Apartment Rooftop Antenna no longer working

Neaden

So our apartment building has a rooftop antenna, we used to be able to connect to it by plugging our T.V into the coaxial line and scanning on the antenna, it was a nice system that worked well. Sadly that has stopped for some reason, our apartment management says the antenna is fine and there are some other people in our building who use it to watch T.V. We only have the one T.V so we have a limited ability to try to test what the problem is, I was hoping for some suggestion for narrowing it down. The coax cable seems to be firmly connected at both ends which is all I can think of. Thanks!

illig

someone cut the coax in the middle most likely

cable installers like to do that, and clueless apartment dwellers as well (i.e. - this extra wire is useless to me so i'll cut it off)... you can buy an inexpensive coaxial continuity tester if you'd like to confirm this

Neaden

Hmm, if it is cut in the middle how hard will it be to fix? My apartment maintenance is generally pretty good but I don't see this being a high priority for them if it will be difficult.

Irredeemably Indecisive

The fix, if it is cut, is to run a new wire which could be a very simple fix or a very hard fix, depending on circumstances.

Buttcleft

IF its cut, and its in a wall, then its going to be very costly to find and fix

Might just be easier to get an antenna of your own and set it on the wall next to a window or something.

Unless the cut was very close to your apartment. Find that out by unscrewing the coaxial plate from the wall and gently, GENTLY, pulling on it to see if it'll come. Keep in mind there should be some slack in it even if its not cut, And there is probably staples on the line some where to tuck it up against studs.

Thundyrkatz

I would second that if it is cut, you can buy an antenna for your apartment that would be pretty inexpensive, like less then $40 on Amazon. They have some that are very inconspicuous, and are worlds ahead of rabbit ears, you can even get HD over the air on them.

The biggest factor would be your location, but if you were previously using one then I would think you should be in good shape.

Neaden

Would we put the antenna on our balcony? The issue there is our windows face the opposite way from where most broadcasts are coming from and there is a tree right in front of it.

Thundyrkatz

In most cases you can mount the antenna right on the wall. You may see some issues depending on the construction of your building, or potential interference from having so many neighbors so close by, so YMMV.

Fair disclosure, I do not own one, so some advice from someone that does would be helpful. But from what I understand, you can use something like this...

http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Paper-Thin-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B004QK7HI8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1389113668&sr=8-1&keywords=antenna

You can mount it behind a picture from, or a book case so you cant see it.

Neaden

I don't think that would have enough range, I am in northern Illinois but within 70 miles of Milwaukee and Chicago so there are lot off channels but not within 35 miles. I'll look at their bigger ones though thanks.

edit: called mohu and they said terrain isn't right, I woukd need a rooftop antenna anyways.

Mayabird

Very alternate option is that you could use this opportunity to stop watching TV. It's a giant drain on time that beams advertisements into your head. I haven't had a TV hookup since early college and I've found I don't miss it. Those few shows I really want to watch I can get online and the rest of the crap I don't need. Plenty more time wasters I can get on a computer with less ads.

I'm guessing this is probably out of the question but just throwing it out there.