Small Antennas For Free HDTV - Get ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC for sale in Pleasant Hill, CA
This listing for free information is an addendum to my "Winegard Antennas For HDTV" listing. I wanted to show more small antennas that I have tested, including several that are relatively low cost. I also do site testing with several of the described antennas for $15 in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. I am fully vaccinated and will wear a mask if you request it. Not all TV stations that are available at your address may have the big six national networks (ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, PBS). Also, p lease understand that FOX television is not the same as the Fox News channel that is available on cable, satellite, and the internet. Even if you can afford pay TV you should also have free over-the-air antenna television as a backup in case there is an interruption of your pay TV provider because of their technical failure or because of a natural or man-made disaster. You should be able to monitor local news for updates and any possible evacuation orders. With the crashed economy now again is the time to quit cable TV and satellite TV and try to get free OTA (over-the-air) TV. Check the FCC's DTV Reception Map to see what TV stations/channels are possible at your address. Their computer model is based on an antenna 30 feet above ground at your location but it's still very useful, especially if it shows that you have strong signals. https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps No offers, please, regardless of what eBay automatically posts. It doesn't make sense because the information here is free and the $15 is for my location testing service in the San Francisco Bay Area. Please click on Seller's Other Items because I occasionally have extra antennas or antenna equipment that I tested for sale at a discount in the Used or the New Other category. My listing for a rare, old Winegard VHF high band antenna also has additional information: https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223402678159 The final phase for the FCC's mandated repack, the reassignment of the RF channels on which TV stations transmit, was completed on July 2, 2020. Everyone should rescan the tuners on all their TVs and recorders. If you lost some stations/channels it's because the change affected the type and possibly the location of the antenna that you need. From retired San Francisco ABC TV engineer Larry Kenney (and more detailed information from him further below): Virtual Channel is the channel to which the signal is aliased. A signal transmitted by the station causes this number to be used on viewers' sets. Stations are required by the FCC to use their former analog channel number as their Virtual Channel since viewers are familiar with that numbering system and station identification. Transmitter Channel is the channel number the station is transmitting on after the re-pack channel changes. Station sub-channels: Several programming sub-channels can be transmitted on each digital television channel. To distinguish a station's sub-channels, decimals or dashes are added after the channel number - for example 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3, or 7-1, 7-2 and 7-3. Most tuners will not show any digital signals at all until you've had the tuner do a "scan", and if a station has made changes in its lineup, many tuners will not show those changes until you scan again. Tuners: Some tuners show stations with the actual transmitter channels but most tuners only show stations on their virtual channels. All tuners will show all of a station's sub-channels. If you receive the station well enough to receive any one of its sub-channels, you'll see all of the sub-channels. For the transmitter channel, some tuners may not show sub-channels on the same sub-channel numbers that appear on the virtual channel. Some stations do not begin their sub-channels with .1 on their transmitter channel, so you may find nothing on .1 or .2 and find sub-channels on .3 and above. General notes: Knowing transmitter channels is important when you select antennas, coax, and preamplifiers, since virtual channels are meaningless when you design your antenna and signal distribution systems. The television band now consists of channels 2 through 36. Channels 2 through 6 are Low VHF. Channels 7 through 13 are High VHF. Channels 14 through 36 are UHF. VHF signals propagate more readily than UHF signals, so VHF stations need to transmit with less power to cover the same area. Me: TV stations (usually PBS) that are now transmitting on the VHF low band are susceptible to many kinds of electrical interference and require VHF antennas or combination UHF/VHF antennas with very long horizontal rods. Using an indoor antenna amplifier, whether the antenna is inside or outside, may amplify the interference. I can usually predict which antennas are probably most effective for a given location and where to buy good quality ones at the lowest prices. I will give you that information for free. Beware of miracle antennas (or devices) that are junk and are hawked on TV and the internet (including eBay) and are usually overpriced for what you're getting even if they seem cheap. (There is one in my list of tested antennas below. Can you guess which one it is?) The picture quality of free over-the-air TV can be better than your cable TV (or satellite TV) and the HDTV is the best possible because it has the least amount of compression. When comparing antenna specifications ignore the distance claims because they are usually meaningless. Also, gain isn't everything. An antenna can have high gain but in actual use the quality of the received signals may not be good enough, resulting in no picture or a picture with problems. I discovered this years ago when I got my first test tuner that had both strength and quality indicators and that explained the importance of selecting and orienting antennas for both parameters. And, staged tests using transmitters may not always indicate one antenna is better than another. That's why "very good" antennas sometimes don't work because there is no one antenna that is right for all people in all locations for the stations/channels you want to receive. I recommend that you first learn what TV stations/channels are possible at your address and I prefer the FCC's (Federal Communications Commission) DTV Reception Maps