Harbinger

I've been googling to no avail and hopefully someone can help me.

I just got a pretty cheap bottom of the line hdtv. I don't have cable or sattelite and I want to hook my tv up so I can get local channels. I have no clue what cable I need for this. I thought it was HDMI but that doesn't go in to my cable outlet in the wall. Do I need a converter box?

Thanks for the help!

Toddarino

I don't think this belongs in this section of the forum, but here it goes. All you need is an antenna and standard coax cable. This is the method I use to pick up local channels.

Jon2

Speaking from experience, the only thing I would add is just make sure the antenna is a UHF antenna (or has a UHF component) and that it is suitable for the distance from your place to your local TV transmission towers. Antennas are categorized by range, that is the distance for getting a good signal; 20 miles, 40 miles, etc.

And, IMHO, it wouldn't hurt to go up to the next category of antenna, either. If you are 20 miles away, get an antenna good for 30 or 40 miles.

andicus

I'd also add that RG6 coax cable (typically used for satellite dish installation) is preferred. It loses less signal than RG59, typically used for cable TV.

Since you have an outlet in the wall, it sounds like you already have an antenna, or access to one. Get a length of cable, plug it in, and then scan for available channels. This assumes your TV has an ATSC tuner, which pretty much all new HDTVs have.

webangel

Hi I'm new at this and comfused. Also confused with this HDTV converstion stuff. I hooked up my tv to the converter box and now I only have 2 stations and one of them I've never seen before. I received more stations when I was using my plain rabbit ears thing. This whole high def. stuff is for the birds. The box is show a low signal. Does anyone know what else I can do or the phone number that they have been displaying for over a year. You would have thing I would have written it down somewhere and I can't find it now. Any help would be appreciated. Good luck to everyone else having problems with this. Leave it to the government.

andicus

If you go here: http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?opti...pper&Itemid=29 and enter your address, you will see which stations you 'should' be able to receive. Of course, this is going to depend on the antenna you're using. The bulk of stations are now UHF frequency, so if you have a VHF only antenna, that could explain why you've now only got 2 stations.

This website should help: http://www.dtv.gov/

The phone number is 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)

Oh, you have rabbit ears? For UHF, you should at least have a loop antenna, but depending on your location results, you will may need something better.