Cut the Cord and switched to an Antenna for TV

[goeduck]

Interesting that my home Xfinity account has a 1TB data cap per month, yet my wife’s Xfinity phone (attached to my home Xfinity account and runs on the Verizon network) has unlimited data. :confused3:

 

[drssg]

I'm not familiar with HULU. Does that use data through the phone? If so, I don't have an "unlimited" plan on my phone, so HULU would probably not work.

Hulu isn't tied to a phone. It uses data through whatever ISP you have selected for your home. Hulu is an additional monthly fee for their service.

 

[gstrom99]

Oh, I get it now. Thanks.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I looked this up and have to correct myself. It was a 2 month bill. So $125 a month for zero usage. Still a lot for a base rate on a tiny lot. The bill had water, sewer (a function of water usage) and stormwater runoff.

How much is the oxygen tax?

 

[RalphVa]

Recently bought (for $5) a flat RCA antenna at an estate sale (looks like a black iPad). Works best just sitting flat and gives a nicer picture than the rabbit ears.

We've Sling for ESPN, etc. working off Roku gizmo. All sorts of deals coming out. Hulu was offering a package that gave a bit more than the biggest package on Sling. Now, Disney is offering Hulu, ESPN, etc. for less than $10/mo. Have quit using our DVD players to watch movies. Get really good ones as part of the Roku software through Roku channel or another free movie channel offered there.

Seems once you're signed onto outfits like Sling that when they come out with cheaper alternatives, they don't allow you to get them. I'm leary of the Disney deal. Does the Hulu they offer have the ESPN included. Hard to find out.

It's almost like when I was working as an engineer. At one point, they were signing on new engineers to make the same salary as me or maybe a tad more, but I couldn't go out a resign and come back with those higher salaries.

Ralph

 

[goeduck]

How much is the oxygen tax?

I was not going to ask, they might have added it to the bill. Sure glad I am on a well and septic.

 

[EddieWalker]

With HULU, we can download the channels that we like. Travel Channel, History Channel, DIY Channel and others like that. Then we open up the channel like an App on your phone or computer and look through all their different shows. Most are listed alphabetically, so you just scroll through them to see what you want to watch. What I've found to be the biggest surprise is all the shows that I never heard of on those channels. I guess they came on when I wasn't watching TV, odd hours or when something else is on another channel that we really like. With so much junk out there, it's fun discovering something you didn't even know existed!!!

My wife has AT&T for her cell phone service and it's something like $20 a month extra so we can get a couple dozen cable channels from Direct TV through HULU. It's a different button on the HULU remote that we push that takes us to those channels. It includes FOX and OAN for news. I watched Judge Janine and Gutfield on it last night.

Some of the HULU channels want a subscription to watch, so we pas son those, but some of them have free stuff along with shows that you have to pay for. Building Off the Grid and Building Alaska are two shows that I watch on HULU that have free seasons, and the newer seasons require a subscription, so I just watch the older seasons that are free.

Also on HULU, we watch a lot of YouTube now. You just search for a show that you like, or maybe just heard of, and see what comes up. My wife loves the Voice, so when we learned that there is a British version of the Voice, we looked it up on Youtube and watched a bunch of episodes. For us, it's a lot of fun seeing how these shows are so different in other countries. Same with America's Got Talent. We've watching the British version, and probably a dozen other countries that have their own version. Singapore's Got Talent is HILARIOUS!!!

After watching Gutfield last night, I read where there are so many elk in the Snowy Mountains of Montana that they are extending the seasons and giving out extra tags to get the numbers down. So I looked up elk hunting in the snowy mountains on Youtube and watched a few elk hunting shows that varied from pretty good, to gong back to find another after 2 minutes. Being able to go back and click on another show is a huge plus when looking for something entertaining to watch.

I just realized that I confused HULU with ROKU. I do not have HULU. I have ROKU. I apologize for the confusion this might have caused.

 

[MossRoad]

Yes, ROKU is a device (box, stick, etc...) that you can run applications like Hulu, Netflix, etc... on.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Yes, ROKU is a device (box, stick, etc...) that you can run applications like Hulu, Netflix, etc... on.

What Moss said.

Roku device usually has more updated app to run Netflix, Hulu, etc. than the tv. I can run Netflix from either, but the Roku version is better. My son pays for the streaming services, I provide the internet.

 

[TheMan419]

I'm in Indiana and I'm rural enough that cable is not available. Nothing but corn fields here. The only options for TV are OTA or satellite. I'm lucky that I have slow DSL. Fortunately I was able to get my antenna high enough to receive OTA channels.

I am also in rural indiana. Do you have good cell service? If so look at ubifi.com. They sell an AT&T cell based internet solution. We put up an antenna for that purpose and I am getting 15mb or so service. We can stream two different channels with no issues. So far I think youtube tv is the best option for us.

 

[goeduck]

ROKU can also run your free antenna stations via TABLO. I use ROKU to broadcast wirelessly to all the TVs in the house. So all of the services come into one spot and the WiFi takes it everywhere from there. Really nice when you change around the furniture in the house and just need to plug the TV into power. Or summertime I move a TV onto the deck and watch it out there.

