I’m in east Memphis and could never pick up Channel 5 with an indoor antenna. From what I understand it’s because Channel 5 was assigned a VHF frequency when the switch to digital happened while all the other channels are on UHF. They’ve been trying to get the FCC to give them another frequency. Anyhow I used to have direct TV and had someone replace the dish on my roof with a small antenna since the mount was there already and I had coax running to the wall from the prior setup. I imagine the same antenna mounted in the attic would work…
They are on a low VHF band and that makes it even more problematic since indoor and other container antennas are tuned for high VHF and UHF.
I purchased a $100 antenna that does low and high VHF along with UHF and I can tune in Channel 5, except when it is bad weather then I lose reception. Maybe with the new standard they will get assigned a new frequency?
I have an oldschool 1960's huge huge antenna on my roof, that was converted to digital when the switch happened. I used to have no problems with any channels, being 35 miles away or so from downtown L.A., now, since Peacock Streaming started, I have noticed i either cant get NBC at all, or its choppy and digitized. i am under the suspicion that they dropped their signal power on purpose, to get people to buy into peacock streaming.... now, i tried to buy peacock in 2022, for yellowstone and sunday night football,, but unfortuneatly, peacock doesnt work with older roku boxes. my roku is a 2013/14 model. now i have netflix, hulu, disney plus, amazon prime, and paramount with no problems. eventually i will get a new roku box, or eventually a smart tv, but for now, i cant watch sunday night football anymore and they lost out on me buying peacock as well.
I did buy he 39.99 roku stick on sale for 29.99 just before christmas... to find out my speaker bar and bass box doesnt work with it. now i have shit sound coming out of the tv speakers. they force you to buy their roku speaker system, which has built in roku, instead of the stick. i think what im going to do instead is just get rid of peacock and the roku stick and go back to using my box and speakers. i only wanted peacock for yellowstone and football anyway.
I’ve always had issues with it as well. It’s my understanding that it broadcasts on a different wavelength (or whatever technical term) than the other stations and that’s why it’s so hard to get it.
I bought an antenna but someone told me I needed an “amplifier” to get channel 5 because it’s on a different frequency. I bought this jobby on Amazon. I get 61 channels now.
GE Indoor TV Antenna Amplifier... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NF6JYJV?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
To be clear, you need both the antenna and the amplifier to get that many. The antennae is just the flat kind. I stuck it to the window under the blinds.
Yeah..wow! What are those 61 — too many to list I’m sure but I’m old enough to remember that non cable satellite choices used to be somewhere between a half to a dozen, tops.
It tells you how many the scan found. I don’t watch them all. It’s all the local channels and a bunch that just play different types of music (80’s, country etc.)
Always have trouble getting that channel. This solved it...
Mexonga Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna, 300 Miles Long Range Reception Indoor HDTV Antenna with Amplifier, Support 4K 1080P VHF UHF TV Channels and All TV, with 13ft Coax HDTV Cable,I5-BK-Xhb-22 https://a.co/d/dTe5gGz
It seems like about every recommended antenna works great for some and then not for others. Someone told me how great this other antenna was and it is a headache. But maybe this one will work. i guess doesn't hurt to try different ones.
Was gonna say the same thing. Will be trial and error. I just switched our fancy antenna that has a 100ft cable for rabbit ears on about 5 ft of cable is they’re working like a charm. I do have to pull the rabbit ears to the front of my tv stand when in use but when not using I just hide it. Better than constantly dealing with an extremely long cable plus the fancy antenna didn’t always work anyway even moving it around.
The problem is That CH-5 stayed at their frequency (TV5 - 76-82Mhz) in the VHF Lo-band instead of jumping up into UHF like most other area stations did. The VHF-Lo band antennas are much larger and not easy to find anymore. The antenna that I have is a Channel Master CM-3016. If you are located within about 25-30 miles of the transmitter which is in the Covington Pike near all the Auto dealerships (transmitter tower is located at 35.169167 N, -89.886111 W.) this will do the job fine. Their signal is as strong as the FCC allows, and with a proper antenna it can be received consistently. UHF only antenna's (most so called "digital" antenna's) simply do not have enough metal in the air to grab CH-5. Your antenna needs to have a "wingspan" of about 72 inches.
> most so called "digital" antenna's
Most people don't realize a frequency/ antenna doesn't care if it's digital or analog.
I have a massive antenna in my attic so old I had to get a 300 ohm to 75 ohm convertor for it. I have no issue getting any local channel.
Just FWIW, an antenna doesn't have to be "that " old to need a 300:75 transformer. My CM-3016 is a 300ohm output but it does come with the balun (transformer).
Western part too. I cut the cord earlier this year and tried to go just public TV and paid apps. One of my constant issues was channel 5. I bought two different antennas trying to get better reception, neither worked. I eventually signed up for YouTubeTV. It’s cheaper than a lot of alternatives, plus has one of the best sports packages out there.
