I am a Dish Subscriber, and have recently been thinking about maybe getting some experience with OTA. Can someone tell me what I would need, what i would benefit from with an OTA?
Interested in OTA
- Thread starter DISHinOhio
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well it depends on a few things
-what do you want to pick up? just the locals or are you looking to get a neighboring market?
-do you want to mount the antenna outside or in the attic?
-how far you are from the towers
tvfool works the best. You can post the results and then we can make a good assessment
tvfool.com
If you have Dish and a 722k or a receiver with OTA capability that allows you to record OTA and satellite (relieving tuners if need be)
If you are close to Columbus OH (as your location says) these subchannels are in the market
MeTV (classic TV shows) off NBC station
ThisTV Network (older movies) off ABC station
THeCoolTV (what MTV was back in the 80s...actually plays videos) off Fox station
also would give you stations not carried on Dish like Bounce TV, Azteca, MundoFox, MyFamily TV, PBS Create and the Ohio Channel, and some religious stations
what you need? If its mounted outside it would be an antenna, a mast, maybe a tripod or another way to mount it and maybe an amplifier if you want distant stations. Looking at tvfool fro Columbus a simple antenna would work fine. The neighboring stations are 60 miles away
-what do you want to pick up? just the locals or are you looking to get a neighboring market?
-do you want to mount the antenna outside or in the attic?
-how far you are from the towers
tvfool works the best. You can post the results and then we can make a good assessment
tvfool.com
If you have Dish and a 722k or a receiver with OTA capability that allows you to record OTA and satellite (relieving tuners if need be)
If you are close to Columbus OH (as your location says) these subchannels are in the market
MeTV (classic TV shows) off NBC station
ThisTV Network (older movies) off ABC station
THeCoolTV (what MTV was back in the 80s...actually plays videos) off Fox station
also would give you stations not carried on Dish like Bounce TV, Azteca, MundoFox, MyFamily TV, PBS Create and the Ohio Channel, and some religious stations
what you need? If its mounted outside it would be an antenna, a mast, maybe a tripod or another way to mount it and maybe an amplifier if you want distant stations. Looking at tvfool fro Columbus a simple antenna would work fine. The neighboring stations are 60 miles away
I have OTA for a few reasons
-the subchannels mainly
-most of the TV's in my house arent hooked up to satellite (have the Directv HR34 in the main room)
-the ability to record said subchannels
-the subchannels mainly
-most of the TV's in my house arent hooked up to satellite (have the Directv HR34 in the main room)
-the ability to record said subchannels
1. Great the few times you might lose the satellite signal
2. Sub channels and to be able to record them
3. Extra tuner
4. In my case getting local channels from a another location, in my case another State. (And a couple from yet another State if I turn the antenna)
2. Sub channels and to be able to record them
3. Extra tuner
4. In my case getting local channels from a another location, in my case another State. (And a couple from yet another State if I turn the antenna)
well it depends on a few things
-what do you want to pick up? just the locals or are you looking to get a neighboring market?
-do you want to mount the antenna outside or in the attic?
-how far you are from the towers
tvfool works the best. You can post the results and then we can make a good assessment
tvfool.com
If you have Dish and a 722k or a receiver with OTA capability that allows you to record OTA and satellite (relieving tuners if need be)
If you are close to Columbus OH (as your location says) these subchannels are in the market
MeTV (classic TV shows) off NBC station
ThisTV Network (older movies) off ABC station
THeCoolTV (what MTV was back in the 80s...actually plays videos) off Fox station
also would give you stations not carried on Dish like Bounce TV, Azteca, MundoFox, MyFamily TV, PBS Create and the Ohio Channel, and some religious stations
what you need? If its mounted outside it would be an antenna, a mast, maybe a tripod or another way to mount it and maybe an amplifier if you want distant stations. Looking at tvfool fro Columbus a simple antenna would work fine. The neighboring stations are 60 miles away
Thanks for the quick response, Iceberg! I did the signal locator based on my address, and came up with this TV Fool. As far as what I am wanting, all the channels you listed Would be great. I also am just looking to have one myself so that i can learn more about it. My current setup is a 922 and a 625.
