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Old 08-17-2014, 08:06 AM   #21
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Wow, I'm a real lightweight - I have only one HDHomeRun dual tuner. I still end up with more 'stuff' recorded than I have time to watch.
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Old 08-17-2014, 08:22 AM   #22
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Yeah, your set-up is a bit more efficient than mine. I set-up ours so long ago that I had to go look:

My antenna is about 20' above the peak of our one-story house. The cable goes from there straight down and inside the wall to a Plate that has a splitter to connect a TV in the kitchen, a DVD/Bluray player, a Roku unit, the main TV, and via a forty foot cable to a 4-way amplifier to the three HDHomeRun Tuners to a Network Hub.

From the Hub, the signal(s) go to a dedicated PC with the SageTV program where the signal is recorded on several multi-TB hard drives (for that Tivo effect). Well, temporarily recorded for Live TV watching or permanently recorded for later viewing.

From the PC the signal is sent via Ethernet cable to the SageTV HD300 which splits the picture to the main TV and the sound to a Yamaha Receiver for 7-2 Surround Sound.

Whew! That's sounds a lot more complicated than it is but there you have it.

I should mention that I still use SageTV because nothing else compares to it (even close) but it could be replaced with, for instance, Windows Media Center, BeyondTV, Media Browser, etc.
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Old 08-17-2014, 08:37 AM   #23
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... I still end up with more 'stuff' recorded than I have time to watch.
Yeah me too...bought more terrabyte drives and I still have to go in and perge.

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Yeah, your set-up is a bit more efficient than mine.
....
Actually it's more complicated than I let on. I started digital OTA when only a few cities were in beta and I designed a system to allow concurrent analog and digital capability.
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I should mention that I still use SageTV because nothing else compares to it (even close) but it could be replaced with, for instance, Windows Media Center, BeyondTV, Media Browser, etc.
I also use an obsolete DVR program...but I have the source code to it since I wrote it myself. But, like you, I know there's other options, but this is the one that is implemented and working.
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Old 08-17-2014, 08:46 AM   #24
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Actually it's more complicated than I let on. I started digital OTA when only a few cities were in beta and I designed a system to allow concurrent analog and digital capability.
Outstanding! I did mine in late 2007/early 2008 and still holds up to more recent configurations... I know because periodically I respond to those "Free TV" folks and ask them to design a system for me.
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Old 08-17-2014, 04:10 PM   #25
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OK, specific wiring could be an issue. Maybe I misread the statement - I was thinking that maybe he thought extra equipment would be needed, or something more than just getting the antenna signal to the TV.

-ERD50
Pretty tough statement to misread ERD50.......

From the OP:

Quote:
is the change as easy as connected the coax from the DIRECTV Dish to the new antenna (i.e. reusing the cabling and the grounding)?
OP clearly asked about the cabling and grounding. Zig's answer is spot on.
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Old 08-17-2014, 05:48 PM   #26
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Pretty tough statement to misread ERD50.......

From the OP:



OP clearly asked about the cabling and grounding. Zig's answer is spot on.
Never underestimate my abilities to misunderstand something!

Really, I think my mind just got stuck on the concept of questioning plugging an antenna into a TV, not specifically on the particulars of the cabling. And co-incidentally, as I was jumping through stations today, double-checking what my new DVR was picking up, I stumbled across an infomercial for something called 'Clear-TV'. Here, found it on youtube:



I think there is a subset of a generation of people who simply don't realize you can watch TV without a cable company! This commercial seems to play on that.

Available due to a Federal Mandate! --- OK, the Federal Mandate was to move from analog to digital...

No Contracts, No Monthly Fees, no rate increases!

Not available in stores!
(unlike an antenna by any other name)

What a hoot!


-ERD50
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Old 08-17-2014, 06:31 PM   #27
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What a hoot!

-ERD50
And he picks up all those channels out in the very flat Gulf of Mexico! WOW!

I am reminded of a table top radio I saw advertised years ago. One of it's selling points was that it had a SUPERhetrodyne receiver.
No ordinary hetrodyne nonsense here!

Superhetrodyne was invented in 1918. I imagine one would have to look very hard to find a radio that did not use this technology.
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Going from DIRECTV to OTA
Old 08-17-2014, 06:42 PM   #28
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Going from DIRECTV to OTA

We Installed antenna in the attic, using the cables that were used by satellite tv. We also placed a amplifier/booster in the attic so we could split the signal to three TVs and get a stronger signals. We get excellent reception. The picture quality is surprisingly better high definition than cable/satellite. We cut cable and instantly saved approximately $1200 a year. Our needs are met with the OTA and Netflix. We're excited about saving the money too.


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Old 08-18-2014, 05:00 AM   #29
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I was about to go from cable to OTA until I checked out TV Fool and found that the channels that were most important to us in the Toronto Canada area weren't available with OTA. This was about a year ago so we opted for the whole home PVR thang which was totally new to me as I'm not even close to being the tech savy type. I have to say, even though I don't watch much tv, I really like the convenience, albeit not the price.

