Cord cutting with long range attic TV antenna + HDHomeRun network tuner

Now, I can watch crystal clear live local sports on a smart TV, smartphone, tablet, computer with no monthly fees by using a long range TV antenna installed in the attic and a HDHomeRun tuner, all for about $120.
In the past, I used a small flat indoor HDTV antenna which claimed a 30 mile range, but I frequently experienced signal drops that was annoying when watching live local sports. I considered the following options:

1. I would get better TV signal with a large outdoor TV antenna installed on or near roof, but living in a single-family home, installing an outdoor TV antenna is not an option, as it’s unsightly, may require frequent maintenance and repair from weather wear & tear, and is difficult to install (drilling into wall or roof, grounding needed to prevent damage from lightning strikes).
2. I could get better signal with a larger indoor HDTV antenna, but that would take up more space in a living room and look unsightly.
3. I could use a powered signal amplifier with the 30-mile small indoor HDTV antenna, but an amplifier would not fix signal drops from cars and trucks driving by.

I thought I had no good options, until I found out you can install a large HDTV antenna in my attic. You get all the benefits or a roof top TV antenna, with easier installation and no wear & tear from weather.

This may work for you too, and you can do all this DIY by yourself, so read on and follow these steps.

Step #1: Check how many TV channels you can receive with over-the-air antenna

To see how many TV channels you can expect to get with an antenna, go to https://www.antennaweb.org/ and click “Click Here To Start” button, then enter your address.
You’ll see a screen like this:

Website predicts I can get 45 channels from 14 over-the-air stations, which turned out to be true.
Will you be able to the watch the channels you want? If so, then go to the next step.

Step #2: find the right over-the-air TV antenna for you

There are a variety of TV antennas, and the one that’s best for me may not be the one that’s best for you.

TV antenna shopping tips

1. If your broadcast towers are all in one direction, look for a directional or multi-directional antenna.
2. If your broadcast towers are in multiple directions, look for an omnidirectional antenna.
3. For most people, look for both VHF (channels 2-13) & UHF (channels 14-51) support so you can receive all stations in your area, unless you’ve determined you only need UHF or VHF from signal chart.

If you’re not sure what type of antenna is right for you, follow the steps below to decide whether you want

• directional, multi-directional, or omni-directional
• vhf, uhf or vhf and uhf

Use a online TV signal locator  https://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29 to generate a detailed chart of magnetic compass directions of nearby TV broadcast towers based on your address.

The TV signal analysis chart may be overwhelming at first, so here’s how to read it.

1. Focus first on the top right table’s green and yellow highlighted rows, which represent stations you can receive with an attic antenna.
• Callsign is your local TV station name
• (Virt) channel is the channel displayed on TV. Real channel is the actual frequency channel.
• Netwk column is the TV networks you’ll be able to receive with an attic mounted TV antenna.
• True azimuth is the direction in degrees of the TV broadcast tower from your address.
2. Focus on the top left circular radar plot.
• The blue lines indicate the direction of the TV broadcast towers from your address.
• The numbers on each line is the Real channel. Use the table in top right to lookup the corresponding (virt) channel which is the channel displayed on your TV.
3. The bottom chart shows you whether TV channels are in VHF or UHF range, and also the power level of the broadcast tower from your address.

Still having trouble? Check out tvfool.com’s FAQ

Use the TV signal analysis chart to answer the following 2 questions

1. For the TV stations you can receive with an attic antenna that you prioritize, are most the broadcast towers in same direction (within 45° range)? Or are they in different directions (greater than 45°)?
2. For the TV stations you can receive with an attic antenna that you prioritize, are they in VHF range, UHF range, or both VHF and UHF range?

Note the disclaimer about this tool: “Reception at your location is affected by many factors such as multipath, antenna gain, receiver sensitivity, buildings, and trees - which are not taken into account.  Your mileage may vary.”

Because all the local broadcast towers are south of where I live (between 184° and 194°) and frequencies are in both VHF and UHF range, I chose a directional antenna that supports VHF and UHF range.

Below are a few antenna recommendations to get you started.

