Does anyone have a rec for a reasonable (around $100 or so) indoor TV antenna?

[SheltieLover]

I absolutely will not affix anything to my beautiful new solar reflective roof, so it must be an easy-to-install indoor one.

I live in the Memphis region, which is a miserable swamp, only about 200 ft. above sea level.

I'd like to get one tomorrow before asshole's tariffs kick in.

TYIA!



PS - I want to watch my childhood heroes, Rocky & Bullwinkle and one of our community members posted that they are on me.tv.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Rabbit ears from your neighbor's trash pile, a yard sale, or a thrift store.

If you spend over a dollar, you have extravagant taste.

Ask me how I know.

[SheltieLover]

2. OK

TY

In this impoverished area, scrappers pick all the garbage clean as vultures would.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Got it. But seriously, rabbit ears work just fine.

The ads for “digital antennas” are baloney.

Okay, if you insist, a Mohu Leaf works pretty well.

But if you’re in an urban setting, rabbit ears can pull in dozens of channels.

[SheltieLover]

4. TY!

I'll have to look & see if they still sell rabbit ears. LOL

TY!

I got all excited when I saw them advertised online that could pick up stations from hundreds of miles away. Just scams, I'm told. Sadly.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. Start at a yard sale or a thrift store.

Full disclosure: at this very second, I am watching over-the-air teevee. I am in Alexandria, Virginia, which is due south of Washington DC. This shows the channels that are more or less available to me. The stations that come in are dependent on weather conditions.

https://www.tvtv.us/dc/washington/20500/luUSA-OTA20500

20500 is the ZIP code for the White House.

I am watching WMAR from Baltimore MD. I am using a Mohu Leaf. WMAR is coming in just fine. I watched WBAL from Baltimore last night, using the same setup. Baltimore stations have always come in here better than DC station. No, I can’t explain why.

The Mohu Leaf does a pretty nice job. That’s not to say that other antennas won’t do just as good a job, or maybe better. Sometimes, rabbit ears work just fine.

[SheltieLover]

6. THere are zero yard sales here - not joking. Crime is too high.

Memphis is the only US city to make the Top 10 Most Dangerous Cities in the World list.

I live to gtf out of here. (It is also an intellectual desert. Gawd help me!)

TYVM!

[SWBTATTReg]

7. Maybe before you spend money for an antenna, try putting alum. foil on the rabbit ears, see if that works first.

[SheltieLover]

8. TY, but I don't have rabbit ears.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. What did you have in the old days? You aren't one of those CABLE PEOPLE, are you? NT

[SheltieLover]

12. I had a normal tv.

Had cable for a few mos. 10+ yrs ago. No tv in the past 10 yrs. Zero tolerance for liars.

But now someone here at DU said Rocky & Bullwinkle are played on Me.tv. so I'm thinking of trying to get an antenna.

Although, now that I think of it, the aluminum radiant het barrier in attic will block signal, right?

In my mind, if foil on rabbit ears helps signal, my entire attic should pull in everything out there, but guessing it won't work that way.

[SWBTATTReg]

19. Hmmm, maybe you could attach the antenna lead from the TV to that giant alum. heat barrier in attic, it might just do

the trick, but running the lead to and from the barrier to the TV in the attic, a little long perhaps.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. Getting back to the Mohu ...

Last edited Mon Feb 3, 2025, 09:24 AM - Edit history (1)

The one I have is an amplified antenna. That helps. It has a cable that is about ten feet, maybe more, long. They really helps, as I get to move it around to find a position where it works.

Analog TV gave you the option of watching with a less than optimal signal. You could still watch the station, even if it wasn’t coming in well. Digital TV is a yes-or-no thing. The signal comes in, or it doesn’t.

ETA: I just went to the Mohu website to see what their current lineup looked like. It linked to this article.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-indoor-hdtv-antenna/

A $35 Channel Master came out on top for them.

Not an endorsement. YMMV.

[SheltieLover]

13. Tyvm for explaining!

I'll try a Mohu. I'd never heard of it. Ty for taking the time to share.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

15. Take a look at that NYT article first. It's only two weeks old.

If you’re near a Best Buy, the have a lot of products available online that they don’t have in the stores. They’ll ship things to you for free.

Again, not an endorsement.

I’m watching WBAL now. Channel 11.2 is MeTV.

[SheltieLover]

16. Ty!

Lo9ks as if the Channelmaster will work fine. Tyvm!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

17. Everything in the article was $50 or less. NT

[PSPS]

11. Any good hardware store has suitable ones for around $10

TV is all digital now. Here's an example:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01L2WKTAU

That's just to show you an example. Anyplace that sells TV's or even general hardware has them too. The "futuristic" ones that sell for over $50 are just a ripoff.

[SheltieLover]

14. Tyvm!

I appreciate you taking the time to explain this.

[4catsmom]

18. you can get those flat ones for less than 100

at Best Buy or similar stores

[LessAspin]

20. Rabbit Ears 🐰

Several years ago we decided to cut the cord. So I bought an indoor antenna but I returned it because the old rabbit ears we already had were better.

We have a TV in the basement where rabbit ears don't work as well so I tapped into an existing outdoor antenna.

Not really an antenna but more of a dish 📡

But not like a Dish or Direct TV satellite 🛰️ dish 📡

More of a microwave type dish I think it's called? It points straight up into the sky but it still pulls in more channels than our indoor antenna 📶

So my guess is that an old style outdoor antenna mounted on the roof or tower would actually work the best.

I just went with that that dish we already had mounted on our roof. Depending on the weather it pulls in between 30-50 channels.

[SheltieLover]

21. Thx!

You know, I bought one of those flat indoor antennas, but never opened the damned box.

It's hard to describe, because I never could've imagined anywhere like this (Memphis region) existed in the USA, but here I am, at least for now.

The news here is shootings, car accidents, drive-by shootings, etc.

If you want any reall news, you have to subscribe to their shitty repug rag of a newspaper. I mean even to learn what is being built in the area, what new restaurants are opening, etc. Ridiculous. And the writing is so poor, it sometimes takes awhile to figure out, so I just decided not to bother.

Here's hoping I can return to civilization again in the very near future.