but, since I don't live in NJ I would've liked to have been able to watch the Devils games. I do watch a lot of hockey on Hulu but still no NJ games. Stupid blackouts! Don't tell my son but I actually mostly watch the Leafs, that makes him crazy lol

 

[olbriar]

I live over three hours from Kauffman stadium. Then factor the time needed to actually get into the game is another thirty to forty five minutes. I understand the blackout area in principal but being forced to sit in the stands vs paying to see a team on TV you want to follow seems negative for both the franchise and the fan. Blackout areas made far more sense when most sports were free to watch on TV. (not free but commercial sponsored) Now it seems we are forced to subscribe to see our sports. Why are we denied following our teams?

 

[AugieTN]

I heard something about ESPN breaking away from Disney and being a separate pay per view, but I wasn't paying enough attention when they were talking about it on the radio. All these new PPV options are going to be the end of sports. All these sports think of one thing, making more money, they could care less about the fans

 

[olbriar]

It's an ugly upward spiral of increased prices for sports. The stadiums, the athletes, the coaching staffs and owners all want more money. That demand has to be satisfied by the fans. The expense will eventually break the trend and could bring the industry to it's knees. It can't continue to escalate. As consumers are financially eliminated from participating, the cost falls on fewer pocket that must pay more to feed the industry.

 

[AugieTN]

I glanced at the TV and saw they were talking about the separate ESPN sports package again, but I didn't get the details on it since it was at the end of the conversation.

Don't know if it's coming soon or they are only talking about it as a trial balloon to see what the public reaction is.

 

[AugieTN]

I have a hard time believing this works

 

[Dannydet]

Yeah, right. A couple of small batteries connected to a wire coat hanger will magically pull in UHF/VHF signals!
20 minutes of garbage video.

 

[nickdalzell]

I think a lot of those life hacks were fake. I remember one where someone somehow got a half dozen watch coin-cell batteries by 'unwrapping' a AA battery. It didn't take long to find out that all you get for your trouble is a nasty mess of fluid and a stain in your countertop.