Is there a way to hook up Over the Air (OTA) Antennas, into a receiver, to get surround?

13465 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by rab-byte, Apr 18, 2016

BozoJimmy17

Discussion Starter · Apr 8, 2016

:wave:Hi, I apologize, but I'm not sure which forum I need to park this,
since I need help determining if I can find a cheaper alternative,
to the high cost of cable and satellite, by converting to an OVER THE AIR Antenna.
Do you have a special forum for this?

QUESTION:
Is there a way to hook up Over the Air (OTA) Antennas, into a receiver, to get surround sound, and would this be very difficult?
Hello!
I need to DRASTICALLY cut ties with TIME WARNER, and DO NOT want any long-term contracts, with early termination fees, with any of the satellite companies.

At present, I am with Time Warner, on their "Triple Play" year promotion, that ends next Friday. This plan gave me 200Mbps, Nation wide long-distance to Canada, US, and Mexico, Caller ID, Epix for one year, and basic/broadcast cable channels. No Sports, no pay per view. I usually watch Nat Geo, SyFy, CNN, MSNBC, local stations, Discovery, and also listen to the Music Choice stations, and that's about it, I don't need 5,000 stations.
My SET UP ~
I have two TV's, one is in the main Family room, with a Yamaha 7.1 Surround receiver, connected to a Samsung Smart TV. T/W goes into receiver, then out to TV.
My other TV, in the master bedroom, is not very 'Smart", and is a seven year old, HDMI compliant, Samsung, hooked to an Apple TV, for streaming Netflix.
My PHONE ~
The phone is needed, on my landline to enable me, to send and receive all too important faxes to and from my doctors, and I will not go to Kinko's for this service, if I can help it.
My DEVICES ~
I have an Ipod Touch 5th GEN., and a desktop PC.
An Epson Wi-fi WF 2660 All in one printer.
LOCATION ~
I live in a hilly area, of Southern California, and I don't have good AM/FM reception. So if I do go with a roof top antenna, would I be looking for UHF,TV, with FM? My local stations are about 50 miles away to Los Angeles. I have a 35' sound wall about 50' feet away, for the train, and also wondered if I would need to install this on a higher mask, (over this wall height) or I would be set-back far enough of an angle, to have an unobstructed line of sight for a strong reception.
ANTENNAS ~
After seeing those infomercials on the portable HDMI Digital receivers that you attach to a window, then into your HDMI TV, how would I run this through my surround sound? I saw a "Channel Master". $10.00...Is this a joke? I called best Buy, and he told me about a 'Ultatenna', from Channel master Model # 4221HD. Best buy Sku # 339-5396. $65.00.
Up to 65 Mile range. multi-directional. (14-69 stations)

I am on a very low disability with a rare terminal metastatic tumor cancer and can no longer afford the "luxury" of having cable, as expensive as it is, and only continues to climb, but now, I'm scrambling to find a cheap internet and phone plan.
I thought about ATT and Direct TV, but not sure about their 'come-on' offers of $19.99 (SELECT) per month for first year, then the second year contract is far more expensive, then if you terminate, you owe $15 or so, per month, until the contract has been satisfied.
If anyone at all knows what I am trying to achieve, and can recommend a decent, not too expensive antenna, to be able to run this through my surround system, and also a way to set up my second TV, with this same connection, but without surround, that would make me happy!
So, in closing, is OTA the way to go, or is this far more trouble for me, than it sounds? All I know is, I think I would be happy with only a phone (no contract) and Internet capability, to stream Netflix, and to continue to use my ipod, and desktop PC, as well.:wave:

Thank You!

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BozoJimmy17

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 11, 2016

ellis....thx, like this? Could this work?
In my main TV room, my (YAMAHA RX-V675 AVR) All I see on the rear panel is a little box to insert 2 flat AM antenna leads, and the other, is a 75Q FM RADIO round port.

To get surround, I was told to get any standard TV antenna, connect this new antenna, directly to my wall-mounted TV, which is a Smart Samsung LED (UN46H5203AF) this has both optical TOS, and also an "Antenna IN, input".
I would have to run a 20' foot TOS Optical, and a longer coaxial cable from IN/EX antenna to also go into the wall and into the back of this TV. Then I will need to assign the TOS port, to an input of the AVR, like AV3, or AV4, if any of these are open. Does this sound feasible?

I am about 45 miles south of Los Angeles, and live in a hilly area, with no FM radio reception, and spotty AM radio at best! So a few variables abound. Do I want to get an exterior CLEARSTORM 2, or 4, and mount it on the roof of my mobile home, and buy the optional CPA-19 Pre-Amp kit, and use this for my main room, or can I use a coaxial splitter, to share this same antenna with my old dumb Samsung 2008 LCD (LN46A750R1F) (comes with "TOS audio and Antenna IN") in my master bedroom?

OR...
I would have to get a separate antenna for my master bedroom, since I do not have any surround in that room anyway, If I can't share with the Main room, then maybe a separate cheaper indoor antenna, like RCA or MOHU, brand that I hang on the wall, and whether it should be a powered, or amplified type to pull in more channels. I also have a 35' sound wall to my northwest, but unobstructed otherwise, on the other three sides. .

Do I look for only a UHF and VHF, or look for one that can I receive FM/AM reception through this AVR, using a UHF/VHF/FM?
Am I thinking that the "FM" mentioned here, is exactly for radio reception picking up digital music stations instead of the other way I just mentioned, using the FM flat leads?
I do apologize for being a newbie, but I know, that everyone starts out as one. Again, Thank you for all of your replies!

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BozoJimmy17

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 18, 2016

4-17-16
I live in a mobile home, that's why I can not receive OTA signals, with certain types of antennas, especially the indoor flat type, that DOES NOT WORK, because of all the sheet metal, so I have to place whatever type of antenna on my roof. I purchased an RCA ANT1750F $90.00 at Fry's, got it home but NADA!!!! Out of ten bars for signal, I hooked it up to my dumb w/apple TV in master bedroom, but only got 1/2 of one only bar, at the best! Same problem with the Living room TV...nothing at all!.

They told me it was totally because of the aluminum house. And I live at the end . in a cul-te-sac and the last house on the street, but with a 40' Sound wall for the train, might present some problems. Some of these roof top types look pretty cheap, should I look beyond that? I guess i need to talk with anyone who presently lives in a ALUMINUM MOBILE HOME, with any high structures around their properties, which do you recommend? I need a VHF/UHF/HDTV/FM. I guess I can build my own stand for a roof top. But grounding, and whether to use a powered, or amplified type would work best for me.
I still would like to split the signal to two TV'S, but i hear it may cause degradation of signal. BUT, what about if I have an existing COAX CABLE BLOCK, to split the signal? Same thing? What is this? I recently dumped cable last week.
My surround TV is already supplied with a TOS Digital optical cable from TV to AVR, I will only need either one OTA rooftop to only get channels to the smart TV in the living room, hooked up to the surround AVR, or....
get s Coax splitter block (whatever that is) to send signals to both TV's, but am told repeatedly, that I will not be very happy with the end result, but one thing is for certain, with my ALUMINUM MOBILE HOME, I will definitely be attaching an OTA to my flat roof mobile home. The only obstruction is the 40' to 50' high metal train sound wall, made of metal, located about 50' feet from my northwest facing mobile home.
Do the UHF/VHF/HDTV signals carry over this wall obstruction, or do I have to live with , not so clear, over the air channels, just to save on my cable bill?

Thank you!

TV fool report~
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=51347098955add

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