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Watch TV from the 90s and earlier

(my90stv.com)
653 points thunderbong | 11 comments | 28 Jul 23 12:46 UTC | HN request time: 0.49s | source | bottom
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AlbertCory ◴[28 Jul 23 15:08 UTC] No.36907892[source]▶
You can also get a digital TV antenna (< $100) since most of them are still being broadcast, somewhere. This gives you the FULL experience of having to know when the shows are "on." /s

Of course if you live in an apartment that may not work.

replies(2): >>36907989 #>>36908862 #
1. op00to ◴[28 Jul 23 15:12 UTC] No.36907989[source]▶
You do not need to spend $100. You do not need to spend $1 if you have some scrap laying around. TV antennas are super easy to build!

http://users.wfu.edu/matthews/misc/dipole.html https://www.w9dup.org/technet_files/folded_dipoles_vhf_uhf_y...

replies(1): >>36908086 #
2. kamranjon ◴[28 Jul 23 15:17 UTC] No.36908086[source]▶
Will this still work now that VHF and UHF are no more?
replies(4): >>36908263 #>>36908720 #>>36909048 #>>36912412 #
3. jpl56 ◴[28 Jul 23 15:25 UTC] No.36908263[source]▶
Yes, but just as before, you need multiple dipoles since there are multiple frequencies. Digital allows multiple channels where we had one analog.
replies(3): >>36908624 #>>36909009 #>>36919500 #
4. pessimizer ◴[28 Jul 23 15:47 UTC] No.36908624{3}[source]▶
I'm literally still using the last antenna I had for my last CRT tv, and my reception is great.
5. pessimizer ◴[28 Jul 23 15:53 UTC] No.36908720[source]▶
VHF and UHF are still almost as they were. It was the format that changed, not the frequency.

UHF only goes up to channel 52 now, though. Before 2009 it went up to channel 70, and before 1983 UHF went all the way up to 83.

6. AlbertCory ◴[28 Jul 23 16:09 UTC] No.36909009{3}[source]▶
Mine looks like a figure-8. And only about 3 feet high and 18 inches wide, more or less.
7. AlbertCory ◴[28 Jul 23 16:11 UTC] No.36909048[source]▶
It's a whole other world out there! But yeah, you can get the big sporting events, e.g. some of the Women's World Cup matches (the ones the US team is in).

When I first connected it, I cycled through ALL the channels. There were about 800.

8. op00to ◴[28 Jul 23 19:55 UTC] No.36912412[source]▶
I don’t know about outside of the US, but “HDTV” in the US is on the same old vhf and uhf bands as their analog predecessors exempting some carve outs for cellular. The antenna lengths will be the same.
replies(1): >>36912895 #
9. ansible ◴[28 Jul 23 20:32 UTC] No.36912895{3}[source]▶
VHF has gone away in some areas, as I understand it. It is all gone in the Chicago metro area, now all HDTV is broadcast on UHF channels only. And thank goodness for that! For a while, CBS 2 Chicago was on VHF channel 12, and was limited in power. So the reception outside the city limits was rather poor, even for relatively close-in suburbs. They finally got 48.2 allocated, and that comes in much better, much further out. It was frustrating, because the other major & minor channels were already on UHF and came in fine.
replies(1): >>36919492 #
10. op00to ◴[29 Jul 23 12:13 UTC] No.36919492{4}[source]▶
Philly has one channel on VHF LO but thankfully the transmitters are in a great location so you don’t really need a huge antenna if you’re close to the city.
11. op00to ◴[29 Jul 23 12:14 UTC] No.36919500{3}[source]▶
Depends on how close you are to the transmitters.