Multi-directional VHF & UHF antenna (within 45° range)

Recommended if your broadcast towers are all in one direction (within 66° VHF or within 43° UHF). Multi-directional Yagi-Uda design produces high antenna gain without an amplifier, and has a large horizontal beam width to cover a small range of directions.
This was my personal choice.
Another cheaper option which includes a mast is this GE one

Omni-directional VHF & UHF antenna

Recommended if your broadcast towers are more than 45° apart. Below are a few popular models

Step 3: Plan how to distribute TV signal throughout your house

You can distribute antenna TV signal throughout your home using existing cable TV wiring, or use a network TV tuner device to convert TV signals to MPEG2 computer format so you can watch from a smartphone, tablet, or computer.

Option 1: HDHomeRun network TV tuner

With a HDHomeRun device, I can watch TV from a smart TV, smartphone, tablet, computer with no monthly fees. HDHomeRun comes in multiple versions with 2 or 4 tuners. DVR is also available for extra subscription fee.

The HDHomeRun device connects to your TV antenna and your network with ethernet cable, and you can watch over Wi-Fi using a smart TVs, smartphone, tablet, computer with no monthly fees.

Screenshot from HDHomeRun Android app running on my smartphone with TV listings

Option 2: Splitter with distribution amplifier

If you want to watch on a traditional TVs throughout your home but don’t want to run new coax cable from attic to your living room and bedrooms, you can re-use the existing cable wiring in your home to send the TV antenna signal to each room of your home.
To avoid losing signal quality, use a distribution amplifier like this one to maintain signal strength after signal is split.

Step 4: Find the right coax cable and mast

Coax cable

Look for RG-6 type cable. RG-6 standard is certified for HD signals, and is the latest standard that replaced the older RG-59 standard.

Mounting pole

Most large antennas require a 1.5in diameter pole to mount to. You can find antenna masts like this one which include a pole on an adjustable base plate designed for easy mounting to a flat surface.

More resources

https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/antennas-and-digital-television
Disclaimer: I'm sharing my research and experience for the benefit of the internet community. I'm not paid to write the content on this website, but hyperlinks to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and if you purchase a product through these links, I may get a small commission on the sale.

Upgrading to Scion Pioneer Premium radio in a 2007 Toyota Yaris

I’m sharing how I upgraded the radio on my 2007 Toyota Yaris car to add Bluetooth, HD Radio, and USB input with iPod/iPhone connectivity with a radio from a newer Scion car.  The new radio fits perfectly, re-uses your car’s existing AUX 3.5mm mini plug port and USB ports (if available), and blends in like it came from with the car from the factory, so it won't attract attention from car thieves.

Installation takes about 2-3 hours, is plug-and-play with no soldering and only requires basic hand tools.

Before

After

Parts list

• Pioneer Premium radio, part number: PT546-00121
• You can also use other Scion radios, discussed in Alternative Scion radios section below.
• Scion Antenna adapter cable, part number: PT546-00120-AD
• Scion 20+8 Pin to 28 Pin adapter cable, part number: PT546-00120-CH
• Scion Bluetooth microphone, part number: PT546-74120-MC
• Needed to stream Bluetooth audio. Radio won't connect without microphone. Custom powered microphone, can't use a generic part
• USB adapter cable for Toyota, generic eBay part or part number PT546-00120-US
• Recommend getting a Toyota USB adapter cable with USB type A receptacle jack (link) if your car doesn’t already have OEM USB ports. The OEM USB adapter cable has a proprietary connector.
• (Optional) USB audio & charger port for Toyota, generic eBay part
• For adding additional USB ports near parking brake handle for easy access (link)

I purchased the radio + adapter cables from partsbrokersllc seller on eBay (link) (I’m not affiliated in any way with this eBay seller, just sharing here as this seller offers a good deal)

Pioneer Premium radio

The Pioneer Premium radio (Toyota part number PT546-00121) I used is from 2012-2013 Scion cars. The front of the radio is labeled ADCP-W12U T1818.

Radio features

6.1" touch screen LCD with multi-function volume & tune knob and touch keys

Music CD playback - Music CD/CD-R/CD-RW playback is possible.

