Is anybody getting their television "off the air"?

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scoots

scoots

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Location
Chattanooga TN
I just paid my never-ending cable bill. It's a package deal covering Phone, Internet, and Television for about $171 per month. I'm tired of paying this bill.

My question is if any members are getting their TV signals as broadcast (not cable or dish)?

Now that analog signals are no longer broadcast, I'm in the dark as to how to do this technically, what channels are available, and if the reduced channel selection makes it worthwhile.

As an aside, we are not a TV-watching household, so loosing a lot of those channels would not be a hardship. I noticed I can't be the only one considering this, the internet seems to be humming with articles on this subject, but I'd prefer to hear some first hand opinions - Thanks.
 
I'm Doing It....

....And I don't think it's any hardship.

I have a later-model CRT television with both NTSC (analog) and ATSC (digital) tuners built in. It's hooked up to a "rabbit ear" type antenna and does just fine.

Before that, I had older NTSC televisions hooked up to ATSC converters, which also worked fine. Converters are available at Radio Shack, under the brand name Digital Stream.

No cable bill, no hassles, and plenty of channels, since broadcasters can transmit several channels on the bandwidth they used to use for one. I probably have twenty or so channels available, and Waterloo is not a huge market - bigger cities would have more.

I recommend the switch. There can be some hassles with reception, but I'll let others tell you about those and what can be done about them. Because they will. :)
 
Yes
I'm in the process.

In February my cable and internet went from $80/month to $120/month.
Thank you Time Warner/Comcast!

Like you, not a huge television watcher, especially in the summer.

I decided to drop cable TV and just keep the internet. Bill dropped to
$40/month. They have yet to come and install a trap on the pole so I still
have the TV service.

I had a amplified RV antenna that I got from a camping buddy so I decided to see what it could do. Installed it on a existing pole about 3ft above the roof
on one corner of my house. I live about 60 miles from Cleveland, OH and the same
from Youngstown, OH. The antenna is somewhat directional so I just pointed it
a little to the east of Cleveland. It pulls in about 15 stations and about 50
channels. Stations now broadcast multiple digital channels. It's connected to a
digital TV. Will need one more digital to analog converter for another set later on.

Some channels drop out, a few are repeats, but what I watch the most are usually
good reception. No complaints for what I have invested.

There are some things I will miss when the cable TV is finally turned off, but at that point I may upgrade the internet service and get something streaming. Maybe.
 
Did so last year and am that well pleased.

Weather and of course now that the trees have leafed out can make for spotty reception at times, but overall am very happy.

We get 2-13 along with many digital channels (Movies!, Antenna, Cosi-TV, etc..)

Initially persons get hung up on how many channels they can receive OTR via a digital television or using a converter but later simmer down. Once you realize many of the channels are religious, Asian, Hispanic/Latino, shopping and marketing, you don't feel so bad.
 
in process myself to find a better alternative.....

tried the 'buycleartv' flat panel antenna....not that its a complete joke, but they will tell you ahead of time, how many and what channels you will recieve in your area.....so out of 41, I got 2, super crystal clear, just wished I spoke/understood Spanish!.....they guarantee a refund if not satisfied.....no one answers the phone for that, and customer service doesn't exist....as others have mentioned, a plain wire laying on the floor will give you the same reception...

habitat was playing TV's at their locations, getting a few nice channels as well...claimed they got this from RadioShak, its rabbit ears with something that looks like a small dish in the middle......might be worth a shot, at least they will give a refund if it doesn't work for you...

just keep looking....

 
Never had cable here...

Friends in the 1990s used to laugh at me for not having cable, they often wondered how I could get along without it, but it was simply never important to me. Nowadays, with cable providers among the most disliked companies in America, friends seem to understand much better. For me though, I was simply able to find enjoyment on broadcast TV, as Charlotte has the usual variety of network stations plus some pretty decent independents. Reception in my area is great, so I'm lucky.

I don't watch TV daily, tonight in fact the TV never came on until I wanted to watch the news/weather. It will be off again shortly. Some nights a TV doesn't go on at all, other nights its on for hours. I really enjoy MeTV, which is broadcast here as part of the signal of our Fox affiliate. I'd bet that station is 40% of what I watch...

