r/cordcutters

small antenna w/amp that came w/antenna gets ~105 channels, w/o amp gets~26 channels

large antenna w/amp for small antenna gets ~26 channels, w/o amp gets ~105 channels.

solution is obvious (don't use mis-matched amp), but what is the theory behind this?

I noticed the same thing w/bow-tie antenna - generic amplifiers either make no difference or decrease number of channels received.

Probably an unpopular take, but I’m starting to think I overthought the smart TV OS thing when I bought mine.

I have a Hisense and most of the time I’m either using the usual streaming apps or jumping straight into Xbox cloud gaming anyway. Between that and the console, I barely spend any time actually browsing around the TV interface.

I totally get why app support matters if the TV is your only device, but once you already have an Xbox / Apple TV / whatever hooked up, does the built-in OS really matter that much?

Feels like picture quality, inputs and how quickly I can get into what I want to watch or play matter more to me now.

I got rid of dish and am looking for an outdoor antenna to pickup locals, I looked on rabbit ears.info and it looks like I may be fighting an uphill battle. Here is the rabbit ears link: https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2915578
Any antenna experts know if I’ll be able to get nbc, abc, fox, and cbs? Looks like none of the signals are great, and all of them are pretty far.

Hey sports fans,

As the 2026 NFL (pre)season is approaching, anybody got some suggestions as alternative to NFL Sunday Ticket? Ive got an OTA antenna, but I'm out of market for my team - Pittsburgh Steelers fan stuck in Chicago.

I'm willing to pay something, but not a couple hundred bucks for 20 games & a bunch of channels I'll never watch.

Thanks in advance!

Go Steelers!

Up until now I have used an indoor antenna and im tired of adjusting it based on the day or channel to watch what I want. I don't feel qualified to install an outdoor antenna on my roof myself, but I have no idea what type of company or if it is something a typical handyman can do. I live on the north side of the Dallas market if anybody knows a reputable company.

Would any old HDMI to coax tuner box run into an AirTV HDMI port?

Buying a secondhand AirTV, one of the ones that doesnt have a nature coax port and is supposed to come with an external tuner that hooks up to HDMI. Are there any aftermarket tuners that can take the antenna input?

Hi guys,

I am having an issue regarding my tv signal on a 4th TV in my house. Apologies for the paint art but it's the best I can do. To put it as basic as possible - I live beside my grandparents and they have a better signal than I do from their aerial due to tree obstructions around my house. What we have done is ran aerial cables between my house and their house underground so I could pickup channels also. This works perfectly on my main TV however on my bedroom tv (TV4 on graph), I can only really get a watchable picture now and again (generally a good calm day when signal is probably at it's strongest). I get a strong signal at TV1, TV2 and TV3 - why can I not get a strong signal at TV4 considering it is wired up the exact same way as TV3.

I have tried an attenuator but that had no effect on the signal.

If there any suggestions please drop them below, thanks!

*In the image below the circles represent where signal splits with a passive splitter.

*I believer there is also a booster after the masthead amp in the attic of House A.

Would a small booster work in House B to help push the signal along to TV4?

https://preview.redd.it/2vl4wu4wdyjh1.png?width=1011&format=png&auto=webp&s=890318ccbe576caf8f169f8efb022c2bda055d8d

I purchased all 3 LOTR extended edition movies on Prime. I am rewatching and the streaming quality is terrible. Sometimes pixelated, but more so I notice surround dropping in and out. I have fiber and speedtest looks fine. Its on the server side. So if I have no control over the quality of playback, what have i purchased?

Is YouTubeTV among the best providers or am I missing something? (I know I'm missing a lot. Home entertainment shouldn't be as hard as doing your taxes. What at racket!)

I’m starting to realize that some streaming services are increasing in price just as it did with cable. What is the equivalent to Hulu plus live tv bundled with Disney and ESPN and ads? We as a family watch for live tv when it comes to sports and my wife’s reality tv. Help me from overpaying monthly.