Indoor TV antenna problems

I’ve found myself banging my head against a wall for the past few days over this and now I’m coming to the all-knowing network that is NCKA.

My wife and I decided to get rid of cable with our most recent move and instead just pick up an antenna for local tv.  However, I am struggling mightily with the antenna.  We are renting our place, so hanging an outdoor antenna is frowned upon to say the least. 

I have a fairly new tv (5 years old or so) and have purchased a couple different indoor antennas.  The first is the flat style (multi-directional) and the second is the rabbit ear style.  We live in Roseville in the heart of suburbia.  I also attached a link at the bottom to TV fool showing which channels I should be picking up.  I went through a battery of tests with each antenna.

Test #1 (Antenna in the house near the tv) - When in the house, neither antenna could pick up more than 2-3 channels and these were all oddball channels.  This led me to believe that I was living in a bunker and the walls of the house may be the issue. 

Test #2 (TV and Antenna outside on the patio) - I took the tv outside and tried plugging it in out there to remove the house walls as my potential problem.  The results were better, but still not good.  I was able to get 4-5 channels, but still no ABC, NBC or CBS and the ones that I did get had signals so weak that the channels constantly went in and out of service.

Test #3 (Use the coaxial ran to the satellite dish) – I have an existing satellite dish connected to the roof of the house, so I took one of the indoor antennas up to the roof and hooked it up to the coaxial cable that was running up to the dish.  This test failed completely picking up 0 channels.  I assume from this that the coaxial cable running to the dish is bad or disconnected somewhere.  I really don’t feel like chasing cable through the attic anyway, I’d much prefer an indoor option.

So my question is, what am I doing wrong.  I confirmed the process I was going through with the local best buy guy, but am still having problems.  I really don’t want a cable bill, but am going to need to watch some football when the time comes in a couple months.  Thanks for the help everyone.

 http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8e03c763c2b1f9

to the best of my knowledge you got to get some type of box to receive free antenna signal. couple years back you were able to get two free coupons per household for this box. I think you gotta pay for it now.

Good on you for finding the TV Fool web site.  They have a ton of info on there if you know how to interpret it.  I think they also have a forum and you might ask over there for help. 

I use this antenna;
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007RH5GZI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
I paid $48 for the antenna on Amazon used, so keep an eye out for used from this link an when the price drops.  Right now, it's over $90 on Amazon new and $54 used.
I cable tied it to a vent pipe on my roof and use coax back to the TV.  I get at least 50 channels with it, but I'm up in Placerville area and can actually see the Walnut Grove towers and a full view of the coast mountain range where the bay area antennas are.  I even get Reno stations with it!!

It works well indoors too if I aim it at a window that faces towards the Walnut grove tower. That is the secret; the antenna is directional and you must either have it pointed at the source, or a large surface that reflects the source.  I helped a guy in Folsom by pointing this same type of antenna on his house at the COSTCO roof. 

Use this link and select to have lines drawn from your address to the station antennas.  It's a big help when aiming;
http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90


Good luck!

Make sure your TV has a built-in digital tuner. If it was made in the last 5yrs, it probably does. But if not, you will need a digital converter box ($30 at most electronics stores).
I tried to ditch cable last year. So after doing my research, I got the Mohu Leaf 50. It plugs directly into the coax on my TV (with built-in digital tuner) and receives about 30 channels but only a dozen are regular channels; the rest are random channels or different languages.
http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Amplified-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B00APPDX86/ref=sr_1_9?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1436287370&sr=1-9&keywords=indoor+tv+antenna
or http://www.gomohu.com/
Long story short, I still have Comcast cable (wish I could ditch them) and I plugged the antenna to the TV in my son's room.

That brings up a good point;
I mainly use Xfinity/Comcast for TV viewing for the cable channels I prefer.  However, the broadcast antenna is used when cable goes out.  It's done that a lot lately with all the lightning up here in the hills the past couple weeks or so.  Recently as Friday morning. 

Ditch live TV and just go with Netflix.  You will never see another commercial again!  Plenty of stuff to watch (when I have time for tv), lots of tv shows, documentaries and movies to entertain you. 

Thanks for the input.  I am going to keep my eyes open for a good deal on that antenna Jerry.  I will probably play around with the couple that I've got for now before I return them and see if I can get them to perform any better. 

If your into web streaming sports try this http://www.getyourfixtures.com/us

google homemade digital antennae with coat hangars. have used this for years with better results than the store bought ones.. last one i made was with 12awg copper wire and works flawlessly indoors. its worth a try. all you need is the wire, a 1 x 4 board and a coax connector. this is provided you have a tv with a digital tuner.