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.

Since I live in the middle of nowhere I use an HDTV antenna on my home radio. I can pick up FM stations from 150 miles away.

I don't understand the tech, but I do know I am at a rather high elevation for Oklahoma, about 820 feet above sea level, so that might have something to do with it.

Higher elevations help -- the fewer things obstructing your view of the transmitter, like hills, Earth's curvature, and buildings, the better signal you will get. Basically, in an ideal world, you'd want to be able to look from where your receiving antenna is and be able to see the transmitting antenna.

As I understand it antenna requirements didn't change with HDTV. I was still using an old antenna until it quit working and I didn't care enough to try to fix it. Locally I was getting 40+ channels.

I am tired of TV and the Internet. I still watch DVDs occasionally.

Too much BS from too many idiots.

More channels ended up on UHF (the apparent channel number doesn't always correspond with the frequency). Plus the digital signal is more prone to dropping out (as opposed to just getting "snowy") due to interference.

Even analog reception in NYC before the cutover was a PITA.

Where did you buy it from (source)? What did it cost? Why don't you get a dish/DirectTV?

I found a YouTube video on how to make your own antenna. Built one with some wood scraps, metal coat hangers and tin foil. Put it in my attic and ran coaxial cable down to the basement and up to the TV. Reception is great despite the fact that I have a metal roof.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

B&H - I think it was on sale for $60. Why not a sat dish? Because I barely watch TV and I have no interest in a monthly bill for something I can get for free!

Antennas are wild, aren't they?

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

Downright weird. But they get me free TV.

This is roughly what I made except the board is covered with tin foil.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRW0OCd7LJI

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I read about fractal antenna designs and want to build some.

The theory is fun too, rising and collapsing fields.

Back in the early 80's, in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, there was a TV station that showed porn over the air after midnight.

The signal was scrambled and you had to have one of their dishes to pick it up. You could get the signal with a normal antenna but it was wavy and without sound.

This was also the dawn of the fax machine and it was not long before plans to build your own descrambler and dish were clogging fax machines in offices everywhere.

The descrambler was a bit beyond my ability to understand, but the 'dish' was made from the lid of a metal garbage can and a klystron tube that was built with parts from Radio Shack. I knew two people that built them and they worked!

The station went bust because the only people who were watching it were those that were stealing the signal. No one wanted to mount a real antenna on there house because then everyone would know they were watching porn. The folks that built the garbage can dishes wanted everyone to know they were just Nerd enough to make it work and weird enough to enjoy porn.