this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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It is if you're in spitting distance of a major city.
60 miles away from the broadcast center, but luckily in a very flat area. I still have an old-school antenna set up on a tower and rotor, and can pull in between 25-30 stations if you include the digital substations.
I got this set up from Radio Shack in the early 80s. Cable made me regret it for a long time, but let's hear it for laziness allowing me to get good use out of it since I clipped all but internet service.
Bonus: you can split out the signal and hook the antenna up to home stereos, and get TONS of FM stations that even my car won't pick up.
Old stuff gets useful again! Yay!
If you're talking about more than a 50 mile radius, then yeah it's probably not realistic. But I'm watching and recording from stations 50 miles out with no issues.
Edit: Just for reference I'm using a passive antenna https://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-ClearStream-Multi-Directional-Adjustable/dp/B00SVNKT86?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1&psc=1
Those of us who live in valley’s outside of major cities are not as fortunate.
I know that not everywhere is going to be within 50 miles of a broadcasting tower, but it doesn't hurt to check. https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html
"Valleys" was the key word there. Even if the distance isn't bad, a mountain between you and the broadcast tower can make 20 miles look like 70 in terms of signal
Source: am Appalachian resident
With ATSC 1.0 channels this is generally true, with some exceptions, but ATSC 3.0 channels use OFDM to circumvent a lot of interference. There's no real way of knowing whether or not it would work but Amazon has a 30-day return policy.
in the town of Appalachia there is a pbs station that cannot broadcast ota because of the mountains