TV antenna

[sistersue]

Does anyone know if a television antenna would get any stations in HPP? I have a housesitting job and the cable was turned off.
Thank you!

[macuu222]

Yes... but you need an amplified antenna to get all the hd channels. We use an indoor antenna that we just keep on the window sill and it pulls down every channel except channel 13 (NBC). Similar to the one below:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/rocketfish-ultra-thin-hdtv-antenna-black-white/4798102.p?skuId=4798102&ref=212&loc=1&ksid=a53b0b43-701d-4b3e-97b5-16c59414432b&ksprof_id=16&ksaffcode=pg252604&ksdevice=c&lsft=ref:212,loc:2&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrt3qucq81wIVEavsCh1r8QjaEAQYAyABEgJgMPD_BwE

[terracore]

This is the one we use:

https://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-ClearStream-Multi-Directional-Included/dp/B01LXGC87U/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1510624549&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Antennas+Direct+ClearStream+Outdoor+Long-Range+Digital+TV+Antenna&linkCode=ll1&tag=pw016-20&linkId=15a4c601651e9b357a70b067d6307483

Here's the channels we get:

Here's the current lineup of channels we get all the time. Some of them used to drift back and forth but I haven't touched the antenna and everything settled down to this channel lineup:

4.1 ABC major network
4.2 MeTV classic television programming (Brady Bunch, Gunsmoke, MASH etc), http://www.metv.com/
9.1 KFVE local, http://www.k5thehometeam.com/
10.1 PBS major network
10.1 PBS transmitter 2, same programming as above
10.2 PBS different programming than 10.1
10.2 PBS transmitter 2, same programming as above
10.3 PBS Sometimes different programming than 10.1 or 10.2
10.3 PBS transmitter 2, same programming as above
11.1 FOX major network
11.2 CCW major network
13.1 NBC major network
13.2 CBS major network
14.1 KWHE religious programming and old TV shows/movies http://www.kwhe.com/
45.1 CBS (same programming as 13.2)
45.2 THIS TV movies and drama, http://honolulu.thistv.com/
45.3 ESCAPE TV basically a movie channel with movies from 80's-2000, http://www.escapetv.com/

Here's a URL for listings: http://tvlistings.aol.com/listings/hi/hi...-air/96720

[Kenney]

Aloha Terracore. Just curious, where do you have your antenna, inside like macuu22 or outside?

[terracore]

I suspected our amplified indoor antenna didn't work due to our metal roof, so I mounted the Clearstream antenna on the end of a 10' metal electrical conduit and shoved it into an existing bracket from a previous satellite dish antenna hookup so that it would reach over the metal roof. If I mounted the antenna on the other side of the house, the 10' pole probably wouldn't have been necessary because there would have been no metal roof in between the antenna and the transmitters. But there was no pre-existing bracket over there.

In retrospect, it probably would have made sense to remove and reinstall the bracket on the other side of the house rather than trying to put the antenna over the roof line, but it would have taken longer, and I already had the spare 10' conduit pole. And if there are two ways to approach a problem, I usually opt for the quicker and/or easier method.

My last recommendation is to not skimp on the quality of the coax cable going from the antenna to the TV. The first cable I tried I bought at HD or Walmart and when I didn't get all the channels I emailed the antenna seller. They told me their antenna would pull in the channels [part of the story I guess I left out in this post, is I contacted the antenna company before I bought anything and they looked at my address, and the transmitters, and made a specific product recommendation based on my circumstances] so they blamed the coax cable. I was skeptical but when I replaced the cable with a higher quality, I got ALL the transmitted channels. Also, they recommended against me trying to use a signal booster (that they sold) in lieu of a higher quality cable. Here is the cable I bought, though it was a few years ago, there may be better or less expensive options:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004I3YF42/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=pw016-20&linkId=a22666890adb2d2d565dd323ef985b99

ETA: fixed link

[Kenney]

Wow, Thank you for the great info Terracore! We have a good Antena but bought our Coax at HD too. I never thought that could be the weak link (so to speak). Will try better Coax now.

We're also under big trees and the only place away from them is too far from the house. We might need a pole like the phone towers to get good reception. PBS still comes in good though, and I love their programming, (and the shade trees) so can't complain.

Funny, but in the "olden days", (80's) all we could get was CBS (with a coat hanger Antena) and now with all our "improvements", CBS is the hardest channel to get!

[leilanidude]

We're also under big trees
--------
Trees are full of water.. which blocks signals... especially albezia...

[Kenney]

I think Mangos are even juicier Leilani dude! One fell on the house during Izelle. Smush to the floor!!

[terracore]

You might just need to re orientate the antenna. YOU HAVE TO RE-SCAN (aka auto-tune) ON YOUR TV EVERY TIME YOU MOVE THE ANTENNA JUST A LITTLE BIT.

I had to orient my antenna just a little to the west of what "made sense" based on where the transmitters were to get all the channels. Our "line of sight" goes through an ohia forest, I think it works because our elevation is above 800' and we have good equipment.

If I orient the antenna 180 degrees from where it is, I get the 10's from different transmitters, but I don't get anything else. If I orient a bit west more where I'm currently at, I get phantom channels with no programming, apparently they are signals from some Mauna Kea equipment and not actual TV transmissions.

If you don't find an orientation that is a "sweet spot" to get every channel, they do make remote-control gizmos to rotate an antenna mast from inside the house. Those worked pretty well in the analog days but now they would require a re-scan every time you use it.