I'd say that the adjustment to broadcast only TV will depend on how much someone made use of the variety on cable. Some just want major network TV, those that do can have that off the air in many areas depending on reception. If you're addicted to ESPN, you'll have trouble!

Gordon
 
19 years ago I fixed a rooftop antenna to get my local analog channels better. I got DirecTV to get more choices which has been pretty much better. Soon as wind blows and rain falls now the rooftop antenna refuses to get locals on digital signal, even with an amplifier. DirecTV wont let me just add on locals. I have to cancel my grandfathered package and start a new one for a much higher price. Too bad, so sad, not happening.
 
Why don't you just hook up a TV in your house and try it. Like it's been said here if your TV's are real old use a converter box and if your TV is newer it has the capability to recieve over the air digital signals. I have a new 60 inch TV high definition and 3D and WI FI capable and the cable TV programming Blows. To many commercials and to many worthless channels. The only way cable TV could could improve is if people could pick and choose what stations are excepted to come in their homes and pay accordingly then market share would take over and cable would have to become responsive to sell their product. Now as it is they shove watever they want down our throats and charge us for all of it. Yes I have cable ( I would get rid of it but my wife wants it) and yes I use over the air free TV (probably for half my viewing) I also use the WI FI to get Net Flix and another good source is Youtube there are a lot of full episodes of TV shows and some movies you can watch from there. I hate cable TV for the most part and could live very easily without it and just use over the air broadcast digital. Regards Bill,
 
I think that's where we are heading to with the cable companies, you'll just pay for what you use. With the receivers being actual terminals it would be easy to just turn on and off the stations a customer really wants, so the technology is already in place. They are already doing it for pay per view stuff.

We dumped DirecTV last October. We have never regretted it. OTA has far less commercials that satellite or cable does. And the programming is better, especially the vintage TV shows from the 60s & 70s.

We have a Sony WEGA 36" CRT TV and we use a converter box. The picture that comes in is far superior to what we saw on DirecTV. We get about 25 stations, but about 8 of them have watchable content.

For an Antenna we are using a Winegard amplified indoor antenna, The Wave or something like that it's called. We also have a great Windgard outdoor antenna to put up but with our steeply sloped roof, I don't know where to put it. But the reception we get right now is just fine.
 
Don't use ANY sort of off air,cable or sat TV-just use my BluRay and HD DVD players.Just fine for me!!!And my Panasonic DVD player can also "Play" SD cards from digital cameras-just watch videos I make or look at pictures I take-mostly of the transmitter plant.You can do this--just get a digital camera and make your "own" movies or pictures-better than the TRASH being broadcast now over all the mediums.
 
There really isn't a lot different from the old analog world with todays broadcast as far as how one goes about receiving the signal itself. Of course you have to have a digital tuner which any late model TV already has. If you have an older CRT based TV then you will need a DTV converter box to receive the digital broadcasts and convert it to the old format your NTSC TV receives.

As for the required antenna it all depends on your location and other factors like if the antenna will be indoors or outdoors etc. www.antennaweb.org is one site you can investigate on. You can enter your ZipCode and it will show you what your local channel line up is.

Most of the DTV is broadcast today using the UHF frequencies (Channel 13 and up) although there are still a few stations on the upper VHF allocations. This means that your antenna can be more compact then ones that were originally designed to receive the low end VHF channels of 2-6 or so. One thing to bear in mind is that any old antenna that works well for VHF-High and UHF TV of old will do JUST as well today with a HDTV signal. DO NOT fall for the hype of an antenna being touted as some magical HDTV antenna with a big price tag!! This is just profiteering on the part of the manufacturers taking advantage of confused consumers. (HDMI cables costing more then $20 are another instance of this!).

My experience in my area is that the HDTV broadcasts are easier to receive a perfect picture then the old analog broadcasting was. I'm 23 miles from our primary transmit sites here South of Minneapolis. I do use a small outdoor antenna, but I have used a tiny 9" piece of wire inside my house and got all but one channel with equal quality.

