DIY TV Antennas

[bhallam]

Does anybody have experience building their own attic TV Antenna? Surveys on line indicate that over the air reception in The Villages where we live south of 466 is weak but we would like to cut our cable and receive local channels OTA.

[biker1]

I believe this is what is in my attic. We receive about 50 channels from Orlando. We are south of 466a. Tom at VillagesAV.com is a good contact.

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Does anybody have experience building their own attic TV Antenna? Surveys on line indicate that over the air reception in The Villages where we live south of 466 is weak but we would like to cut our cable and receive local channels OTA.

[villagetinker]

Does anybody have experience building their own attic TV Antenna? Surveys on line indicate that over the air reception in The Villages where we live south of 466 is weak but we would like to cut our cable and receive local channels OTA.

I am guessing that you mean installing your own antenna in your attic, it is not practical to actually build your own antenna. You also have the capability of installing the antenna outside (thanks to the FCC), which is what I would be considering, as I have no plans on crawling or walking through a pile of blown-in insulation.

There are several threads on this subject, but IMHO, if you want the antenna in the attic, go with professional installation. Also, double check that you do not have a radiant barrier installed, there was some discussion that this interferes with cell phones and TV antennas.

I am looking at installing one inside the birdcage, this tends to hide the antenna, it is the correct direction, it will be close to the TV, and can be easily maintained if necessary.

[village dreamer]

I did mine,up in the attic. antenna from Walmart w/wire about $40.ran ant.wire from attic to cable wires in my garage,found bed room wire, that's it ,very ease.

[leftyf]

I have had mine in the attic for a couple of years and it works great. I bought the largest one Walmart sells and the most expensive booster they sell to. I get over 40 good channels, but my wife still won't give up the cable. I watch the antenna on the patio and garage TV's.

[trenbarg12]

I went with Tom at Villages.AV.com 352-388-1677 and he installed the antenna. I sort of cut the cable and went with Amazon Fire TV and Playstation Vue for $35 I get all the channels that I want including all the ESPN's, HGTV, National Geographic Channel, CNN, Fox News, and the Big Ten Network for my sports. Plus many many more... I also get around 40 channels of over the air TV.... My directv bill was about $130 a month, so going to $35 a month seems cheap to me. Internet TV has a learning curve, and sometimes is not instantaneous, but once you get to it, you will be fine. Basically to get to everything you need you click on an app.... If you are an Amazon Prime person, you gets lot's of movies etc. The sky is the limit.... This Wednesday the Apple Group is giving a talk on cutting the cable at Savanah Center... 6:30 I believe.

[bob47]

Is there any concern with lightning strikes, especially with antennas mounted on an outdoor pole?

Even if the pole is grounded, will lightning follow the coaxial cable into your home?