Tired of spending too much money on your Satellite TV bill? Well for around $50 you can purchase and easily install an HDTV Antenna that will give you quality HD TV programming. Of course you will not get as many channels as before using DirecTV, but there are hundreds of channels available broadcast into the airwaves for free from the stations you already know and love. This is a tutorial for most people who can no longer afford the cost of satellite television. Cancelling DirecTV or Dish Network will save you from $75 to $300 dollars a month. Admit it, most of the channels that you are paying your hard earned dollars for are completely worthless. Cancel the service, buy an HD Antenna, and get Netflix. You will not miss most of the TV you watch and you will be saving mountains of money per year. So ditch the monthly bill and follow our tutorial below for saving your money…
Step 1: CANCEL SATELLITE TELEVISION
Step 2: Buy an HD (High Definition) Television Antenna.
Here is the HDTV Antenna we purchased from Amazon for around $50 dollars.
(You may also need a coax cable splitter, antenna amplifier signal booster, or new coax cable)
Step 3: Remove the cone and place the HD Antenna on your existing Satellite Dish.
Step 4: Install the U-bolt that is included with the antenna and secure it tightly in place.
Step 5: Connect the already existing coaxial cable to the HD Antenna.
(The cable is already going from your TV from the dish, so just disconnect and re-attach to the hd antenna)
Step 6: Check all connections to make sure everything is secure and tight.
Step 7: There should already be a coaxial cable going into your home from the roof.
If it was disconnected then look along the side of your home for a connection like this and plug back in.
Step 8: The next process involves finding out which direction in the sky your local channels are in.
You will need to point your antenna in a certain direction for best reception depending on where you live.
Go to Antenna Web, FCC DTV MAPS, or Antenna Point and type in your info to find out which way to point your HDTV antenna.
Once you have the correct direction located, point your antenna/dish in that direction.
Step 9: Turn on your TV and set it to “Antenna” and let it “Find” the available free stations.
Then check the signal meter to see if it is strong.
If all is good you are done! Free HDTV!
HDTV That is broadcast free is from 720p to 1080p HD quality!
Of course you do not need an old dish to install a new HD Antenna.
You can install one in your attic too if you desire.
But remember that HDTV Antennas work best when attached to a roof and there are no obstructions.
Here is a small chart for “how to connect and combine signals from 2 antennas facing different directions” if needed.
Written by Keith Schneerer
Certified Appliance Tech · Founder, RemoveAndReplace.com
Keith has spent 30+ years repairing machines, starting as a military mechanic and later maintaining food processing equipment before moving into appliance repair. He founded RemoveAndReplace.com to share field-tested repair advice.
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Steve,
If you are asking if you can take the coax coming from the dish to the antenna, yes. You are simply just using the same cable that the dish used. Also, yes you can hook up the power unit inside where the cable comes in. Test everything out and see what channels you receive. If the signal is low because it is split in multiple areas, you should be able to put an amplifier BEFORE the splitter or splitters. Find out which wires go where and if you want certain cables to go into certain rooms. If you are only having the antenna signal to supply a few rooms, remove any extra wires that won’t be used. You can remove splitters too if needed. As you stated above, it seems you have multiple splitters. Remember less is better when it comes getting a stronger signal. Meaning the more splitters you have will lower signal quality, so remove any that may be unneeded.
-RR
On the outside of my house, where the cable goes in, there is a 4 way splitter, and a two way splitter. I’m assuming the cable with the biggest nut is directv coming in. It goes out to the two way splitter. Two go to the right and two go to the left. And one goes into the house where the dvr is.
Can I take the cable from the dish, plug it into the antenna, and hook up the power unit inside where the cable comes into the dvr (soon to be gone, I hope)?
The splitters are outside so I can’t put the amp before the splitters.
Steve,
You will need to use a splitter and an amplifier. The amplifier goes BEFORE the splitter. Get an extremely high quality amplifier so it amps the signal to the max without quality loss.
-RR
Hello again.
Back to being confused. It’s been too cold and windy to do any outside work, but I did get a powered hd antenna. If I plug into the antenna from the dish on roof, this power unit shows it plugs into it and the power unit goes to the tv. I don’t think this is going to give my other tvs the benefit of the antenna, is it?
Where do I put the splitter in the line from the antenna to be able to use it for all of my tvs (4)?
“Splitting the video signal between 4 different TV’s will produce about 12 db of loss which is too much. However, if you use a Video Signal Amplifier or a Video Distribution Amp, the picture on all 4 televisions should look great. Just make sure to add the Amp BEFORE the 4 Way Splitter.” From Melody’s post.
thanks again.
I think I figured out my last question.
Cable coming into house (plugged into antenna), into preamp, into television. Preamp plugs into a wall outlet.
Thanks for all of your help.
Found out I own the dish and rent the dvr, etc.
My next question is, where does the preamp go…where is it placed? Inside or outside? Where in the line?
thanks again.
Steve,
We just meant, what you own and what you rent. Yes, check with DirecTV and hopefully you are not renting.
-RR