Jump to content
SJ Shooter

Dumping Comcast and going Digital Antenna ???????

Recommended Posts

Im looking to dump my current cable provider and want to go to basic TV..with all the internet stuff and the little time we watch actual TV its not worth the price...Has anyone done this and can give some suggestions on what they used and any tips or tricks??? TIA

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you are going to get your own digital antenna, get one, try it and if it works, you are in. Then cancel services. But if you are not picking up squat, you are stuck with a service.

Try get an outdoor antenna. I have an indoor and it's spotty at best. Mostly Asian channels with a few local.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you truly are planning on leaving cable, call your cable company and tell them.  You'll get an amazing deal for a year or two.

 

The fact is, most under 30 people are moving into Apts and whatnot and not buying cable and cable companies are now scrambling to make ala carte programming available.

 

If I didn't live in the mountains 40 miles from the closest antennae I'd have dumped cable years ago.

 

We have Netflix, Amazon prime and have toyed with Hulu a bit...but there are some channels my wife watches.  Sigh.  Apple TV and other offerings are going to make the 900 channel $200/month cable bill a thing of the past.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have a 3 foot by 3 foot directional antenna in my attic pointing out the gable end of my house right at NY -- Works like a charm -- Get about 30 channels, watch maybe 10 of them -- Free high def

 

Also have amazon prime and netflix -- been that way for 3 or 4 years

 

The antenna is square and kinda looks like it's made of wire fencing like you would put around your garden -- has 1 coax hookups on it  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you have any plans on doing over the air viewing in Absecon you are definitely going to need a roof or tower mounted antenna to get anything from Philly.  I'm 15 miles closer being near Hammonton and couldn't get crap with a $100 indoor antenna in my attic.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

So my wife making an effort to cut our cable bill, replaced one of the cable boxes in the bedroom with a Clearstream 2 HDTV antenna.

I don't watch much TV, so it didn't make much difference to me - but I will say I was skeptical of the move, and didn't believe for a moment that it would work out for her. We've had it for about two weeks now, and I have to admit I'm impressed.

A better picture than we were getting from Comcast cable, a ton of channels (which we haven't figured any kind if guide for), but for me the basic 3 VHF channels for news weather and network sports, and the old UHF channels I grew up with are all there... Just gotta find them...plus many more.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Their numbering system is enough to confuse anyone. Especially after years of the other ones stuck in your brain.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I also have been thinking of this, but how much can you really save? Every year I call and get the special $160 package for cable/phone/internet. I would still need internet, is that like $60? Then the internet TV services, so in the end what is the worst case savings, like $20 a month? This is what keeps me tied, the little savings compared to the service juggling. Thoughts?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Great. I get two PBS stations and one religious channel, that's it. There's a reason Cable TV was invented in NE PA.

Antennaweb.org will give you a general idea of your reception potential but is by no means authoritative to determine what channels you will or won't receive. Antenna height above sea level, surrounding local terrain and structures, and line-of-sight distance to the transmitter are the three major factors. You can definitely improve your reception by placing an amplified antenna outdoors in the clear as high as practically possible to maximize signal strength at the antenna. The antenna amplifier can assure a boost in the signal to make up for wire loss between antenna and TV or splitter, but it can't improve the signal to noise ratio. That's why you want the antenna to grab as much signal as possible.

I'm looking at doing this myself. My plan is to buy the best amplified antenna I can afford, position it outside as high as possible, and then check with a single direct connected TV to check reception. When I see what I really get then I'll decide whether to dump the majority of my cable service, or all of it. (TV only; we have land lines and DSL Internet) I did this before we bought the land over 30 years ago. I had a battery operated TV, a small outdoor antenna I carried up into a tree. From our hilltop in S.E. Sussex County I got all of NYC and Philadelphia VHF/UHF stations, and everything in between. Scranton stations were a bonus. Primarily because of the three factors above.

The changeover to digital broadcast has changed the broadcast power and patterns of most stations, and in some cases transmitter locations. So I'm not counting on getting everything today.

And don't test with an antenna in an attic if at all possible. Even with no metal or metal foil in your structure, a marginal usable signal can be made unusable when the antenna is not in free air. That's the one advantage of digital transmission; if you've got the minimum acceptable signal, you still have maximum picture. No ghosting, noise etc. like in the old days.

 

Update: OK, my curiosity was up and I haven't checked my attic mounted Channel Master long range VHF/UHF amplified operation in a long time. So I connected that antenna feed over to one TV, did an auto-scan and am getting 63 channels (that includes all the .sub-channels) out of Philly plus WABC from NYC. That includes all the networks, plus 12 and 2 out of Wilmington DE. Antennaweb.org says I'm 71 miles from the Ch. 6 transmitter site in Philly and 47 miles from 7 in NYC. All these stations are clear as a bell. My Channel Master is most definitely directional and pointed at Philly so I'm not surprised I'm only getting 7 out of NYC on the backside. So now I'm going to order the Amazon Basic 60 Outdoor HDTV antenna and mount it about 15' higher in the clear outside and see how it does comparatively. It's $45 cheaper than the Mohu Sky 60. Ideally I want to pull in both NYC and Philly without having to rotate anything. FYI, I'm at 950' on top of a ridge line near the Sussex-Warren border. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Can't wait for Apple TV "skinny bundle". But I just bet if that happens and I tell Cablevision I want to cancel the TV but keep the internet they will just increase my Optimum from $40 to $80.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I'm in an area with no cable.  I'm 30 miles from the TV tower farm in Philadelphia.  I have one of the old style TV antennas up in my attic. wwb_img120.jpg

All we have is digital TV.  I have cbs, abc, nbc, pbs (2 channels) and a dozen other channels that would have been on UHF if you're old enough to remember when channels 1-13 were VHF and 14-50something were UHF.  Each channel has 1 to 3 sub channels but they're usually either duplicate programming or advertising, or stuff that's so bad it's not worth watching.

 

But we're not a TV family - my kids don't know any different.  I had cable once in my life for about a year when we moved into an apartment 25 years ago.  We never watched it an cancelled.  I've never had it since.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Bravo! We dumped cable in 1987. 

 

Depending on where you live you can get an antenna that will pick up quite a bit. 

 

I know a bunch of guys suggested these internet devices. Great idea but do your research. It's not that they're expensive or anything, but you don't want to be disappointed.

 

I decided not to get one when I realized they didn't have full web browsers. Has that changed? Suggestions?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...