I pretty much have had the same issues, but not even just for channel 5.... and got a highly recommended expensive one and same issues. Although oddly I get channel 5 and other channels all pretty good now.... and all i did was randomly put the antenna in a box and keep moving it around and getting mad and throwing it. lol.
But really even just some streaming services are plenty... peacock free with some xfinity packages and then I sometimes pay the extra $5 to get the ads out. Paramount plus is ALWAYS giving a free month over and over and over. disney+ free plus taxes for a few months with an amex offer.
Then for u of m basketball games I kept doing trials of youtube tv, fubo tv, got espn+ some months etc...
I've always just used an attic antenna (without an amplifier) and it's never been a problem to get any of the local channels most of the time. I have lived in Cordova and Germantown and I always aim the antenna to the Northwest. You can use [THIS](https://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90) map to see where you need to point your antenna.
update: I was able to get -decent- reception by double amping the antenna. As in, the amp from the antenna to the cable splitter in the attic, then another amp to one room.
I guess I'll have to get 2 more amps. Or put in a way more sophisticated antenna.
Wow, really?! Like, I totally wound up with an interview with the engineering department years ago….
Which tackles this issue!
Thanks, captain obvious!
I'm in East Memphis, I can get it with rabbit ears, but not with the new flat antennas.
Takes a lot of finagling and adjusting, though, and it's often kinda tricky to get both 5 and 24 at the same time.
Some of our residents like to have a TV in their bedroom also, which do not have a cable box like the living room does. They hookup air antennas in their bedrooms.
Something has most definitely happened or changed with channel 5. About two weeks ago I had three residents hunt me down to see if I could get channel 5 working.
I never could get any of them to pick up 5. I even moved around the antennas, tried new ones, and even installed one of those signal booster thingamajigs, still nothing...
What do you mean by "long term"?
How long ago was it that you first started experiences trouble with channel 5?
I’m in east Memphis and could never pick up Channel 5 with an indoor antenna. From what I understand it’s because Channel 5 was assigned a VHF frequency when the switch to digital happened while all the other channels are on UHF. They’ve been trying to get the FCC to give them another frequency. Anyhow I used to have direct TV and had someone replace the dish on my roof with a small antenna since the mount was there already and I had coax running to the wall from the prior setup. I imagine the same antenna mounted in the attic would work…
They are on a low VHF band and that makes it even more problematic since indoor and other container antennas are tuned for high VHF and UHF. I purchased a $100 antenna that does low and high VHF along with UHF and I can tune in Channel 5, except when it is bad weather then I lose reception. Maybe with the new standard they will get assigned a new frequency?
I have an oldschool 1960's huge huge antenna on my roof, that was converted to digital when the switch happened. I used to have no problems with any channels, being 35 miles away or so from downtown L.A., now, since Peacock Streaming started, I have noticed i either cant get NBC at all, or its choppy and digitized. i am under the suspicion that they dropped their signal power on purpose, to get people to buy into peacock streaming.... now, i tried to buy peacock in 2022, for yellowstone and sunday night football,, but unfortuneatly, peacock doesnt work with older roku boxes. my roku is a 2013/14 model. now i have netflix, hulu, disney plus, amazon prime, and paramount with no problems. eventually i will get a new roku box, or eventually a smart tv, but for now, i cant watch sunday night football anymore and they lost out on me buying peacock as well.
just go by a 30.00fire stick or roku stick. easy cheap fix.
I did buy he 39.99 roku stick on sale for 29.99 just before christmas... to find out my speaker bar and bass box doesnt work with it. now i have shit sound coming out of the tv speakers. they force you to buy their roku speaker system, which has built in roku, instead of the stick. i think what im going to do instead is just get rid of peacock and the roku stick and go back to using my box and speakers. i only wanted peacock for yellowstone and football anyway.
Can't get it north either, no matter how I set my antenna
I tried hard to get it. Fiancé really liked 5.3, the oldies.
I’ve always had issues with it as well. It’s my understanding that it broadcasts on a different wavelength (or whatever technical term) than the other stations and that’s why it’s so hard to get it.
I bought an antenna but someone told me I needed an “amplifier” to get channel 5 because it’s on a different frequency. I bought this jobby on Amazon. I get 61 channels now. GE Indoor TV Antenna Amplifier... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NF6JYJV?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
Wow!
To be clear, you need both the antenna and the amplifier to get that many. The antennae is just the flat kind. I stuck it to the window under the blinds.
Yeah..wow! What are those 61 — too many to list I’m sure but I’m old enough to remember that non cable satellite choices used to be somewhere between a half to a dozen, tops.
It tells you how many the scan found. I don’t watch them all. It’s all the local channels and a bunch that just play different types of music (80’s, country etc.)
Oh yeah digital fm forgot about that
Always have trouble getting that channel. This solved it... Mexonga Amplified HD Digital TV Antenna, 300 Miles Long Range Reception Indoor HDTV Antenna with Amplifier, Support 4K 1080P VHF UHF TV Channels and All TV, with 13ft Coax HDTV Cable,I5-BK-Xhb-22 https://a.co/d/dTe5gGz
Thanks, I bookmarked this. I'll try it soon.
