Outdoor antenna setup?

Question

so here's the deal.... i'm a cable tv child.... never had the "leave it to beaver" antenna on my home. however, we are canceling the cable today and i want to put up an antenna this summer.... question is, what all do i need? do i put up the antenna and just tie it back in to the existing cable lines? is there something else i will need at the end of the cables in the house (box, convertor?)? i do know i will need the new convertor box for one of my tv's the other i believe has a built in tuner.... so i should be ok.... is there anything else i need to know? i couldn't find a site that went through the entire set up process.

Answer 1

You can use the existing cable wiring , you will probably need a converter to go from the antenna to the junction box, but that's it.  go to www.antennaweb.org to see which direction you should aim the antenna.  You may need a rotator to get the best signal on some stations (Unless you want to go outside every time you can't get a signal on a particular station).  I have found that omni-directional antennas aren't very good in the 'burbs.  Stick with a directional if possible, unless you are pretty close to all the stations.  Also depending on how far away you are, you may want to look into a mast or roof mount.  Regardless, there in nothing highly technical about the wiring or installation.