10:18 pm
May 4, 2004
Offline
Has anyone replaced cable/satellite tv with internet TV? I've been reading a little about Apple TV, Roku, Google TV, Netflix & Hulu and like the idea of reducing monthly utilities. Does anyone have any experience in this area?
11:00 pm
January 12, 2007
Offline I use Hulu from time to time but it doesn't seem complete enough to replace my cable TV.
11:15 pm
Can you replace the major network stuff with the free over the air HD and supplement with Hulu/netflix/whatever? I think that's about what Alex does.
2:39 am
Internet TV is getting more popular by the day, make sure if you switch over your TV is setup to accept the Internet. I've been watching hulu for years, it has all the programs with very little commercials. But lately they want me to subscribe for $8/mo. I cannnot watch it for free anymore, so I'm presently stuck with DirecTV...
2:50 am
May 4, 2004
Offline "Bender" wrote: Can you replace the major network stuff with the free over the air HD and supplement with Hulu/netflix/whatever?
I need to get an antenna to try that. Our motorhome sitting next to the house gets good reception over the air. I'm hoping the house tv will too.
4:12 am
Club Member
January 20, 2009
Offline We don't have cable or satellite. Went with a good HD antenna for OTA channels, Netflix, and Hulu (or anything on internet).
Currently receive 13 english channels (3.1, 3.2, 6.1, 6.2, 10.1, 10.2, 13, 29.1, 29.3, 31, 40, 58.1, 58.2) plus a bunch of non-english channels that I blocked using the TV's settings.
For internet, I connect an HDMI cable from my laptop to my TV.
Don't really miss cable/satellite and definitely don't miss the monthly bill!
2:39 pm
May 4, 2004
Offline "kevheb" wrote: We don't have cable or satellite. Went with a good HD antenna for OTA channels
What kind of antenna do you use? Would you recommend it or something else?
7:33 pm
Club Member
January 20, 2009
Offline "FAM" wrote: What kind of antenna do you use? Would you recommend it or something else?
I'll check when I get home this evening. Can't remember off the top of my head.
4:24 pm
Club Member
January 20, 2009
Offline Here's the one I have. I bought it a couple years ago so not sure what new ones are out there. I currently have it inside the house but plan to mount it outside. Some channels do break up at times with it inside.
http://www.antennasdirect.com/store/C2- ... tenna.html
5:30 pm
May 4, 2004
Offline Thanks Kevin.
I bought this one last night to try it out. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... gMethod=rr It didn't work very well so I'm taking it back today.
4:33 am
Club Member
January 20, 2009
Offline UPDATE for Fred...
Ended up getting a new (smaller) antenna and finally got it mounted outside today. For the price I figured I'd give it a try and if it didn't work, put the big one up. So far so good. The only channel not coming in at the moment is PBS. I'm using a signal booster at the moment but I've read PBS already has a really strong signal which can cancel out with a booster. I'll try removing it another time and see how it works. Everything else is crystal clear.
Current list of channels now received. I blocked the non-English channels using my TV's settings. Monthly TV bill: $0 😀
3.1 KCRA-TV
3.2 MORE TV
5.1 KPIX-DT
6.1 KVIEHD (PBS not receiving at the moment)
6.2 KVIE2 (PBS not receiving at the moment)
6.3 KVIEVme (PBS not receiving at the moment) (non-English)
9.1 KQED-HD
9.2 KTEH-DT
9.3 WORLD
10.1 KXTV-DT
10.2 NEWS10
13.1 KOVR-DT
19.1 KUVS-DT (non-English)
19.2 KUVS.2 (non-English)
29.1 ION
29.2 QUBO
29.3 IONLife
31.1 KMAX-DT
38.1 KO4QR-D
40.1 KTXL-TV
40.2 ANT TV
58.1 KQCA
58.2 This TV
64.1 KTFK-DT (non-English)
64.2 KTFK.2 (non-English)
Here's the link to the smaller antenna and some pics of it mounted. Not that big at all.
http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... 1&format=2
4:54 am
May 4, 2004
Offline That antenna looks great and seems to get good reception. I've got one of these on order - http://store03.prostores.com/servlet/de ... nna/Detail. I'm hoping it will work well enough mounted in the attic.
According to this website, what's your distance to the transmitters? http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/A.....dress.aspx
4:24 pm
Club Member
January 20, 2009
Offline I'm between 36.5 - 38.7 miles with a compass heading between 186 - 189 for the top 9 channels.
