This $12 TV antenna helped me finally cut the cord

This $12 Idiot box antenna helped me finally cut the cord

Philips Modern Loop Rabbit Ears Indoor TV Antenna

(Image credit: Tom'southward Guide)

Cutting the cord is easier than ever these days. Easier not easy. I very nearly gave up on my cord-cut strategy until a $12 Television antenna turned it all effectually.

A few months ago, I finally canceled cable, after mulling over several different live TV options and ultimately deciding to get with Sling. The streaming service offered the best combination of value and features, too every bit a specific list of must-accept channels including the broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and The CW).

While YouTube TV and Fubo TV are great services, I crunched the numbers and found that getting Sling Tv set service, along with its AirTV Anywhere device, would salvage me the nearly over the long term. The AirTV Anywhere hooks up to an Hard disk digital antenna and pulls in local channel feeds.

I had never used an HD digital antenna before, but information technology sounded similar the latest engineering science, so information technology should work perfectly, right?

(Narrator: It did not work perfectly.)

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New doesn't hateful amend

To go with the AirTV Anywhere, I got an amplified Hd digital antenna that retails for around $50. The antenna looks like almost of the models y'all'll discover if you search for "digital antenna" on Amazon. Information technology's a apartment, thin, 12x13 inch slice of plastic that feels like a poster.

Installing both devices was easy. I was able to utilize Sling'southward mobile app to quickly detect local channels and add them to my guide.

Then, technical issues began to crop upwardly around recording shows on the broadcast networks. For instance, one episode of ABC's The Bachelorette never got recorded, while some other was very glitchy.

At the time, I chalked information technology up to the fact that a tempest had been raging outside during the glitchy recording. Antennas are notoriously unreliable in poor conditions. They option up signals that are sent through the air, from towers. Forth the way to your house, the signals contend with buildings, mountains, trees and other obstructions, non to mention any rain and wind. All of that can result in an erratic and fluctuating broadcast.

I also alive on the ground flooring, and most antenna experts recommend placing ane as loftier every bit possible — on the roof, even. Alas, that'due south not feasible in my urban dwelling. However, I did put the antenna right in front of a window.

As the weeks passed, I had more problems with watching and recording ABC. At one signal, the feed was completely garbled. This was unacceptable come September, when I absolutely must be able to sentinel and record Greyness'due south Anatomy. I began to reconsider my choice to go with Sling over YouTube TV and Fubo. I even started to miss my mortal enemy, Spectrum Cable.

Maybe cord-cutting was just not going to cut information technology for me.

Something old is something that works

Not set up to completely surrender, I wondered if this antenna wasn't powerful enough, then I perused our list of the all-time TV antennas. The superlative-rated Mohu Leaf Supreme Pro is lauded for its built-in amplifier and solid reception. Still, information technology costs around $80 and I hesitated to invest in some other antenna, only to observe it doesn't perform whatsoever amend than the one I already had.

So, I did some sleuthing online. And I discovered the ABC feed in my city is VHF, not UHF. Many apartment digital antennas aren't great at picking upwards VHF signals (despite what they say in their product descriptions).

What I really needed was something nosotros had when I was a child: a rabbit-ears antenna.

Indoor rabbit ears antenna by a window — (Epitome credit: Shutterstock)

For younger readers, a rabbit or bunny ears antenna features two telescoping rods attached to a base. The rods tin be lengthened and swiveled to betoken in dissimilar directions.

Technically, there'south non really whatsoever divergence betwixt a "digital" TV antenna and the a rabbit ears one. The signals are on the same airwaves they've e'er been, and the differences betwixt modern digital broadcasts and older analog signal involve the tuner, not the antenna. "Digital" is more of a marketing term than anything else. Same with the "HD" on any "HD Television set Antenna."

Equally a child, I remember adjusting our tv set set up's rabbit ears whenever the picture got grainy or began to flicker. In drastic times, we'd experiment with miniscule movements of the ears until — success! — the flick was clear.

With those addicted memories in heed, I purchased a Philips Modern Loop Rabbit Ears Indoor Tv Antenna for $12. I placed information technology by the window, hooked it upwardly to the AirTV Anywhere and reset the local channels.

Now, a calendar month later, I haven't had a single problem watching or recording ABC or whatsoever of the other local channels — fifty-fifty during the torrential downpour brought by Hurricane Ida.

New tech doesn't always equal the best tech for all situations. As someone who lives in my particular metropolis, in my particular home, an OG rabbit ears antenna worked the best. But your mileage may vary if yous live in a suburban or rural area and have roof access. When information technology comes to string-cutting, at that place really isn't i solution for everybody.

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Kelly is a senior writer covering streaming media for Tom's Guide, so basically, she watches Tv set for a living. Previously, she was a freelance amusement author for Yahoo, Vulture, TV Guide and other outlets. When she'south not watching TV and movies for work, she's watching them for fun, seeing alive music, writing songs, knitting and gardening.