Help me out with free TV.

[N80]

I'm tired of paying for DirecTV. Cable is worse. My wife and I don't even watch much TV. Kind of nuts spending almost $100 a month for something we only use an hour or less a day.

So I want free TV. I'm not talking about stuff like Hulu or Amazon Prime. I'm talking about digital TV over an antenna. We live about 15 miles south of Charlotte, NC and about 70 miles north of Columbia, SC. So there should be towers within that range.

I wondering several things. How many channels is it possible to get? What type of 'box' do I need? What sort of antenna do I need? Will the antenna need to rotate like the old Channel Masters like we had when I was a kid? What type of cable? Coax? About how much money will it take to put all this together?

 

[Argonne]

I tried the DTV route but every channel required an antenna rotation for us and was just too much hassle. We finally switched to Dish from those bill pumping bandits at DirecTV and got the bill down to $35 a month.

 

[nbking]

So we are in a spot where we could not get satellite (direct or dish). At first when we moved in we were both pissed as there was a satellite dish on the house and assumed we would get it. But four years later we are not missing it. We have the $99 Walmart antenna it is a powered one, but does not move. We are getting free to from ABC, CBS, NBC, and the CW, and 6 others from local areas. I would suggest you go and try one, if you don't get anything good you can always return it. We are about 2 hours from Sacramento and San Francisco and can get both of their local feeds from the affiliates above. We do stream Netflix and Hulu too. But nice not spending for cable or satellite.

 

[BoylermanCT]

Go to AntennaWeb.org - Antenna Signal Prediction. You put in your address and some info about your house, trees around it etc, and it will show you what TV channels you can receive if you get the right antenna and it will tell you which direction to point it for specific channels. Since you live close to a major city, you should get all of the major broadcast networks.

Antennas don't cost a lot. You can still use a set of rabbit ears if you have them. If you put an antenna on your roof, you will get the best reception and longest range. The old fashion rotator models will work and give you great reception if you are willing to change directions with it. Mount the antenna on the roof, use coax able to go from the antenna to the back of the TV. Done. You can use plug in signal boosters, but you may not need that. The good news with digital signals is it is more forgiving than analog signals, so if you can get 70% signal, you will usually get a good picture. The funny thing is you may get a better picture with free TV than with cable. Cable compresses tons of channels to get them to you, and compression sacrafices picture quality to gain more capacity. Over the air signals are uncompressed, so your picture may have better color and detail.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[thepumpguysc]

I'm about 100 miles from Columbia.. 1/2 way between Col. & Charleston.. on Lake Marion.
When I 1st moved out here {in the country} there was NO service.. no cable, no dish, nothin'.. {25 years ago}
The previous owners had a rotating antenna & got about 6-7 channels, mostly from Columbia.
& that was in the "analog" days.. it should be MUCH better now..??
I really liked that rotating antenna.. it had a box in the house, that all you did was turn a knob..& an electric motor turned the antenna.
I lived w/ it for a few months until DISH came acallin..

 

[Welshman]

Go to AntennaWeb.org - Antenna Signal Prediction. You put in your address and some info about your house, trees around it etc, and it will show you what TV channels you can receive if you get the right antenna and it will tell you which direction to point it for specific channels. Since you live close to a major city, you should get all of the major broadcast networks.

Antennas don't cost a lot. You can still use a set of rabbit ears if you have them. If you put an antenna on your roof, you will get the best reception and longest range. The old fashion rotator models will work and give you great reception if you are willing to change directions with it. Mount the antenna on the roof, use coax able to go from the antenna to the back of the TV. Done. You can use plug in signal boosters, but you may not need that. The good news with digital signals is it is more forgiving than analog signals, so if you can get 70% signal, you will usually get a good picture. The funny thing is you may get a better picture with free TV than with cable. Cable compresses tons of channels to get them to you, and compression sacrafices picture quality to gain more capacity. Over the air signals are uncompressed, so your picture may have better color and detail.

Let us know how it goes!

What he said!

 

[mark02tj]

This might be a dumb question, but...

If I mounted an antenna on a tower outside, could I feed the coax from that antenna into the splitter that our current cable system is plugged into? In other words, could one antenna "supply" multiple TVs?

I'd love to cut the cord but my only concern is my other half. I'd still want to get something like SlingTV so I can get some of the channels that I like on cable (DIY, HGTV, etc.) but that's probably going to require more than one remote. While she's super smart about most things, for some reason figuring out which remote to use is one of those things that frustrates the crap out of her. But the prospect of saving about $60/month (cable cost less the cost of Sling TV) is something I'd like.

 

[beowulf]

Our two daughters - in different states - dropped their cable service and began using other options. I think Amazon Prime and Netflix, and such. But that limited service did not bring in local channels - and when I visited - I missed the news. So I gave each of them different brands of a "flat" indoor antennae. Hook up took about 2 - 3 minutes. Range was said to be about 80 miles if I recall correctly. Anyway, using those, they both get HD over the air channels perfectly. I think the cost of each antennae was about $50-60. So, if you are within a similar range of broadcast tv stations you should be able to pull in a few stations at least. I think they each get over 10 stations. I don't recall the brand but think "leaf" was in the name. Simple, inexpensive, and works beautifully.

 

[thepumpguysc]

LOL.. I called Dish last month & "poor mouthed" them.. cant afford the service any longer.. MAN, they perked up & asked me..& I swear this is what she asked me.. "how much CAN YOU afford"?? & before I could say A WORD.. she said, "I can get your bill down to $10.00 A MONTH"..{from 112.00} WHAT??!!!
I ended up w/ 100+ channels + HBO & CMAX for a locked in 72.00 for 2 years..for 2 TV's & the "new" Hopper.. THEN she says, when the 2 years are up.. just call back & we'll switch you over to our latest "promotion".. "don't EVER pay those prices again".. she said.. {It blew my mind}
So I "saved" 40 + $ & didn't loose a thing & actually gained a premium channel..{already paid for HBO}

 

[Welshman]

This might be a dumb question, but...

If I mounted an antenna on a tower outside, could I feed the coax from that antenna into the splitter that our current cable system is plugged into? In other words, could one antenna "supply" multiple TVs?

I'd love to cut the cord but my only concern is my other half. I'd still want to get something like SlingTV so I can get some of the channels that I like on cable (DIY, HGTV, etc.) but that's probably going to require more than one remote. While she's super smart about most things, for some reason figuring out which remote to use is one of those things that frustrates the crap out of her. But the prospect of saving about $60/month (cable cost less the cost of Sling TV) is something I'd like.

One antenna can definitely supply multiple TV's. Someone else will have to tell you about compatibility with the cable hardware, and SlingTV.