Getting rid of cable tv

[ratsrepus]

BG - Moved from main forum

Now if we could just figure out a way to cut down on the cable bill

 

[vwmike]

Now if we could just figure out a way to cut down on the cable bill

Less adult movies ?

 

[Tar12]

Now if we could just figure out a way to cut down on the cable bill

I did...I got rid of it altogether and installed a antenna and tower....dont miss it a bit.

 

[Woody Stover]

Now if we could just figure out a way to cut down on the cable bill

All you need is an old pedestal fan base, pvc pipe, and a DB2 clone (AspenEagle) antenna. [The one in the pic is an original AntennasDirect DB2, not a clone.] Technically an outside antenna, keeping it inside avoids the need for lightning protection and avoids wear and tear.
Feeding one TV, and within 20 miles of the towers, you probably don't need the pre-amp. I'm feeding a TV and a TV/FM tuner card in the desktop. I think the pre-amp is also helping me get some distant stations, like a public TV channel in Illinois at 60 miles (I have a high location, but that tower isn't line-of-sight.) This particular antenna will pick that station up off the back of the antenna, even though the antenna is pointing into town. I don't have to walk out to the bedroom to aim the antenna unless I'm trying to get one of the other distant stations. It's not a VHF antenna (rabbit ears) but it does fine on the two VHF we have, since they are within 20 miles.
The great thing about OTA TV is that it keeps you from watching too much, since the programming is so bad. That said, I get four different PBS feeds from IN, IL and KY, which allows for some time-shifting when you flip on the TV to watch live. I also have an antenna DVR hooked up. Really, if you have unlimited high-speed internet, a Roku, etc. you don't need cable or OTA anyway, there's plenty of crappy TV to go around.
The OTA HD is a little better than the compressed HD you get on satellite (did an A/B comparison at my nephew's.) I assume it's better than cable HD as well, but never A/B-ed it.

so before we got our VC wood burner our gas bill was $220 a month for heating and our gas dryer. now our heating bill is $97 a month

Sorry for the thread-jack but my point is, now that you're saving all that money, the antenna setup is "free." Save up for several months and you could even buy a big OLED after the holidays when the prices may come down a little. Or you can get some of this stuff when you convince your wife how badly you need it.

timberwolf splitter, conveyor, chain saws, two new stoves.

You might need a quad and trailer, too.

 

[wooduser]

<<All you need is an old pedestal fan base, pvc pipe, and a DB2 clone (AspenEagle) antenna. [The one in the pic is an original AntennasDirect DB2, not a clone.] Technically an outside antenna, keeping it inside avoids the need for lightning protection and avoids wear and tear.


Is that a directional antenna? Around here stations can be anyplace and I'm not interested in trying to adjust the antenna. I have a tower I could mount an antenna upon, and used to do just that with a directional antenna and a rotator.

I've been using just a set of rabbit ears the past five years or so, feeding a diguital to analog converter and an old CRT television I got for free off Craigslist.

As you say, there's a lot more crappy programming available even with what I have than I care to watch!

Also, Seattle Public Libraries has an excellent collection of DVDs available, and I can reserve their use over the internet and pick them up at my nearby library when I'm notified by e-mail that they are there. That's a very good service!

I also have a Netflix account for DVDs, and I browse through their list of DVDs, screen ones I'm interested in against availability at the Seattle Public library and order those the library doesn't have from Netflix.

 

[Woody Stover]

Rather than continuing to hijack Durantefarm's money-saving thread, I'll PM you about the DB2. I also noticed that there are several OTA threads in the "DIY and general non-hearth advice" forum. Kewl, I'll be entertained for days.

 

[ratsrepus]

You might need a quad and trailer, too.

way ahead of ya, already have one

 

[firefighterjake]

BG - Moved from main forum

Now if we could just figure out a way to cut down on the cable bill

Netflix and OTA TV for us for the past five or six years I think now.

I tend to watch more Netflix via the Roku and rent the occasional DVD from Redbox.

My wife tends to watch more of the OTA stuff with an occasional foray on Roku . . . the other day she was watching Green Acres on the free Roku channel.

As mentioned there is a lot more to watch OTA. Here in the "hinterlands" of Maine we use to have four stations and the PBS station . . . now the PBS station has four separate channels and NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox have multiple stations. Where we are located we get all of the southern stations in Maine and two of the three Bangor stations (even though we're closer to Bangor). My wife's "go to" channel lately has been "MeTV" which has a lot of the 1970s shows -- MASH, Jeffersons, etc.

 

[Woody5506]

I haven't had cable in about 10 years. Netflix and other streaming programs are all we use, as well as some other sketchy Firestick programs but I don't use those a whole lot. Antenna on the upstairs TV gets all the regular stations, at this point about 20 of them. Good enough for us.

