Going from DIRECTV to OTA

[ERD50]

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

 

[Chuckanut]

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.

 

[Covbro]

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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[My Dream]

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.

 

[Mulligan]

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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[mike143]

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.

 

[RonBoyd]

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?

 

[REWahoo]

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

 

[RonBoyd]

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.

 

[easysurfer]

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.

 

[REWahoo]

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.

 

[easysurfer]

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

 

[mike143]

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.

 

[easysurfer]

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.