Best Outdoor TV Antennas for Rural Areas - AntennaJunkies.com (2023)

FAQs

What antenna picks up the most TV channels? ›

Best TV antenna

For the best overall TV antenna, it's hard to beat the capable Mohu Leaf Supreme Pro. It boasts a built-in amplifier for suburban areas that may need a boost to get the most channels and an integrated signal-strength meter that helps you find the optimal spot for pulling in channels.

If you're looking for a simple, effective solution to this problem, an HDTV antenna is the way to go. Browse the top-ranked list of HDTV antennas for rural areas below along with associated reviews and opinions.

Starting at 12:01 a.m. on January 28, 2022. Who will these changes affect? Viewers who currently receive their television signal over-the-air using a rooftop antenna or “rabbit ears” will lose reception due to a government mandated signal conversion.

The larger the surface area of the antenna, the more channels it's likely to receive. Because outdoor antennas are up high, they are more likely to get long-distance signals. Outdoor antennas receive broadcasts with less interference, as well.

Use a signal-level meter to find the strongest signal

A meter eliminates the time-consuming trial-and-error process of placing the antenna, running a channel scan on your TV to see how many channels you get, trying a different antenna position, and rescanning to see if you get better results.

The most effective antenna has the same length as the length of the wave it is used for. For practical purposes, half or a quarter of that length will suffice. Most LoRa antennas are a 1/4 wavelength.

Applications. High gain antennas are typically the largest component of deep space probes, and the highest gain radio antennas are physically enormous structures, such as the Arecibo Observatory.

One surprise was that we found little correlation between price and performance. Cheaper antennas often did as well as—or better than—more expensive models.

Your antenna mount needs to be properly grounded for your antenna to function correctly. Without a solid ground, you're bound to get high SWR levels and extremely poor performance.

Why is my antenna not picking up channels? ›

If hills, trees, buildings, or other geographic features are in between the broadcast towers and the antenna, the signals might not be able to reach your antenna. Elevating the antenna, either by placing it in a higher location or using a taller mast, will increase the signal reception.

Check http://www.tvfool.com/ by providing your zip code. Then you can find out where the broadcast towers are in your local. Aiming your antenna at TV tower can improve reception.

If you watch television for free with an antenna, you need to rescan your TV set starting on Monday, March 9, 2020 to continue watching KTVU FOX 2. Rescanning is when your TV finds all of the available channels in your area.

While indoor antennas can pick up channels from broadcast stations within a 20-30 mile radius, the reach of an outdoor antenna is about 60 to 80 miles.

Higher is better: 10-20 feet off the ground is ideal. Try to avoid obstructions such as tall buildings, forests or hills, which can weaken signals before they get to your antenna. You'll need to be able to point your antenna, even if it's multidirectional, at the source of the TV signal for the best reception.

While a strong signal is often thought of as a plus, a signal that is too high will likely cause pixelation or burn out your TV's tuner. Typically a good signal strength is between 60-65dBuV. You can check the nearest transmitters and signal strength available from your location using the MySwitch website.

Higher is always better. Mount the antenna on your roof or in the attic for optimal performance. These locations are more likely to experience fewer obstacles which cause signal interference between the antenna and broadcast towers. Face the front of the antenna toward the broadcast towers.

Cell phone signal strength is measured in decibels (dBm). Signal strengths can range from approximately -30 dBm to -110 dBm. The closer that number is to 0, the stronger the cell signal. In general, anything better than -85 decibels is considered a usable signal.

Parabolic – The most widely used high gain antenna at microwave frequencies and above. Consists of a dish-shaped metal parabolic reflector with a feed antenna at the focus. It can have some of the highest gains of any antenna type, up to 60 dBi, but the dish must be large compared to a wavelength.

Do TV antennas need line of sight? ›

A: For the best performance, we typically recommend placement of your TV antenna at the highest point available to you and with a clear line of sight to the broadcast towers to minimize the possibility of obstructions between your antenna and the broadcast towers it is receiving signals from.

A splitter weakens the signal level, which can cause intermittent loss of service or, in rare cases, service failure. We recommend connecting your modem or Spectrum receiver directly to a wall outlet rather than using a splitter.

Antenna Length & Type: Everything else equal, longer antennas will always have a longer range than shorter antennas. Also, certain types of antennas have a longer range than others.

Finally, longer antennas work better than shorter ones, so select the longest length that can be comfortably used.

Yes, the greater the length of coax cable you use, the more signal loss you will experience.

The antenna or array designed to yield directive gain appreciably greater than that obtainable from uniform distribution has become known as Super gain antenna. The maximum directive gain (directivity) of an antenna depends upon its physical size compared to wavelength.

Parabolic antennas are the most efficient type of directional antennas because they have small side lobes, sharp radiation angles, and a large front-back ratio.

So, a high-gain antenna is particularly good at transmitting signals in a narrow beam whereas a low-gain antenna tends to send its signal in a much wider sweep of directions. Because a low-gain antenna spreads its power out over a wider volume in space, the signal received by a ground station is weaker.

Although, you might not necessarily need a new antenna, you just want to upgrade. Upgrading to a digital antenna is a good choice. Generally, digital antennas are much better than analog antennas. Therefore, it is better to install a digital antenna since it is specially designed for the digital TV.

Bigger antennas only work better if they can be accurately pointed to the satellite. At higher frequencies and with bigger antennas, this challenge becomes increasingly difficult and errors much more costly — so costly, in fact, that smaller may actually be less expensive, more convenient and... better.

Are 2 TV antennas better than 1? ›

In some cases, two antennas are used to work together on the same frequency in a diversity configuration, which will provide a stronger transmission than one antenna alone.

So what makes the difference between a 1/2 wave vertical and a 5/8 wave vertical that would account for the difference in gain? The 5/8 wave antenna has a bit more conductor that is radiating, true, but that is out of phase with the main radiation, so it would actually reduce the radiation at the horizon.

Typically, the higher your antenna is placed, the better your reception will be. That's why outdoor antennas tend to pick up so many channels.

If the antenna is surrounded by metal. If the antenna is sandwiched between two surfaces (i.e., between a pick-up bed and the cab) If the majority of the antenna is blocked or boxed in by some part of the vehicle. If the entire antenna is below the roof of the vehicle.

Does Length of Coaxial Cable Affect Signal Loss? Yes, the greater the length of coax cable you use, the more signal loss you will experience.

If hills, trees, buildings, or other geographic features are in between the broadcast towers and the antenna, the signals might not be able to reach your antenna. Elevating the antenna, either by placing it in a higher location or using a taller mast, will increase the signal reception.

Higher is better: 10-20 feet off the ground is ideal. Try to avoid obstructions such as tall buildings, forests or hills, which can weaken signals before they get to your antenna. You'll need to be able to point your antenna, even if it's multidirectional, at the source of the TV signal for the best reception.