Get The Best Outdoor Antenna To Make Watching TV A Breeze

Buying Guide

Whether you want to watch the local news, see your favorite sports team or check out the new series everyone’s talking about, you can access more channels on your TV with an outdoor antenna. Regardless of where you live in the country, it’s likely that you can access local TV broadcasts from your home. In fact, over 99 percent of households in the United States can access at least one local TV channel. Plus, 89 percent of households can access at least five stations.

If you have a high-quality outdoor antenna, you can access excellent picture quality over-the-air signals. In some cases, the picture quality may even outperform cable and satellite providers because they usually have to use data compression, which can compromise quality.

There are number of different types of outdoor antennas you can use. Keep in mind that indoor antennas are not made to be used outdoors. These are designed specifically to hook up with your TV, and are not designed to withstand the outdoor elements. Outdoor antennas, on the other hand, are designed to attach to your roof or be placed in your attic. They are typically larger than indoor antennas as a larger surface area is needed to receive more channels. Most outdoor antennas have HD TV quality.

If you live in a rural area, opt for an amplified outdoor antenna. This is a way to improve reception of the TV signals, which may be weak in your area. The amplifier can be built into the outdoor antenna or it can be attached as a separate device which helps boost the signal. Keep in mind that one of the disadvantages of an amplified outdoor antenna is that it can also negatively affect reception by overamplifying the noise.

Some outdoor antennas are single direction, which means that they are designed to only receive signals from one physical direction. Others are multi-direction, so they can receive signals coming from several different areas. One step beyond a multi-direction antenna is an omni-directional antenna. This type of antenna is able to pick up more signals than a multi-direction antenna. However, there are drawbacks to multi-direction and omni-direction antennas, as they can also pick up interference. This can result in distorted picture quality.

• When you’re looking for an outdoor antenna, one of the most important things to think about before you get started is which channels are actually available over the air where you live. You can search for topographical maps of your area and the related TV signals online to get an idea of which channels will be available to you where you live.
• Out of the channels you have available, determine whether any of them are of interest to you. You can check TV guides online for those specific channels to see what kinds of programs air on them and whether those are what you want to watch on TV.
• Ensure that you can legally put up an antenna outside. In most cases, you should be allowed to, but it may be a concern in rentals or condominium-style homes.
• Keep in mind that you also have to connect your outdoor antenna to your TV inside, which can be challenging in some homes. In order to connect them, you have to use a high-quality coaxial cable. This kind of cable has a wire in the center that carries the TV signal, plus an outer braid of wires which protect the inner cable from interference. You will have to carefully measure the distance from the antenna to the TV and determine the right placement to run the coaxial cable. If you are connecting multiple shorter coaxial cables together, the signal will be compromised slightly every time you add on another cable. Ideally, it’s best to find the shortest distance between the outdoor antenna and the TV.
• It’s hard to know how your outdoor antenna will work until you actually have it mounted and connected. In some areas, especially where there are hills or tall buildings, the TV signals can bounce off obstacles and result in interference. You may have to play with the placement and angle of the outdoor antenna to ensure you get the best reception possible.