Local Channels

[lovemachine]

I want to be able to pick up local channels on my Samsung smart tv.

Theres a large over the air antenna above my roof. So I purchased an antenna co-ax cable, and hooked it to my tv.

Went to settings to scan air channels. And can’t pick anything up.

Anyone have any advice on how I can get this to work?

 

[Old Dog]

Probably need a digital antenna. I have an inside digital antenna and get all the local channels, including the side channels (13.2, 4.3, etc.) Also be sure you are scanning for the digital channels.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Make sure the signal type is OTA HD, not cable.
buy a window mount antenna and see if you can pick anything up. Could be a bad antenna.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Probably need a digital antenna. I have an inside digital antenna and get all the local channels, including the side channels (13.2, 4.3, etc.) Also be sure you are scanning for the digital channels.

Antennas dont know the difference between digital and analog. They just pick up anything on that frequency and send that signal down the wire.

 

[lovemachine]

Tried another tv. Can only get channel 59.

 

[Cameramonkey]

check out antennaweb or tvfool. I used the former. You plug in your location and it gives you bearings and distance to the transmitters. And will also suggest which types of antennas to use.

 

[Frosty]

Mine has to be pointed a pretty specific direction or reception sucks, and reception changes depending on the season, I hardly get any channels in the summer, something to do with the sun, I don’t know, I know 90% of the time the tv is on, it’s either on Netflix or the amazon fire stick. I don’t watch much tv, so I don’t worry about it much.

 

[Ingomike]

I hardly get any channels in the summer, something to do with the sun

Could it be the trees are in full foliage?

 

[9mmfan]

I just hang an inside antenna by the window that points in the general direction where all our local TV stations transmission towers are.

But then, it a good thing I live on the south side of Mishawka.

 

[Cameramonkey]

I just hang an inside antenna by the window that points in the general direction where all our local TV stations transmission towers are.

But then, it a good thing I live on the south side of Mishawka.

Its easy if you are up to 50 miles away from a major metro site so all your towers are in the same general direction. Sucks IN the city where each tower is a different direction.

 

[HoughMade]

You can't do better than watching this guy's videos.

 

[bwframe]

Sounds like you just have to get your antenna pointed correctly?

 

[radar8756]

How New of a Smart TV ?

All broadcast TV since 2009 is ATSC -
If your TV has a Analog tuner you would need a Converter

 

[indyblue]

Wow, with nothing but a set of rabbit ears and 75 ohm balun, my TV can auto scan more than 35 channels.

This is from Indy’s northside. Some channels do require me to change the orientation for a stable signal.

It should not be difficult to pickup most channels. My girlfriend in Danville has an old outdoor rooftop antenna and it picks up most channels from the city just fine.

For the weaker channels though, you may need an antenna amplifier to help boost the signal a little. You should even try changing the direction of the antenna on the roof and try your scan again.

 

[tmschuller]

I bought one of those amplified antennas and get indy and Fort Wayne. It has a rotating feature on it and all the channels are very clear. It was about 35.00$ on sleazbay or Amazon carries them as well as Walmart. I hooked it up to the dish network cable.. boom done. It’s mounted on the roof but I also bought a flat antenna and it did ok but definitely get it up in the air helped

 

[Frosty]

Could it be the trees are in full foliage?

No, early mornings we will get a random channel, when the sun starts coming up it will start losing reception. I think we’re just far enough away that the signal is already weak.

 

[blain]

You can't do better than watching this guy's videos.

Tyler is The Man on TV reception over the air.

The original issue almost seems like a wiring connection problem, to me.
A bad location and wrong antenna orientation could explain it.
But two TV's only picking up one channel, seems like something is amiss with the basic setup.

I've got one of these (almost the same price as 7 years ago).
Oriented in the right direction, it performs very well.

 

[bobzilla]

We’ve had this for 5 or 6 years in the living room and one of the flat ones in the bedroom for longer. At I65 and 267 (Whitestown/Zionsville/lebanon) we have about 50-ish channels.

 

[Brandon]

Ive got 2 in the attic. I can pick up all the local stations... wind and rain will kill wish tv pretty easily.

 

[pute62]

$20 antenna from Dollar General and I get 30-40 channels in town