Need help with television situation.

[Rat Rod Mac]

Wife and I bought into the "Dish" networking system when our kids were young. It seems that every time we get a bill they raise it five bucks so we decided to cancel and go back to our TV antenna. We got the lowest package that they offered. I was telling a co-worker of mine this story and he says that I will not be able to do that unless I get some kind of box. According to him a few years ago the government or someone came up with this deal where you have to install some kind of box in order for your TV to work with an antenna. Anyone know anything about what I'm trying to say here? What are some of you folks doing that live out in the country. If you do indeed use a satellite dish who is it with and how much do you pay a month? Thank you very much for your responses. It's appreciated. RRM

 

[k0ua]

Wife and I bought into the "Dish" networking system when our kids were young. It seems that every time we get a bill they raise it five bucks so we decided to cancel and go back to our TV antenna. We got the lowest package that they offered. I was telling a co-worker of mine this story and he says that I will not be able to do that unless I get some kind of box. According to him a few years ago the government or someone came up with this deal where you have to install some kind of box in order for your TV to work with an antenna. Anyone know anything about what I'm trying to say here? What are some of you folks doing that live out in the country. If you do indeed use a satellite dish who is it with and how much do you pay a month? Thank you very much for your responses. It's appreciated. RRM

I am sure your friend was referring to the change over of broadcast over the air TV from analog to digital in 2009. If you already have a digital television, you will not have any problem hooking up a TV antenna and doing a scan for available channels in your area. If you do still have an analog television set, you may take it to the landfill and buy yourself a nice digital one. (or get a convertor box, but I don't recommend that) With an analog set there will be no channels for you to watch without a convertor, but really no analog set is worth keeping in this day and age, unless it is for museum purposes.

If you still have an analog set, you owe it to yourself to enjoy a digital TV.

 

[rekees4300]

A few years ago the government changed over the air (OTA) TV from analog to digital. You don't need a box if you have a TV with a ATSC tuner. All TVs sold in the United States after 2007 are required to have an ATSC tuner. TVs larger than 36 inches have had ATSC tuners since 2005. So if you bought your TV after this, you probably have a tuner. If you decide to get a satellite dish (Dish or DirecTV) you can expect to pay approximately $75+/mo. depending of the programming package/equipment. Note that new subscribers can get a much better deal for a year or two.

 

[PJSprog]

We have Dish Network. After my Wife's Grandmother died last year, we cut back to their basic package and saved almost $100/month (over having pretty much everything before). Since we rarely watch television, we're considering just dropping it completely. All I ever use it for is the SiriusXM music channels, and she'll occasionally throw in a DVD or Blue-Ray disc and watch a movie. We're not really TV people, so not sure I'm any help here other than blathering.

 

[BrokeFarmerJohn]

Yeah other people have posted it's deff a digital converter that guy is talking about and that's for tube TVs and old school "flat screen" tv's. Any TV sold today are all digital.

I just use a antenna and am completely happy with it, I can get like 19-23 channels, I forget the actual number but it's quite a bit.

I also have wireless internet and watch Netflix via my Xbox 360 when they activate Xbox gold for free.

If your after certain shows, spend a lot of hours watching TV, antenna TV may get old and you have to deal with commercials but I think cable, satellite ext is way over priced.

 

[George2615]

I have 2 TV's. Both are fairly new and have the tuner built in. The LR TV is on Cable. For the BR TV I bought this over the air antenna.

Amazon.com: NEXspark 268 Over-The-Air Outdoor Antenna HDTV UHF/VHF/FM Radio HTV with Motorized Control Box, Remote Control, and Dual TV outputs Rotates 36 degrees: Home Audio & Theater

It works very well for me. I get 36 digital channels just as clear as cable. I am within 75 miles of the sending antennas. Mine came with dual output so I ran the second coax to the LR TV in case the cable goes out, which it sometimes does.
In the spring (when warmer weather arrives) I am going to switch to a satellite dish but first I have to cut down two trees. The company came out and did a survey of the property and did not have enough signal to do the install. I have lots of tall trees to the southwest where the dish must be aimed. They found one area with decent signal and told me to call back when those two trees were gone.

These cable and / or dish companies in my area all offer promotional rates, usually for two years but once that is over the rates skyrocket and they won't give a renewal at the promotional price so every couple years I have to switch service and cancel the other in order to get a decent price.

 

[rekees4300]

Thank you very much for your responses. It's appreciated. RRM

This link will help determine if you have OTA reception at your location. If you don't then you will need satellite.

DTV Reception Maps | Federal Communications Commission

 

[Stimw]

I have 2 TV's. Both are fairly new and have the tuner built in. The LR TV is on Cable. For the BR TV I bought this over the air antenna.

Amazon.com: NEXspark 268 Over-The-Air Outdoor Antenna HDTV UHF/VHF/FM Radio HTV with Motorized Control Box, Remote Control, and Dual TV outputs Rotates 36 degrees: Home Audio & Theater

It works very well for me. I get 36 digital channels just as clear as cable. I am within 75 miles of the sending antennas. Mine came with dual output so I ran the second coax to the LR TV in case the cable goes out, which it sometimes does.
In the spring (when warmer weather arrives) I am going to switch to a satellite dish but first I have to cut down two trees. The company came out and did a survey of the property and did not have enough signal to do the install. I have lots of tall trees to the southwest where the dish must be aimed. They found one area with decent signal and told me to call back when those two trees were gone.

These cable and / or dish companies in my area all offer promotional rates, usually for two years but once that is over the rates skyrocket and they won't give a renewal at the promotional price so every couple years I have to switch service and cancel the other in order to get a decent price.

I bought the same antenna from Walmart w/free shipping- $38.00.
I get 36 channels although some are the same network, different city.
The remote control really makes it a deal! You can tune in stations.
Also Dish charges $10 extra for local channels that you can get for free with an antenna.

 

[hawkeye08]

We have always had OTA and had the converter boxes (digital signal to analog tv) when needed. We have digital TVs now and get 16-18 OTA channels and also have ChannelMaster DVR+ to record OTA. I have it connected with splitter so I can record two (two tuners in DVR) and watch a third if I want. It is nice sometimes to watch a show we like to watch but weren't home or had other things going on. There are other OTA DVR solutions also.

 

[lt190b]

Rat Rod Mac, look at this DIY antenna. My wife has made several, we use two on our tv's. Two digital tv's we use regular old rabbit ears with good results. I refuse to pay for tv.Make a Digital TV Coat Hanger Antenna | Make: Your mileage may vary.