Free To Air

[floater]

Does anyone use the Free to Air antennae to get TV channels when in port? I started using this on my house and get 38 free digital channels. I started using it while RVing and ice fishing now to as well. In most areas in Ontario I manage to get from 1 to 46 channels depending on how close I am to lake Ontario. I use a 12 volt TV set and a deep cycle battery or my generator. Anyone use this system on their boat? Thanks

 

[psneeld]

yes to over the air tv....some places great...some places reception of channels but quality of material poor.

 

[OldDan1943]

I hope you have an auto channel tune feature on your TV.

 

[ranger58sb]

Haven't used that antenna, but we do receive OTA TV. Ranges from zero to 75 "stations" depending on our location.

Typically-installed OTA antennas are from Glomex, Shaksepare, and probably others.

tvfool.com is a site where you can predict what you'll receive where. The U.S. FCC has a similar tool on their site.

-Chris

 

[Bacchus]

Haven't used that antenna, but we do receive OTA TV. Ranges from zero to 75 "stations" depending on our location.

Typically-installed OTA antennas are from Glomex, Shaksepare, and probably others.

tvfool.com is a site where you can predict what you'll receive where. The U.S. FCC has a similar tool on their site.

-Chris

Same here - have used TVFool.com to what's available in an area we are in. sometimes it aids in fine tuning antenna direction (on motorhome directional antenna).

 

[High Wire]

When you swing on the anchor, channel’s will come and go with the swing. A few channels will come in strong enough to be watchable. It’s better than nothing.

 

[HTurner]

TVFool stopped updating their database some time ago...


Try:


https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html

 

[socalrider]

We used a $20 amazon antenna mounted up on the bimini to get the olympics this past summer while cruising SoCal and the Channel Islands. Worked well most places.

 

[Max1]

Use FTA all the time.

Where I live in Canada, my home TV FTA is very limited due to my geographical location.
Our trailer also has a standard FTA antenna with a booster. We get quite a few channels with it, especially near the US border where we can catch US and Canadian channels.

On our boat, (its still relatively new to us) we brought a TV and fixed the antenna connections (project boat) and hooked up the Glomex antenna and booster controls.

We were surprised to get about 50 channels, both from US and Canadian sources. The picture is clean and crisp too.

I know we will have no shortage of channels on this boat when we travel

 

[ranger58sb]

When you swing on the anchor, channel’s will come and go with the swing. A few channels will come in strong enough to be watchable. It’s better than nothing.

Usually an omnidirectional antenna (often round, like the Glomex or Shakespeare models) won't do that... unless the signals are also blocked by something like a radar can or satellite dish or some such.

And then a signal amplifier can sometimes help a bit, too.

But if you're just too far away from the sources, well you get what you get. Or not.

-Chris

 

[FF]

"And then a signal amplifier can sometimes help a bit, too."

WE have found a signal amplifier is critical to having a large number of channels to select from.

12V TV are common in RV , as are signal amplifiers 12v powered.

 

[tpbrady]

Antennaweb.org will provide a list of stations, operating frequency, distance and their direction from your location that you should be able to receive with the right antenna.

 

[rwidman]

What is a "Free to Air antennae"? Is it a brand of TV antenna?

On a boat, what you need is an "omnidirectional" antenna. "Omnidirectional" means that it receives signals from all directions equally. You don't have to point the antenna towards the transmitter.

If you are anchored, your boat will swing with the current and/or wind. You don't really want to have to readjust the antenna every time this happens.

I have a Glomex (brand) amplified antenna. Depending on where we are, we get zero to over fifty stations.

 

[Max1]

What is a "Free to Air antennae"? Is it a brand of TV antenna?

Remember when you were a kid, before cable TV was invented, and everyone watched TV by having an antenna on the roof? yea? We just called it "watching TV"....

Now they call it "Free to Air". The more things change, the more they stay the same...LOL

 

[Rsysol]

Yes, just watched the Super Bowl in Barra de Navidad over the air. Probably more enjoyable that listening to the US announcers.

We get free tv everywhere we go.

 

[TrawlerJoe]

I get a lot of channels over the air in Annapolis, most of the DC and Baltimore area broadcasts. It's great, and the picture quality is better than streaming.

Two points about TVs:
A lot of newer TVs are "monitors" only -- no built-in TV tuner. If you want over-the-air channels, make sure your tv has a tuner or you'll have to buy a separate tuner box.

I got a Roku brand TV. Bonus: insert your own USB drive, and the TV provides pause/rewind automatically for over-the-air broadcasts! This was news to me. I don't know if other brands do that. Normal TV is unwatchable to me without this feature (too many commercials).

 

[Boatcrazy]

Following. We've tried for years to get "Free TV" here on the NE Caribb...without much luck. We're on anchor...we've tried several different "marine" omni-directional antennaes, bought a new TV when they switched to digital format, and our current Ant. (a Glomex) even came with a 12vDC "amplifier". We'll get a station for a short time (5 sec-a couple of minutes) and then it quits/goes to "loss of signal" or will get badly pixilated. Even watching the nightly news is impossible, let alone the Super Bowl or the Olympics. Sure would be nice to find a solution-even for just the news!

 

[ranger58sb]

If you're just too far away from the transmitter, or the signal is blocked by something, there's not a whole lot you can do to improve (get some) OTA TV reception.

When you happen to be in an area where you KNOW you should be receiving OTA TV signals clearly, but you're not, you could do some troubleshooting on your own system.

-Chris

 

[OldDan1943]

In this marina, I get 'enough' channels but when a plane flies over, I stand a good chance I will lose the signal for maybe 10 secs which seems to be the most exciting part of the program. LOL