Reddit reviews 1byone TV Antenna

OTA antenna? If you don't have one, get a decent one on amazon for like $30 (there are cheaper options too). I know it won't help you today, but it comes in handy when dtv goes out due to rain/snow or when there are contract disputes.

I had direct TV and cut the cable about a year ago. I bought this off of Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZI9LWS2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Z1KlzbZQ4TS7D it was easy to install. Put it on the poll my satellite was. Unplugged the coax to the dish and plugged it into the antenna and every room that had a DirecTV box now has OTA. I sometimes have issues with cbs but I'm told that's common.

Ok, I'm back. As for your first question: yes, exactly.

As for grounding: you drive the ground rod and connect it to the antenna mast with solid copper wire and a grounding clamp. You'd bond the wire to the ground rod with this. End result will look like this. I poured concrete around mine just to make it conspicuous - that's not necessary. I have copper wire run from the rod up to the attic to ground my mast, and another run through into the basement to bond it to my home's ground in the breaker box. This is what you would use to ground the coax itself. You can also get these at Lowe's or Home Depot. Don't mind my lack of a demarcation box for the coax in my picture - that's my internet line and it was Spectrum's doing. I'll be correcting it when the weather warms up.

Moving on to the antenna. I say the one you bought is junk because it is. I've run the gamut of crap antennas, and those ones are sold under 100 different names and all the Amazon reviews that say it's great are paid lies. The rotator box breaks, you can't use a splitter with them, they can't survive even the slightest wind, and they're not weather resistant in the least. Absolute crap. On any antenna, those "miles of reception" ratings are 100% completely meaningless. Your local topography, relative location to broadcast towers, accuracy of aiming, and quality and length of coax are what determine your reception.

You need quality RG6 coax (NOT RG59 - it's not suitable for digital signals) and quality ends. It's critical that your ends be terminated correctly: not peeling back the wire braid or leaving the copper conductor too short will result in problems.

If you have broadcast towers in opposite directions, use two antennas and a signal splitter/combiner (if you use this technique, your feed lines to the combiner have to be EXACTLY the same length to avoid signal attenuation). This FCC website will tell you the locations of broadcast towers relative to your location. USE A COMPASS TO AIM YOUR ANTENNA.

This is a decent, basic antenna and it comes with a great amplifier. It can be mounted outdoors or in your attic. I used this one at my parents' house and hung it right from a roof truss using an old piece of pipe as a mast. They pick up every channel available on the reception map for my area, (I'm in Akron, OH and it's aimed NNW), and even some Columbus channels - despite those towers being located in the opposite direction I have it aimed. Contrast that to my house only a quarter mile away where one of those antennas that you purchased only got me ten channels, despite optimal aiming AND being mounted outside.

Sorry for the essay. I've done this many times before and I'm still doing it as more and more people are cord cutting and asking me to get them set up haha. I also have my amateur radio operator's license, and learned a lot about proper antenna setup and signal propagation and attenuation through that particular hobby.

Thank you. I may have to move one of my Roku's or buy another one for the living room. I did grab the CBS All Access app and I believe my Roku has the NewsON (I will have to check to make sure). But the Oklahoma weather tracker tv looks interesting. I will test it out tonight.

Also, here is my tvfool: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3de6a496c8a30a4e

I did a little investigating and purchased this antenna a few months ago: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZI9LWS2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I only did tests by mounting it to a pole I had at about eye level. It will probably work much better once I get it mounted to a pole up above the roof line.

Right now we have no boxes for the TV's. Only the one I am about to return which was the DVR. All the others connect directly to the coax wall plate.

Thank you for the suggestions. They will help.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZI9LWS2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I use this one it works great I have it on a 10 foot pole in my yard and it picks up 29 channels great my favorite is comet tv I live in rural alabama and have it pointed to Birmingham our most populous city hats aout 50 miles away

quick amazon search says this is one of the best outdoor HDTV antenna's for the money

HDTV outdoor antenna - 80 mile range - $30 w/ amazon prime

If you buy a powered antenna like this one you’ll have much better luck.

Phillips amplified antenna

That’s what I use on my two TVs for locals. I’ve used them in Leo, by foster park, and currently I live in New Haven without issues.

Before that I had a classic yagi mounted in my attic. I put it there to avoid the lightening strike problem. Similar to this:
example yagi

I’ve helped several friends install powered flat ones in their houses. Even put one in an attic. NOT IMPRESSED. I used to work on radios years and antenna design is crucial. Imho flat antennas are all the rage probably because they’re easy to mount and hide. Not because of performance. Buy a traditional receiver antenna and you will be better off.

I currently have a 1byOne Digital Amplified Outdoor/Attic HDTV
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZI9LWS2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't think so? The pre-amp is self powered up in the attic, it's the one that came with this antenna.

Thank you for your reply, I used a compass to point the antenna at 168 degrees to try and pick up Fox, but that did not seem to do the trick.

Question: I have a long coaxial cable running from the antenna right now that I could trim as I don't need the full length (I wasn't sure how much I would need to run through the house so I bought a 100 ft cable). Would cutting the cable increase the signal enough to allow me to pick up Fox?

Second question, would there be a big difference if I got a directional antenna? (Something like this: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00ZI9LWS2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484934916&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=directional+antenna&dpPl=1&dpID=41MZAbmpb3L&ref=plSrch)

I got this one and mounted in my attic. I would recommend, yes.

I did this combo:

1byone 80 Miles Digital Amplified Outdoor / Roof HDTV Antenna with Power Supply Box, Extremely High Performance for UHF Band https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZI9LWS2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_tFzuzbEG7D2GQ

Previously I had the typical Wingard flat design model inside. Also went from 19 channels to 53 with the new setup.

So getting separate UHF and VHF is out of the question?

I was thinking of mounting on our metal pole barn out front but it is 90 feet from the crawlspace and then another 12-20 feet to fun cable to the 3 TV's


here is what I was thinking of for VHF/UHF and add a pre amp and combiner along with splitter in crawlspace
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BP4KV9Y/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2XU70B31JRNMP&psc=1


Then for UHF maybe this
https://www.amazon.com/1byone-Digital-Amplified-Extremely-Performance/dp/B00ZI9LWS2/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1536099068&sr=1-3&keywords=uhf+antenna

I'm a bit further east than you, but you're in my area. Thanks for the great information. I was planning to get something like this and just installing it where my dish was before. That way I could just use the same coax and it would give signal to the entire house. The part that always trips me up is the amplifier as I don't have a power source outside near where the antenna would be installed, and if I used it inside, it would only be on one TV after the original line has already been split.