OTA TV...anybody?

[Mark_88]

I've been doing tv tower removals for quite a while and got involved with Over the Air (OTA) tv recently...I don't actually watch tv much but I decided to try to set up my own since I do it for customers and when I tell them "I don't have a tv" they kinda look at me like "wtf do you know about it"...lol

Anyway, I've done quite a bit of research and have set up quite a few customers who usually get between 12 and 40 channels of FREE TV...

This isn't an ad, btw, and I am not plugging my business...but wanted to know if anyone is currently gettting their TV free and what your setup is...

I just hooked up an old antenna on a tower and plugged everything in and get a whopping 4, count em, 4 channels...lol

I used an antenna that I just took down but will invest in a good one soon enough...and my tower is only 10' with an 8' mast...the antenna doesn't even clear the roof peek yet but that can change since I happen to have 50' of tower sitting there...

I'd post pics but there is so much rust on that tower...and the antenna is missing a few pieces...it really is destined for the aluminum recyclers but thought I'd stick it up there to see what comes in...

 

[martin]

I have a 60 foot tower with an old deep fringe, log periodic antenna mounted on it. coaxial cable down to a 30db booster then split and sent to five different locations in the house. I get 18 English channels and a number of French ones (fortunately they can be blocked out at the tv.)

 

[Mark_88]

LOL...

Are you in a valley or just far removed from civilization?

I've seen plenty of 60 and 70' towers around here but most don't need more than 40'. The US channels have really bumped up their signals but the Canadian ones seem to be dropping them.

 

[GoodOld85BlueBalls]

We still have about 18 free chanels here in Denver. All of them HD, UHF and the regular signals are gone as of 2010 with the upgrades. They have removed all the old antennas and broadcast all of the off one up on lookout mountain now. The only two I have trouble getting is fox 31 and upn 20. For some reason they keep disapering off my TV.

About 7 months ago I gave up my dish and paying for it. Now I get the free chanels and log into netflix when I want to watch a movie. It saves me about $90 a month over what I used to pay. The kids complained for a while till they found every episode of sponge bob on netflix!

 

[Mark_88]

That's my main selling point...people are fed up with paying outrageous prices for cable or satellite and even with the bundles that these companies are offering it still works out to over $100 a month for a bunch of channels that most people don't watch...

I am currently watching the first Leaf game of the season (for me) on free tv...it's a bit hazy due to the antenna that I use but that will be corrected as soon as I can raise the tower a bit and put on a decent antenna...might even invest in an amp to see what I can get...

 

[saanva]

Lol...Are you in a valley or just far removed from civilization?

 

[Mark_88]

Me? Neither...I'm using a broken antenna that I thought might do better than it is...plus it doesn't quite get above the roof peak...which I can correct easy enough...I don't actually watch TV but thought since I'm doing this for other people it would be nice to try it out...and I just wanted to get a local channel so I can watch the Leafs go out in style...

They actually won on Saturday...

 

[martin]

I think he is referring to me. I'm getting my channels from US. transmitters and they're about 150 miles away.

 

[cody93]

i stopped watching OTA tv back in 2010 when they shutted down analog broadcasts. digital TV doesn't have the broadcast range as analog did.. we got cable now. altho i get one analog OTA tv channel still.

 

[Mark_88]

I think he is referring to me. I'm getting my channels from US. transmitters and they're about 150 miles away.

Wow, you're a bit more distant than me...I'm not sure of the exact distance but I'd say some channels are probably 50 to 60 miles away...most are within 40...I really need an amplifier and a slightly taller tower...but hockey season is just about over...not sure that I will spend too much time watching TV after that...

i stopped watching OTA tv back in 2010 when they shutted down analog broadcasts. digital TV doesn't have the broadcast range as analog did.. we got cable now. altho i get one analog OTA tv channel still.

Most of the US channels around me have actually increased their signal strength...and most Ca Channels have dropped theirs...still have a potential for about 35 with minimum equipment.

 

[martin]

I'm getting seven pbs channels, if not for them I would never turn the tv on, other than when the movie channel has movies on that I want to see.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Most of the stations are north of here, since most of the houses in the country were built in the 1800's by people that didn't want to carry firewood anymore than they had to they are all tucked back on the south side of hills.

There are a few that like it, a lot complain about it (everybody in my family that doesn't have cable/dish) It has forced quite a few to get get a dish.

 

[Mark_88]

I'm getting seven pbs channels, if not for them I would never turn the tv on, other than when the movie channel has movies on that I want to see.

I raised my tower a bit the other day and put up a newer antenna (still used but it looked better) and managed to actually loose all but one station...

It needs a proper antenna and I might need an amplifier...surveyed the land around my place and found a huge hill between all the local TO stations and my location...

Most of the stations are north of here, since most of the houses in the country were built in the 1800's by people that didn't want to carry firewood anymore than they had to they are all tucked back on the south side of hills.

There are a few that like it, a lot complain about it (everybody in my family that doesn't have cable/dish) It has forced quite a few to get get a dish.

Being on a hill, even the south side of one, might help...but the tower/antenna would have to clear the hill...as long as they're not huge hills...unfortunately with these signals they don't travel too far too well without amplification...putting the tower on the hill might help too...

I talked to a woman in town the other day who gets 35 channels...that's really good considering the person who put up the antenna didn't set it up properly...I mentioned that too her but she was happy with what she had so I just thanked her for the information...

But I do see more and more people using OTA...cable and satellite costs are driving customers away...

 

[AllanD]

I've been doing tv tower removals for quite a while and got involved with Over the Air (OTA) tv recently...I don't actually watch tv much but I decided to try to set up my own since I do it for customers and when I tell them "I don't have a tv" they kinda look at me like "wtf do you know about it"...lol

Anyway, I've done quite a bit of research and have set up quite a few customers who usually get between 12 and 40 channels of FREE TV...

This isn't an ad, btw, and I am not plugging my business...but wanted to know if anyone is currently gettting their TV free and what your setup is...

I just hooked up an old antenna on a tower and plugged everything in and get a whopping 4, count em, 4 channels...lol

I used an antenna that I just took down but will invest in a good one soon enough...and my tower is only 10' with an 8' mast...the antenna doesn't even clear the roof peek yet but that can change since I happen to have 50' of tower sitting there...

I'd post pics but there is so much rust on that tower...and the antenna is missing a few pieces...it really is destined for the aluminum recyclers but thought I'd stick it up there to see what comes in...

I wish I know some local guys doing TV tower removal... Not that I want one removed... What I want to do is rescue some of the better quality tower segments from being pointlesslycut up and sold for their value as steel scrap.

some Rohn 20, 25 or 40 tower segments would make my whole decade...

AD

 

[Mark_88]

Ah, the scavengers...I try to reuse them whenever I can...make more money actually installing used towers than taking them down and selling the scrap...the metal usually isn't enough to cover my gas to the scrap yard...

I don't see too many Rohn towers or get many calls on them...they are generally heavier gauge steel than the ones I usually get...I have one now that is VERY heavy and was originally 70'...but only about 40' were usable and that includes 30' of super reinforced tower...they are not stand-alone towers mostly and I've seen way too many come undone from their supports because they were not guyed properly.

You can probably put an ad in a local paper and get some tower sections...or check out kijiji or CL...

I'm always amazed that people don't want to pay you to take down their tower because they think the metal is worth plenty of money...it only took me a few towers to realize that 4 hours to take one down is not worth the $20 I get for scrap...and having to put the gas back in the truck takes half or more of that away...

If I was financially independent then it would be a fun hobby...lol