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Apple TV or?

Discussion in 'General Discussions' started by DAKA, Feb 23, 2015.

  1. DAKA

    DAKA DOING VERY NICELY, THANK YOU

    Location:
    150 miles North of SOUTHERNMOST POINT IN THE US
    I want to cut the cable ....
    I'm still trying to figure out what to do...we have 3 TV's with boxes from U verse..
    How does it work re: the antenna, one for each?
    One "device" for each?
    Daniel (Tech challenged)
     
    DAKA, Feb 23, 2015
    #1
  2. ASU2003

    ASU2003 Very Tilted

    Location:
    Where ever I roam
    It depends on what you want to watch.

    Do your TV's accept the digital over the air antenna, or are they just monitors like mine? Most newer ones can.

    Go to antennaweb.org and plug in your zip code to see which direction the TV stations are in, and how many are grouped in a 20 degree arc from your house, and are less than 40 miles away.

    I use one of these with my Mac connected to my HDTV to turn it into a DVR. It uses the keyboard and mouse as a remote though, so it has some drawbacks, but benefits as well since I can save TV shows to external hard drives and organize them just like normal files.

    Amazon.com: Elgato EyeTV Hybrid TV Tuner for Mac or PC (10021020): Electronics

    If you have a high speed internet connection, you can download apps for tablets for different channels, be sure to make accounts with the streaming TV stations when you still have cable (ESPN 360, TLC, Discovery, etc...). You can also look into getting NetFlix, Hulu, Google's Stick, or Roku if you don't want to quit TV all together. The library around you might have a good selection of TV series on DVD and plenty of movies.
     
    ASU2003, Feb 23, 2015
    #2
  3. coreylane

    coreylane New Member

    Location:
    US
    can't help with your Q but good luck with cutting cable - let me know what your experience is like
     
    coreylane, Feb 24, 2015
    #3
  4. itwasme

    itwasme But you'll never prove it. Donor

    Location:
    In the wind
    Hi Daka! When I made the move up here, I decided to cut cable as much as I could. The big tv/internet/phone pkg I used to have was not worth the price. I did my homework and was SO proud of myself for figuring out how to get my tv/phone/internet for less than half of what I used to pay. My relatives laughed and said I sound like a commercial-but one eventually called to ask advice how to set up what I have.

    We have Comcast here. You have a choice of 3 speeds of internet: 25 (comes with most packages) 50, and 100. The 100 is $100 for internet all by itself. Ugh. I bought the Blast 50 internet that comes with local channels, 2 movie channels, and a cable box. That's $55. I bought a device that connects my regular phone to internet modem for $10/month (BasicTalk at Walmart for $10) Bought a Roku device ($60?) for the tv so I can watch my $9/mo Netflix, youtube movies (you can find a bunch there), and other channels that comes with he device.

    You can use your computer to log in to your Google/YouTube account, and mark things you want to watch as "favorites." It is much easier to find things using the computer keyboard than searching on the Roku device. Then you can use Roku on your tv, go to YouTube channel, login to the same Google/YouTube account, and there they all are in your Favorites.

    There are also DVD players that come with Netflix, Facebook, and a bunch of other channels. That is the route my sister went for her bedroom tv. I think her player was $50.
    Ok, my commercial is over.
     
    itwasme, Feb 28, 2015
    #4
  5. martian

    martian Server Monkey Staff Member

    Location:
    Mars
    OTA is strongly location dependent. The digital signals don't carry as far as the old analogue ones did. Reception can be tricky. Plug your address into tvfool.com or antennaweb.com and get a report online. It will tell you which direction the transmitters are and how far away. Anything 60-80 miles away should be manageable so long as you have line of sight. Any overly hilly terrain or stuff like that will reduce the available range.

    You can feed an arbitrary number of televisions off of one antenna, but every load you hook up to it reduces overall signal strength. Three televisions shouldn't be too much of a problem unless you also have long cable runs (150-200 feet). In that case you may also want an pre-amp. You'll also want one if you add any additional sets; the rule of thumb is that each split is about a 3 dB loss in signal. 6 dB is probably survivable unless your reception is right on the edge, but 9 is going to be a lot harder to sustain. Either way, your wiring will go antenna -> (pre-amp) -> splitter -> televisions. Generally speaking it's best to have the pre-amp as close to the antenna as possible, because it will also amplify any noise in the signal -- getting it close to the source minimizes noise. Usually they just mount onto the mast, but avoid using a long coax cable here. Shorter is better.

    Depending on the age of the televisions they may need converter boxes. You might need to Google the TV models unless you have the manuals kicking around. You want to check if they have ATSC tuners built-in. If they do you're all set, if not you'll need a set-top box to decode the OTA signals. Anything built after 2006 or so should be fine, but if they're older than that they might not have one. Converter boxes are around $40 each on Amazon.

    The other option if you don't want to figure all this crap out is you can bust out the yellow pages. A professional antenna installer can come out and tell you what the best antenna is for your location, what to expect in terms of signal, and can mount everything and run the cables for you. It's pricey but you only pay it once.

    I think most people supplement their OTA signals with stuff like Netflix or Hulu. A box like the Roku is great for that kind of thing, it's easy to set up and will get you what you want with minimal fuss. You will need one for each set.
     
    martian, Mar 1, 2015
    #5
  6. MHANNIGAN

    mhannigan Vertical

    No.
     
    mhannigan, Mar 10, 2015
    #6