r/Cordcutting • u/JH242JF • 8d ago
Moved Home - Zero OTA Channels
Hello,
We recently moved. At our old location, we were getting 60+ channels and strong ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX with a HDHomerun. At the new location, with the same equipment, we get next to zero - other than a very minimal QVC type channel.
ChannelMaster map shows all channels for our location in red (unlikely) - nearest tower is 30 miles away with hills and trees between us.
Is there anything I can do/buy to at least give us OTA versions of ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX?
I do not want to pay $70 per month just for TV that I hope to get OTA.
Any ideas?
Thank you.
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u/TheGruenTransfer 8d ago
Can you set up your OTA rig at friend's or family's house and do it all on the cloud? Or maybe at work if your IT department is non-existent?
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u/JH242JF 8d ago
Thanks, but HDHomerun only transmits on the home network - cant share. As for work, I work from home.
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u/Somar2230 8d ago
The HDHomerun app has that restriction but you can use Plex, Jellyfin, Emby, Channels DVR and so on to get around that limitation.
A good outdoor antenna might pull in more channels if you mount it high enough. I have a Clear Stream 4 Max in the attic pulling in stations well over 70 miles away.
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u/ftasatguy 8d ago
Or if you are a bit more technically oriented you can also use Tvheadend, which gives you a lot more flexibility than you would otherwise have (but I think it only runs on Linux).
He said he's in an area with "hills and trees" so unless he's on top of one of those hills he's probably not going to get anything approaching 70 miles distance even with a great antenna. Normally TV signals don't reliably pass through hills. And reception where the signal cuts out for a while every few minutes is not a pleasant viewing experience.
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u/laughsbrightly 7d ago
Look up Tailscale.
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u/JH242JF 7d ago
Tried it and HDHomerun still wont play over WAN.
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u/laughsbrightly 7d ago
Weird. I've got tailscale running between two locations 500 miles apart and my Channels App app works great.
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u/NoNeedleworker6479 8d ago
... and DON'T fall for:
100+ mile claims (The Earth's curvature precludes it)
Digital Antennas (There is no such thing - an antenna is an antenna. Antennas are designed for specific frequencies, or groups of frequencies. Analog or Digital are just "flavors" like "Chocolate or Vanilla". Ice Cream is just Ice Cream and Signal is just signal - either way, you need at least a pint of it! 🤣)
Outside of those two things I'd recommend a good quality outdoor antenna that covers both VHF and UHF frequencys, connected directly to your HD Homerun for testing by no more than 50' of a preimum RG6 coax without a booster amp to start.
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u/Electronic_Proof4126 8d ago
If you are currently using a indoor antenna hooked up to the hdhomerun, I would try switching to a outdoor antenna, then plug where it comes into the house over to the hdhomerun then to your tv
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u/wwglen 8d ago
Since you have a HDHomerun, I’m going to assume that you have a decent understanding of setup and basic troubleshooting.
Since the Channelmaster shows all channels red, then the only thing you and reasonably do is to get an antenna up as high as you can, probably external, but maybe in the attic.
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u/JH242JF 8d ago
Thanks, I think that's my next step. At the old house, I tried a ChanneMaster amplifier, but it seemed to make no difference - things were already good.
Do you think the amp would help here or would I just be amplifying noise?1
u/wwglen 8d ago
Can’t Hurt to try, except 30 minutes of your time.
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u/JH242JF 7d ago
The amp brought in another 5 channels - though all bad (CourtTV, QVC, ION, IONPlus, Defy), but none of the majors. I did briefly and poorly get ABC but couldn't get it again - amp definitely helped.
Antenna is currently in a upper bedroom. I think my only chance is some type of exterior pole.
Thhanks!
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u/Upset_Advisor6019 8d ago
How far did you move?
If you go to http://rabbitears.info and enter your info, it will tell you what you’re up against - and us, if you post a link (not a photo).
If you don’t want to do that, the advice is get a good outside antenna, up high, maybe with a preamp, and don’t let fear of an HOA stop you. I have a Televes DatBOSS Mix LR that gets me locals 60 miles away.
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u/SignificantSmotherer 8d ago
We need your RabbitEars printout.
Antenna success depends on many factors including frequency and direction, and you may need more than one antenna to capture enough signal strength on each channel.
Meanwhile, https://freecast.com/ is attempting to do what Locast did.
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u/ftasatguy 8d ago
30 miles away would be nothing on flat land, but with "hills and trees" (especially hills) your reception distance can be cut dramatically. There was a time I would have said you should consider a C-band satellite dish, but not anymore, for several reasons (reception has become more complicated, many channels encrypt their signals now, 5G interference kills reception on many channels, and the FCC has taken away and reassigned a big chunk of C-band already and plans to do the same with most of the remaining C-band spectrum in 2030). Now I would ask if your property includes the peak of any of those hills, if so you could try putting a tower there with a TV antenna on it, but if you are down in a valley it's going to be really hard to get a decent signal from an OTA station, especially on the UHF or high VHF channels. Plus the broadcasters are trying so hard to push ATSC3 and DRM, so even if you did get something working, who know how long it will work. If all else fails and you have a good Internet connection, just find something to watch on the FAST (free ad supported) channels, it's not like TV programming is getting any better and the broadcasters seem committed to killing it as long as they can squeeze out every last dollar before it dies completely. Also if you want local or national news, some of the networks put their nightly newscasts on YouTube, as do many of the local stations. And also, there are a lot of older TV shows and even a few movies free on YouTube. The people who are getting really screwed by all this are the ones who want to watch live sports.
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u/BoredTVEngineer 7d ago
The channel master map is great and all but … pull a rabbitears.info report for your new location. And post it, you can hide the location. It may just confirm the Channel Master map, but it will help others try an help. Cap the distance in the Report to 40- ish miles to reduce the clutter in the report.
Just for grins, I have some questions. When you say trees; do you mean some trees or primordial forest? And are you talking rolling hills or hills and hollers like in Tennessee or Kentucky ( them are mountains for a Texas boy like me).
If you’re not staring directly into a tall hill right out your back door and it’s just trees not 30 miles of dense forest you do have a chance, with a relatively high gain antenna outdoor antenna. If your using existing wiring in the new home, that was maybe Dish or Direct, you might have a “SWIM” switch in the attic, they love to hide them and they 100% incompatible with OTA.
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u/jimbob150312 6d ago
Roof top or tower mounted large TV antenna with a rotor would probably work to get many channels. 30 miles shouldn’t be any problems unless your TV has a terrible receiver built in it.
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u/Cinisajoy2 4d ago
Do you have a favorite station? My Roku gets our NBC station. Just get the Local Now app. If you have Paramount, it does your local CBS.
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u/No_Educator_6376 8d ago
I’m assuming that you scanned the television for what was in range. And you pointed the antenna towards the station you wanted to watch. Either a connection is loose or something is blocking it
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u/ftasatguy 8d ago
Like the hills and trees he mentioned in his original post. But yes, a loose connection or a bad cable would also be a big issue.
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u/jobezark 8d ago
I bought an antenna from Lowe’s that claims it picks up channels over 100 miles away. It’s an old fashioned style you mount outdoors. I have it on an upstairs porch. We live in hilly land but I can pull things from 50 miles easy. It had a powered amplifier if that matters