Cutting the Cable TV

[jocampo]

I've not given up ... no yet ...

I will follow Kenny's advice and check how good the signal is for local TV, using indoor antenna. If that's acceptable, I'm willing to buy a WinTV and record shows, etc.

There is a Radio Shack in front of HP. So I will check after work ...

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Will the antenna fix that issue? I really want to keep the Roku but I also want to keep my sanity! My life will be miserable if she keeps reminding me that we lost the local news.

What are your experience using those mini antennas/digital converters? I guess it depends of the area, right? Also, if I recall well, digital signals are all or nothing, not channels with noise and poor reception, like the TV dad gave me during the 80s. Am I right about that?

Yes, antenna will fix the problem. check antennaweb.org and it will show you what type of antenna you need. If you are pretty close, less than 15 miles an indoor unit might work fine.

If you don't have a digital receiver in any of your TVs then yes you will need a converter.

It's not ALL or nothing... if you get a week signal you will have video and audio dropouts, like pixilization I am sure you have already seen.

BOb

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by jocampo

My life will be miserable if she keeps reminding me that we lost the local news.

Do you not have a local news web site? We have several.. like baynews9.com which has quite a bit of video on it.

BOb

[jocampo]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Do you not have a local news web site? We have several.. like baynews9.com which has quite a bit of video on it.

BOb

Nope, no local news, at least not CBS.

We would prefer if we can watch local news and local channels real time. Hence the reason for the indoor antenna.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Nope, no local news, at least not CBS.

We would prefer if we can watch local news and local channels real time. Hence the reason for the indoor antenna.

And if you want to only watch live TV just the antenna (if your TV does digital or with a converter) may be the best way to go. My method with the computer allows live watching but is primarily for me to record/time-shift (to avoid commercials)

[jocampo]

Bummer

The indoor antenna was a complete failure. I got zero signal. The one I bought was not the most expensive but was not cheap either, about 50 bucks. I had to return it.

I will visit BB instead and see if I can try a different brand. I don't really want to spend more on an outdoor antenna.

If it was for me, I would keep Roku and ignore the local channels or news, but I would like to please my wife on that. I spend more time reading than watching TV anyway.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by jocampo

... I spend more time reading than watching TV anyway.

Yep, me too! That's exactly why I dumped DirecTV.

Sorry the antenna didn't work for you.

They do have some fancy amplified ones....I know nothing about them though.

http://www.hdtvantennalabs.com/indoor.php

And Btw my outdoor antenna is the old standard analog variety....works great.

[jocampo]

Stupid question here. Do I have to get a digital adapter or converter even with a new TV? I do have a Samsung plasma, 40 something inches. It is my understanding I do not need a digital converter for an indoor antenna, am I right about it?

I remember when people got crazy about getting those converters , I never paid attention, I had cable TV that does that for me.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Stupid question here. Do I have to get a digital adapter or converter even with a new TV? I do have a Samsung plasma, 40 something inches. It is my understanding I do not need a digital converter for an indoor antenna, am I right about it?

I remember when people got crazy about getting those converters , I never paid attention, I had cable TV that does that for me.

Not a dumb question...it's all very confusing. The TV must have a digital tuner (atsc) not analog

[SolRaven]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

...
BOb

I knew your icon looked familiar! It's very similar to my paper weight!

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by jocampo

The indoor antenna was a complete failure. I got zero signal. The one I bought was not the most expensive but was not cheap either, about 50 bucks. I had to return it.

I paid $35 for my outdoor antenna. It cost me $100 bucks to have it installed. I am saving about $40 a month no having the TV service any more.

http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-HD-10...1129212&sr=8-1

They also have a slightly smaller indoor outdoor for $26.

http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-FV-HD...1129274&sr=8-2

Originally Posted by jocampo

I will visit BB instead and see if I can try a different brand. I don't really want to spend more on an outdoor antenna.

If it was for me, I would keep Roku and ignore the local channels or news, but I would like to please my wife on that. I spend more time reading than watching TV anyway.

Originally Posted by jocampo

Stupid question here. Do I have to get a digital adapter or converter even with a new TV? I do have a Samsung plasma, 40 something inches. It is my understanding I do not need a digital converter for an indoor antenna, am I right about it?

