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Anyone have any antenna suggestions for these extreme circumstances? edit: I should say that when I say basement apartment I mean an apartment that was literally once a basement. So I don't have much going on in windows. I have one of those tiny basement windows and it faces East. 100% of my signals come from about eight miles south. Ok, I'm a loving moron and just now realized my TV had different settings on the coaxial line that had to be set from cable to antenna. I can't believe I'm blown through five different antennas... Lesson learned, read the TV's instruction manual. Liar fucked around with this message at 00:27 on Jul 9, 2012 |
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Jul 8, 2012 22:42
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Try the mohu leaf antenna. It's cheap, and this may be just my anecdote, and it works in the bottom level of our split level house. Not exactly basement but pretty close. Check to see how close you are to the broadcast towers in your area. Antennaweb is good for that. The closer you are, the less important the antenna is.
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Jul 8, 2012 23:01
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Thwomp posted:Check to see how close you are to the broadcast towers in your area. Antennaweb is good for that. The closer you are, the less important the antenna is. Picking up a lot of stations, and they're coming across on the same quality level as cable. This pretty much seals the deal, gently caress cable. All that's left now is finally deciding between Roku, Boxee, and Apple. Liar fucked around with this message at 00:32 on Jul 9, 2012 |
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Jul 8, 2012 23:58
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Liar posted:
Awesome, glad you got that fixed. Enjoy the chinese ping pong station.
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Jul 9, 2012 17:10
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Liar posted:
Enjoy your free TV! Parlett316 posted:Awesome, glad you got that fixed. Enjoy the chinese ping pong station. And the 2 Korean TV stations, the 9 spanish language networks, the 2 old-timey rerun networks, and the 1 polish station.
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Jul 9, 2012 18:58
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Thwomp posted:Enjoy your free TV! Where are you people living that you have all that? Everything I get aside from the major networks are home shopping or about the Bible.
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Jul 10, 2012 22:10
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BattleHork posted:Where are you people living that you have all that? Everything I get aside from the major networks are home shopping or about the Bible.
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Jul 10, 2012 22:57
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Thwomp posted:I get every channel (except CBS but they're broadcasting in some frequency only used in two other places in the US) in HD. It can be a bit shaky during storms so I may get the amplified version of it when it goes on sale. Still a great device. Just a note about amplified antennas - they are only really useful if the signal is borderline but OK at the receiving element but have lost enough signal strength over the connecting cable to become problematic. In other words, if the signal that is hitting the antenna is already having problems with signal:noise levels an amp will not help your situation. If you go ahead with the amplified antenna get it from a place with a liberal return policy. golgo13sf posted:That's because what's coming through the cable is compressed to hell and back, OTA is not. This is STRONGLY dependent on the provider. A lot of OTA channels are still using MPEG-2 since changing out all their hardware for MPEG-4 compatible stuff is prohibitively expensive. Some tests have shown that the cable stream is virtually identical to the OTA stream, with only some header info changed (nothing that affects picture quality). Panty Saluter fucked around with this message at 06:17 on Jul 11, 2012 |
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Jul 11, 2012 06:12
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I picked up a Roku 2 XD today. The selection is great but god drat is that interface rough. It's a good step to breaking from cable though (I live at home and use my parents cable sub so I'm basically just sick of cables selection). The huge selection of vintage sci fi, horror, etc is awesome. There's even a bunch of old PSAs and such.
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Jul 14, 2012 05:08
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Kilometers Davis posted:I picked up a Roku 2 XD today. The selection is great but god drat is that interface rough. It's a good step to breaking from cable though (I live at home and use my parents cable sub so I'm basically just sick of cables selection). The huge selection of vintage sci fi, horror, etc is awesome. There's even a bunch of old PSAs and such. After you've had some time with it could you post an every-man review of it? I've been using my BluRay player, which streams Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Crackle, YouTube, and about three different VOD stations. But I hate that I have to wait for it to turn on... aka I want something I can leave on constantly. I also want more options in terms of viewing. Liar fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Jul 15, 2012 |
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Jul 15, 2012 19:02
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Liar posted:After you've had some time with it could you post an every-man review of it? I've been using my BluRay player, which streams Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Crackle, YouTube, and about three different VOD stations. But I hate that I have to wait for it to turn on... aka I want something I can leave on constantly. I also want more options in terms of viewing. Sure, I'll post something in 4-5 days since that's how long I plan on stress testing it before deciding if it's a keeper. I can say though that it's ideal for an always on device. There's no power button or anything, it's always a few seconds away from use. Is there anything specific you'd like me to go into detail about or try when I review it?