Do a few Google searches on cutting the cord and DTV and check out the Antennaweb site above. Let us know if you have more specific questions after you get a bit more sorted on your local conditions etc.
 
Thanks for the link to antenna web, Phil. I live in rural southwestern MN and apparently would require a large roof-mounted antenna to receive the major networks (PBS, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX). Not willing to go there, so will stick with cable at this point.

The town I live in owns its own internet/cable/phone company, so prices are reasonable, service is excellent, and the high-speed internet fantastic. That's the upside. The downside is that when my 1st generation TiVo finally dies, I won't be able to replace it. New TiVo units require a cable company card which is inserted into the machine. All the major companies (none of which service my area) can provide one, but my local company cannot. I really like TiVo, so am nursing my old one to keep it alive as long as possible. The TiVo is also the reason I keep a landline, as it makes a (free) daily call to download programming information.

I have to laugh: when I call TiVo for tech help, they are always amazed that my 1st generation machine is still working. A 2nd generation unit which was in my bedroom has already bitten the dust. Both units have a lifetime membership, so there's no monthly charge. [this post was last edited: 7/1/2014-08:36]

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Bill, depending on terrain around your home you may get a lot of channels, a few or maybe none at all. E.g. in our part of the Sierra Nevada mountains a large rooftop antannae will net you two channels (three if you're lucky), with a tall mast the number skyrockets to five or six. Not worth the bother around here for most people.
 
We cut the cable a couple years back. Got a digital antenna mounted on the roof. Hooked up digital tuners to the old CRT tvs. Get quite a few good stations. The basic, NBC, CBS, and ABC. We also get ME-TV, COZI TV, and Antenna TV. All three of those play the classic TV shows. There are a couple of movie stations as well of which a they play classic b/w movies.

As some have said, there are the numerous religious and spanish speaking channels, but at least in Phoenix, we do have a decent variety.

 

I also have quite a few TV shows and movies on DVD, VHS, and Laser Disc.
 
Never had cable...

and the 3 kids complained about it in the mid '80s when it first came available in rural MD, but we hung tough and it paid off, they had to read or play outside. All 3 went through Grad school. Can't stand TV ads so we have only watched PBS for the last 30 years... American pop culture is unadulterated crap anyway, so no loss.
 
Off the air DVR

One more thing that may be of interest is an off-the-air DVR (Digital Video Recorder). Typically to get a DVR you have to have either a cable or satellite box with a built in DVR to record programming. Recently I found out about the Channelmaster DVR+ from a friend that bought one. He is an ex-TV broadcaster and his comments on this unit have been favorable so far. It may be a handy thing for those that wish to cut the cable but will miss their DVR.

http://www.channelmasterstore.com/DVR_Plus_p/cm-7500gb16.htm

This unit has two internal HDTV receivers so you can watch one channel and record another. Unfortunately it doesn't scale the signal and output a signal that can feed a legacy NTSC TV, also it doesn't allow for any form of video input for recording, its off air only.

There is also a system called MythTV which is an Open Source DVR that turns a PC with a video capture card into a DVR. I have a few friends that have been running Myth for years, but it isn't for people that shy away from technical challenges ;)

@eugene, have you perused eBay for a backup TiVo unit like yours yet? Might be good to get an older one while you still can.
 
Four things to remember...

1. Channel numbers no longer correlate to a broadcast frequency with DTV. Channel 2.1 could be a UHF station while 7.3 may be a VHF station.

2. When choosing an antenna, make sure to get a good UHF loop or bowtie, a lot of DTV broadcasts are in the UHF range.

3. Not all DTV converters are created equal. I have one converter that can put together a steady picture on a weak signal where the others give up. However this same converter has trouble decoding one of my favorite stations despite being in a better location with a better antenna. To it, it simply doesn't exist.

4. Unlike the days of analog TV where you can adjust the antenna to dial in a clear picture in a matter of seconds, you'll find DTV is often an all-or-nothing proposition of antenna placement and orientation (and possibly moderate cursing). -Cory
 

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