Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV) 2017 - 2020

[mpeirce]

I live in the outer suburbs right now and antenna location makes all the difference here.

On the ground floor I can get one channel (and its side channels), but upstairs I can pull in all the important channels.

Our "main" TV is downstairs so our solution is to place the Tablo (or TiVo or whatever) upstairs so that the directly connected antenna gets good reception. Then we view that on the Apple TV using the Tablo app - basically streaming from upstairs to downstairs. Work well.

 

[beowulf]

I can move my amplified indoor antenna 2 feet to the left and get 7 more channels than in its normal position. But then I lose 5 I had before. Just depends on what I want to watch. Still can’t figure out why there are 2 different ION channels with different programming.

 

[easysurfer]

My antenna, the poor thing, is just resting on the corner partially blocked out by the vertical blinds. But it is pointed in the direction of the towers and pulling in the stations.

Instead of a bigger antenna, I actually need a smaller one that fits better.

 

[RunningBum]

The satellite cord is cut! I called and cancelled Dish today. Whenever the guy started down a path to try to offer alternatives or a pause, I said clearly that I wanted to cancel today, and he pretty quickly punted and shut down the account. My receiver is pretty old, so I don't even need to return that.

 

[Midpack]

The satellite cord is cut! I called and cancelled Dish today. Whenever the guy started down a path to try to offer alternatives or a pause, I said clearly that I wanted to cancel today, and he pretty quickly punted and shut down the account. My receiver is pretty old, so I don't even need to return that.

Congrats. If you're like us, you won't regret it at all. We've been happily without satellite or cable since Feb 2018, has saved us at least $1000 so far!

 

[JoeWras]

The problem with these small flat antenna types is they are good for UHF but don't work for VHF. In my area three channels are VHF and need long dipoles.

That must be what changed. I didn't look deep to see what the repack did. Maybe when I have time to burn.

 

[RunningBum]

Congrats. If you're like us, you won't regret it at all. We've been happily without satellite or cable since Feb 2018, has saved us at least $1000 so far!

Cleans up my wiring distribution throughout the house quite a bit. For now I left the cables for OTA thru 1 antenna to TVs throughout the house, but I'm probably going to get an OTA recorder sooner or later to clean that up. Not crazy with CBS, in particular, which forces commercials on older replays.

 

[REWahoo]

The satellite cord is cut! I called and cancelled Dish today.

Congratulations. Like retiring, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

 

[RunningBum]

Congratulations. Like retiring, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

Thanks! I thought about that, but I had too many experiences with slower frame rates watching sports in the past, plus I got faster internet this year. I may have held out until it was ready for me. Don't try to convince me otherwise, I'm going to go with that to be happy with no regrets about waiting until now!

A neat thing I found on YTTV is that you can turn on "stats for nerds" (some option towards the bottom of a screen, I can't remember exactly where) and it tells you the resolution and frame rate of what you're watching, and network stats like buffering, etc. I got some variances in resolution, but always 60fps. You can google that term to find out more. I didn't quickly find a good source for explanation but I'm sure it's out there.

 

[statsman]

The satellite cord is cut! I called and cancelled Dish today. Whenever the guy started down a path to try to offer alternatives or a pause, I said clearly that I wanted to cancel today, and he pretty quickly punted and shut down the account. My receiver is pretty old, so I don't even need to return that.

Congrats! I wish we could do it, but my wife's required wish list of channels makes it nearly impossible to do it and actually save a noticeable amount of money. My list of channels is much smaller, primarily the Discovery channels being the ones to add. But my "bill" would save us at least $60/mo Oh well. :envy:

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Congrats! I wish we could do it, but my wife's required wish list of channels makes it nearly impossible to do it and actually save a noticeable amount of money. My list of channels is much smaller, primarily the Discovery channels being the ones to add. But my "bill" would save us at least $60/mo Oh well. :envy:

I know the feeling...my partner likes to watch live TV. And I despise live TV, I only watch if I can skip commercials or stream without them. With those two requirements, a lot of the streaming services fall short, although I've mostly given up on the DVRs and I'm streaming most of those shows now (if I can find them on Hulu or Netflix...I can't STAND the network apps and the forced commercials).

 

[RonBoyd]

I searched around online a bit (not extensively) to see if there were any portable/handheld devices that could measure signal strength reasonably well but came up empty.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AXWC7PK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This device is what you are looking for. Not for the budget minded however. Not to mention that "what good will it do to know the exact signal strength." You either have a useful signal or you don't. (Well, maybe it would be useful to align the antenna precisely with the broadcast signal if that was important.)

FWIW, I have one only because I have a number of devices (three antennas, 10 tuners, and HTPC) all coming into several locations (an AVR and 2 TVs). It was a nightmare locating signal loss without this device.

 

[RunningBum]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AXWC7PK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This device is what you are looking for.

I don't think so. Looks like it's for cable.
"AUGOCOM RY S110 CATV Cable TV Handle Signal Level Meter DB Best Tester 47-870MHz"

From the Q&A:

Question:
Will this meter tell me the signal levels of each ota (over the air) channel that are broadcast for free so that i can use it to orientate my antenna?


Answer:
No,it can't work that.
By WiWu Official Store Seller on September 12, 2018

 

[camfused]

I see that PlayStation Vue is up for sale: https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/playstation-vue-is-reportedly-up-for-sale/

 

[ncbill]

Yes. I'd prefer having it near the TV, but might consider some rig involving putting it in the attic.

