Oh no...Direct tv
- Thread starter TDclones
- Start date
The said thing about the ABC affiliate in Des Moines is that the station is 3rd tier. They might have fine people doing things there but the overall quality is lacking. I wouldn't be surprised if they gave their news department over to KCCI just like WHO does the news for Fox now. They could then take that savings in money and boost their OTA signal so that it actually reaches out past the current limits of the Des Moines Metro. I live in SW Ankeny and their OTA is weak and never know when its going to come in. With cord cutting, they are losing viewers.
I'm with @cyhiphopp, did the same thing and dumped DirecTV for YouTubeTV. We love it.
I'm also hearing that AT&T is regretting buying DirecTV and is basically not promoting the service at all, going to let it die a slow death. Wonder who the NFL will give Sunday Ticket to if that happens?
I'm also hearing that AT&T is regretting buying DirecTV and is basically not promoting the service at all, going to let it die a slow death. Wonder who the NFL will give Sunday Ticket to if that happens?
I think this might be oversimplification.
When I first got into using OTA HD nearly 20 years ago, the "rabbit ears" I already had from the 80s/90s pre HD did work so I agree to an extent. They especially worked on a TV that let me hook up 2 sets.
That said, the various other antennae I've had since then absolutely crush those old 80s/90s rabbit ears in terms of reception and many of them are easy to hide somewhere like just a slim piece of plastic, easy to conceal in a number of ways.
I've never used something as old as 60s or 70s on an HD TV(do they even hook up with coax or do you need a converter?), but there have definitely been advances at least in terms of size footprint. In my experience what you get now also actually work better than indoor tv antennae from the 90s.
I also think the first round of HD tvs didn't have any sort of built in antennae but now quite a few have something that's already built in?
The biggest thing is where you live. I just moved 5 miles but I'm next to a little mountain now. My reception sucks now which is ironic because I'm a stone's throw from the actual TV studios.
Sure, those rabbit ears were usually pretty cheaply made with not much surface area like you said.
My main point was just that using 'HD' in front of the word antenna is more of a marketing thing than anything.
Those old ones a lot of the time had the two U shaped prongs that go under screws, you can get a cheap little adapter to plug into coax.
That's what I was guessing they hooked up with. I have a converter like that I've used for an old Atari 2600.
What about the powered vs non-powered? I've always been fine with my post-2000 non-powered antennae but now with this mountain I might be open to something more boosted if it gets me back reception without having to move an antenna all over the place. The one I've been using lately is just a small piece of flat plastic, worked fine at my old place but takes a lot of moving around at my new place.
This. Use https://24hour.email/ to create an email that self destructs if you don't want to get spammed and a Visa Gift Card that only has a few bucks left on it if you want to not worry about forgetting to cancel.
I bought a small Insignia (Best Buy Band) Indoor HDTV Antenna for $19.99 or so from Best Buy and hooked it up to my Insignia Smart TV, scanned the digital channels and voila! It did take an antenna adjustment next to the West Window, but it is up and running. Just a little 4' Cable with a 25 mile radius, and I can pick up ABC and some other stations too. So, there you go if you live in Des Moines! Direct TV is no longer holding me hostage for ABC and CW23!
I was going to post something similar. While some newer antennae may be better, the old ones still work. When I moved into my house the old owners left a big antenna hanging in the attic of the garage. I have that networked throughout my house and it picks up pretty much everything local. It is great for when your cable/satellite/internet goes down. It was really nice to have stations on the basement TV when the satellite signal couldn't cut through a storm and storm sirens are going off.
