We see cable companies coming with TV packages with exhaustive channel line-ups at market competitive prices. With offers like the Spectrum Silver package, you might get impressed by the rich channel line-up and affordable pricing but that is not the case with every cable provider or plan. Most of the time we see users annoyed over hiking cable prices and hefty cable TV bills every month. So there has been a trend where we see people relying more on an antenna for watching local channels. Talking about the United States, the transition from analog to digital signals for the TV broadcasts took over in the last decade. The local TV stations still make use of OTA to transfer the signals. Thought the digital signal broadcast requires a digital tuner for proper transmission. Most of the old antennas take up a digital signal and broadcast it to a digital TV if they received signal is strong. Let us look deeper into the discussion that are TV antennas good enough for picking up local channels. Here we go!
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Is a Special Antenna Required for Digital Signals?
Antennas are widely classified as indoor and outdoor models. Outdoor models can be placed at the top of the house while indoor models are placed on the TV set. Whatever is the location, the antenna receives OTA signals. Since DTV or digital television also uses the frequency as the analog TV, thus an older antenna can also pick local channels in DTV broadcast.
Antenna Design
A TV antenna is meant to receive radio waves coming from any TV station and convert them into electrical currents. These signals of various local channels then reach to the TV’s tuner for extraction. Modern antennas usually come with a 75-ohm coaxial cable to be connected to your TV sets.
Installation of Antenna to Receive Local Channels
To receive local channels over the air, you will need a digital tuner along with the antenna. Most of the digital TVs have a built-in digital tuner that is labeled ATSC built-in on your TV. In case you have an older TV without a tuner inside, you will get an external digital tuner. It usually comes as a converter box and is not very expensive.
When buying an antenna for watching local channels, make sure you get one that can receive both VHF and UHF channels.
Setting Your Antenna
Once you have bought a suitable antenna, indoors, or outdoor as per your choice, it is now time to mount it outside or place it within the house at a good spot. The placement is an important factor in the determination of the quality of signals you are likely to receive. Find a good spot with maximum reception. Next, connect the coaxial cable of the antenna to the converter box or your TV set.
Now, switch on your TV and open the setup menu. Click on the Antenna option to start getting over the air channels and shows.
Make sure to experiment with the position where you have placed your antenna. It should be mounted at a higher spot and if it’s an indoor antenna then it must be preferably placed near the window. This ensures the maximum reception of signals so you can access more local channels. To get better results and watch more local channels, it is better to get an outdoor antenna. The indoor antennas will work well for the local channels with strong signals but if you want to watch those with weaker signals, you will need to get an outdoor antenna and place it on the top of your roof so it can catch even the weaker signals coming from further away.
Wrapping Up,
You can access your favorite local channels with the help of an indoor or outdoor antenna. It is recommended to get an outdoor antenna for better reception. Moreover, pay attention to the placement of the antenna at an elevated spot to catch more local channels and experience a better picture quality. Using an antenna to enjoy watching the local channels in your area saves you from paying costly cable TV bills so it is indeed a very cost-effective option to enjoy good entertainment while going easy on your pocket.
