[mckinzie]

Anyone have knowledge of installing an attic TV antenna north of SR466.
please call Steve at 352-445-8843

[villagetinker]

Originally Posted by mckinzie

Anyone have knowledge of installing an attic TV antenna north of SR466.
please call Steve at 352-445-8843

Do a search for Tom the AV guy, he seems to be the most knowledgeable on antenna installations. If you are looking as a DIY, I personally do not do attics especially with blown in insulation, but if you are going DIY, I would stick to the attic area over the garage, and cross your fingers to see if you get reception.
IMHO, I would get a nice long range (80 miles or so) antenna, a suitable amplifier, and set it up on a ladder outside and see if it works. This will save you a lot of additional work if it does not work.

[ThirdOfFive]

Originally Posted by villagetinker

Do a search for Tom the AV guy, he seems to be the most knowledgeable on antenna installations. If you are looking as a DIY, I personally do not do attics especially with blown in insulation, but if you are going DIY, I would stick to the attic area over the garage, and cross your fingers to see if you get reception.
IMHO, I would get a nice long range (80 miles or so) antenna, a suitable amplifier, and set it up on a ladder outside and see if it works. This will save you a lot of additional work if it does not work.

We did the antenna thing a few years back up in MN. Satellite TV was getting waaay too expensive and my one experience with Charter Cable TV was atrocious, so we decided to cut the cord. Or cords. we bought an outside antenna at the local Fleet Farm and proceeded to erect it at one end of our four-bedroom rambler. Looked pretty retro--something like a streamlined skeleton with all those ribs and it was BIG. Maybe 6 feet from one end to the other and a good three feet wide. I bought a couple of 8' steel pipes, connected them together and with the pole that came with the antenna the whole thing was may 25' in the air total. Attracted quite a crowd installing it: the older folks recognized it right away but a lot of the youngsters had no idea what it was. One kid, maybe 8, asked if I was installing radar.

Anyway, it worked great. $99 and an afternoon's worth of work installing the thing and stringing wires pulled in stations from as far as 80 miles away (over 100 in the right conditions) with definition and clarity as good or better than my former satellite reception, and the internet with Amazon Prime gave me all the non-local TV I wanted. We cut our total bill by well over half.

[Bilyclub]

OTA signal is not compressed like cable and satellite. Great pic, especially sports programming.

[JGibson]

North of 466 may be a challenge, the antennas are in the Orlando area.

I think they purposely don’t putter antennas close to TV to keep us locked into the cable.

Rural Americans really take it on the chin with free OTA, meanwhile, the cheapest way to get big network local channels is at $80 on YTTV or Cable with their exorbitant fees.

There were a few companies who tried to offer $10 a month for all your local OTA via streaming but was defeated by the major networks and ended up bankrupt with the lawsuits.

I do know how these billion-dollar companies get to use our FCC-regulated Airwaves without offering a solution to rural America.

[Bilyclub]

Channels 2 and 6 have repeaters in Ocala. Interesting that 17 has a tower in Wildwood.

[Snowbirdtobe]

I put a $20 window flat panel with amplifier from Amazon in my window facing Orlando and get the following stations.
2,6,35 and all the sub channels. No channel 9 so I put up an outside antenna. I'm near Spanish Springs.

[RICH1]

Some guys will never give up! A Basic Wi-Fi setup and a 20.00 Roku unit will give you movies & news! Redo your budget and find 55.00 bucks a month that you can spare.. at our age, start living life and quit saving money!

[Bilyclub]

There's nothing wrong with spending a hundred or two in getting OTA channels. A good backup at the very least and totally free after it's setup.

[Carla B]

Originally Posted by Bilyclub

There's nothing wrong with spending a hundred or two in getting OTA channels. A good backup at the very least and totally free after it's setup.

Agreed, especially for weather.

