I am tired of streaming the superbowl.
What I have right now is a coathanger antenna , VHF/UHF converter, coaxial cable, a vcr, a RCA video out and a projector. in an attempt to get local channels.
The VCR won't work as a converter because it's old as hell.
I believe that i need a converter rather than an old VCR to take the signal coming in from the antenna and bring me footballs.
My question is, would an old cable box work? like something from charter or cox or time warner? something like that? or does that only take in X provider's own input? I have a friend who has one that i'm currently still on speaking terms with.
any anons experienced with getting free tv?
old boxes are made for analog broadcast signals. The entire US switched to digital several years ago. You're either going to need a newer converter box or a newer TV with a digital converter already in it.
That said I made a similar antenna and the reception is great. It works better than the shitty $15 box/antenna combo my roommate got from walmart.
google the manual for your TV to see if it's capable of receiving digital signals, aka ATSC. if so, use the settings to set it for digital, connect a wire to the RF input (or your coat-hanger monstrosity) and you're good to go.
if not, you need a $30 gadget, an ATSC receiver, like the super cheap DTA1080D. (dont get that one, it's just an example.)
OP here. My main question is can i use an old cable box from 2012 that was given by a cable company as the converter?
>>939797
you seem to misunderstand the purpose of cable boxes... they will only work if its ACTIVATED for that cable company... they wont magically convert a signal... you need a dedicated converter box that will convert FREE signals that dont require you to PAY the cable company to activate
old cable boxes are useless for anything especially if its analog. throw that shit away and get a proper converter
sorry but this is one thing you wont be able to DIY from an old cable box
>>939797
>can i use an old cable box
Probably not. Cable boxes convert cable signal to TV video, HDMI, etc. Very rarely, they can also take antena input and handle DTV (digital) signals. If the box is free, try it. But don't pay money for it before verifying it will work without cable.
Get something like an iView 3500stbii. DTV tuner with analog video, HDMI component video out. Add a USB hard drive and it's a PVR as well. $35.
Digital converter box. $20 from walmart. You can continue to use your niggercoathangerantenna with it.
Or,but a decent TV that has a tuner built in. We just moved into a house that has a giant antenna on the roof. We pick up all major channels with nothing.
... I am confused why OP and many others are calling this kinda stuff "digital cable".
Its broadcast/over-the-air TV. I've seen shit-tons of commercials pitching "super"devices (antennas) as replacements for cable television. Did everyone forget about broadcast towers or some shit?
>>939933
Op clearly means OTA broadcasts. He has old hardware that doesn't have a digital tuner in it so he needs a converter.
OP I built one of those antennas a few years back. Got every station in my metro area. If you can get some metal mesh for behind it, you'll get an even better signal.
i live in a city and have a fire escape right outside my window.
if i were to be using a "niggercoathangerantenna" could i potentially connect one antenna to the fire escape and use the other one to alter/adjust the signal?
is this a really dumb question?
>>940007
>is this a really dumb question?
yeah. the signal will be digital
>>940028
in this video this guy just does a coat hanger and plugs the coax cable into his flatscreen tv and gets digital channels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw
you can get these channels over the air https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrestrial_television#Digital_terrestrial_television so long as you also have a atsc converter.
will a 6 story tall fire escape be a suitable antenna.
>>939933
>Did everyone forget about broadcast towers or some shit?
Yes.
>>939695
I haven't had cable in over a decade.
You need to get either a modern TV or a digital converter.
There are also websites that will tell you which way to point that thing in order to make it work best.
Have fun.
>>940034
>will a 6 story tall fire escape be a suitable antenna.
a broken fork would be better
>>939695
First off ... go to tvfool and punch in your location to see if you have any stations nearby. It will show you which stations and what direction the are.
Next ... go to avsforums and search for DIY antennae. There's a million page thread where different plans are evaluated. A couple guys run some serious antennae modeling scripts and produce some awesome designs powered by science.
Your 4 bay bowtie is one of the better designs but make sure the demensions are right. Whisker length, spacing, etc. There a bunch of fools on youtube with the wrong measurements. Ignore them.
Find out if your tv has a built in tuner. If not you will need to buy one. A good tuner will pick up stations that cheap ones can't.
Experiment with your antennae location and with reflector on or off. Generally with tv antennaes the higher the better with a clear line of site to the broadcasters. If you are close to the station don't use an amplifier. Amplifiers are for long runs of coax. Amplified noise can overload the receiver and you won't see shit.
I'm running 3 diy antennas at my house on 3 tvs. With netflix and amazon prime and torrents I haven't had cable or satellite in almoost 10 years.
>>940034
>>940057
Like this other dude says, any small length of wire/chunk of metal would do better. Just because it's a big fucking chunk of metal doesn't mean a damn thing, especially if it isn't actually built to receive the approximate type of wavelength you're looking for; If anything it could even be blocking you. The coathanger antenna does a decent job because it's just a diy as fuck bowtie/hoverman antenna. I made mine around the time of the switch. It looks ugly as fuck but it works better than any other pair of rabbit ears I've ever owned.
