Converter box issues

[BlindowlsBird85]

I hope this is the right place to put this.

We live in a house, in the basement. Its surrounded by woods (7 acres of land). The person we live with did cut down a bunch of them. So we hook up the converter box, with rabbit ears, and i select to add to current channels: nothing. I can get in 64 if i stand just right. I dont get any other channels. We have the TV and rabbit ears near the sliding doors down here, but it didnt make a difference.
Id like to be able to get at least channels 14 and 48 for the kids. Do I need bigger ears? Move the tv? Ive asked my Sat. expert Dad on here heart you) and it didnt work, so Im hoping the rest of you have an answer.

 

[bruin95]

This should be in the OTA forum.

 

[ebms1]

This should be in the OTA forum.

probably you need an outdoor ant ... check antennaweb.org or tvfool.com

 

[Anole]

Rabbit ears in the basement (below ground level) is not a recipe for success.
(Unless you are within maybe 10 miles of the TV stations)
Moving the antenna near a window may help.
Putting it outside will help.
Putting a proper antenna up in the air is the right solution.

The links above will help you determine how much antenna you need, and how high to put it.

edit:
Oh, one other point worth considering . . .
...of my three converter boxes, the Dish Network brand TR-40 outperorms the Channel Master CM 7000, and a Digital Stream DTX 9900... on weak signals.

 

[BlindowlsBird85]

This should be in the OTA forum.

thnx- sorry i didnt know.

Rabbit ears in the basement (below ground level) is not a recipe for success.
(Unless you are within maybe 10 miles of the TV stations)
Moving the antenna near a window may help.
Putting it outside will help.
Putting a proper antenna up in the air is the right solution.

The links above will help you determine how much antenna you need, and how high to put it.

edit:
Oh, one other point worth considering . . .
...of my three converter boxes, the Dish Network brand TR-40 outperorms the Channel Master CM 7000, and a Digital Stream DTX 9900... on weak signals.

its an old converter box- blindowl1234 gave it to me. It was when the first boxes came out. Likely I guess ill need a new box and antenna.

 

[oldford]

Put an outside antenna up first. A new box still won't work with rabbit ears below grade.

GL, Eric

 

[dfergie]

Moved per OP Request.

 

[BlindowlsBird85]

Put an outside antenna up first. A new box still won't work with rabbit ears below grade.

GL, Eric

how do i do that (install i mean)? Im handy but not that handy. I looked on those links and got 2 different answers. mattering on which channels I want, indoor (attic) would work or i need an outdoor antenna.

 

[Anole]

Well, give us your ZIP code and what city's TV stations you want to receive.
One of us who's used AntennaWeb or TVfool can give you better advice on antenna and height.
Rabbit ears in your attic may work, or you may be so far from the city that it'd take a giant antenna 40' above your house.
We really have no idea.

Do you have access to the attic?
How many stories is your house?
Can you put an antenna on the roof?
What do the upstairs people (and neighbors) use for an antenna? (show us a picture)

 

[BlindowlsBird85]

Well, give us your ZIP code and what city's TV stations you want to receive.
One of us who's used AntennaWeb or TVfool can give you better advice on antenna and height.
Rabbit ears in your attic may work, or you may be so far from the city that it'd take a giant antenna 40' above your house.
We really have no idea.

Do you have access to the attic?
How many stories is your house?
Can you put an antenna on the roof?
What do the upstairs people (and neighbors) use for an antenna? (show us a picture)

45118, Cincinnati and/or Dayton

I do have access to the attic and roof
1 story with a basement. (5bdrm/3bath)
yes to the roof
the person upstairs has Dish and the neighbors, im not sure about- he only has 2 neighbors.

 

[Jim5506]

It's not necessarily the trees that are your problem - you are 30-40 miles from the stations, you'll be very fortunate to get anything with rabbit ears.

Get an outdoor antenna and mount it as high as possible.

Dayton has a couple of VHF stations whereas Cincinatti is all UHF.

Signals are mostly 2 edge diffraction so you'll need a near fringe to fringe solution (antennas with gain in the area of 8-12 dB without amplification). Perhaps something like a Winegard 7695 for VHF and UHF out of Dayton.

Dayton is a little closer and has a little stronger signal levels.