Hook Up a TV Antenna

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Want to ditch your cable, but still like to watch the local stations? Broadcasters transmit their programming out over VHF and UHF airwaves in both the old analog form and now in digital and HDTV signals. You need an antenna (also known as an aerial) to pick up these signals. We'll show you how to hook one up. Read on!

Steps

Picking an Antenna

  1. There are a few antenna options available. Rabbit ears, multi-element beams, and large array antennae used in remote locations. Pick the one that best suits your requirements.
    • Rabbit ears have two telescoping rods you can move around. These are optimised for receiving VHF signals. While they are better than nothing, they are not the best solution for good television reception.
    • Multi-element beam antenna are the most common antenna, and will serve you well. Those are the ones you commonly see on roof tops or masts. They have several elements, each one longer than the other. This design eliminates multi-pathing and focuses the signal, acting sort of like an electronic version of a magnifying glass. They come in a variety of sizes.
    • Larger antenna are great if you live in a remote area, in a valley, behind a hill, or other significant obstruction where you may need a larger antenna to get the maximum amount of signal—but don't buy anything bigger than you need to do the job. Really big TV antennas are meant for remote areas. If you are closer in you may pick up too much signal which will lead to distortion, or get channel interference and crosstalk from catching weak overlapping signals from further away.
  2. Use a rotor. If your location is such that one channel is broadcast from north of you, for example, and another channel is broadcasting to the west you, you may need an antenna rotor so you can turn the beam toward the station's tower.
    • If the angles only vary a little bit, or the stations are all fairly close, you shouldn't have much of a problem. If the angle is more than about 30 degrees apart, you may need the rotor—depending on how far the towers are. If you don't have a rotor, but find yourself running up the roof to adjust the antenna every time you change the channel, you'll soon be looking for the best rotor for the job!

Connecting the Antenna

  1. Identify the antenna connection on your television. It will probably be what is called an F connector, or a round, threaded nub with a small hole in the end. There are older styles of connectors, such as the Belling Lee connector, or the spade-and-lug style connector, but digital signals are best served by an F connector.
    • Note: if you have an older style connector, visit Radio Shack or your local TV store and get the correct adapter. Digital televisions have a special input for digital reception, usually marked "DTV" or "DTT". They will not be able to mate to the old connectors directly.
  2. Connect the antenna to your television using coaxial RF cables (also known as "F" cables). There are two basic types: screw in and push on. Either of these will work but the screw-on variety holds a little tighter.
  3. Set up your television. Using your television's setup menu (consult your owner's manual for exact procedures), set your Input to either "Antenna" or "Air."
    • Some televisions have multiple inputs: make sure you're setting the correct input during this procedure. If you also have cable, and multiple inputs, you can set one input to be cable, and the other to be the antenna input.
  4. Adjust your antenna. Scan through the channels with your television tuner to see what channels are within range. If you see a fuzzy picture, reorient the antenna until the signal is clear.
    • Note: some antennae are motorized, saving you the trouble of running up to the roof to adjust the antenna.
    • For digital television, you may have special menu options for a full scan and a "manual scan." To optimize your antenna placement, you must do a full scan every time you change the position of the antenna. Write down all the settings, do a full scan, and count the number of channels found each time.
  5. Locate your local broadcast locations. Find each channel's broadcast location (distance and angle) by looking at a customized map appropriate for your area. If all the channels are in one direction (within 20 degrees), then it is easier to aim a directional antenna.
    • In the case that you need different settings to get different channels, then write down not only how many channels are picked up by the scan, but which ones.
    • Determine the main settings that you need and write them down close to the television.
    • Do the manual scan with each setting to add all the channels to your TV menus, and set the antenna appropriately for each channel that you watch.
    • Some televisions will memorize the channels that come in strongly enough to make a clear picture. You can set this as you search for and find broadcasters.

Tips

  • Cable companies also use RF to deliver their channels. You can buy a simple A/B switch so you can have both cable and an antenna hooked to the same input at the same time.
  • In the U.S., the FCC provides maps of stations for most U.S. cities, as well as their broadcast range.
  • You can buy a better antenna that mounts outdoors. You can purchase a remote control rotor that spins the antenna for optimum position for each channel.
  • A VCR (Video Cassette Recorder) also has RF connectors on the back; usually two of them. If you would like a VCR in the system, hook up the antenna first to the Input RF connector on the VCR to bring broadcast programming directly into your VCR.
    • A VCR also has a tuner built in to select channels, plus a mini transmitter inside called a modulator. It transmits the output of the VCR on to a very low power radio wave.
    • You can set this modulator to transmit on various channels. The signal will then travel through the RF cable attached to the Output RF connector and in to your TV tuner.
    • Tune in whatever channel you set the modulator to transmit. You can then leave your TV on that channel and use the remote control for your VCR to change channels
  • The best place to buy an antenna is from an electrical wholesalers. There you can buy the same antennae that the installers use. Also, you may pick up some expert knowledge about aiming.
  • If you have to run cable, make sure that you use a "quad-shield" cable, two layers of foil, and two layers of braid around the foam dielectric (just the foam part of the cable). This will give you a much better quality of signal with less interference—which means better pictures!

Warnings

  • Beware of any set-top antenna that is shaped like a satellite dish and claims to pull in hundreds of channels with no cable fees using "RF technology". That is just a deceptive way of describing any antenna. You can only receive the broadcast channels within range.
  • Be aware that in most countries, analog transmitters are being switched off in favour of digital signals, so you will need a digital tuner to receive broadcasts through your antenna.

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Sources and Citations

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