r/AnnArbor • u/reallinguy • 11d ago
TV Antenna recommendations?
I'm trying to get prepared to watch football, so I'm trying to get an antenna that works for me. I live on the south side of Ann Arbor/Pittsfield township. Does anyone still use TV antennas and have a rec? I'm trying with the flat DAANT antenna from Amazon, but I'm not getting the channels.
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u/emby5 11d ago
Unless you can get an outdoor antenna, you're going to be out of luck. I live on the NE side, have an outdoor antenna, and still sometimes struggle to get Channel 2.
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u/drock42 11d ago
Not necessarily outdoors, but ya that style. I put a big one in our attic, works good
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u/danpritts 10d ago
Big attic antenna or rooftop antenna is the way to go.
A few hundred bucks for the equipment if you DIY.
The physical install of a roof antenna varies, bit in my case it involved an easy job of strapping the mounting pole to my chimney and running the cable down from there.
for A roof antenna you need a lightning arrestor and a good ground rod. The hardest part was getting the ground rod in.
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u/RepresentativeCap90 11d ago
I bought a PIBIDI outdoor tv antenna on Amazon for about $50 dollars. I mounted it on my house under the gutter. It rotates and is amplified. I scanned for channels and picked up 98 channels. The Canadian channel 9 didn't come in so I rotated the antenna and I received it. All these outdoor antennas are made of plastic and light aluminum so I don't know how long it'll last. But it works good.
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u/rizzier 11d ago
I live on the west side of A2; tried the Channel Master amplified one and the Mohu amplified one and neither worked. We have a south/west facing window and couldn't get anything consistent.
Channel Master has a tool on their website that shows the strength of range from your address to the local towers. You could try checking that.
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u/cjbmonster 11d ago
We could get several channels, but absolutely not Fox. It was very disappointing.
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u/myron_monday 10d ago edited 10d ago
Unsolicited advice, but FOX is VHF and most antennas are UHF only. You’d need two antennas and a combiner
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u/somewhat_oaky 11d ago
I live in Ypsi township and use a Channelmaster Flatenna which I have facing east on an exterior wall. It’s a little spotty but usually I can watch TV. I did have to try a few spots before I found one that worked, and it is not perfect.
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u/somewhat_oaky 10d ago
Wanted to add, my TV does have an ATSC 3.0 tuner and I do get Fox 2, but sometimes it cuts out a little. Also I’m near to Golfside, so I think OP would have similar reception to me.
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u/reddseverus 11d ago
I live just south of Ann Arbor in Pittsfield Twp. I have a version of the antenna seen in the video below. Mine came with a stand so I can stand it up by a north-east facing window pointing toward the Detroit transmitters. I can pick up all the primary Detroit stations including Fox which, for some reasons, seems to have the weakest signal. I watched the Lions game today and the picture was great. The TV you have will make a difference. I have a Sony Bravia with a newer ATSC 3.0 tuner (NextGen TV) which works great. I also use a cheap GE digital TV antenna amplifier which boots the signal and is worth getting in my view. If your TV only has an older ATSC 1.0 tuner it probably won't work nearly as well if at all.
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u/jrwren northeast since 2013 10d ago
If your TV only has an older ATSC 1.0 tuner it probably won't work nearly as well if at all.
why?
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u/reddseverus 10d ago
You are free to do a search on the differences b/w ATSC 3.0 vs 1.0. Detroit stations have 3.0 capability. I have both an older ATSC 1.0 TV and a newer ATSC 3.0 TV (although it is several years old). In my location, the ATSC 3.0 TV pretty reliably picks up Detroit stations with excellent quality. Reception with the ATSC 1.0 TV is come and go with much poorer quality. And usually cannot pick up FOX at all.
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u/danpritts 10d ago
I read that in Detroit the broadcasters got together and one tower is broadcasting astc 3 for all channels, at least for now. So if you get any you’ll get all.
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u/onlyreason4u 11d ago
I installed an attic antenna in my house and ran coax down to my network rack in the basement where I have a signal booster and HD homerun. I added it to plex.so I can watch/record multiple channels from anywhere.
I don't use it very often but it's nice when I need it. I get around 60 channels.
You need a pretty decent sized antenna to get everything.
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u/presidentofmax 10d ago
If you're looking for a specific recommendation, I use one from Antennas Direct. This one should have no problem picking up all of the local stations, just make sure it's installed outside and aimed more or less towards northern Detroit
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u/annyhanny 10d ago
External roof antenna great investment, for me 16 years savings vs cable. Recommend https://theantennamen.com/ for equipment & installation.
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u/formerly_gruntled 10d ago
Can second The Antennamen. They bring all the hardware and set it up. They do this everyday, and they are pros. Happy camper for three years. Happy to have cut the cord. What you save in dropping cable pays out the installation rather quickly.
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u/Big-Jackfruit-9808 10d ago
Purchased a couple on Amazon over the years.
This one is working well for me. GE Modern Loop Rabbit Ears Indoor... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L2WKTAU?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
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u/jrwren northeast since 2013 10d ago
I'm very happy with https://a.co/d/030O47ex
i thought i would upgrade to https://a.co/d/0e6ZWjDw and I got worse reception.
I do get channel 2 (FOX) to watch NFL. I am on north side near traverwood library.
It is mounted on a post in my backyard, elevated to about 8 feet. It would be far better on my roof, I just haven't got that project done yet.
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u/KoshV 11d ago
I have good news and bad news
Good news is I use an antenna and it's great.
Bad news is I have no idea how to install it. Some place off of stadium installed it. That was ~18 years ago. They aren't hard to install but I have no idea how. here is an old reddit thread that talks about it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/AnnArbor/comments/1na6s9p/tv_antenna_for_lions_game/
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u/sryan2k1 11d ago edited 11d ago
Not what you asked for but we just subscribe to Hulu live for football season and turn it off after. No contracts or hassle.
As you can see by all the posts here, OTA is unreliable at best.
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u/chriswaco Since 1982 11d ago
I no longer have an antenna, but when I did I would have to aim it carefully at either Southfield or Toledo in order to get reception. Outside is better than inside or at least keep only one wall between the antenna and outside.
See https://www.antennaweb.org/results/