<p>We have cable, so I know little about this. Mother lives in an apartment complex where those who choose not to buy cable are allowed to tap into a rooftop antenna that is 10 stories up (so I imagine reception is good).</p>
<p>She would like to get a flatscreen for many reasons. If I understand correctly, the over the air signals are digital, correct? She could connect a new flatscreen directly to this rooftop antenna system. Secondly, aren’t over the air signals also available in HD? Seems I remember when the conversion took place nationally a few years ago. Her old TV has a digital-to-analog converter I had to put in as a result.</p>
<p>My siblings and I would like to get her a flat screen this Christmas, but I’d like to be sure all this is going to work out beforehand. Thanks in advance!!</p>
<p>I just delivered my son’s 4 year old TV to him in LA. He will not have cable because with his 7 day a week schedule, it definitely is not worth the monthly fee. We figured he could use the tv with his game system. While I was visiting, the Steelers were playing on network TV so I checked on Best Buy’s website to see if I could buy an inexpensive antenna so I could at least hear the game. For $30, I bought an antenna that I connected to his TV. With a bit of trial and error, I got over a hundred stations ( I think only 10 or so were in English so he can practice a few new languages). That little antenna that is about the size of an iPad was pretty powerful but I am sure a rooftop antenna would be even better. The sales people at Best Buy were very helpful to this non-techie. We have two older tv’s here in Pittsburgh that are not on our FIOS system and they need the converter box but the 4 year old TV doesn’t. I am sure that there are more knowledgeable people here on CC that can give you a better answer but I thought I would share my experience.</p>
<p>Stations do broadcast in HD but that doesn’t mean the rig at this building will pick up those signals. It should simply be a connection to the antenna input or equivalent on the TV and then selecting that as the input for the signal using the remote during setup.</p>
<p>We use a small antenna and powered amp for OTA reception. I love it. We have to use the rabbit ears to receive one VHF channel. Most channels are UHF and depending on mom’s location this may not be a concern. As to making sure the setup will work, you could haul in a small flat screen, hook it up to the rooftop antenna, and see what you get. They should have round coax cable leading to the antenna. The old flat ribbons won’t work with the digital signals. Try this site to see which channels she should expect to receive - <a href=“http://www.antennaweb.org/Address.aspx”>http://www.antennaweb.org/Address.aspx</a></p>
<p>Thanks everybody. The present setup does have a coaxial cable. At present she gets excellent reception, so I think this will work. Her old 27" Magnavox doesn’t even provide captions, and at 84 yrs old, the bigger picture should be a big help. </p>
<p>Each TV station gets to decide how it uses it’s bandwidth. So some stations offer multiple channels at lower resolution, while others offer the full HD signal with fewer or one station. She will love the image clarity! If her analog TV is already hooked up with a converter, you should have no problem replacing with a flat screen.</p>