Maybe eventually when I understand the OTA options better I'll switch over as there has to be better options out there than cable.
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Old 08-18-2014, 08:35 AM   #30
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I got an outdoor antenna from costco. Connected it to the cable tv splitter and it works perfect. The only problem is how to watch the local baseball team and Monday night football? Will buy cable for part of the year, at least it is easy to disconnect one and connect the other.

Sports keep me from going off the grid and my distance from local channels make antenna problematic. That being said, I have always been able to get a $20 discount every year by calling every 12 months until this year. A telling clue hit me after I hung up. Call service person mentioned if I was looking forward to watching Dallas Cowboys this year. Well how would they know that as I am out of market and do not live in Texas. Then I recall mentioning that to a person the previous year when discussing NFL package. I know they marked and tagged that and used it against me to provide no discounts again. They think I will not cancel because I need them. Well they are right...to a degree. I have a 2 month open window in summer when I don't need tv. I will cancel then and let them call me back which seems to be the strategy now as they don't appear to take bluffs anymore.


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Old 08-18-2014, 08:52 AM   #31
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I reused the Dish Network roof mount for a OTA antenna (Amazon.com: Antennas Direct C2-V-CJM ClearStream 2-V Long Range UHF/VHF Indoor/Outdoor DTV Antenna with 20-Inch Mount: Electronics). Pretty plug and play, removed the satellite dish and installed the antenna reusing coax. Remove satellite box and plug coax into TV.

This is not my pic but pretty much could be my exact setup.

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Old 08-18-2014, 08:58 AM   #32
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the channels that were most important to us in the Toronto Canada area weren't available with OTA.
Wow! TVFool still shows that the major network station transmitters are 50 to 80 miles away (Detroit, I'm guessing). How is that possible that a major city does not have local stations broadcasting network feeds?
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Old 08-18-2014, 09:03 AM   #33
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Wow! TVFool still shows that the major network station transmitters are 50 to 80 miles away (Detroit, I'm guessing). How is that possible that a major city does not have local stations broadcasting network feeds?
I suspect TVFool may only shows US transmitter locations. Check this out: Toronto, Ontario & Buffalo, New York OTA HDTV Channel Map
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Old 08-18-2014, 09:12 AM   #34
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I suspect TVFool may only shows US transmitter locations. Check this out: Toronto, Ontario & Buffalo, New York OTA HDTV Channel Map
Then the OP was led astray and should definitely resume his/her pursuit of expense-cutting.

BTW, thanks for the Link... I need this type of data on our RVing trips... now at 150,000 miles and counting.
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Old 08-18-2014, 09:45 AM   #35
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I reused the Dish Network roof mount for a OTA antenna (Amazon.com: Antennas Direct C2-V-CJM ClearStream 2-V Long Range UHF/VHF Indoor/Outdoor DTV Antenna with 20-Inch Mount: Electronics). Pretty plug and play, removed the satellite dish and installed the antenna reusing coax. Remove satellite box and plug coax into TV.

This is not my pic but pretty much could be my exact setup.

That looks nice. Just curious, how easy was it to take off the satellite dish? Nice to see someone made the conversion with ease.
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Old 08-18-2014, 09:51 AM   #36
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Removing the dish from the mount is as simple as removing a couple of bolts. Realize you will probably need to re-aim the mount as the direction the dish was pointed vs. the optimal direction for the OTA antenna aren't likely to be the same.
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Old 08-18-2014, 10:40 AM   #37
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Removing the dish from the mount is as simple as removing a couple of bolts. Realize you will probably need to re-aim the mount as the direction the dish was pointed vs. the optimal direction for the OTA antenna aren't likely to be the same.
Thanks. The answer I was looking for about the bolts
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Old 08-18-2014, 11:09 AM   #38
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Removing the dish from the mount is as simple as removing a couple of bolts. Realize you will probably need to re-aim the mount as the direction the dish was pointed vs. the optimal direction for the OTA antenna aren't likely to be the same.
Correct, both on ease and optimal placement. Mine it not in the optimal location, right behind the the adjacent two story house, we are one story. The two story house is between us and the location of the majority of the OTA towers. I will be moving the antenna location in the future. I already run a HTPC (Home Theater PC) and have picked up a HDHomeRun DUAL so I will be updating the setup in the near future.
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Old 09-15-2014, 08:05 AM   #39
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An update. My sister's husband procrastinated for a month but finally got around to putting up the antenna at her place. I did give a bit of a nudge reminding her that every month that goes by is about $100 lost in subscription payments.

Yep, looks like he just replaced the dish on the roof with the OTA antenna. They do need a pre-amp tough as most channels are coming in fine except MeTV and my sister wants her MeTV

I know she's now a cutting the cord convert as she said she wishes they done this years ago.
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