HDTV antenna for free local television?

jason41987

Distinguished
Jan 1, 2012
29
0
18,580
i was wondering what it would take for me to install an HDTV antenna for local television channels?.. im within 60 miles of madison, wisconsin, however im in a small town that isnt going to let me mount a large antenna, so are there any options i could possibly mount to the top of a small roof-level shed in my backyard or on a small 4 foot pole somewhere?.. maybe something i could mount to the side of my house.. though, this is a side by side duplex and i have the side opposite of the direction of madison..

so what are my options?
 
Solution
you do know that some local channels like cbs, nbc, etcetera are free to stream over the internet right?

i know the roku devices have it already set up... but you can find it on the pc somewhere too

jason41987

Distinguished
Jan 1, 2012
29
0
18,580
well, so long as it doesnt have to be really high up i could just mount it in place of where a satellite dish used to be.. but id prefer wall mounted outdoors.. problem is i need 60 miles of range and the only ones i seem to find that can do that are massive antennas on 30 foot poles
 
we have one of these

hdtv_a8.jpg


mounted on a 20ft pole on the corner of our property.

we can pick up perhaps half of the channels from a source 50 miles away.

---

the higher and bigger you go the better.

i would suggest a large anenna (like the photo) mounted up on a pole connected to your chimney or on the side of the house on a short pole.

those anennas are about 3-4ft wide and perhaps 5ft long (or perhaps a bit bigger its been a bit since i put it up).
 

jason41987

Distinguished
Jan 1, 2012
29
0
18,580
thats way too big for here.. ill probably be better off just paying for basic cable.. currently i pay about $120 for satellite TV, coming to the realization that about the only thing i watch on TV are live sports games broadcasted locally, for everything else i have netflix, hulu, etc.. i can get the local channels for about $16 a month which will give me everything the antenna would.. so i might as well quit being cheap and do that