4:46 pm
May 4, 2004
Offline "kevheb" wrote: I'm between 36.5 - 38.7 miles with a compass heading between 186 - 189 for the top 9 channels.
Thanks for the info. I'm about 33 miles with a compass heading of 196-198. If the antenna I've got on order doesn't work out I'll give this one a try.
3:13 am
May 4, 2004
Offline I got my new antenna installed today. The reception is as good or better than Uverse. Of course it's only the local channels and many foreign language channels. I was hoping to be able to mount it in the attic but the reception wasn't very good. It was almost good enough with only one tv attached, but with the splitters I need the signal got too week, even with a preamplifier.
I realized I'm going to need two antennas though. The coax for the family room and master bedroom terminates downstairs by the breaker box. The office and the other two bedrooms terminate in the attic upstairs. There's a coax cable running between the two but it's used by the Uverse internet & phone service. 😥
I just ordered parts to build my home theater pc to replace the Uverse DVR. 😛
5:37 pm
Club Member
January 20, 2009
Offline Now you can put the extra money you save each month towards the Jeep fund! 
12:19 am
May 4, 2004
Offline "kevheb" wrote: Now you can put the extra money you save each month towards the Jeep fund!
Unfortunately, the boss says if I'm getting rid of her premium channels the money we save has to go somewhere else. Oh well, it will help save money in the long run. I'm anxious to get my parts for the new htpc though.
My next money saving thing may be internet phone. I saw a device at Costco today that says when using it phone service is free, except for the regulatory fees and taxes. I need to find out more about it though. Here's what I saw but the local store had it for $20 less - Ooma internet phone
1:41 am
I started looking for an antenna and got an education. They have color coded the new antennas for range, yellow is good enough for our area, but you can do better.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/W.....lcome.aspx has an antenna selection guide for your address.
Has anyone tried the "MagicJack" phone?
2:26 am
Club Member
January 20, 2009
Offline "FAM" wrote: My next money saving thing may be internet phone. I saw a device at Costco today that says when using it phone service is free, except for the regulatory fees and taxes. I need to find out more about it though. Here's what I saw but the local store had it for $20 less - Ooma internet phone
We have that same Ooma device. We've had the basic service for about 8 months now and it works great! Once you buy it you only pay about $3.50/month for taxes. They do have a premium service which costs more but we didn't need any of the premium features.
3:19 am
May 4, 2004
Offline "kevheb" wrote: [quote="FAM"]My next money saving thing may be internet phone. I saw a device at Costco today that says when using it phone service is free, except for the regulatory fees and taxes. I need to find out more about it though. Here's what I saw but the local store had it for $20 less - Ooma internet phone
We have that same Ooma device. We've had the basic service for about 8 months now and it works great! Once you buy it you only pay about $3.50/month for taxes. They do have a premium service which costs more but we didn't need any of the premium features.
Instead of "keeping up with the Jones'es" it seems like I'm trying to "keep up with Kevin". Thanks for your review. I'll have to check into it some more. How's it work with 911? Do you get local dispatches or does it take a while to get routed to the local emergency services?
3:23 am
May 4, 2004
Offline "RockinCrawler" wrote: I started looking for an antenna and got an education. They have color coded the new antennas for range, yellow is good enough for our area, but you can do better.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/W.....lcome.aspx has an antenna selection guide for your address.
antennaweb is great. I was checking it out when deciding on antennas. I used their info for aiming my antenna with a compass. They said the majority of the stations were between 196-199 degrees. I pointed the antenna at about 198 degrees and it worked perfectly. No guesswork or adjustments were needed.
4:28 pm
Club Member
January 20, 2009
Offline "FAM" wrote: How's it work with 911? Do you get local dispatches or does it take a while to get routed to the local emergency services?
I didn't have an answer so I went right to their FAQ... 😀
http://www.ooma.com/products/faqs
Do you support 911 calls?
Yes. Ooma provides E911 service where supported. We will collect your address when you register your Ooma device online, and send it to emergency response personnel when you dial 911. Since Ooma works over your Internet connection, you will need to call from a mobile phone if your Internet connection is down. If you're concerned about relying on your Internet for phone service, we've built the Ooma system to work with a landline back-up. In this case, your 911 calls will always be routed over your landline.
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