Yes, I brought a tv outside and scanned before declaring the antenna installation to be finished.
In fact first try brought in CBS/ABC but not NBC/PBS (from another tower). Rotating the antenna a tiny bit kept CBS/ABC and brought in everything else. CBS/ABC are closer, they should be easier to get.
And as I said if I have to get up on that 2nd-story roof again, it is to take down the antenna and give up on this cable-cutting experiment