Cutting the Cable/Satellite Cord

[Secret Weapon]

i hope you get "cool tv"

[docellis]

i hope you get "cool tv"

Nope. 11 channels, Cool TV isn't one of them. Most of them are terrible.

[Arthur Dent]

The subchannels (.1 .2 etc) are all digitally multiplexed onto the same radio carrier, so if you get one, you should get them all. My experience is that all indoor (or probably it is small) antennas suck. If you own the home, an outdoor antenna isn't really that expensive if you can install it. An amplifier will help there too for distant signals, but I wouldn't think that would be a major issue in St Louis. It was necessary at my parents' house because they live in a smaller town where all the stations are 50+ miles away.

Also, you may find it useful to use fcc.gov which has a nice tool showing where all your local transmitters are. That should help you with pointing the antenna.

Edit:

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

Btw, there is no such thing as a digital antenna. Antenna design is based primarily on the frequency of the transmitted signal. Because digital transmission is more of an all or nothing thing compared to analog video where you could still mostly tell what was going on even with white noise, you may find you require a better antenna for digital tv. Also, I think some of the transmitters are not as powerful as they should be. For tv, the frequency bands of interest are UHF and VHF, which require different shapes (eg typically a loop and rabbit ears respectively for indoor antennas). Looks like all the major St. Louis stations are UHF, so that simplifies life a bit.

[docellis]

The subchannels (.1 .2 etc) are all digitally multiplexed onto the same radio carrier, so if you get one, you should get them all. My experience is that all indoor (or probably it is small) antennas suck. If you own the home, an outdoor antenna isn't really that expensive if you can install it. An amplifier will help there too for distant signals, but I wouldn't think that would be a major issue in St Louis. It was necessary at my parents' house because they live in a smaller town where all the stations are 50+ miles away.

Also, you may find it useful to use fcc.gov which has a nice tool showing where all your local transmitters are. That should help you with pointing the antenna.

Interesting. I don't get all the .1, .2, .3 for each channel. I get some .2, some .3 etc.

The thing is, I'll probably suck it up during baseball season and get cable. But I do own the home, so I should probably research the outdoor antenna.

[Arthur Dent]

Interesting. I don't get all the .1, .2, .3 for each channel. I get some .2, some .3 etc.

It's up to station owners how many subchannels to broadcast, some will do two, some three or four or just the main channel. But do you mean you get, for example, you get 9.3 but not 9.2? If so, that's extremely weird. Maybe some of the subchannels are currently turned off? Are there any where you get the subchannels but not the main?

Also, I updated my post above on antennas.

This is the most common UHF outdoor antenna design:



But I've heard some people have good luck with stuff like this (built out of plywood and coat hangers) even indoors. I've only tried the standard model, so I don't really know how they compare.

[Arthur Dent]

A pretty technical comparison:

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

Based on this, the AntennasDirect ClearStream 2 or DB2e look like good choices that could even fit inside (though all will work better outside and up high). Bigger options with more gain to go on the roof include the ClearStream 4, Channel Master 4221, or Winegard 4400 (only $30). You may also need additional hardware for mounting e.g. A mast pole, and an amplifier (Channel Master 7778) could also help any of these.

Looks like PBS has a very underpowered transmitter in St. Louis. It's only 143 kW compared to 1000 kW for most of the major networks, but if you're anywhere in the metro area, it should still be very receivable with right antenna setup.

[lukethedrifter]

I got a pretty basic indoor RCA antenna. I checked out the stations I could potentially pick up with stronger setup and not worth it. It will just sit out of the way then get pulled out and adjusted when watching.
My issue is going to be keeping the other occupants from buying/renting $$$
movies when there are thousands and thousands 'free' to choose from.

[New Pagodi]

But I've heard some people have good luck with stuff like this (built out of plywood and coat hangers) even indoors. I've only tried the standard model, so I don't really know how they compare.

How do you splice the balun to the coat hanger?

[Arthur Dent]

I think there are spade terminals terminating the twin lead line, and all the bits are connected by tightening down screws, but you could solder too. There are various plans online.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

There are various plans online.

Ha....yes. Yes, there are.