A metal roof doesn’t mean you can’t receive OTA channels

This week I had an email exchange with a reader who wanted to cut the cord and was wondering how he could watch his local channels.

I was ready to mention installing an antenna, but he added, “Over-the-air won’t work in our case because of the metal roof.”

So I turned to the conversation about which streaming services offer local channels.

Hulu+Live, YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, and Sling all offer some local channels.

DirecTV Stream and YouTube TV offer the most local channels in Dallas, where I live. They are also the only two that offer local PBS channels.

Sling is the cheapest service, but where I live they only offer Fox and NBC.

The fact that the reader has a metal roof can negatively impact antenna reception, especially for antennas located in the attic. However, there are other options too.

I have antennas in two places in my house. I have two outside on a pole on the side of the house and one on the wall behind my TV.

I’ve had antennas in the attic before, but they didn’t work well for me and I didn’t have a metal roof.

I told my reader to try an indoor antenna – ideally in a window facing the towers or on an outside wall, hopefully a wall facing the towers.

Outdoors is the best place for an antenna.

One of the benefits of cord cutting is that most of our homes have coaxial cables running to our televisions. In my house there is an old DirecTV satellite dish that feeds coaxial cables that go to the spot in my house where my TV is. I placed my antenna on the antenna mast and connected it to the existing coaxial cable. It was easy and I get a good reception.

If the coaxial cable in your house doesn’t run to your TV, then you have a bigger job on your hands.

For this reason, I recommend trying an indoor antenna. They are small and easy to hide behind the TV or mount in a nearby window.

You can get indoor antennas with or without an amplifier. I would probably opt to buy one with an amplifier, but you should try without an amplifier first. You can add it at any time if your signals are weak.

Additionally, purchase your antenna from a place with a good return policy. You can always return it if it doesn’t work.

After a few days I heard a response from the reader who said: “I bought a Mohu Leaf amplifier antenna, connected it, scanned and received 82 channels.” Excellent reception in all areas. I had tried this previously with a different antenna, with poor results. The amplification will probably provide better reception.”

So don’t give up if you want to set up an antenna and enjoy free local broadcast channels.

If you want to see what channels are available in your home, you can go to https://rabbitears.info and enter your location. You will receive a list of channels, their distance and direction from your home, and whether you can expect them to be received clearly.

Jim Rossman is a tech columnist for Tribune News Service. He can be reached at [email protected].