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Jul 16, 2012 00:55
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I was watching something on Hulu yesterday on my HTPC via PlayOn. I noticed now I'm getting 3 commercials during some breaks for as much as 1:30 total. At this point I'm better off just using Xfinity On-Demand.
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Jul 16, 2012 01:34
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Liar posted:After you've had some time with it could you post an every-man review of it? I've been using my BluRay player, which streams Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Crackle, YouTube, and about three different VOD stations. But I hate that I have to wait for it to turn on... aka I want something I can leave on constantly. I also want more options in terms of viewing. The Roku is always on. I'm a big Roku fan, but you won't get too many extra options for viewing compared to what you have. There are a ton of Roku channels, but the vast majority are garbage. There are lots of podcasts, religious stations, old public domain movies, indie films, and obscure anime. There are also a bunch of stations that are just the clips picked up from various websites (like the NBC news channel). Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, Crackle, and MLBtv are the main stations. The Roku newscaster station does have Al Jazeera and NasaTV streaming. Roku also has private channels, a couple of which are worthwhile. Many stream stuff that is online, but not necessarily licensed to stream on a Roku. I mentioned it earlier in the thread, but Nowheretv is a private channel that has a ton of stuff, including streaming PBS, BBC, adult swim, NBC nightly news, Rachel Maddow. There isn't a public Youtube channel, but there are workarounds.
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Jul 16, 2012 06:21
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Don Lapre posted:Sure there is. Just use a coupler wherever your coax lines terminate to connect the two lines together. Is there an easy way to find where the cables connect? I live in a townhouse apartment if it matters.
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Jul 16, 2012 20:33
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upsciLLion posted:Is there an easy way to find where the cables connect? I live in a townhouse apartment if it matters. Start lookin' for a big pile o' wires  Seriously, if you're very lucky and this is a new building (less than ten years old) you may have a panel in a closet (master bedroom is a popular location). Otherwise the cable wires generally converge in the attic or outside at the demarc point.
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Jul 16, 2012 20:39
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For Liar, here is a list of all the public Roku channels. You can use the categories on the left to view shorter lists. If there's a downside to a Roku, it's probably the UI. It's built around icons and "tooltips", and there can be a lot of scrolling. Plus, text entry is a pain (think Xbox-ish). Speaking of which, I feel like an idiot because I've had a a Roku for a few years and just discovered that the rewind / fast forward buttons will scroll you a page at a time.
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Jul 16, 2012 21:07
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spaztaz posted:There are lots of podcasts, religious stations, old public domain movies, indie films, and obscure anime. Just how much of a variety of anime is there? This would honestly be a selling point for me if there's enough to justify it beyond what you can already see on Crackle, Hulu, and Netflix. Also that list of stations is massive... Do you have the option to favorite channels on Roku, or at least delete the ones you wouldn't watch anyway? Or do you have to scroll through everything every time?
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Jul 16, 2012 22:25
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Liar posted:Just how much of a variety of anime is there? This would honestly be a selling point for me if there's enough to justify it beyond what you can already see on Crackle, Hulu, and Netflix. Try the Manga Video channel. It's free, although there are annoyingly frequent ads. They seem to mostly have hilariously violent stuff from the 80s and 90s like Angel Cop and MD Geist.
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Jul 16, 2012 22:46
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Liar posted:Also that list of stations is massive... Do you have the option to favorite channels on Roku, or at least delete the ones you wouldn't watch anyway? Or do you have to scroll through everything every time? There is a channel store that lists out all of the channels. You pick the ones you want and they appear in the main menu. By default you have Netflix, Hulu, NewsCaster, Crackle, Pandora, and probably a couple others. I forgot to mention it earlier, but I'd also highly recommend the Netflix Instant Watch Browser channel. It is only a one time payment of $3.
