How to install a TV antenna for FREE TV

I don't think so, Lucy!

People are abandoning expensive pay TV services for free digital over-air signals. Broadcast TV has come of age. Winegard, premier manufacturer of TV antennas supplied us with evaluation units to try out, after I told them I hadn’t even been close to a TV antenna in 20 years. But take note! It may be too late to advantage this prize – there’s talk, serious talk in Washington, of selling off the bandwidth and getting rid of FREE TV.

The first thing we found out was that installing an antenna is pretty much one of the simplest things we’ve ever done.

The instructions packaged with the antennae weren’t the best ever written, but a person with rudimentary knowledge and technical skills could get the job done. These observations are true of all four we worked with.

What comes with antennas

Opening the boxes, we found that three of the four had multiple parts to assemble. Included with all were

1. antenna components
2. mounting hardware
3. assembly hardware
4. RF coax cables
5. electrical cords where needed
6. power supply where needed
7. instructions

The items were not particularly well wrapped and packaged, but they survived.

Our most complicated sample was a two-part antenna that needed carriage bolts (included) to connect two parts. The instructions were good enough to walk us through that process. They were a little confusing and the illustrations a bit vague. I will say that Winegard has a live tech support line and further info on their website.

Installing the antenna

First, we consulted Antenna Web, where we plugged in our address. Their application told us what kind of antenna should serve us best and where we’d want to point it. It listed the stations in range and an estimate of signal strengths at our location.

We assemble the components per Winegard’s instructions and the knowledge base. This is usually no more than two or three pieces, and no big challenge.

We went up in the attic crawl space, electing not to put the antenna on our roof, though that is the recommended preferred installation point. We put down two 2×4 sheets of plywood and screwed the plywood into the ceiling joists. We set the tripod base and mast on the plywood and screwed the tripod down to the plywood.

The tricky part is making sure you don’t spread the elements of the antenna wide apart before taking it up to it’s final home, it won’t fit through the crawlspace entrance if you do. That’s why the plywood was cut in half, too.

We used the included bracket to secure the antenna to the mast, using the u-clamp and a 7/16th inch wrench (or nutdriver.)

Once the antenna was pointing toward the broadcast transmitter, we tightened the clamp down.

Now we had to run coax cables (not supplied) from the antenna to each TV, through whatever paths made sense to us. Multiple TVs need a splitter (not supplied). Now, we connected to our TVs (or digital converter boxes).

We turned on the digital-ready TV (or digital converter box and analog TV) and ran the scan function as defined in the TVs user manual.

If you do all that, you’re set to receive free TV, including all or most local networks, UHF channels, and new digital networks like ABC-Live Well Network. In our area, 42 miles northwest of the Chicago transmitters, we get about 40 stations. The programming is not the same as pay TV, but we’re finding we watch more channels than we did with pay TV.

Other antenna manufacturers:

• ChannelMaster
• Wade Antenna, Inc
• Terk by Audiovox - click on the Terk link