MP3 file playback - You can play back MP3 files recorded on CD-ROM/CD-R/CD-RW (ISO9660 Level 1/Level 2 standard recordings) or USB portable audio player/USB memory. 

iPod compatibility - When you use this unit, you can control an iPod, iPod classic, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPhone 3G/3GS/4. Probably doesn’t work with newer iPhones, but I wasn’t able to test this.

HD Radio

Bluetooth 2.1+EDR for hands-free phone calls and A2DP music streaming

3.5mm mini plug AUX input

XM Satellite Radio ready (additional satellite receiver and antenna required)

More information: Official Scion instruction manual (PDF)

Alternative Scion radios

Alternatively, the "base" Pioneer radio from 2012-2013 Scions (Toyota part number PT546-00120) can also be installed in the same way. Older

Adapter cables

The new radio uses different plugs compared to the stock radio. Fortunately, Scion makes official adapter cables that can be used with the Toyota Yaris, and some vendors include them when buying the radio.

Please double-check the photos and description of the radio to see if the adapter cables are included.

Instructions

The instructions below are from my 2007 USA market Toyota Yaris, but same instructions should apply to 2005-2011 Toyota Yaris/Vitz/Belta.
You can watch the YouTube video below to get an idea of the steps. I didn’t make this video, so my steps are a little different.

1. Note your old radio AM/FM pre-sets and eject CD from old radio. Then, open hood and disconnect car battery's negative terminal.
2. Remove instrument panel lower center finish panel by pulling outward
3. Remove instrument panel left finish panel by pulling outward
4. Remove instrument panel right finish panel by pulling outward
5. Remove instrument cluster surround finish panel by pulling outward.
6. Remove vent & radio frame. (Don't forget to disconnect the hazard warning signal switch connector that plugs into top of the frame)

Now you should see something like this.

7. Remove the 4 circled bolts, pull out the old radio, and disconnect the plugs on the back of the radio. I used a screwdriver to gently pry the plugs away from the radio.

8. From the radio opening, thread the USB port end of the adapter cable through the gaps in wiring to passenger footwell or glovebox. Plug the USB adapter cable to the new radio.
Check the end of this post if you're interested in the optional step of installing a USB port near parking brake with extension cable that connects to the USB adapter cable.


Photo above shows where USB port of the USB adapter cable is routed behind dash and comes out from behind dash and into passenger footwell. You can also route the USB port into the glovebox.
9. Lift up the corner of the plastic dash trim and carefully pull cable of Bluetooth microphone through gap above steering wheel, and secure the microphone to dash with the included double-sided tape.

10. Remove the left & right metal brackets and screws from the old radio, and install them on the new radio.

11. Connect adapter cables to vehicle and plug in the cables to the radio. Don't forget to connect the Bluetooth microphone cable too!

12. Gently push the new radio back into the radio opening, and hand-tighten the radio bracket bolts.
13. Now it's time to test if everything works before re-installing all the plastic trim pieces. Re-connect negative terminal of car battery, insert key into ignition and turn key to ACC (accessory). Check that the radio turns on, and verify FM radio, Bluetooth, USB input, and 3.5mm AUX mini plug are working.
If everything works, then continue on and put the car back together.
14. Disconnect car battery's negative terminal. (Better safe than sorry)
15. Tighten the 4 bolts holding radio bracket to car.
16. Re-install vent & radio frame. Re-connect the hazard warning signal switch connector.
17. Re-install instrument cluster surround finish panel
18. Re-install instrument panel right finish panel
19. Re-install instrument panel left finish panel
20. Re-install instrument panel lower center finish panel
21. Re-connect negative terminal of car battery.

Congrats! Now re-enter your favorite radio stations, pair your phone with radio using Bluetooth, and enjoy your new radio.

Optional: Installing a USB port near parking brake handle for easy access

(Instructions coming soon)

Before

After

Disclaimer: I'm sharing my research and experience for the benefit of the internet community. I'm not paid to write the content on this website, but hyperlinks to supporting retailers are automatically made into affiliate links, and if you purchase a product through these links, I may get a small commission on the sale.