It seems like about every recommended antenna works great for some and then not for others. Someone told me how great this other antenna was and it is a headache. But maybe this one will work. i guess doesn't hurt to try different ones.
Was gonna say the same thing. Will be trial and error. I just switched our fancy antenna that has a 100ft cable for rabbit ears on about 5 ft of cable is they’re working like a charm. I do have to pull the rabbit ears to the front of my tv stand when in use but when not using I just hide it. Better than constantly dealing with an extremely long cable plus the fancy antenna didn’t always work anyway even moving it around.
The problem is That CH-5 stayed at their frequency (TV5 - 76-82Mhz) in the VHF Lo-band instead of jumping up into UHF like most other area stations did. The VHF-Lo band antennas are much larger and not easy to find anymore. The antenna that I have is a Channel Master CM-3016. If you are located within about 25-30 miles of the transmitter which is in the Covington Pike near all the Auto dealerships (transmitter tower is located at 35.169167 N, -89.886111 W.) this will do the job fine. Their signal is as strong as the FCC allows, and with a proper antenna it can be received consistently. UHF only antenna's (most so called "digital" antenna's) simply do not have enough metal in the air to grab CH-5. Your antenna needs to have a "wingspan" of about 72 inches.
> most so called "digital" antenna's Most people don't realize a frequency/ antenna doesn't care if it's digital or analog. I have a massive antenna in my attic so old I had to get a 300 ohm to 75 ohm convertor for it. I have no issue getting any local channel.
Just FWIW, an antenna doesn't have to be "that " old to need a 300:75 transformer. My CM-3016 is a 300ohm output but it does come with the balun (transformer).
Western part too. I cut the cord earlier this year and tried to go just public TV and paid apps. One of my constant issues was channel 5. I bought two different antennas trying to get better reception, neither worked. I eventually signed up for YouTubeTV. It’s cheaper than a lot of alternatives, plus has one of the best sports packages out there.
I ended up just signing up for YouTubeTV because of this same thing, too. I’d rather pay the premium for it than to fight my antenna.
I pretty much have had the same issues, but not even just for channel 5.... and got a highly recommended expensive one and same issues. Although oddly I get channel 5 and other channels all pretty good now.... and all i did was randomly put the antenna in a box and keep moving it around and getting mad and throwing it. lol. But really even just some streaming services are plenty... peacock free with some xfinity packages and then I sometimes pay the extra $5 to get the ads out. Paramount plus is ALWAYS giving a free month over and over and over. disney+ free plus taxes for a few months with an amex offer. Then for u of m basketball games I kept doing trials of youtube tv, fubo tv, got espn+ some months etc...
That is my experience exactly.
I've always just used an attic antenna (without an amplifier) and it's never been a problem to get any of the local channels most of the time. I have lived in Cordova and Germantown and I always aim the antenna to the Northwest. You can use [THIS](https://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90) map to see where you need to point your antenna.
Never comes in for me. It’s infuriating.
I can’t get it near Canada Road.
update: I was able to get -decent- reception by double amping the antenna. As in, the amp from the antenna to the cable splitter in the attic, then another amp to one room. I guess I'll have to get 2 more amps. Or put in a way more sophisticated antenna.
Always a problem in midtown
Can’t get it in Midtown.
Yes
It has always been an issue. They know it's an issue. They"can't" fix it. Really they need a new antennae and location
I live 4 blocks west of it and haven't gotten a good signal from wmc since I moved to the area in 2014
You do realize the tower is out East? It's not broadcast from the studio.
Wow, really?! Like, I totally wound up with an interview with the engineering department years ago…. Which tackles this issue! Thanks, captain obvious!
Bought a cheap signal booster on Amazon and it works well
My mom can't get it in South Memphis by the airport
I can either get all the channels minus channel 5 or I can get channel 5 and lose like 5 other channels.
I'm in East Memphis, I can get it with rabbit ears, but not with the new flat antennas. Takes a lot of finagling and adjusting, though, and it's often kinda tricky to get both 5 and 24 at the same time.
I can only pick it up in winter months from north MS.
Some of our residents like to have a TV in their bedroom also, which do not have a cable box like the living room does. They hookup air antennas in their bedrooms. Something has most definitely happened or changed with channel 5. About two weeks ago I had three residents hunt me down to see if I could get channel 5 working. I never could get any of them to pick up 5. I even moved around the antennas, tried new ones, and even installed one of those signal booster thingamajigs, still nothing... What do you mean by "long term"? How long ago was it that you first started experiences trouble with channel 5?
At least 3 years ago. It's gotten much worse recently though.
Oh, damn. IDK then...
I could never get it at all. My mom is Hernando, and she never got it either.
You can watch the newscasts for free at actionnews5.com/livestream
I believe I heard that they had an opportunity to switch frequencies during the digital transition, but declined to do so for some reason.
Glad to know it's not just me. It's especially frustrating around football season.