[JGibson]

Originally Posted by RICH1

Some guys will never give up! A Basic Wi-Fi setup and a 20.00 Roku unit will give you movies & news! Redo your budget and find 55.00 bucks a month that you can spare.. at our age, start living life and quit saving money!

I can well afford cable and it's not actually the money but the principle that these companies are so greedy.

It's ridiculous paying $100 a month when you just want local channels.

Cable companies are bleeding customers and Bally’s Sports is about to file bankruptcy because of their greed.

[Battlebasset]

Originally Posted by mckinzie

Anyone have knowledge of installing an attic TV antenna north of SR466.
please call Steve at 352-445-8843

I live in the Fenny area. I installed a large 8 foot directional UHF antenna (yagi) in my garage attic and added a Wingard booster at the point that the coax cable comes out of the attic and into the garage, then fed the coax that runs to my TV. When I scan I consistently get 60+ channels but between duplicates and things you don't want to watch, about 30 useful channels. Did it myself and spent about $120, all from Amazon.

If you search "antenna" on the forums you'll find much more about how to make this work.

Unless you want to watch "cable only" channels, no need to do more than this and pay for the specific streaming services you want (Netflix, Amazon, Britbox, ESPN, etc.)

[Nell57]

Originally Posted by RICH1

Some guys will never give up! A Basic Wi-Fi setup and a 20.00 Roku unit will give you movies & news! Redo your budget and find 55.00 bucks a month that you can spare.. at our age, start living life and quit saving money!

I do stream everything on Roku. My bill with YouTubetv this month was $82. When I started with them 4 years ago it was $50.
So I cancelled.
I had an antennae guy out a few years ago and he said my Orlando reception would be “iffy”. So I’m not thinking that’s an option.
Is there some streaming channel that you are using , that carries Orlando channels, for $55?
Right now I’m in Ohio. I have OTA, and am adding Apple TV, Paramount, MAX to catch up on their great programs.
When I get back, I would like to sign up for a streaming service that is cheap, and includes Orlando news.

[Battlebasset]

Originally Posted by Nell57

I do stream everything on Roku. My bill with YouTubetv this month was $82. When I started with them 4 years ago it was $50.
So I cancelled.
I had an antennae guy out a few years ago and he said my Orlando reception would be “iffy”. So I’m not thinking that’s an option.
Is there some streaming channel that you are using , that carries Orlando channels, for $55?
Right now I’m in Ohio. I have OTA, and am adding Apple TV, Paramount, MAX to catch up on their great programs.
When I get back, I would like to sign up for a streaming service that is cheap, and includes Orlando news.

You don't mention what Village area you live in. If you are more south, you shouldn't have a problem with an attic antenna/with preamp booster, assuming you don't have the rest of your house or a large tree/wall immediately between you and the direction you need to point the antenna. Also, if you have a foil barrier on the underside of your roof, forget it. Won't work, per what I've been told. Use a website like antennaweb.org to see what you might be able to get from your address.

As for streaming services, there are some cheaper than others. You say you have Roku, as do I, so search for some of the "cable alternative" apps and take a look at the channels they offer. I think Sling might offer local channels for less than $55, if you get their cheapest offering. Also there are some free Roku apps like "Local Now" and "News On" that stream the newscasts from Orlando, as well as many other states/cities. Some stations also have their own apps with their live news broadcasts, recordings, and other features. Not sure if any of the Orlando stations have their own app.

Good luck!

[UpNorth]

Several years ago there was a company called Aereo that let you "rent" your own mini antenna at their location for your local channels that got shipped through the internet to you for a small fee. The networks and cable companies sued, and they disappeared. Then, a few years ago a company called Locast let you watch your local channels for free over the internet. They claimed to be "not for profit", but did ask for donations which became their downfall. The networks and cable companies sued again, and Locast disappeared. I would guess that there will be another attempt in the future to give you local tv channels for free over the internet. You can get many local radio stations for free over the internet; why not local tv?