I have a TV in the basement, it's within 5ft of the basement's outer cement wall. right now it's hooked up to a DVD player and a VCR and a RF modulator (so i can run the DVD signal past the VCR). There are so many cables running around behind this thing that it picks up a number of channels with varing quality with no antenna. (8 & 10 are strong, and 12 & 49 are pretty fuzzy, with bad weather i lose 49 pretty often)
The reception is at the leve where if I stand in just the right spot near the TV it'll kill the signal, or if it's off-day a different spot might make it viewable. What sort of options are there for an indoor antenna? Will a simple set of rabbit ears make a big difference? What if I just tie some copper wire to an exposed cable and run it around on the floor, would that do anything?
2007-09-16 20:02:30 · 7 answers · asked by jadespider9643 4 in Consumer Electronics ➔ TVs
an outdoor antenna is NOT an option for me here, I'm looking only for options that can be implimented in the immediate vicinity of the television.
2007-09-16 20:49:01 · update #1
You're screwed...you're UNDERGROUND....TV signals get grounded underground...The only reason you're getting signal is because it's being bounced down into your PIT....
Park your car on the opposite side of your home where the transmitters are located that you want the most....they might REFLECT the signal into your PIT...
Personally, I'd find a window, open the top and toss an antenna out in the yard.
Maybe drill a hole for some Coax, find the correct size and type of antenna, along with the pointing direction at
http://www.antennaweb.org
And really get a permanent antenna wire into that PIT you live in.....
(You ever listen to Bob and Tom in the morning? They have a guy who calls in about a woman trapped in his PIT.)
2007-09-16 22:11:11 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
If you are getting signals with no antenna at all, then it's likely that any antenna will improve the situation.
The main thing is that the location of the antenna is important. This is somewhat of a trial and error process. It's likely that you will get the best signal if you put the antenna as high as possible. If you have a window that faces the TV transmitting tower (without a metal screen or metal well) try there.
If you enter your location at one of the first 2 web sites listed, it will tell you which direction the antennas a located in.
If a plain pair of $10 rabbit ears helps, but not quite enough, you can spend more on an amplified indoor antenna.
Just attaching some copper wire to the exposed cable is unlikely to do the job.
PS:
Make sure the RF modulator is turned off if you are trying to receive broadcasts. I used to just hook my DVD player into my VCR and used it's modulator to send the signal to the TV.
It's possible that one of your TV tuners (TV & VCR) is better than the other. Try each and see if one is better than the other.
2007-09-17 04:43:40 · answer #2 · answered by Stephen P 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Tv Antenna Options
2016-11-04 03:11:54 · answer #3 · answered by clemente 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, the rabbit ears will make a good difference, but not like an outdoor antenna. I bought a rabbit ears and it worked pretty well. You can also buy one of those plug in antennas for about 5 or 10 American dollars. They should work.
The outdoor antennas are cheap too. Just go to the local Radio Shack store in your area and ask for one with an extension wire to make it reach your tv. You can even take it through several rooms if you have too.
2007-09-16 20:35:27 · answer #4 · answered by susan t 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The only rule of thumb for a tv antenna is this:
"it works, only when it works"
What I mean is, sometimes even if you were using a good outdoor antenna, you might still get the same or better results if you just attached a long wire to the antenna input of your TV and experimented with positioning it to get a best possible result. Sometimes, even connecting two wires, one going one way, and the other, another way, may give you good reception results. Rabbit ears, although unsightly, is the only other option and will give you similar results.
2007-09-16 20:38:25 · answer #5 · answered by LCS L 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
RE: Indoor HDTV antenna for basement condominium? hi, we are living in Evanston, IL in a basement condominium and are searching for an antenna that could paintings for our HDTV. We tried 4 of them (Terk, RCA and GE producers), amplified and non-amplified, yet haven't had lots success. We have been given 3-4 channels at maximum and all different 20 have been only the names with...
2016-12-17 03:14:17 · answer #6 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Put an antenna on your roof. Or get Cable or Satelite.
2007-09-16 20:09:17 · answer #7 · answered by Keith 6 · 1⤊ 4⤋