The words “wait here” have always been a source of anxiety ever since we were kids. We’re either waiting to be seen by the principal, the doctor, or the dentist. Those situations aren’t exactly our idea of a good time.
Thankfully, waiting rooms come equipped with “distractions” to make the waiting time as comfortable as possible. These include free Wi-Fi for fiddling with the phone or tablet, the classic stack of magazines, or the good old tv.
But if the tv reception sucks, rather than ease our anxiety, it can turn into frustration and anger.
To give your clients a pleasant waiting room experience, fixing what’s wrong with the reception should be a priority. But what can you do?
You can either switch to cable, but this option is expensive and likely overkill for a waiting room tv. Or you can try these basic troubleshooting methods for the over the air tv antenna.
Let’s get started.
Relocate and Reposition
Modern indoor antennas aren’t your old grandma antennas. If you have lived through the 70s or 80s, you know the type. You probably remember your dad attaching tin foil to a V-shaped device or rabbit-ears antenna to improve reception.
The switch from analog to digital has considerably improved the signal quality. Digital signals don’t weaken or drop off like analog used to. Even a weak digital signal will still produce a clear picture. But if they become too weak, what you’ll experience are interruptions in the audio and video.
Finding the “sweet spot” for your antenna location is usually the first and last thing you’ll do to get the best tv picture quality.
There’s one general rule to follow with antenna placement. Higher is better.
If you’re limited to the same room as the tv, try mounting the antenna as close to the ceiling as possible. But if you can run a cable that goes to a higher location, that’s even better.
The other important factor is the orientation and position of your antenna. Digital signals, like cellphone signals, come from broadcast towers. Some antennas are unidirectional, which means that they can only receive signals from one direction.
To get the best quality, you need to position and point your antenna to the nearest tower. You can use this handy DTV reception map to check for the signals that are available at your location.
Get an Amplifier
If the signal is still weak even after relocation, the next thing you can try is to install an antenna amplifier. This device can boost the signal to give you better reception.
The amplifier will also help maintain the signal if you’re splitting it to feed two television sets.
Try Another over the Air Tv Antenna Model
If the above methods still don’t help, the likely culprit is your old antenna. What you can do is to upgrade to something better and more suited to your location.
There are a lot of variations of indoor antenna. We mentioned the unidirectional antenna which is a good option if the tower is in a distant location. If you live in an urban area, the multidirectional model might be your best bet.
Lastly, if the indoor antenna isn’t cutting it anymore, you can switch to an outdoor model. This is worth the investment especially if your location is in a difficult spot. Your area might feature some tall buildings or trees that interfere with the signal. The outdoor antenna will get you over the hump.
Picture This
What we hope for this guide is to give you a basic knowledge for troubleshooting over the air tv antennas to get the best quality reception. We want your clients to have a comfortable and pleasant waiting experience as they enjoy your crystal clear tv.
Want to know the future of television? Then check out the Apple TV, which we featured in this article.
