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Different Ways to Mount an HD Antenna for the Home

Having an HD antenna is an excellent way to get free television channels. The size of your HD antenna will vary depending on where you live. Mounting an HD antenna can sometimes be difficult. If the broadcast towers are over 50 miles away, most likely you will have to mount an antenna in the attic or on the roof. This can take some time and planning. If you live in a major city or closer to the broadcast towers, then mounting your antenna in a window or by the television will work out fine. Let’s look at the different options for mounting an HD antenna.

What is The Best Way to Mount an HD Antenna?

This question ultimately depends on what type of antenna you will need. Window antennas are easy to install and most times you just stick them to a window or wall. So no real mounting system is required. Larger antennas will require you to mount them. You can use this website’s handy antenna locator tool to help you choose an HD antenna best suited for your area. Just type in your zip code and you will be presented with the channels that are available in your area. It will also show you how far away you are from the broadcast towers.

TV Station Locator Tool

If you live more than 50 miles outside the broadcast zone, you will require an attic, balcony, or rooftop antenna. In some cases, even if you live close to the towers, having a larger antenna can enable you to receive even more channels.

Types of Mounting Options

How do you mount a larger antenna? There are several types of mounts that will work. Most antennas will come with some type of mounting system- a pole mount, rotary mount, stand, or clamping system.

Where is The Best Place to Mount an HD Antenna?

In most cases the higher the better, preferably away from any obstructions like a large shady tree or buildings. You should first determine where your antenna should face. Print out a broadcast tower map or use a smartphone app that will show you the best direction to face the antenna. These resources can be found by going to our article on how to choose an over the air antenna.

Mounting Options

Once you know where the antenna should face, look at the optimal areas with the least amount of outside obstructions. Here are some options for you to consider when mounting the antenna.

Attic Mounting

I have my antenna in the attic, sitting in a crawl space. If you have an attic this is a great place to install the antenna. It is generally at the roofline of most houses and it should be high enough to avoid most outside obstructions.  It’s inside the house and usually easy to get to. Depending on the size of your attic, you may have plenty of options for mounting. If you have a large attic, a pole mount or rotary antenna will work great. Smaller attics may require you to position or clamp the antenna between some floor joists. In most cases, you will also need to drill holes to snake the coaxial cables to the power amp and splitter.

Attic Mounting Options

Here are a few options to consider when mounting the antenna in the attic. Depending on the size and location of the antenna will determine the style of the bracket.

ANTOP Adjustable Attic Antenna Mount


ANTOP Adjustable Attic Antenna Mount

HD Antenna L Bracket


HD Antenna L Bracket

Roof, Chimney, or Side Mounting

Different Ways to Mount an HD Antenna for the Home

Roof mounting an HD antenna will require some extra work and planning. Larger antennas will come with a mounting system to attach to your roof. It is also possible to mount the antenna on the side of your house or the chimney. It will require you to drill holes to screw the mount to the desired location, then snake coaxial cable to a power booster or splitter. Make sure to ground the antenna using a grounding rod to protect your house from lightning strikes. Hiring a handyman to help with the installation can be a good choice if you are not able to do it yourself. If you are looking for a handyman for your area Amazon Home Services offers a nice option. Just type in your zip code and describe what you need done and contractors in your area will email a quote.

Roof and Chimney Mount Options

Here are some options to consider when mounting the antenna on the roof or side of the house.

Universal J-Mount

The Universal Antenna Mount will accommodate most brands and styles of outdoor TV antennas. The mast section of the mount is adjustable and telescopes from 24 inches to 44 inches allowing for clearance on most pitched roofs.

Channel Master 3079 Antenna Mast and Pole Mount

The Channel Master 4” Wall Mount Kit allows you to attach an antenna mast, up to 1.5” in diameter, to any wall.

The Channel Master 5’ Antenna Mast is a 5-foot long, 18-gauge, galvanized steel antenna mast with a wedged end.

Channel Master CM 3092 3 ft Tripod TV Antenna Mount

The Channel Master 3’ Tripod Mount is used to hold a TV antenna mast. It works well for roof mounting an antenna.

Channel Master CM-3080 Antenna Chimney Mount

The Channel Master 12’ Chimney Mount is an excellent kit to secure a TV antenna mast to a chimney.

