TV & Home Theater

[valboyles]

I just got an HDTV and an HD antenna. I've plugged the antenna in, made sure the tv is set to antenna instead of cable, run a channel search, but my tv is still telling me that there isn't a signal.  Please help!

[AwesomeAV]

You may need to move your antenna.. If your located in a valley, you may not get reception either.

If you have one of the old-school looking antennas, make sure the smaller elemnts(the little spears you have to unfold) are pointed toward your broadcast towers.

Try antennaweb.org and make sure you've got the correct antenna for your zip code/area as well.

[paulmohr]

Yep digital tv is different than analog was. With digital it either comes in or it does'nt. With the old analog style you could get the channel but it might be fuzzy or ghost a bit. Not with digital, it either comes in and looks great or you get nothing!

This is nice for people that live near the towers, but for poeple like me in fringe areas we got hosed. If your local stations don't have the power to broadcast that far and you don't have an antenna big enough or tall enough to receive the signals your just not going to see anything.

I get about half the channels I used to with digital compared with analog simply because the stations don't have enough power to send a strong signal to where I am.

[ABomb]

Cable is where its at.

[jnojr]

Check out http://www.antennaweb.org/  IIRC, they have an application that will tell you what stations you should be able to receive.

[starhelper2587]

Everyone - if the client's TV says no signal, he/she is probably simply on the wrong input.

OP -

Use your TV's remote and press the input or source button (sometimes it's even labeled format).  An input list should pop up on the screen, or your TV may automatically change to the next input each time the button is pressed.  I'm about 99% sure you'll need to use the "TV" input since you're just using air channels from an antenna.  www.dtv.gov gives and official listing by zip code of channels you should receive.  The site is also cool b/c it lists signal strenghts, phone #s to each channel broadcaster in case of issues, etc, etc.

[paulmohr]

My samsung says "no signal" if it can't pick up a signal for that particular channel.

[Mariah-BBY Retired: Social Media Specialist · Accepted solution]

Antennas can be super tricky, but they are also an easy way to get the most out of your TV if you don’t have a cable subscription.

Like paulmohr stated, digital signals which are now broadcast are different than analog signals that were used prior to 2009. If you are using a TV that was manufactured in 2008 or earlier you might need a converter box, and HD antenna for your TV. (The HD antenna catches the signal, and your converter box would change them into analog so your TV can read them.)

I’ve found that you get the most channels when you scan and select “Air.” If you are not happy with those results you can try to scan by “Antenna” too to see that best fits your needs.

I recommend using the free FCC site, to find signals in your area. To use this site all you need to do is put your address into the search bar and select "Go!".Alternatively, you can use the "Go To My Location!" if that's a feature enabled on your device/browser. 

What will populate is a blue beacon that indicates your home, and color coded chart that will let you know how far away each signal is to the left of the map. You can click on the name of each channel carrier in the color coded chart to see exactly where they are transmitting their signal from. If you select the tower icon it will tell you mileage of how far that tower is away from your home. That mileage note is extremely helpful for picking an antenna that is correct for you, as most antennas have a mile recommendation on them to work to best of their ability.

To learn more about finding the correct antenna for you, you can visit TV Antenna Basics which goes over the benefits of each style.