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Jul 17, 2012 00:06
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spaztaz posted:There is a channel store that lists out all of the channels. You pick the ones you want and they appear in the main menu. By default you have Netflix, Hulu, NewsCaster, Crackle, Pandora, and probably a couple others. I forgot to mention it earlier, but I'd also highly recommend the Netflix Instant Watch Browser channel. It is only a one time payment of $3. Awesome. Funny to think that the cost of cutting cable for one month will pay for its' lifetime replacement. edit: As silly as it might sound I'm almost bothered by having to put in effort to chose what I want to watch. I miss the randomness of watching TV. Is anyone aware of anything that randomly chooses episodes from your Netflix/Hulu tv picks to show? Liar fucked around with this message at 18:08 on Jul 19, 2012 |
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Jul 17, 2012 01:03
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I was looking at the PlayOn Premium plan, and it lists ESPN and ESPN3 as available channels. Is this subject to Xfinity log-in, or does it basically stream through the app and circumvent the verification process? I cannot stream through watchespn.com now because I do not carry cable TV, only broadband internet.
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Jul 24, 2012 22:30
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LeeMajors posted:I was looking at the PlayOn Premium plan, and it lists ESPN and ESPN3 as available channels. You're gonna need a login.
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Jul 24, 2012 23:25
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TheScott2K posted:You're gonna need a login. Well gently caress. Looks like I'm just going to have to live without. Bah.
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Jul 25, 2012 00:04
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LeeMajors posted:Well gently caress. Looks like I'm just going to have to live without. Bah. Sports seems to be the one aspect that you cannot cut cable for. It's really frustrating.
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Jul 25, 2012 02:27
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So I saw a recent Huffpost article that might be interesting: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/20/aereo-broadcasters-streams-networks-tv_n_1690173.html In a nutshell, there's this NY-based startup called Aereo that is trying to circumvent the problems with OTA broadcast TV like reception and DVR availability. They have a data center in NY full of thousands of dime-sized HD antennae. You pay them 12 bucks a month to basically rent one of these antennae (which presumably get perfect HD reception) and they stream your signal to your set-top box/computer/phone/tablet over the internet. On top of that, you can record/pause/etc. and save video feeds to your account to watch where/whenever-so it's "DVR that exists on their server instead of under your TV-meets netflix." Since Aereo doesn't pay broadcasters for their OTA channels, the networks are understandably very upset. So far Aereo's been winning their recent bout of court cases, but there are plenty more down the road. The argument from the broadcasters (aside from "we want fee money") is that Aereo are essentially exploiting a technicality in order to provide TV service without paying for their content like a traditional provider. That said, "renting prime antenna space and recording TV for you" is a pretty brilliant way of exploiting a loophole in broadcast laws. The service is currently NYC-only but they'll hopefully expand in the very near future. The NYC service gives you "over 20 local channels" and all of the important ones are there. To me, it seems like a great cable/sat alternative if you happen to live somewhere where mounting your own set of rabbit ears isn't the best option. Here's their site: https://aereo.com trilobite terror fucked around with this message at 17:14 on Jul 25, 2012 |
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Jul 25, 2012 17:04
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Electric Bugaloo posted:So I saw a recent Huffpost article that might be interesting: While it's a neat way to circumvent restrictions, they're going to be litigated into the ground for years and years. And by then the loopholes/regulations could be amended to make Aereo in violation. I'm not one to poo-poo a neat idea but this is the same legal arena that saw CableCARD, cable competition in general, and municipal broadband get crushed by the incumbents.
