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So I had a fridge moment yesterday when discussing OTA HD in the Flash thread: I could probably get the Boston channels where I live (Salem, MA). After a trip to Best Buy to pick up a couple antennas to test--and then a trip back to Best Buy to get a more powerful antenna instead, I am now able to get the big four and the CW, as well as a few other funky channels like ThisTV and MeTV. So I figured that I'd make a thread for it. But first, a FAQ for newbies. Wait, OTA TV? What's that? Do you remember ye olde days of rabbit ears and static? They're back. Actually, they never went away. Network stations have been broadcasting TV signals through the air for longer than you've probably been alive. Every major station broadcasts in HD these days, often in better quality than your cable provider, who compress the poo poo out of content so they can shove 500+ channels of crap through antiquated wiring (notable exception being FIOS). Oh, and did I mention that it's free? Because it is. That sounds great, can I get OTA HD Where I live? Most likely! If you live within 30 miles of a major metropolitan area, chances are you can. There's a fantastic site (with a dumb name) called TV Fool where you put in the particulars of where you live and it'll tell you what channels you should be able to receive. Some websites will recommend that you use a site called Antenna Web. Don't use Antenna Web. Antenna Web told me that I won't receive any channels at all without a giant fuckoff antenna on my roof. They were wrong. Use TV Fool, which was dead on accurate for me. Don't I have to put an arial on my roof? That sounds dangerous/I'm too lazy to climb up there! Not necessarily! There's a lot of indoor antennas that provide great signal, even from inside an apartment, though you will probably have to buy a few and test them out. Best Buy carries a surprisingly decent selection of them, and there's a ton on Amazon. Great, what antenna should I get? That's actually a bit of a issue. There is no indoor one-antenna-fits all solution. For some people, an omnidirectional antenna will work better, for others, a directional. In my case, all the television networks broadcast towers are in the same area in Allston, which meant that a directional antenna was the obvious choice. Omnidirectional antennas are better if the towers are spread out around your residence, but they don't have the same reach directional ones do. For what it's worth, the antenna I got is the Antennas Direct ClearStream 2V (Best Buy, Amazon). A lot of people have reported success with it, but then again a lot of people report success with a $20 RCA omnidirectional. Get a couple different kinds and types and return the ones that don't work. Also, don't expect the cheapest one to work--be prepared to spend as much as $120 for an antenna. Also, keep an eye out for antennas that feature a preamp--oftentimes there are multiple channels broadcasting at the same frequency. An antenna that's too powerful might see both signals and they'll cancel each other out. This is actually happening for me, but thankfully they're both Spanish language channels that I don't care about. On the other hand, an antenna with a preamp might help you get a signal when you couldn't before. Again, try a few and see what works. Okay, I got an antenna, now what? There's a couple different ways to get channels on your TV. The simplest is to just plug it directly into the coaxial connection on your TV (yes, your brand new 70" 4K TV does have a coaxial connection. Really. Go check. I'll wait). Do a channel scan (you'll have to consult your TV's manual for this, but it's the menus somewhere) and your channels will come through. Some TVs, such as ones made by Samsung, even feature built in guides that list the programming on the channels you get. My Vizio doesn't. If you don't see the channels you think you should be getting, move the antenna elsewhere and try again. I didn't get the CW until I moved the antenna into the middle of my apartment, not even directly facing where the signal was broadcasting from. Go fig. (Note: buy a long (100') coaxial cable, coaxial cables are stupid cheap, buy a super long coaxial cable and move the antenna around before deciding that OTA won't work for you and return it and get a shorter one if you don't need a super long one). However, just because you can just plug it into your TV doesn't mean you should. Some TVs don't consider a signal strong enough to receive, while other solutions do (I experienced this myself). Most third party set top boxes are compatible with OTA signals, including most TiVo models. In fact, TiVo actually sells a unit called the TiVo Roamio OTA which removes cable functionality but only costs $50 (with the requisite $15/month TiVo service charge, natch). The model features the same four tuner functionality as the regular Roamio model (so you can record multiple shows in the background) and also features the same streaming provider functionality (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, and VUDU, whatever that is) as their other models. If you want DVR capabilities but don't feel like paying a monthly TiVo fee, you can also get a TV tuner for a HTPC that offers similar functionality. What about the shows I watch that aren't on major networks? It used to be that subscribing to a cable package was the only way to, well, watch cable shows. Thanks to the internet, though, that's all changed. No, not  . Steaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime have very good collections of full seasons of older television shows, while Hulu Plus offers the ability to watch a surprising number of cable shows the day after they air (Comedy Central and FX are very well represented). And sometime next year, HBO is going to open up their excellent (currently subscriber only) streaming service HBO Go to the masses. That said, there are still some networks that don't make their content available to non-suscribers; Cartoon Network comes to mind. In that case, it's easier than ever to buy and watch seasons of TV shows as they air. It may seem strange to spend $20 for the current season of Adventure Time but unless you buy a lot of TV shows you'll still be saving money compared to a monthly cable subscription.I mean, this all sounds very cool, but I'm not sure it'll work for me... There's only one way to find out: give it a try. Netflix and Hulu Plus offer free trial periods, and even if you pay for a month subscription for each and decide to continue cable you'll only be out $20. Antennas can be returned. Go ahead, dive in, and try life without cable. You might be surprised at how well it works out. I have more questions/concerns... Then post it in the thread, dummy!
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Dec 3, 2014 20:51
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The best part of OTA digital TV is finding wacky substations. If you live near any big city you're bound to find these substations playing the oddest poo poo. I love it.
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Dec 3, 2014 21:01
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Deadpool posted:The best part of OTA digital TV is finding wacky substations. If you live near any big city you're bound to find these substations playing the oddest poo poo. I love it. I never realized how large the Korean population around Chicago was until I discovered there are 3 different Korean-language stations OTA here.
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Dec 3, 2014 21:26
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Deadpool posted:The best part of OTA digital TV is finding wacky substations. If you live near any big city you're bound to find these substations playing the oddest poo poo. I love it. When I was in New York, I flicked through the TV which I think was OT. We don't have sub channels over here so I was pretty confused just changing channels. What are they all about? Also, I noticed this on my gfs cable box but I'm sure it's the same with OTA too - the call signs. Holy crap they don't make it easy to know what channel is what. I guess that's why everyone has a DOG to make it easier. I saw Xfinity which seemed to use 'full' channel names, which I got on better with. I guess that's the drawback of coming from a country where we maxed out at 5 channels OTA until the late 90s. Everyone had pretty much the same TV except for pre determined regional slots. The way TV is set up in the UK and the U.S. is so different it's crazy.
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Dec 3, 2014 22:52
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EL BROMANCE posted:I guess that's the drawback of coming from a country where we maxed out at 5 channels OTA until the late 90s. Everyone had pretty much the same TV except for pre determined regional slots. The way TV is set up in the UK and the U.S. is so different it's crazy. Plus, unfortunately, Freeview knocks US OTA into a cocked hat. :P
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Dec 4, 2014 20:18
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