It is very sad, but I fear I must say goodbye to using my Tablo. I recently moved into an area where I cannot get a single OTA channel, even using the Mohu-50 antenna. Searching the web for available channels for this zipcode, 32163, also turns up as none available.
I will continue to use it to watch those remaining recordings that were made prior to my move, but I see no solution going forward at this new address. Sad, very sad.
Scott
Do you mean the thin indoor Mohu 50? That’s a tiny antenna.
What if you put up a gigantic outdoor antenna? You got to get something, unless you’re in Nunavut or something (yes I see the US zip code).
I thought the same thing, so Googled the zip code, saw it was near Orlando, and thought “he must be mistaken”. A quick search on tvfool, though, suggests that none of the transmitters serving the Orlando market are apparently anywhere near Orlando. The transmitters are apparently in one direction from the city and he’s in the other direction.
A Mohu 50 is a very very very poor antenna (like most indoor antenna). Good only in situations where you have very strong signal.
I think your experience might have been different with a real attic or outdoor antenna.
www.tvfool.com reports there are channels you should be able to pick up with a decent enough antenna.
WESH NBC 24 (2.1), for example.
The web page www.tvfool.com is not able to resolve my actual address; the house is too new for most maps with Google maps and Apple maps unable to find it. When entering my address in tvfool it says “Address was only resolved to street level and might not be that close to your actual location.” The only app I have found that can find my address is Waze.
That said, there is a high variability in the channels for this zipcode. I can try an attic antenna, but not sure it is even worth the effort if I still cannot receive many “good” channels.
The TabloTV link www.tablotv.com/tools/ shows very limited channels, and none really worth the effort.
Sigh…
Thanks for looking into it though.
Scott
I have found that I do like to use resources like tvfool.com and other similar sites as a guide, but in actual practice my results have always been much, much better than they advertise. I get better signal than the website says I should get, I even get some channels perfectly fine that it says I shouldn’t get at all. What helps me is that I went on amazon and got the biggest baddest 100 mile (advertised) all metal rooftop antenna you could possibly get, and I have a completely clear open sky when I point it towards the towers, so as always, YMMV.
Unfortunately, a rooftop antenna is not an option for me. I was informed by the builder it would void my roof warranty, and this is a brand new house. Maybe there could be an option to mount on a pole out back, would need to check the code restrictions here.
Otherwise, I would have to try an antenna in the attic above my garage, but then it would take some major modifications for something I am not even sure will work. I guess I could think about stringing the cable down through the doorways before I would look into any major drilling, etc.
To make things worse, my house is concrete block, so drilling is non-trivial.
Could you mount it high up on the side of the house on the brick? So it’s not actually attached to the roof.
Possibly, but I have the soffit overhang and gutters so would need to figure out how to work around those.
Looking out my front window right now, I think I can see what looks like an antenna on a distant house. I may need to get out this evening and take a look to see if that is indeed what I am seeing and, if so, how do they have it mounted.
Take your Tablo to the neighbour and ask them to plug it in 
haha
Can you just input a more established address that’s close to you and of the same elevation? When I was playing with it, I picked a random address in your zip code and got very low signal strengths when I used an antenna height of 25 feet, but much better LOS signals when I nudged the height higher and higher. Tvfool’s estimates (for what they’re worth) are very sensitive to the proposed elevation of the antenna, moreso than whether the location is here or a fraction of a mile over there.
There must be a knowledgeable antenna installer in your area that could tell you what you can expect to pull in.
I’m in south Florida and had a similar problem (basically ~30mi from one set of stations and ~40 from the other). I have a metal roof, which made using any kind of indoor antenna impossible. However, I installed a good-quality outdoor antenna on a mast above my roofline outside, and now receive ~70 channels, most of them perfectly.
I’d suggest getting something with a big mast (I like Antennas Direct myself), and trying it out. If you get, say 20’ of mast you can probably mount the base at ground-level on some cinder blocks and still be up above your roofline, and use a secondary clamp around your soffit or fascia. Just be sure to ground it – a couple of 8’ grounding rods at least, or better yet, tie it to your electrical ground. I’m not a lawyer, contractor or anything else like that, but IIRC you should always be allowed to go up to 12’ above your roofline per FCC regulations (https://www.fcc.gov/media/over-air-reception-devices-rule).
If/when you decide that it’s working to your satisfaction you can look into a more permanant mounting option (I wound up making a removable mount to make it easier to take down during hurricane prep).
Good luck!
Sounds like you already made up your mind. Why are you posting here?
Never said goodbye old friends to anyone before?
No, haven’t made up my mind. Just a bit apprehensive on whether it is worth expending the money to find out it still doesn’t work.
I am getting some good advice from others that might make me pause and think it over a little more.
Indeed I have, and part of the reason for my original post.
Since you have a new neighbors with an antenna, you could always give your tablo to them. If it works out for them maybe they will let you remote connect into your old unit.
@TabloScott has been on registered on these forums far longer than you have. Doesn’t seem like it’s that appropriate of a reply given he was just giving everyone an update on his situation. And heck, it prompted discussion that gave him some ideas and feedback that he might try. Things that may not have happened had he not posted.
