Over the air TV signal

[Scott K]

I have had cable and Dish since I bought my house 10+ years ago. I am sick of paying the amount for all these channels, and dont watch them any how. But My antenna on my house I took down like 8 years ago. I know everything has gone digital, and I live out in the middle of no where. Is there a way for me to measure the strength of the tv digital signals to see if they are even strong enough to get to me, before buying, and installing a new antenna on my house? Is there some sort of meter I could use to measure the channels strenghts? And which channels I may be able to get?

[sheephead2]

Try searching antenna web and put in your zip code it tells you what kind of antenna you need

[PierBridge]

How far are you from Shoreview Mn. And do you still have the old antenna? I would imagine you can pick up some of the Digital channels available.

I too am Satellite free for the 1st time in 20 years ... I put mine on hold for 6 months and am loving it so far.

[Scott K]

I did find this after I asked http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/

But most the channels say weak signal, what does that mean? Will they come in, or not? I just dont want to spend a couple hundred for an antenna to find out that the channels only come in on clear days.

[sheephead2]

buy it try it return it if it doesn't work

sometimes my HD antenna will go out in heavy rains depends on channels

[sheephead2]

If you live in Hendersen you should be fine.I live In Faribault and get all cities channels and sometimes ION which is from St.Cloud

[LMITOUT]

Much depends on the terrain as well and a good line of sight is important when you live on the fringe of the coverage area. If you live behind a bluff or have some other large obstacle between your antenna and the TV tower it could make it tough being that far out.

As mentioned, you're going to have to point the antenna in the direction of Shoreview because that's where the MSP TV stations have their antenna farm. If you have a clean view in that direction it might be doable.

I have a two story house and have the antenna on a 6' mast with a signal booster that i bought at Radio Shack. If I disable the booster I lose all reception. A good rule of thumb is if you can aim your antenna to pick up KSTP you should be able to get the rest, as that seems to he the weakest signal.

Make sure you get a VHF/UHF combo antenna. KARE and FOX9 run on VHF whereas before everything was UHF and a VHF antenna wasn't required.

[heavyduty]

Try calling a local guy that doe s antenna installs. Thet should be able to give you a good idea what will work in your situation. may even have a truck set up with a boom and be able to do a trial run to show you what he can do for you.

[harvey lee]

YOu know you can get free cable TV with a W11 box and a couple other game boxes. I saw this on my Homepage and they explained how one can get all the cables channels for free but maybe 1 or 2 in your area. Some of the boxes have a $8 monthly fee and the others are free. I do not remember exactly but I believe you have to have internet access to do this for the TV signal. Seems one can pull in movies also.

If you do a search on the net, you should be able to come up with some info.

My brother did this and he said it works pretty good for next to nothing.

I am going to try this also.

[harvey lee]

YOu know you can get free cable TV with a W11 box and a couple other game boxes. I saw this on my Homepage and they explained how one can get all the cables channels for free but maybe 1 or 2 in your area. Some of the boxes have a $8 monthly fee and the others are free. I do not remember exactly but I believe you have to have internet access to do this for the TV signal. Seems one can pull in movies also.

If you do a search on the net, you should be able to come up with some info.

My brother did this and he said it works pretty good for next to nothing.

http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-watch-cable-tv-on-your-wii

I am going to try this also.

[fishersofmen]

I have ditched cable tv as well tired of paying 75 a month for garbage. The house I recently moved into has an arial on the roof I hooked it up to the tv and I get every single channel in crystal clear. The only channel I really miss is fsn north.

[Scott K]

I already have Netflix, and FSN is about the only channel I watch.

[fishersofmen]

Can I get FSN through netflix? If so please explain as I am light years behind with this stuff!

[toughguy]

Try this site

http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/

The FCC created this a few years back to help with the digital transition. It will show you what's available in your zip code. Problem with Henderson is how low in the valley you are. Looks like it might be tough to get a good signal down there. Montgomery for example has much better coverage.

You could buy as slingbox and pay a friend the monthly cost of 1 add'l Cable or Satellite box ($5-$10 / mo) at their house.

[Scott K]

Can I get FSN through netflix? If so please explain as I am light years behind with this stuff!

No, sorry, 2 different statements.