If you can put it in the attic, this is the antenna Dish uses for outdoor installations:

https://www.amazon.com/Televes-DiNova-Antenna-Filter-144282/dp/B07PH46Z65/

 

[steelyman]

Update on Cord Cutting (Cable TV)

This device is what you are looking for. Not for the budget minded however. Not to mention that "what good will it do to know the exact signal strength." You either have a useful signal or you don't. (Well, maybe it would be useful to align the antenna precisely with the broadcast signal if that was important.)

That does seem to be targeted toward cable signals. I recall getting really bad/inconsistent behavior from my cable from Comcast (in the midwest) and Time Warner (southeast).

In both cases I was using Motorola/Arris cable modems I owned. There is a web management interface available at 192.168.100.1 that displays signal status. Maybe the results are similar.

p.s. Comcast just scratched their heads. Time Warner (now Spectrum) did something about it.

 

[Clone]

I put up a new antenna at our winter place a week ago. This is what I found Clearstream 2Max. Lowes had it on closeout for $40.

We started with old fashioned rabbit ears inside, and had about 40 channels, but were missing a few of the majors. So I bought the 2Max. Holding it inside, no real difference in the reception. Mounted it outside using the stub of mount from the DirectTV dish, and the channel count jumped up to 60+. There were a few channels that were intermittant, and I could tell that the antenna was not looking over the peak of the roof. So I figured out a way to mount a 5 foot mast to the DirectTV mast, and got the 2Max up in the air far enough that it could see over the peak of the roof.

Perfect! 83 channels of clear reception. Including LitTV, the cannabis channel. MJ news 24/7! And PawsTV, which is programming for pets! It looked like a 7 minute video loop of squirrels. I did not see the attraction.

Net learning- in this location, it was very important to have a clear line-of-sight view of the towers. They were only 23 miles away, but inside or partially blocked resulted in a number of channels that were not sufficient quality.

Next step is to identify a streaming service that meets the request for DW. She demands the Hallmark channels for the holidays, so I am considering a SlingTV package. Also considering an off-air DVR for time shifting. We will drop the cable package in the midwest, and use the streaming package at both locations.

I learned some interesting 'facts' from LitTV in the few short minutes that I watched. They had an educational programming segment about a University professor that was researching how to make more efficient grow lights. It seem that 10% of the USA electrical production is used for growing MJ, so this is important research!

 

[JoeWras]

Speaking of devices -- and I don't mean grow lights -- I have a question about something.

What I want is something like this:

Antenna --> Receiver/DVR --> Digital output Cat 5/6 --> App on Roku/Firestick/Etc
​

There are PLENTY of devices that do:

Antenna --> Receiver/DVR --> Coax/USB/HDMI --> TV
​

No, I want something I can throw on my home network and get to a TV over ethernet. I can't seem to find it.

I have the perfect setup for this. I could put the antenna in the attic, drop it to the Rec/DVR and put it on my network. All this is available within a few feet of each other.

Anyone know?

Maybe (I'm guessing) there is a second and third device device I need that does something like this?

Antenna --> Rec/DVR --> HDMI --> Second Device --> CAT5/6 --> Third device --> HDMI --> TV
​

That's not optimal, but doable.

I'd probably also have to add a UHF remote to the mix. Hey, this cord cutting is getting complicated.

 

[jimbee]

Speaking of devices -- and I don't mean grow lights -- I have a question about something.

What I want is something like this:

Antenna --> Receiver/DVR --> Digital output Cat 5/6 --> App on Roku/Firestick/Etc
​

There are PLENTY of devices that do:

Antenna --> Receiver/DVR --> Coax/USB/HDMI --> TV
​

No, I want something I can throw on my home network and get to a TV over ethernet. I can't seem to find it.

I have the perfect setup for this. I could put the antenna in the attic, drop it to the Rec/DVR and put it on my network. All this is available within a few feet of each other.

Anyone know?

Maybe (I'm guessing) there is a second and third device device I need that does something like this?

Antenna --> Rec/DVR --> HDMI --> Second Device --> CAT5/6 --> Third device --> HDMI --> TV
​

That's not optimal, but doable.

I'd probably also have to add a UHF remote to the mix. Hey, this cord cutting is getting complicated.

Check out hdhomerun. More info on their website. https://www.silicondust.com/

I'm using this model right now. https://www.silicondust.com/product/hdhomerun-extend/

 

[RunningBum]

Doesn't the Amazon Fire Recast do this as well? I'm not certain if it goes over Ethernet or just wifi, and right now it only works with Amazon Fire Stick/Cube, not Roku. Seems like a few devices do this kind of thing, or maybe I'm not understanding it.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Speaking of devices -- and I don't mean grow lights -- I have a question about something.

What I want is something like this:

Antenna --> Receiver/DVR --> Digital output Cat 5/6 --> App on Roku/Firestick/Etc
​

If you have a NAS, it sounds like Plex will work as your DVR: https://www.techhive.com/article/3264649/plex-dvr-review.html

 

[Midpack]

I see that PlayStation Vue is up for sale: https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/playstation-vue-is-reportedly-up-for-sale/

Disappointed but not surprised. We’ve been happy with PS Vue, but the misunderstood name killed them. We’ll just go to Hulu Live if Vue goes away...

 

[stephenson]

Need more Brit stuff!

Britbox or Acorn?

 

[REWahoo]

Britbox or Acorn?

No experience with Britbox.

We paid for a year of Acorn in March ($50 at the time) and watch several hours of programming every week. Really enjoy it, good stuff from OZ and NZ, too.

 

[RonBoyd]

Need more Brit stuff!

Britbox or Acorn?

We subscribe to both and spend about equal amount of time with each. We are currently binging "The Bay." will pick up with Episode 4 this evening. (Wish there were some domestic shows this well-written... and acted)

https://www.britbox.com/us/show/The_Bay_24144