I know we had an old thread about cable, and satellite TV…and the costs, etc.
Our solution won’t please everyone…but we now have an antenna in our attic. We get ALL of the channels we got with basic cable (networks, and PBS) except the one with the nun (who I understand died) and QVC. For us, this is the perfect solution.
Basic crappy cable with Charter Cable was costing us $33 a month.
The antenna cost $240…and the reception is WAYYYYYY better!
My husband says if we are dying to have ESPN or something, he will do Sling and pay for that.
But hey…this all got,set up in time for me to watch the World Series!
She died at age 92 on Easter 2016. Holy reruns! - She stopped praying on TV in 2001 when she had a stroke. She founded the Eternal Word Television Network.
Hmmm. I have no idea the brand but I’ll find out. I do know…we live in the woods, and in a slight valley. There is a way to check on the website for the antennas to see coverage. It said we would get 12 or so channels. We are getting 17.
All the networks, PBS, and a number of network 2 and 3 stations.
H just went out and bought a new TV( now we have 2). Apparently TV manufacturers are doing away with the antenna input on the TV.
The best parts of using the antenna: It works when the cable is out and the HD channels are better because the cable and satellite companies compress the signals.
We get around 50 channels (yippee!!) including a few foreign broadcasts.
The problem : Internet service. It ended up being only a few dollars extra for a TV cable package with the Internet. At least for the first two years.
Anyway new tv is great in the study and there is no set top box charge. Can connect the blue ray to it and then get Netflix.
Life is good.
Our antenna is indoors in a window q and we bought an amplifier for it. However we live near a large city in direct line with the towers.
You are indeed lucky an attic antenna will work in your area. We are not as fortunate. At least my neighbors think I’m getting lots of channels. My satellite dish is still mounted even though it’s been over a year since we were a subscriber.
Our antenna is used on a cable only TV. Somehow it is hooked onto the old cable wiring no the TV and then in our house…and then is set up to receive the signals. No problem at all.
TV’s got rid of the old 300 ohm input (the two screws), but as far as I know they still have the Coax connector (in response to post #11). If it has the coax connection, you can get a 300ohm to 75 ohm gizmo for a couple of bucks (home depot might even have it, if not on amazon). The gizmo has a screw connection you attach the antenna leads to, and the other end is a standard coax connection you attach to the tv. Actually, would be better to have the 300 to 75 ohm adapater at the antenna end and run the coax cable to the tv, coax is shielded a lot better.
If you live in a valley, you may be out of luck, cable tv service started in the late 40’s to bring tv service to people who lived in such areas (they would have their main antenna on top of a mountain, and then the provider would run the cable to the houses from there, sort of like cable tv companies today pick up satellite feeds and distribute it to their users). In theory someone could also put a repeater up on the mountain (radio stations do that sometimes), but I doubt anyone would now. Some places there were services streaming basic broadcast for a pretty low fee, but they were tied up in litigation with that.
Here is the article describing one TV producers change regarding antenna inputs.
“… Vizio is also boasting that its SmartCast 4K TVs will be “Tuner-Free.” That means they won’t have ATSC tuners onboard and therefore won’t be able to receive over-the-air (OTA) digital broadcasts from major networks such as ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, and PBS…”
They are making it more difficult but not yet impossible.
