Shopping for a TV Antenna- help.

[SprinterX]

Hey team BOC.

Local Marine supply store has these TV Antenna's on sale for $170 cdn, reg $247 cdn.

http://www.glomex.it/leisure/eng/ant...v-V9112-12.php

I know there's several knowledgeable folks on here that can lend some buying advice.
Is this a good unit or am I better spending my $$ elsewhere.

Thanx, Kirk

[Pcpete]

This may help or confuse. https://www.boatus.com/magazine/2016...tv-antenna.asp
I recently used a stick on the window type and it worked surprisingly well. I’m replacing my antenna with one of the bullet types. Sometimes the old analog ones just don’t work anymore. If you like shopping networks though....

[Bobhicks]

Part of the answer depends where you are going to want to use the TV antenna. I am a big OTA user at home in Ontario and get 30 + channels. When I bought the boat here in the PNW and dock it in Nanaimo I could only receive one channel at my slip. This year I came back to Nanaimo last month with a new antenna to try out and damn if I now get no channels! After a couple hours of research I found this: https://blog.fagstein.com/2018/11/13...-transmitters/ . It seems the CRTC doesn't give a crap about Canadians watching OTA as the Bell, Shaw Rogers etc. don't want us to be able to watch free TV. They want us to overpay for their TV service or watch a blank screen. The channel I did get was one of the stations they closed. At the boat I now watch everything via the internet or from a hard drive of recorded shows I brought from home. Note that if you do not have cable etc. at home you can't watch the network feed via the internet as well. I also found that while my cell phone can cast to my TV on the boat my bell TV app will not allow it so that is out as well. You can usually watch your favourite shows on you tube as they haven't blocked them out there yet.

Sorry for the rant but the bottom line is forget about buying an antenna if you are sailing the Canadian waters as soon there will be no OTA north of the boarder. I am going with the ShawGo internet as most marina's have it installed and it is being expanded all the time. If you live here and have Shaw then great. Otherwise if you can find a good friend locally who has Shaw internet (unlimited) at home and is willing to share that is the way to go. I set up a computer on board and have it connect to the ShawGo WiFi and then use it as a local hotspot for all my laptops, tablets and phones. I can even download my F1 races if 1080p from Sky and watch them at my leisure. If you got money to burn then there are a number of satellite and cell solutions available but to be honest I don't come to the boat to watch TV.

Hope that helps
Cheers

[Dstancil]

I have the Glomex and am very satisfied. It came originally with the manual amplifier but I recently changed to the automatic that I could hide away. You can buy direct from the US warehouse, I believe in GA.

[Nikko]

Part of the answer depends where you are going to want to use the TV antenna. I am a big OTA user at home in Ontario and get 30 + channels. When I bought the boat here in the PNW and dock it in Nanaimo I could only receive one channel at my slip. This year I came back to Nanaimo last month with a new antenna to try out and damn if I now get no channels! After a couple hours of research I found this: https://blog.fagstein.com/2018/11/13...-transmitters/ . It seems the CRTC doesn't give a crap about Canadians watching OTA as the Bell, Shaw Rogers etc. don't want us to be able to watch free TV. They want us to overpay for their TV service or watch a blank screen. The channel I did get was one of the stations they closed. At the boat I now watch everything via the internet or from a hard drive of recorded shows I brought from home. Note that if you do not have cable etc. at home you can't watch the network feed via the internet as well. I also found that while my cell phone can cast to my TV on the boat my bell TV app will not allow it so that is out as well. You can usually watch your favourite shows on you tube as they haven't blocked them out there yet.

Sorry for the rant but the bottom line is forget about buying an antenna if you are sailing the Canadian waters as soon there will be no OTA north of the boarder. I am going with the ShawGo internet as most marina's have it installed and it is being expanded all the time. If you live here and have Shaw then great. Otherwise if you can find a good friend locally who has Shaw internet (unlimited) at home and is willing to share that is the way to go. I set up a computer on board and have it connect to the ShawGo WiFi and then use it as a local hotspot for all my laptops, tablets and phones. I can even download my F1 races if 1080p from Sky and watch them at my leisure. If you got money to burn then there are a number of satellite and cell solutions available but to be honest I don't come to the boat to watch TV.

Hope that helps
Cheers

Morning Bob, found this post and then found a later post where I think you now use a HDHomerun device w/remote antenna and receive a bunch of OTA channels. Or did I read that wrong?

I'm just starting the research path into Bell satellite, OTA antennas/devices and also into boat-based Internet (in Canada) either via cell (Glomex gear?) or satellite (Starlink gear?) for use on the boat. Any up-to-date info greatly appreciated!

[Metrodriver]

Just remember that OTA is depending on the visibility of the transmitter. If you are sitting in an area surrounded by mountains you might not see anything. Same goes for satellite. In our car we lose SiriusXM quite regurlarly, sometimes just from trees, but often mountains.

[Bobhicks]

Hi Nikko, the HD homerun is basically a box with 2 or more OTA TV tuners built into it and a network interface socket for a standard network cable. Any computer on the network can use the tuners to display live TV or act as a PVR to record TV. Of course it all depends on what your antenna will receive where you are. At home my antenna is on an old fashioned TV tower witf a rotor and I can pick up around 40 channels now but I live in the Toronto area and as Buffalo is right across the lake get all the US and Canadian networks. Not so lucky in Nanaimo where my boat is. Here is a link to a web site that will show you what is available for your situation: https://www.tvfool.com. In Canada a good resource is http://www.saveandreplay.com. They have a lot of info on the subject as well as sales of antennas and related products. We are moving to Nanaimo at the end of the month and will be looking into what is available when we get there. Feel free to contact me if you want to talk about it.

[captharv]

I am a retired antenna engineer. I am partial to the Shakesphere (AKA Winegard) antennas, ans ones manufactured today.
Some hints: The lower real channels, such as 2-13: bigger is better.
By "real" is the channels you see on the number dial are "ghost" channels. Example: Channel 9 here in Orlando is broadcasting on channel 38.
I liked the Shakespeare 2030 antenna (21" in diameter" as being the best bang for the buck. It comes with a 1" X 12 thread female molded in so you can use marine VHF antenna mounts and extensions.
Buy a "power injector" plate at a RV dealer. These make it look built in.
Note: there are no such things as an "analog", "Digital" or Hi-def" antennas. The signal thru the air is the same, just uses different modulation. Antenna don't care which modulation is being used.
Digital requires more signal, so amplified is a must.