How to Add an off-air Antenna
Okay, so as a DirecTV subscriber you tune in to channel 4 or 11 only to see a DirecTV notice that those channels are no longer being carried. How do you get your Ashleigh Hardway fix, er.. um... How do you get your channels back? The simple answer is: with an off-air antenna. Depending on your area and desired coverage, the steps needed to achive this can vary. While you can place an antenna somewhere in your house, you'll get stronger signal and more channels if you mount the antenna outside. The most challenging piece for some is to route a coax cable through an outside wall (as there is usually an existing hole) and mount the antenna outside. While you can mount it to the roof, it is not necessary to do so to get great results.
The first step is the antenna. You can pick these up at your nearest department store for $20 or less. Find one that includes a jack for a power adapter, as it can significantly increase the signal resulting in greater channel pick up and signal clarity. Here's one I purchased from Monoprice.com a few years back that's still available as of this writing (click to enlarge):
The first step is the antenna. You can pick these up at your nearest department store for $20 or less. Find one that includes a jack for a power adapter, as it can significantly increase the signal resulting in greater channel pick up and signal clarity. Here's one I purchased from Monoprice.com a few years back that's still available as of this writing (click to enlarge):
This antenna includes a power supply for the antenna:
- Take the male end of the power supply (the plug with the needle sticking out, similar to the end of a coax cable) and screw it in to the coax jack of your TV.
- Then take the included AC adapter and attach it between the small plug on the power supply and a working outlet on a surge strip or wall jack.
- Now connect a coax cable between the power supply and the antenna itself.
If you keep the antenna indoors, this is a painless process. Once it's been connected, you'll need to go to your TV menu and have it scan through all of the avaialble off-air channels.
Check your TV Owner's manual to find the right menus to select in order to do this. Once you select this step, it usually takes 5 minutes or less for the TV to find all of the available channels. The last step is to change the input source of your TV to the regular channels. The input source is the source where the signals are coming from. For example, if your DirecTV box is connected to HDMI input #2 on your TV and you have a Playstation or XBox connected to HDMI #3, you would select HDMI #2 to watch DirecTV channels and HDMI #3 to play PS or Xbox games. The regular off-air channel input may be listed as “03”, “off-air”, or “coax”. Change the TV input to the off-air channels, then you can begin watching!
HOW TO GET MORE CHANNELS
The simplest way is to mount the antenna outside. The easiest part of that is getting it outside, but the hardest part is getting the cable routed out there.
I used to subscribe to Comcast for cable channels and Internet service, but now I just use it for Internet service. One coax cable was run from outside, through a hole in the floor, then sent to a splitter where one cable would go to the Comcast box and another to the Internet modem. I was able to chisel around the seal where the cable was routed through and run another coax cable through the same hole. From there I took that additional cable and ran it to the side of the house outside and connected the other end to the power supply inside (similar to the diagram above).
Check your TV Owner's manual to find the right menus to select in order to do this. Once you select this step, it usually takes 5 minutes or less for the TV to find all of the available channels. The last step is to change the input source of your TV to the regular channels. The input source is the source where the signals are coming from. For example, if your DirecTV box is connected to HDMI input #2 on your TV and you have a Playstation or XBox connected to HDMI #3, you would select HDMI #2 to watch DirecTV channels and HDMI #3 to play PS or Xbox games. The regular off-air channel input may be listed as “03”, “off-air”, or “coax”. Change the TV input to the off-air channels, then you can begin watching!
HOW TO GET MORE CHANNELS
The simplest way is to mount the antenna outside. The easiest part of that is getting it outside, but the hardest part is getting the cable routed out there.
I used to subscribe to Comcast for cable channels and Internet service, but now I just use it for Internet service. One coax cable was run from outside, through a hole in the floor, then sent to a splitter where one cable would go to the Comcast box and another to the Internet modem. I was able to chisel around the seal where the cable was routed through and run another coax cable through the same hole. From there I took that additional cable and ran it to the side of the house outside and connected the other end to the power supply inside (similar to the diagram above).
After connecting it up, I did the channel search on my TV, and when it was completed I was able to pick up even more channels from other areas. I was able to receive the local channels in HD such as KDKA, WTAE, and WPXI, but could also pick up CW, ION, ThisTV, RetroTV, and channels from West Virginia. Your mileage may vary.