website over some others that have advertising and are complicated with too much information. Here is the FCC's Internet address but it may change so you may have to search for it. Enter "fcc antenna map" for a web search or use this link: https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps Don't be discouraged if the results show that the listed TV stations are "weak" or "none." Like cell phone reception, digital television reception is an all-or-nothing function. You either get a perfect picture or nothing or, in difficult reception areas, it may be inconsistent (intermittent) sometimes depending on weather conditions and the time of day. Over-the-air (OTA) television broadcasting went through a change called a "repack" that was completed on May 1, 2020. This means that some stations changed the channels on which they transmit, the radio frequency (RF) channels, not the "virtual" channels that you see indicated on TVs and program guides. This may affect the type of antenna you buy because, after the repack, nationwide the stations transmitting on VHF low band (2 - 6) will increase to about 63 and many of today's antennas, including combination UHF and VHF ones, are designed for VHF high band (7 - 13). The elements for antennas designed for VHF are horizontal rods and the higher the channel number the shorter the rods. (If you are using an indoor antenna with "rabbit ears" they should be oriented horizontally and only extended if you have a station transmitting on 2 - 6.) Most antennas marketed today, whether VHF only or combination UHF/VHF, have relatively short rod elements for VHF high band. If you know that a station you want to receive changed to VHF low band you should choose an antenna that has both short and long rods. Here is a link for TV stations within 100 miles of San Francisco that includes the new repacked channels. http://www.larrykenney.com/sfonair.htm I give free telephone consultations and advice or you can invest $15 for a test and consultation with several antennas at your home in the Northern California San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Please keep in mind that there is no one antenna that is good for all people in all locations and for all the stations/channels that are possible. That is paraphrased from Denny Duplessis of the excellent Denny's Antenna Service of Ithaca, Michigan. He also stresses that no antenna can detect a signal that isn't there. I have tested almost all of the antennas in the photos plus several others including the ones in this list. The * indicates I still have that antenna in my testing inventory. *ANI-24UV (UHF/VHF) *Antennas Direct classic design double bowtie (UHF) (discontinued) *Antennas Direct ClearStream C2-V (UHF/VHF) (old model with reflector) *Antennas Direct ClearStream 5 (discontinued?, unique shape high gain high band VHF is also OK for UHF, has unbalanced mounting) *Antennas Direct 91XG (UHF) *"arrow" type design relatively small log periodic (UHF/VHF) (similar to Digiwave ANT2081 and 1byone's small model but unamplified) *BoostWaves DA-200A log periodic (UHF/VHF) (now there are different versions and brands, some with more plastic by importers who sell on eBay) - The UHF failed on mine in wet weather. Channel Master CM-2020 ("Digital Advantage 100" / CM-2020) - (UHF/VHF, although extremely weak performance for VHF at my moderate signal strength location and the clamp is horribly unbalanced) Channel Master biggest Gold Medal series broadband (like the current CM-3671) - (UHF/VHF) Channel Master CM-3023 or CM-4288 (old, discontinued USA made, not the later copy/counterfeit?) Channel Master CM-4228 8 bowtie (UHF) (original, first wire mesh reflector version) *Denny's HD Stacker *Digiwave ANT2085 4 vertical bowtie (UHF) ("Outdoor 4 Bay") (Walmart and Home Depot) *GE 34792-1 (UHF/VHF) (old attic model) *Monoprice HD7 (?) *Monoprice HD8 (UHF) *ProBrand Eagle Aspen DTV2BUHF double bowtie (UHF) *RCA ANT751 or RCA ANT 751E or RCA ANT 751R or RCA ANT7511 (UHF/VHF) - these are slightly different and in one test (not mine) the RCA ANT 751I had significantly higher UHF gain Solid Signal / Extreme Signal HDB4X (UHF) *Silver Sensor "arrow" type design relatively small log periodic indoor (UHF) (my first antenna for DTV in the late 90s, from England with the adapter for the European connecter) *Stellar Labs 30-2475 / HTA Y8-7-13 (VHF) *Stellar Labs 30-2476 (VHF) Terk HDTVi (UHF/VHF) unamplified indoor antenna *ViewTv WA-2900G-UVA (UHF/VHF) (the very low cost version without the indoor amplifier and before the later versions under the Leadzum brand with and without the amplifier that are now about twice the original price of about $15, probably because it is now more widely known as a very good performer) Winegard Elite 7550 (UHF/VHF) with built-in preamp *Winegard FreeVision (UHF/VHF) *Winegard HD7000R (UHF/VHF) *Winegard YA-1713 (VHF) (discontinued) Denny's Antenna Service in Michigan (not an eBay seller) has an excellent website that also has a wealth of information. Beside being a dealer for venerable U.S. brand roof and attic antennas, he also sells the big, custom-designed "stacker" made by Winegard. http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/ I will answer questions if you contact me via eBay's messaging (ask the seller a question) but I cannot include my phone or e-mail address because of eBay rules. I live in Northern California inland east from the San Francisco Bay on the border of Pleasant Hill and Concord, California. You can contact me by searching for my "Very Rare Winegard" ad in the San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist. I'll answer from there with my e-mail address and phone numbers because eBay does not allow them in their messages prior to a sale. I do not sell new antennas but sometimes I have a used one on eBay and the San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist and I also have some new and used surplus installation equipment that I will sell to help you but my main objective is to provide free information and advice for cord cutters to get free TV with an antenna. I give free telephone consultations and advice or invest $15 for a test and consultation with several antennas at your home in the Northern California San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. For local pickup I am a few blocks off of 680 on the border of Pleasant Hill, and Concord, California
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