I make fun of my in laws who pay for Dish Network, yet all they ever do is watch the local channels. What's the point??

 

[firefighterjake]

Has anyone found a decent OTA recording device that they use? As mentioned I watch very little OTA TV, but occasionally there is something I would like to "tape" -- typically a TV show that may run a double episode which may put it past my usual bed time.

 

[moey]

I share my direct tv now and netflix with a friend. The companies have even come out and said they dont care both get two streams. So as long as your not watching two tvs at the same time your fine. The OTA locations for me are all in opposite directions.

 

[jetsam]

I threw away my TV in 1991, and it has been one of the best things I've done for my quality of life.

Every time I listen to people talk about how they spent a night on TV/movies, I think about how that could have been me...

 

[kborndale]

I threw away my TV in 1991, and it has been one of the best things I've done for my quality of life.

Every time I listen to people talk about how they spent a night on TV/movies, I think about how that could have been me...

If I didnt have a TV I would have like 30 kids by now!

 

[SlyFerret]

Has anyone found a decent OTA recording device that they use? As mentioned I watch very little OTA TV, but occasionally there is something I would like to "tape" -- typically a TV show that may run a double episode which may put it past my usual bed time.

I’ve been tempted to try one of these.
https://www.tablotv.com/tablo-dvrs-how-they-work/

-SF



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[SpaceBus]

I threw away my TV in 1991, and it has been one of the best things I've done for my quality of life.

Every time I listen to people talk about how they spent a night on TV/movies, I think about how that could have been me...

We still have a TV, but rarely watch it anymore. It's nice to cuddle up with your spouse to a movie sometimes. The wife mainly uses the TV for instructional stuff like yoga classes. One of the downsides to moving to the edge of the earth is the lack of yoga studios. I know it sounds funny, but I do it too. Probably the best workout I've ever had.

 

[zrock]

Has anyone found a decent OTA recording device that they use? As mentioned I watch very little OTA TV, but occasionally there is something I would like to "tape" -- typically a TV show that may run a double episode which may put it past my usual bed time.

I used to run my connection into my computer then out to the TV.

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[ispinwool]

How did I miss this thread!
We haven't had cable tv for over 25 years and don't feel bad in the least. Considering how the price went up, up and up
we saved a ton of money.
Our son got us Netflix for about 3 years but
most of the shows weren't anything we were interested in so I had him cancel it.
We do have tvs and they get used primarily for dvds...I especially enjoy knitting/quilting instructional dvds.

 

[SpaceBus]

How did I miss this thread!
We haven't had cable tv for over 25 years and don't feel bad in the least. Considering how the price went up, up and up
we saved a ton of money.
Our son got us Netflix for about 3 years but
most of the shows weren't anything we were interested in so I had him cancel it.
We do have tvs and they get used primarily for dvds...I especially enjoy knitting/quilting instructional dvds.

I am hopefully adopting an Alpaca in the spring, so I need some of those DVDs too! I really want to learn how to spin alpaca fiber and make stuff with it.

 

[SpaceBus]

Honestly, with the constant ads on the internet, cable, and satellite TV, the consumers should be paid to have the service, not the way it is now. Companies collect tons of data from us when we use smart phones and it makes no sense that I have to pay money to use a device that makes other people rich based on data I pay to provide. It's a total racket.

 

[Sawset]

I threw away my TV in 1991, and it has been one of the best things I've done for my quality of life.

Every time I listen to people talk about how they spent a night on TV/movies, I think about how that could have been me...

Around '96 I needed batteries for the remote. Somehow I always "forgot" to pick some up while at the store. And realized some subliminal message was being sent. Eliminating it completely resulted in addiction like withdrawl symptoms. Too many marketers making their way into our lives in so many ways.

 

[Gunfixr]

Got rid of cable over a decade ago, was over it within a month.
Have Netflix, watch what we want, don't watch what we don't want. No ads.

 

[Ashful]

If I didnt have a TV I would have like 30 kids by now!

Televisions are cheaper.

 

[paulnlee]

Depends on what you want to watch. NEVER watch Netflix and the others, have Roku, but I enjoy Women's BBALL so need the ESPN channels. We dropped all the extra's and cut our bill in half.

 

[Dataman]

Make sure get with your Library. I know ours carries DVD of TV shows and lots of DVD/BR Movies. All Free! All news ones they get. We share between 25 Libraries across 3 States so it's not long wait most of the time.

 

[SlyFerret]

We canceled Netflix because we never watched it. Still have Hulu for the kids, though we may kill that soon, as it doesn’t get watched much anymore either. The kids seem to prefer YouTube.

I’m paying for philoTV right now so that I can get A&E for LivePD. It’s. My current guilty pleasure.

All these streaming services are just the new cable. Nothing more.


-SF



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