The ROKU streaming stick + has the best wireless range, I would go with it for wireless TVs

 

[coobie]

Did the same as eddie starting this week.28 years ago when we built our house we put up a 30 ft.antenna & tower we let it go for prime star/dish tv.This coming Friday we are having the old antenna rotor removed(still have the 30 ft tower in place) and installing a new Winegard model 8200 antenna & channel master rotor model 9521D.Tired of the high costs.

 

[coobie]

Maybe a little late in mentioning (or asking) this, but why are you choosing an 8200 model? I don't think there are any channels 2-6 in your region. The Winegard HD7698P would be a better choice. I also think a ~20 pound antenna with a 14 foot boom is going to give that rotor a premature death. A CDE/Hy-gain bell type would be a lot stronger.

I do have channel 2 Detroit and channel 6 Lansing.Going with the antenna & rotor my installer has.Looked at a few reviews and the 8200A was rated better than the 7698P.

 

[RalphVa]

all you can get is 13 commercial laden channels though!. and the hours that something worthwhile is on is very limited, and filled with commercials!. no guide or DVR either.. you have to watch what's on when it's on, no recording!..

There's no such thing as "those 13 channels" any more. There are gobs of various channels through the air. Best antenna I've found so far is a flat one that RCA makes. Looks like a black iPad sitting in the window, flat. We get 16.1, 19.1, 19.2, 19.4, 27.1, 27.2, 29.1, 29.2, 29.3, 31.1, 31.2, 31.3, 31.4, 31.5, 31.6, 41.1, 41.2, 41.3, 41.4, 41.5 and occasionally can pick up some in the 50s the other direction.

Have Roku for ESPN stuff, free movies on Roku and Tubi and occasionally some stuff on TBS, etc.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

I'm thinking about getting a LG soundbar for better sound. My current amplifier is still very nice, but it's beyond me to figure out how to get sound to work from it with the cable from the antenna going straight to the TV

Sound? What sound? I gotta have the captions. Otherwise, I'm clueless to follow dialog.

Ralph

 

[RalphVa]

I'm not familiar with HULU. Does that use data through the phone? If so, I don't have an "unlimited" plan on my phone, so HULU would probably not work.

I use SlingTV. Now, Hulu has a better deal to get ESPN, etc. These both are on the Roku stick. Lately, Disney is bundling Hulu and its stuff together. Not sure about whether ESPN is in the Disney deal.

Ralph

 

[lman]

I had problems with a couple of channels until I installed the antenna below on my chimney. I also don't watch any commercials since I use a TIVO Bolt DVR.

Amazon.com: Televes DATBOSS Mix UHF VHF Amplified Outdoor HDTV Antenna with LTE Filter (149483): Electronics

 

[coobie]

Most folks don't realize that the TV channels advertised are not the actual channels they are on.
In this case, WJBK in Detroit (ch. 2) is actually on channel 7.
WLNS Lansing (ch 6) is actually on channel 25.

If I were in your shoes, I would forget the rotor and install a Wingard HD7694P or HD7698P with or without a preamp and point it to Lansing. You will have all your network coverage; CBS, NBC, ABC, Fox, CW and PBS. None of the other locations will give you anything different. If you want some of the special sub channels like Ion and MeTV, you'll have to search them out as to where they are.

Your 8200 is 14 feet long and 9 feet wide because it's made to include channels 2-6. The only VHF-Low channels around are 5 in Toledo (religious) and one in Kalamazoo (an independent). The two Wingards I mentioned are only about 4 feet wide because they don't have the big elements for 2-6 coverage. Also, the longer the main boom, the narrower will be the beam pattern. You may be happier with all the channels you get with your more expensive plan, but I don't think you'll like it in the long run. Remember too, stations over 50-60 miles distant will not have reliable reception.

Done deal already paid antenna company /installer last week.Install this coming Friday.Will let you know how I like it.Been 28 years since the last antenna.We live high on a hill maybe that will increase our signal..

 

[goeduck]

^^^^ those are in good alignment, relatively speaking. Mine are not as far away but more spread out (about 110 degrees) and a fixed position flat 180 degree antenna on my chimney gets them all. Again, not as far away as those, but not close by any means plus an island to hop over.

 

[EddieWalker]

To update this thread, we've found that a lot of the "free" channels that we where getting where timed for a month or two, and then they started locking programs. A show might have ten seasons, but we could only watch half of them, and then it went down to maybe two seasons out of ten.

My wife was getting us some paid for channels through her AT&T cell phone account, but it was limited to what was on at that time, and only about a dozen channels.

We looked at what was out there and decided to pay $20 a month for Philo. Welcome to Philo

This is kind of like cable or Dish in that you can watch a variety of channels, but it's also better because you can go to that channel and look up older shows and entire seasons. For example, I like that show called FantomWorks on Motor Trend. It's no longer on the air, but they still play old episodes. I can click on Motor Trend and bring up all their shows, then click on FantomWorks and pull up every episode. I like to state with Season 1, Episode 1 and just go through every episode of that season, and then do the same with the next season. My wife loves Who's line is it Anyway, so we're watching every episode, from season one to the end. We just started Season 3 and will watch one or two episodes before going to something else. This gives up so much variety to chose from depending on what we are in the mood for.