It depends on the year it was bought. But, if it is a fairly new HDTV with a tuner it will have a digital tuner built in. In the US anything made after 2007 must have a digital tuner built in.

I'm curious, did you go onto AntennaWeb.org and see how far away the transmitters are from you?

BOb

[arcticmaniac]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Thanks Bob.

We feel weird using Roku ... let me explain ...

We have so many channels and so many recorded shows (which honestly, we don't watch or can keep the pace) that knowing we can't watch those anymore, feels weird.

I bought the Roku yesterday at 11am, Sunday. I made it home, configured, and unplugged the UVERSE box. Because I paid the whole months a few days before, I would like to wait a bit before cutting services for good. But when was 6pm CST, my wife asked me about 60 min, the CBS show. I said, but we watch it sometimes ... she replied ... yeah, but now we will have to wait, we can't watch today's episode.

What was funny is that she missed the previous one, and the one before, and 1 hr later, the most recent one was also available via Roku.

We're so accustomed to have hundreds of channels that we never watch that now we feel like we're missing something.

you're not missing anything. we have just the "basic cable" literally meaning the cable comes off the wall without any converts or cable boxes..i dont like clutter and tons of boxes in general. with that its $65 per month but i have 4 sets so i guess it ok but even with that we only watch like a handful of channels that you can count on your hand. we don't even watch our local channels either except when we see a storm for storm warnings. unfortunately hgtv does not send out signals for tornado warnings in our local area...........

[jocampo]

Ok, is done... cut the Cable service ... ... I kept the Internet, though...

So 1st thing is I found PlayOn service. It is basically what I was looking for and has Young and the Restless! lol ... but, the client needs to run on a Window$ machine. That's an issue, because my powerful servers and laptops are running Linux or Mac, that is a problem. I tried to use a Virtual Machine, performance is poor and I totally understand that.

However, I rescued a small Asus Netbook that I was going to sell, which is running Win 7, and installed it there. I am having some buffering problems, but I do have CBS, NBC, National Geographic, among others, for about 6 dollars per month; 1st two weeks are free.

Now the funny part. While I was on the phone dropping the Cable TV service, the guy asked me why, several times. He did not want me to, even tried to give me a better price. So I kept my position and I asked for an Internet upgrade instead. From 3Kbps to 6Kbps. I was decided for that anyway. But the guy priced me the 12Kbps for the price of the 6 ... ...

Internet is insanely fast now! ... I just need to focus on how to fix PlayOn or run it faster ...

[pagansoul]

I dropped my ATT U-verse service (TV/Inet/Phone for $100 monthly for 2 years was up and they would not continue so I canceled at the end of my contract) and got Comcast Infinity Internet service, high speed with additional basic TV, ABC NBC FOX PBX CBS and those pain-in-the-neck religious channels and home shopping crap all for $30 monthly for a year. I don't watch much TV but have ATV on all my TVs (3) and stream from my MacPro which has my ripped collection of DVDs, over 1k CDs and loads of photos. I don't have a land line, my iphone is all I need and that's $80 monthly. What I'm thinking about doing is getting a new Mac Mini to attach to my Sansung HDTV to make up for all the stuff the ATV can not do, like Hulu or use Plex without jail-breaking.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by jocampo

Ok, is done... cut the Cable service ... ... I kept the Internet, though...

So 1st thing is I found PlayOn service. It is basically what I was looking for and has Young and the Restless! lol ... but, the client needs to run on a Window$ machine. That's an issue, because my powerful servers and laptops are running Linux or Mac, that is a problem. I tried to use a Virtual Machine, performance is poor and I totally understand that.

However, I rescued a small Asus Netbook that I was going to sell, which is running Win 7, and installed it there. I am having some buffering problems, but I do have CBS, NBC, National Geographic, among others, for about 6 dollars per month; 1st two weeks are free.

Now the funny part. While I was on the phone dropping the Cable TV service, the guy asked me why, several times. He did not want me to, even tried to give me a better price. So I kept my position and I asked for an Internet upgrade instead. From 3Kbps to 6Kbps. I was decided for that anyway. But the guy priced me the 12Kbps for the price of the 6 ... ...

Internet is insanely fast now! ... I just need to focus on how to fix PlayOn or run it faster ...