OT: Cord cutters enter ->

[Matt J]

We had that thread going during the summer Olympics last year over on Ttips. My wife and I just bought a place and we opted for internet only. We had already experimented with the Roku and still use it. If you have a Roku and haven't downloaded the Plex channel and used the browser interface I suggest it. It's a work around for watching YouTubes as well as allows you to stream any content you have on a hard drive to your t.v. - which in my case has much better sound so I'm digging it. Also, often times I punch away at my laptop and any video I see I simply click on their browser widget and hit a few buttons on my Roku remote and voila I'm watching it on my t.v. and still using my laptop. So, my question is for anyone else who's experimented with going without cable t.v. - do you use an antenna to pull in the major networks?

I found a pretty inexpensive RCA antenna for inside the house:



I'm getting quite a few channels with this thing, but I'm so stoked on the HD quality of NFL football and the likes that I'm thinking about upgrading to a multidirectional mounted up in the attic, like this:



Any experience with this type of equipment? Any other recommendations for getting network t.v. without paying for a subscription?

[Dostie]

We cut our ties to lamestream media years ago. Roku is the bomb. We use it primarily for video escapism via Netflix or Pandora. Pandora 'cuz the sound system hooked to the cable gizmo's is the best in the house and we love rockin' to good music. Don't miss commercials or propaganda posing as news. Not sure about all the other stuff you are asking about, but I'm sure there are ways to make it work. I do know the Yagi antenna shown above will improve reception of local TV and radio stations significantly, depending on where you're located and where the antenna is pointed (it is directional).

[televisionary]

I thought this was going to be about firewood and chainsaws.

[Grant]

I'm just glad it's not a TR about obstetricians!

[Baaahb]

roof antenna works great, much better than rabbit ears with the boxy head. and by this I mean a cheap roof antenna with one of its horizontals duct taped on cause the first year we just stuck it on a pole under the roof eaves and you can imagine what happened. I hear it works as well inside the attic but we like the retro look and it goes well with the clothes line.

[Matt J]

roof antenna works great, much better than rabbit ears with the boxy head. and by this I mean a cheap roof antenna with one of its horizontals duct taped on cause the first year we just stuck it on a pole under the roof eaves and you can imagine what happened. I hear it works as well inside the attic but we like the retro look and it goes well with the clothes line.

good to hear

of course I read some reviews, but it's good to have some anecdotal evidence that we're not barking up the wrong tree

[stevesliva]

I just grabbed the old owner's directTV coax wiring and connected a cheapo antenna outside. We'll see how weatherproof it is. I'm also wondering if I'm getting a signal from the dish itself.

I'm also using rabbit ears indoors and using a coax splitter to join the signals the two antennae. This does seem to cause some weirdness with the signals interfering rather than constructing (go from great signal to none with a slight antenna tweak). Might see if I can play with an actual active combiner in the future, but the [reversed] splitter was free.

[MattB]

I have a Windows Media Center PC in my entertainment center. We watch Netflix and Hulu+ and lately some Amazon streaming movies on demand. I can also download torrents of shows we don't get here like Dr. Who when it's current (my son loves Dr. Who). DVDs can be ripped to the hard drive and it will play just about any content because it's a PC. For music it's my mp3 library and lately lots of Spotify.
Now that the small streamers are getting better I'm considering trying the new Google one to see how it is. I wouldn't mind something with a smaller footprint and lower energy use.

I have an outdoor directional antenna too. WAY better than the "digital" ones you put indoors. I don't use that much because I don't care much for mainstream sports but every now and then it really comes in handy.

[Matt J]

I've noticed a lot of antennas advertise that they couple onto a dish and then use the existing coaxial. Luckily our place doesn't have any dishes on the roof. I think I'll try this attic mount for now. Interestingly in poking around to figure out this plan I found out that the digital signal on the antenna is actually stronger for HD than what you get over cable. I guess they have to weaken the signal to get all the different channels on one cable or something. I'm glad we bought the bunny ears antenna as it proved that when we do watch t.v. it is on networks. The one drawback seems to be ESPN. They're the only power that can combine and pay for all the different network coverage of different sporting events and you have to pay for a subscription to get it. I guess even Monday Night Football has moved to ESPN as I couldn't get it on ABC here last night. Would have been nice to watch the donkeys but it wasn't a big deal. Ended up spinning some old records on my turntable instead

[Matt J]

Sorry for the vagueness of the verbage. I guess it should be "Cable" cutters.

Morning radio featured an article about cost savings in this economy and pointed to cutting out premium channels or cable all together.

Also, driving old cars and not eating out. My household could be the flag bearers for these three qualities

On another note: everyone who helped with the move commented on the excessive quantity of ski gear... oops.

[Baaahb]

Mounting is just getting it secure; I wouldn't spend money on fancy mounting devices. Note that mounting direct to the dish holding device may not work because the dish was much smaller and the antenna may want to be where the roof is. (Damn marketeers, note there is no roof in the image you posted.) We used an old dish holding device and its coaxial, but mounted the antenna on a pole stuck into the dish mounting device, in order to get clearance from the roof.) Heck, in your attic you can probably just sit it on the insulation (as long as no critters will be moving it around...and I'm not sure if you want to get some clearance from the house wiring for best reception). Outdoors you want to ground it, I don't think that is necessary (or would help) when mounting indoors....and yes, when you get a good signal, the image is amazingly crisp.

[Matt J]

That particular model comes with the boom that is pictured. I think you just need a few wood screws to put it on a stud in the attic. I'll just drop some coaxial and put a box in the wall behind the t.v.

We can get all the networks right now, but we have to move the little in-doors antenna. Should be pretty awesome when I get it installed.

Hope there's no critters up there !?!

[bergbryce]

I thought this was going to be about firewood and chainsaws.

I was thinking Ruschblock cutting cords.

[Nurse Ben]

and I thought it was about ditching TV altogether

In this age of higher data transfer rates, most people seem to want more, not less, so going all retro and using airwave transmission to receive basic TV while your neighbor pulls in 500+ channels, it's makes me wonder why you bother at all... is there really anything good on TV anymore??

We had Comcast cable internet until last Summer, we were scammed one time too many time, so we cut them loose and went back to AT & T. We never watched TV, the occassional free old timey movie, but now we have "slow speed" internet, so we can't watch movies or videos, but it works fine for basic internet surfing and email.

When we move West, I'm thinking we'll ditch all in-home media, maybe build a bunker, and start preparing for the zombie apocalypse

[Matt J]

I think the networks still create a lot of the best content and they cover major sporting events

I wouldn't consider the HD signal being transmitted over "airwaves" as being all that retro

I think it's pretty easy to understand why I wouldn't want spend $70 a month to get 475 channels I don't want when I can get 25 for free - or actually for the $60 or so the antenna costs once

Low investment with moderate return

we're not trying to keep up with the Joneses - we have high speed internet to access whatever our hearts' desire - occasionally there's actually "lamestream" content that I enjoy - like say the Winter Olympics in about four months