I guess I must sadly say farewell to my Tablo [SOLVED]

I’m 40+ miles from my nearest, and my attic antenna picks up a station 61 miles in the opposite direction. It’s a “repeat”, so I don’t usually configure that station, but still.

My point is… all these charts/graphs/etc. don’t really tell you what you are and are not able to do.

With that said, I live in Texas, I live a bit elevated (not much, I mean this is Texas) and since this is Texas, there’s not a whole lot of trees and such (our trees are smart enough to not grow tall… too close to the Sun and all).

My best recommendation is to find somebody that does antenna work for TV. They usually know what is “possible”. Btw. that’s how I had my antenna installed. My someone that knew how to orient it and set it up for good reception.

Feel free to use that “tool” and lookup 75035 (that’s me). You’ll see KXII 61 miles north… and I can get reasonable reception… and again, that’s not the orientation of my antenna (it’s pointing more south… you can look at the map from the nocable tool).

Obviously, this thread probably needs a new home now. I can’t tell you what a difference an outdoor and/or attic antenna makes. When I had a indoor amplified leaf, I got half as many stations and even so, not great.

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I think I will do some more research locally. The reference page by Lysander to a villages blog both encouraged and concerned me. It talks about getting good reception in the garage attic, however newer houses lined with aluminum under the roof…forget it.

It will boil down to, will I get enough stations to justify the cost, or am I doomed to the streaming choices. The local CBS affiliate does not participate in the CBS All Access, so getting local CBS might otherwise be a challenge if not OTA.

Back in our “indoor leaf” days, where we didn’t get much (though we did Tablo)… we got along ok with Netflix and APV (at the time). We have a ton of our media on our Plex server. We were fine without the extra content, and still happy to have “cut the cord”.

(Before Tablo we were Aereo users… it’s like others out there now, but the industry decided to attack them and take them down (not even sure it would happen today), unlike the others, which btw, aren’t even as legal as Aereo with regards to what they are doing… sigh)

When I travel through outstate Minnesota I see a lot of farmers with their antennas mounted on its own tower. Not the cheapest solution by far, but it has always intrigued me.

They (and Amazon) offer 30 day returns. I’d give it a try, and see how it works.

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I’ll vouch for that recommendation, I have the AT-400BV (mounted it without the vhf crossbars). It is excellent!

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If you have a iPhone or iPad this app might help you see what direction and to point your tv antenna for best reception. I bought it a while back it think it’s .99 or 1.99

Go talk to a couple of those neighbors that seem to have a TV antenna. The best Intel will come from them.

I picked up a used 40 foot tower for $100 in good condition. A lot of people are taking them down. I was also given a shorter tower for free. Those things last forever. It’s best to give them a coat of paint for longevity when you get them used. I have a lot of friends sporting used towers as well.

@TabloScott I am down near Orlando and get about 60 channels. The toughest one is WESH since it is the only VHF-H and all the rest are UHF. WESH has some satellite transmitters in the Deland and I think Dayton areas that are UHF and I get those too.

As you mentioned check out the folks in the Villages. They are all of age where we grew up with an antenna on the roof. Their discussion group might point you to a great or at least usable solution.

The thing is you are going to be mounting it on the roof or chimney. I don’t think an attic mount is going to do it.

BTW, right now I am using a Winegard Flatwave Air mounted on a J-mount on the side of my house.
I am planning on getting an Antop Big Boy and pole mounting it on the side of the house and doing a more professional wiring solution.

I’m new here, but I got an account just to let you know that the builder CAN NOT void your warranty if you put up an antenna. The law behind this is called the Magnusson-Moss Act. Basically it states that unless you did something to actually cause damage, that the law prevents the warranty from being voided. An example would be using X brand of oil in your car even though the dealer states to use Y brand. If X brand is made for cars the dealer could not void the warranty. It’s a big deal and every company worth it’s salt knows about it, they just won’t tell you what your rights are. The law is old but you can find better explanations on the net.

By the way, I’m in St. Cloud.

Hope this helps.
Ron

Scott! You can not believe these charts and the one that tablo uses proved useless to me. It said there was no available channels.at my zip code and address. I receive tv from 3 separate states, Ohio, West virginia and Pennsylvania. Have a good long range channelmaster antenna on a 30 ft mast. I have to replace my rotor since mine expired. Have my tower mounted on a hinge so I can let the tower down to put a new rotor on it. I plan on mounting 2 other antenna that will not be turned by the rotor Using a televes antenna I got from solid signal and get erie about 60 miles north and the antenna is only 6 feet off the ground. I get Pittsburgh and wheeling west virginia to the south and Cleveland stations 80 miles west of me. So you see charts do lie. In case you want to see what tablo chart or anyone else says my zip code is 16130.

The charts generated by these sites should be based on the approved FCC filings. These include approved power, transmitter, transmitter direction, contour, etc. The FCC has approved OTA market/regions. The idea is to approve broadcasts that don’t purposely overlap neighboring regions. But that doesn’t mean signals don’t carry further then the contour maps and can be picked up under the right conditions.

were in 32162. we get all local and sub channels. were using clear stream max form antennas direct. outside on pole. I can give you the installers co info if you want?

Keep in mind that some of the info on the sites telling you where all the towers are may or may not be entirely accurate.
In my market area (14132) one of the stations is missing entirely (channel 7.1, WKBW, I think it’s the ABC affiliate). And one of the stations is still being reported as transmitting from about 37 miles southeast of me when in fact they shut down that transmitter a year ago and now share a transmitter with their “sister station” about 8 miles southwest of me. This is the CBS and CW local affiliates. So not just some little subchannel. It’s even shown this way on the fcc website. So as helpful as those sites can be, you really have to double check stuff. You can usually get current information by just Googling their call sign.

@jimsoldies

How far are you from Wildwood FL? I would appreciate the info for your installers.

Thank you!

About one mile. Were in the villages. Just recently moved here. First thing was to get antenna installed. I did have a bad installer first , but did not give up. found the one that did it perfect after some research. The antenna they supply is form antennas Direct. its the Max 4. with a amp. visit antennas direct web site. The Installer was: International Satellite and Antenna, In Ocala. 352-237-3811. or, 800-331-8295. Ask for Brandon to do the house install. He did mine and was perfect. Its a outside install, on side of home. Jim

We’re in The Villages as well, also moved in very short time ago. I will look into your suggestions. Was it very costly to purchase and have installed? How high is your antenna?

–Scott

2 5ft poles with 2 ft in ground.price includes antenna and equipment. from installer tell him that’s the antenna you want if he does not tell you that one.but im sure he will sell you that one.im in virginia trace. antenna works perfect, please be carefull of others saying they have done them, i got burnt by another person . some antennas do not work well here. outdoor antenna over attic.also the one from flea market is junk. 5 change inc everything.

there are some as you drive down buena vista blvd. in village of duvall near seabreeze rec center , there visible from road thats the kind i have, and there on poles also. there are 3 on same street near each other.from seabreeze toward virginia trace on right near rec center