Canceled cable and want to tune into local channels..but only get blank screen or "no signal". bought an antenna...still nothing

Check the shielding of your antenna. Moreover make distance between VCR and antenna cable. In fact VCRs have a built in modulator and its signal is strong as compared to local antenna signal. There is another way, connect the local antenna in VCR RF In and connect RF Out of VCR to TV. In this scenario you have to tune your VCR to get the antenna channels instead of TV. It will solve your problem.

It sounds like you need to do a complete installation as if TV were new.
This is done from installation menu

If you just have over-the-air signals from local broadcast stations, you need a good VHF/UHF antenna connected to the RF input jack on the TV in order to get reception. If you have access to cable TV or satellite, you need to connect the box or receiver set-top-box to the TV using a HDMI cable. You need to select on the TV using the remote, (press the MENU button) setup for tuning channels. Do a scan after setting to AIR or CABLE so the TV picks up all available channels you can get. Once this is done you can change channels and see TV. If you reply back with specifics, I can help more...

Hello
Do connection to the antena if you wants to set the TV auto tuned.
During this initial setup, you can perform the following:

1 Select the language for the on-screen display text.
2 Select HOME or Retail mode. [Here you have to select "Home" mode if the set displays "Retail"

3 Connect cable or antenna, then select OK to run Auto
Program

• If you have cable and antenna available, please connect cable first.

• IMPORTANT: Auto Program is only effective when cable or

antenna is connected. If you cancel Auto Program before completion some channels may not be
available.

4 Auto Program will scan for available channels from the signal source directly connected to

the TV's CABLE/ANTENNA input and may take sometime to complete the process. Follow
the help text provided on the screen to run Auto Program.
OK.

did you switch the TV's incoming signal to digital antenna? For the cable box it was probably set to cable antenna or analog inputs, not all TV's have automatic switching for antenna feeds. My Mitsubishi has 1 digital and 1 analog antenna input and the cable box will only work through the antenna input if it's the analog antenna input and it's tuned to channel 3 or 4, -(or through a seprate HDMI, PROSCAN, SVCR,or a yellow RCA plug input)- and when the analog antenna input is selected the TV will tune all analog cable channels that the cable service offers if a box is not used. likewise the TV will not tune any channels at all if it's set to digital antenna inputs. It will tune all local channels only when set to digital antenna inputs.

go to menu then tuning,set from cable to air,for local channel.you can't get true HD for cable because cable is an analog signal

Firstly, depending which reception area you are in, an indoor antenna may not give you a good signal across all your channels. If in you put the antenna into the aerial connector of the TV & if in your set up menu, there is an Auto tune option then enter this & it will tune in all the channels it can find. If not then select the Manual tune option & you will need to tune each channel as you find them. Follow the on screen instructions as a guide.

Ok first I can save you some money. Take your "HDTV" antenna back. There is nothing different about the antennas needed receive analog and digital signals. If you got reception without your converter box, use the same antenna with your converter box.

Next let's see if there is a problem with the box. Hook up a television with the antenna. How many stations do you get? Now hook up the same television & antenna, but this time put the converter box between the antenna & the TV. Do not turn on the box. Now how many stations do you get? If the number is different, the box is not allowing the antenna signal to pass through. That is bad. You want your signal to pass through the box so you can still pick up stations that don't broadcast digitally. Some areas of the country will not be covered by digital stations from all major broadcasters when the changeover happens in Feb.

My suspicion is either you did not have the antenna hooked up to the converter box when you searched for channels OR you are in an area that is not yet broadcasting digitally.

I hope this helps you solve your problem. Thank you for using FixYa and feel free to add more questions here by using comments.

ATSC tuners ("D/A converters") pick up signals off the air just like old school television. It sounds like you are just not getting a signal of sufficient strength. A weak analog signal looks like a "snowy" picture, which most of us are used to. But, the new digital channels quickly go from a perfect picture to none at all. It's basically all-or-nothing.

Try attaching an antenna to your converter. I know you can buy a new antenna from your local big box electronics store which is labeled "Terrestrial HDTV" or something, but that really doesn't mean anything. You can use any old TV antenna. Even a quality FM antenna (with an F-Pin coax connection) may work just fine.

When setting up the antenna, keep in mind that different channels are transmitted from different towers, in different locations with different strengths. Move the antenna placement and position around (just like grandpa had to do). You may have to make a compromise to get the best signal for your favorite channels.

Hi there!
If you cannot receive all channels it may be a fault with the antenna or the tuner may be faulty. If you have a VCR, you can tune that into the TV first and then tune the VCR to see if you then receive all channels. If so, use the VCR position on the TV to view and select or change channels on the VCR only. Good Luck,JUS004