Rotary Mounts

Rotary-mounted antennas are pole-mounted HD antennas that have a motor. They can work in an attic or roof. This allows you to move the antenna 360 degrees. They can be very handy if the broadcast towers are in several different locations. It enables you to dial in the reception for a particular channel. This will require power to the motor and controller box.

Rotary Mount Options

RCA VH226E Programmable Outdoor Antenna Rotator

The RCA VH226E programmable outdoor antenna rotator can provide easy TV antenna positioning from a remote location through the use of an electronic control box and control unit. It allows one to set up 12 TV stations for automatic antenna positioning with programmable memory. The infrared remote enables you to fine-tune the outdoor antenna easily from inside your home for a perfect picture. A digital display indicates preset and antenna position during operation.

Balcony Mounting

If you live in an apartment or condo then a balcony-mounted antenna may work best. They are easy to set up and mount. Generally, they come with a clamping system allowing the antenna to mount to a railing or pole.

Balcony Mounting Options

ANTOP UFO 720°Dual-Omni-Directional Antenna


ANTOP UFO 720°Dual-Omni-Directional Antenna

Running Cabling

Preexisting Coaxial Cable

In some houses, the cabling may already be run for you. If you have wall jacks that were used for cable TV, then you can tap into that existing wiring. It can save time, money, and effort. You can run your coaxial antenna cable into the nearest wall jack and then to a splitter to the televisions. You can see our article on how it is done.

New Coaxial Cabling

If you do not have existing cabling installed, then you will have to snake the wiring from the antenna to the television. This can be easily handled by the average handy person. If you don’t think you can manage it, you can always hire an electrician to install the proper wiring.

Extreme Cases

If you live very far away from the broadcast towers it will take extreme measures to obtain any channels. This may require a very large antenna mounted on a long pole or scaffolding. This can be hit or miss but may be worth the effort.

Conclusion

There are several different ways to mount an HD antenna. If you are looking to get rid of cable, then it is worth a shot to install an HD antenna. Why not take advantage of free broadcast television? It is worth experimenting with some of these mounting options to see what free channels you can get. If you have any questions concerning your setup please feel free to comment below.

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July 14, 2023 0

The Best Over The Air Antennas Based on Performance and User Feedback

Last updated: Friday, July 14, 2023Having a reliable over-the-air antenna is important. It can improve the reception of television stations and ensure a strong signal. In this article, we will discuss the best over-the-air antennas based on performance and user feedback. These antennas have consistently received positive reviews from users and are recognized for their ability to capture signals effectively. However, it’s important to research and consider your specific location, terrain, and distance from broadcast towers to determine the most suitable antenna for your needs. The Best Over-The-Air Antennas Based on Performance and User Feedback Channel Master EXTREMEtenna CM-4228HD The Channel Master EXTREMEtenna [...]
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About Johan
I started this site to educate the public on alternative ways you can watch television besides subscribing to cable. I have been in the audio-visual business for over 20 years. I also have an extensive computer networking background. I am a Microsoft Certified Professional and CompTIA Network+ Certified Technician. I hope you will find my articles and reviews helpful in conscious uncabling.

20 Comments

  1. If you have to go high with outdoor antennas. I would recommend Galvanized pipe. Put a peace of pressure treated lumber in ground beside it for great stability.

  2. If I drive a galvanized pipe into the ground with an antenna attached to it, is that safe enough as far as grounding goes. I mean it’s a steel pipe driven 3 ft into the ground. That should be sufficient correct?

    • A copper clad grounding rod is recommended at least 4 feet into the ground. You may want to also consider adding a coaxial lighting surge protector. It will protect your equipment from lightning surges. Here is an example of one: https://amzn.to/2Lhf7Sg

    • It’s certainly better than a mast that doesn’t touch the ground but i would still drive a 8 foot rod in and clamp it directly to the mast

  3. Unfortunately TV monitors are not designed for over the air reception if you need to rotate your antenna either manually or by a remote antenna rotator. Because you will have to rescan your channel line-up each time you rotate the antenna unless the channels are part of your initial channel scan. A way to get around this inconvenience is to use separate antennas pointed at the directions of the channels you watch, the antenna need to be separated from each other enough to not block each antenna and use the same length coax to connect to each antenna and then connect to an antenna splitter. If there is extra coax lengths do not shorten them but just tape the extra lengths to the antenna support. Do not exceed three sperate antennas and for best results use an antenna pre-amp mounted just below the antenna splitter.