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Jul 25, 2012 18:25
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Yeah, I don't think they'll be able to dodge the legal banhammer forever but it's a neat idea. It's Community Antenna TV for the 21st century 
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Jul 26, 2012 01:16
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I'm probably going to try Aereo in the next month or so as part of my cord-cutting experiment, so I'll update you all then on how well it works. Does anyone know if, when using HBOGO, you have to be on the network that you subscribe to? For example, if my parents have Comcast, and my Internet is through Time Warner, will I be able to use their login at my house? HBO is the one sticking factor that's keeping me from cord-cutting, but if I can just use their login, everything will be great. And HBO doesn't seem to care either, as seen at https://www.takemymoneyhbo.com Also, I'm wondering how VPN services like the one in the OP or the one at https://www.witopia.net work. Say I subscribe to their service, and route my network traffic through a Dallas location. They assign me a static IP in Dallas, so that my location appears to be in Dallas. Do they have a range of IPs to assign people? Is there a finite number of them? My reasoning behind this is that I'm trying to use a VPN to get around local blackouts on NHL Gamecenter Live. Obviously, this goes against their TOS. I don't know how active they are in looking for this sort of thing, but is it plausible that they could identify certain IPs as belonging to a VPN company and blacklist them?
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Jul 29, 2012 23:17
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OldSenileGuy posted:I'm probably going to try Aereo in the next month or so as part of my cord-cutting experiment, so I'll update you all then on how well it works. Hbo works fine. We are on Comcast and use our neighbors login who is on uverse.
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Jul 30, 2012 01:54
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Don Lapre posted:Hbo works fine. We are on Comcast and use our neighbors login who is on uverse. My only gripe with HBO GO is their Boxee app is loving atrocious. But then again, Boxee. 
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Jul 30, 2012 06:04
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Smythe posted:My only gripe with HBO GO is their Boxee app is loving atrocious. But then again, Boxee. My problem with HBOGO is you can't use AirPlay with it because they are a bunch of cocks. But you can AirPlay the audio because hurrrrrr. loving cocks.
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Jul 30, 2012 18:56
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golgo13sf posted:My problem with HBOGO is you can't use AirPlay with it because they are a bunch of cocks.  them. iOS mirroring isn't that great unless the content is in 4:3, which I imagine the HBO GO stuff isn't. Thing is, I'm not sure if the people providing the apps don't want to build in proper AirPLay video support out of laziness, cable company paranoia, their own licensing issues, or Apple protecting their purchased video turf.
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Jul 30, 2012 21:48
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In case you haven't seen it, a Hulu plus app was just added to the Apple TV. http://blog.hulu.com/2012/07/31/hulu-plus-arrives-on-apple-tv/ Modern Pragmatist fucked around with this message at 14:47 on Jul 31, 2012 |
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Jul 31, 2012 14:18
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BattleHork posted:
You can disable video/audio/both AirPlay in the app code so this falls squarely on HBO
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Jul 31, 2012 21:37
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Would any of these solutions get me cartoon network and comedy central content? Those are probably the two stations that get the most play at my home. Would love to ditch cable/satelite.
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Aug 3, 2012 01:48
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Ramadu posted:Sports seems to be the one aspect that you cannot cut cable for. It's really frustrating. I wonder if there's a breaking point for this, or if the product is so good that people will always pay. I guess there will never really be a time when they are leaving too much money on the table.
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Aug 3, 2012 03:00
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LeeMajors posted:I wonder if there's a breaking point for this, or if the product is so good that people will always pay. I guess there will never really be a time when they are leaving too much money on the table. Well, its mostly the NFL. If the NFL had a streaming package like the NBA and NHL and MLB have, it'd be great. But sadly 14 billion a year is enough for the NFL and they don't want more money.
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Aug 3, 2012 05:32
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 With the exception of Monday Night Football (ESPN) and the later-season Thursday night game (NFL Network), the only NFL games you get on TV come through channels you can get with an antenna. This only changes if you have DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket. This odd bit of pay-tv exclusivity makes me think the NFL is more likely than people think to come out with a streaming option for boxes. The NFL would really like to be making ALL the money off of broadcasts of their games.
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Aug 3, 2012 11:07
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TheScott2K posted:
Sports is the thing that gets most people worked up (white noise channels come in a close second) about cutting the cord but it really shouldn't be. If you can get the major networks OTA/through cable leaking from your internet connection, you'll get all your local sports. I can see how not having an NFL streaming option would hurt for people who are 1) cutting the cord and 2) out of the area of their local team but that's a bit of a subset of a subset. I wonder if, after 2014, the NFL will terminate the exclusivity agreement with DirecTV.
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Aug 3, 2012 14:17
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Isn't Monday Night Football shown on local stations for your local team?
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Aug 3, 2012 14:43
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