How can you watch T.V without cable television service?

-Is there a way to watch T.V without cable service? I heard you can buy a special antenna at Best Buy to watch the basic channels. What kind of antenna would I have to buy? I know the old antennas from years ago no longer work. Any information would be helpful.The antenna is the same whether digital or analog. The antenna does not care what type the signal is if is in the frequency range of the antenna it will capture it. In TV, digital and analog channels use the same frequency.



What did change is the TV tuner. To receive the digital channels the TV set MUST have a digital tuner. All newer sets have one. Older sets that get NTSC only are analog only and can not receive digital even though the antenna is sending the signal to the TV.



If you have an older set you need a digital converter box. Hook up the antenna to the converter box and take the output of the box to the TV set. Probably channel 3 (depending on how you set up the output of the box) Do a channel scan on the digital cable box and it will find all available channels. Then change channels with the box and NOT the TV.



A digital tuner wants so much signal from the antenna if it get it you get a good picture, low signal no picture or freeze ups. A good outdoor antenna will deliver more signal. (But that is the only reason you MAY need a new antenna). A good old antenna may work just as well.
I recently switched from satellite to simple antenna reception in San Francisco and I was amazed at the quality of the picture I am getting. Of course, you will only be able to receive local channels, but some are in HD as well as digital. A simple $10 indoor antenna will get you most stations if you live in an area with 'line of sight' to a transmission tower. (If you don't know what these terms mean you can google them for an explanation.)

If you want to receive more stations from several transmission towers, you'll likely need a stronger antenna, possibly placed in your attic or on your roof, either what's called 'directional' or 'omni directional' antenna. Sometimes a rotor (small motor on base of antenna to turn it to fine tune) is necessary, depending on how many stations you'll want to receive.
>I know the old antennas from years ago no longer work<



Well, if you "know" that, you would be wrong!



An antenna does care at all if the signal is digitally modulated or analog.



http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.asp鈥?/a>



If you use this site and read what it tells you carefully, it would recommend how good of an antenna you need for your location and the stations you want to receive.