Also, I do live in an apartment so my options are a bit limited. However, i have a relatively large patio where I have my Dish now. My current dish is mounted on a tripod. The only option I would have is to be mounted outside on a Tripod. I was interested in getting locals from a different market in addition to my current markets subchannels, but with that being said, I am not sure that will be possible? The add'tl tuner is also a big factor.
The 625 wont work as its SD only
The 922 does it have a OTA tuner in it?
OK...looking at the stations from tvfool the good news is all of your stations are only on UHF. There is a low powered station on 8 (religious stuff) but there is a closer station on 39 with same stuff. The Big 4 networks + PBS + that religious station I mentioned are all pretty close and in the same direction (SSE) except the religious station
If you mount the antenna outside you wouldnt need much. A basic VHF/UHF would work fine like a HBU33 or even a HBU22 (I'd go with the 33...thats the one I use to have here in Minneapolis). If you wanted to go UHF only I'll defer that to someone else....mainly the smaller UHF only's will work fine. I went on the solidsignal site and just looked at some. Lots of the UHF only are more designed for distant stations
Here is the list of stations in your market
RabbitEars.Info
I just click on the "expand/contract all" and match the numbers on tvfool with what it shows there. Use the 2nd column on the link here (the actual channel...not what it maps to)
anything in the green or yellow on the tvfool report will be easy to get with a outdoor antenna....red is much harder and only station I really see is CW (due to the further distance away)
The 922 does it have a OTA tuner in it?
OK...looking at the stations from tvfool the good news is all of your stations are only on UHF. There is a low powered station on 8 (religious stuff) but there is a closer station on 39 with same stuff. The Big 4 networks + PBS + that religious station I mentioned are all pretty close and in the same direction (SSE) except the religious station
If you mount the antenna outside you wouldnt need much. A basic VHF/UHF would work fine like a HBU33 or even a HBU22 (I'd go with the 33...thats the one I use to have here in Minneapolis). If you wanted to go UHF only I'll defer that to someone else....mainly the smaller UHF only's will work fine. I went on the solidsignal site and just looked at some. Lots of the UHF only are more designed for distant stations
Here is the list of stations in your market
RabbitEars.Info
I just click on the "expand/contract all" and match the numbers on tvfool with what it shows there. Use the 2nd column on the link here (the actual channel...not what it maps to)
anything in the green or yellow on the tvfool report will be easy to get with a outdoor antenna....red is much harder and only station I really see is CW (due to the further distance away)
I didnt see your above post.....looking at tvfool there really is no station nearby that is outside of your local area.
you might want to go with a more flat uhf only antenna like these
Antennas Direct DB4 UHF HDTV Antenna (DB4) Refurbished from Solid Signal
Antennacraft U-4000 UHF/HD 4 Bay Bowtie TV Antenna (U4000) from Solid Signal
you might want to go with a more flat uhf only antenna like these
Antennas Direct DB4 UHF HDTV Antenna (DB4) Refurbished from Solid Signal
Antennacraft U-4000 UHF/HD 4 Bay Bowtie TV Antenna (U4000) from Solid Signal
wow, pretty much all my questions are answered! I really appreciate it. The antenna itself is a lot cheaper than I had expected so I think I will take your word for it and get the HBU33. My 922 does not currently have the additional tuner in it, so i will need to get one of those as well.
Since you live in an apartment you should only go with a flat antenna. Not only would the elements on a long yagi be at a likely dangerous eye level the large antenna would invite trouble from your landlord. I used to live in an apartment complex where any outdoor antennas were grounds for eviction so it might be worth looking into first. Even if that is the case there are plenty of stealth antennas that are a flat panel antenna in a plastic box. It would blend right in with your dish and average folks wouldn't even recognize it as an antenna. If an outdoor antenna is really ok then a flat 4-bay like the DB4 Iceberg mentioned above should work great for the locals.
