Free Cable TV is nothing new, especially to the millions of people who have ditched the cable bill years before the recent surge. These days, just about any indoor TV antenna that you find on the market will provide you with local and top free cable channel.
While they all come in different styles, shapes and sizes, most, if not all indoor cable TV antennas does the same thing. That is to broadcast over the air signals, many in Full HD, so you will be able to watch live cable channels such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW, PBS and many others.
In this article, we will provide you with a short step-by-step guide on How To Setup your TV Antenna for Free Cable TV. If you don't have an antenna but you are thinking of purchasing one, we recommended a great antenna with lots of positive reviews at the end this guide.
How To Setup your TV Antenna for Free Cable TV
Hooking up an indoor antenna like the AmazonBasics or a Mohu Leaf antenna so you can have Free HDTV cable channels is pretty easy.
Start by simply screwing the antenna's coaxial cable into the "ANTENNA/CABLE IN" input at the back of your TV, as shown here:
TV Shown in Pictures
If you have a powered/amplified antenna, you'll have to plug the ac adapter into the wall for power, while plugging the other end of the ac adapter into the amplifier/power box. Next, you need to plug the output cord from the power/amplifier box, into the input of the antenna.
Note: Each setup may differ between different brands of TV's and Antennas
Antenna Shown in Picture
Now that you have the antenna hooked up to your TV, it's time to start scanning for the channels.
Scanning for Channels on Your TV
Turn your TV on and go into the settings menu.
Find the "Setup Menu" option where you can select between Cable, HDMI, Antenna, etc inputs and select "Antenna". Here is an example on the Emerson LF320EM4 TV:
Once you have found and clicked on the option, your TV will start scanning for available channels or you may have to initiate the process by clicking the "Autoscan" option. Again, all TVs will differ but the basics are the same.
The TV may say that it can take up to an hour to complete the scan but it is usually a lot less. A typical complete scan for free cable TV channels took no more than 15-30 minutes. The newer TVs scan much quicker due to the better processors that are built to handle all the new additional features.
Once your TV has completed the scan, Congratulations, you are ready to watch FREE HD Cable TV!
Tweaking Your Antenna For Better Reception
Once you hook up your antenna, it will require a little bit of moving around to get the best reception out of your antenna. There can be a big difference in the number of channels you get depending on antennas location, height, strength and whether it is indoors or outdoors. Changing the antenna angle by a few degrees or even move it in a completely different area could change reception drastically for a particular channel.
If you are using an indoor antenna, I suggest placing it near a window, then start scanning for channels. Make sure you write down the channels you get, move your antenna, and scan again to see if there is any additional channels that was missed in the last scan.
If you are not getting ten to twenty channels, you probably live too far from the broadcasting towers or there is something blocking the signals, like trees, mountains, etc. If this is the case, try finding a antenna with a amplifier signal booster.
It can easily be placed on a window and does not require any screws or nails. More importantly, it has a amplifier signal booster which allows you to pick up even the weakest signals so you can get all of your local and many of the top HDTV channels in your area.
Before buying an antenna, you need to find out how many channels are available in your area.
To do this,you can visit http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/dtvmaps/ which is a simple, easy to use website created by the FCC that allows you to find Free TV Station Signals in your area.
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