  4. Over the past year, i have been able to tune less & less air channels in West Los Angeles, than before. I have 2 indoor antennas by window facing south in rental apt.
    Now there are only 3 important air channels that are either totally unavailable or pixillated so un-visible. [NBC+ CBS + KCET-PBS [plus misc foreign language commercialed uninformative others varied of no relevance to education, news].
    Read thru this whole long but informative site and still have no way to find what may be newly interfering with reception. This was totally different over many prior years same site, HD Sony TV. Any direct helping hints, info, ways to find where / how interference to receiving transmissions would help. maybe. Any specifics? looking at map here, the green area is extensive but not reality as experienced. near UCLA area. Any specific info to help me ? Or with ‘live indoors, due to now virus scares’ means TV has become more important than before. Spectrum charges $450/yr for their cable, which is unaffordable and not wanted. What else to do ?

    • You should be able to get over 100 channels on a paper clip in LA so you have some major interference sources inside the apartment.
      You need to rescan for channels every few months in case they have changed frequencies.
      My advice is to put a small antenna outside the window like a Winegard “freevision”

  5. correction – only 3 channels ARE rec’d all others are NOT able to be rec’d. sorry. Left out word “not” in wrong place. sorry. Can get NBC, CBS, KCET-PBS – not other major broadcasters.

    • Some stations have decreased their broadcast power over time which affects reception. There could also be more obstacles around that could be causing reception issues. The only way to improve your signal is to get a larger antenna and mount it outside or in the attic.

  6. I live in Mandeville, Louisiana. I have a HD Stacker antenna installed in my attic, approximately 25 feet from ground level. I have approximately 25 feet of RG6 coax and Channelmaster adjustable preamp set to lowest strength. I have one pass-they splitter and connected to two tv’s.I have been having problems with WVUE pixelating. All other channels are fine. Signal strength is lower for WVUE(78-82)than all other channels(94-96). I do have 40 foot pine trees in the transmitter path. My question is why would I have trouble with one channel when several transmitter towers are in the same area?

    • WVUE could be having problems with its antenna on that broadcast tower. They could be broadcasting temporarily at reduced power. I recently wrote an article about some stations having problems due to the FCC channel repack. The rebranding of frequencies is causing temporary delays in upgrades.

    • Trees effect different frequencies differently
      Pine trees may attenuate UHF stations much more than maple trees for example because of the resonant size of the leaves

  7. We live near an industrial park and get pretty much every semi in the country driving by on our street. Each one that goes by causes most channels we get to go into pixellation and temporary freeze-up. Imagine if that happened all hours of the day (streaming is the only break we get from that). I know where our towers are and have the antenna aimed that direction in the house. How high up would the antenna have to go in the attic or on the roof or side of the house to stop the semi trucks’ interference?

    • I heard several people dealing with this problem. I would try get your antenna at or above the roof line of your house. It should be high enough to clear the semi trucks that are passing by. The other option is to move the antenna away from the road. Good luck.

      • Hi John,
        I have a Channelmaster 4228 mounted outdoors to my chimney. The chimney has a flat metal cap and the bottom of the antenna is about 12″ above the cap. Is that adequate or should I adjust it +or-?

        • Anything above the roofline should be adequate to pick up OTA signals. 12″ is fine as long as it is securely mounted to the chimney and pole. If you are surrounded by mountains you might want to go a little higher.

          • Thank you John,
            I was concerned that the metal cap might interfere with reception.
            Thanks again.
            Randy

  8. Over three years ago I installed Digital antenna similar to this one “Outdoor HD; UHF; VHF TV Antenna
    Item #866398Model #C4MVJ” The coax was pre existing in house. House is a ranch style with garage at end. I set up antenna on roof at end of garage and ran coax from antenna to the existing coax hookup. I’ve tried multiple amplifiers to boost the signal from antenna to TVs but no luck. I read no comments stating that if the coax from antenna to the splitter is 100 or more feet it reduces the signal drastically and the booster does not help. My upcoming project is to move my antenna to center part of roof and run coax straight down through roof with proper mounting hardware and set up a new splitter location in antic therefore cutting out at least 100 foot of coax and hopefully get better signals

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