Originally Posted by spdrun

I don't have cable service in my apartment, at least not for the TV part. And I watch TV so little that I have no interest in paying any additional monthly fees above data charges. You used to be able to watch over-the-air TV by plugging a TV with a QAM/ATSC (HDTV) tuner into the cable line, but recently, Time Warner encrypted all channels, requiring users to rent a box from them.

Over-the-air HDTV reception is notoriously horrible in NYC due to reflections and line of sight blockage from buildings.

The other day, I bought an amplified Mohu Leaf antenna, thinking I'd just mount it on the wall. No luck with the wall mounting since there's about a block of buildings between my apartment and line of sight of the transmitters on the Empire State building. This being an indoor antenna, it's really not designed to be mounted outside, but I stuck it in a large Ziploc bag and essentially zip-tied it to one of my window railings in such a way so it sticks into the street a bit and is perpendicular to the signal direction.

Apart from CBS, which is intermittent, it's pulling in all channels very well, which tends to be a tough thing to do in NYC. Well-made, American-built product, all cables and an inline amplifier, which is either USB or AC line powered is are included.