Ok, OP here, I'm more confused than ever. How do we find out what channels we can "stream" with digital tv. We have a Wii, how do we do this? We would really like local stations as well as Disney (especially Disney Jr.). What is my best bet? I'm so confused! It's sad how untechnical I am!
Cutting Satellite (Direct TV) ??
- Thread starter mommy4
- Start date
I am not aware of a way to do that (get locals and Disney). You can get locals with an antenna (likely) - but the Disney will be the stopping point if that's a show-stopper for you. I thought that would be a show-stopper for us as well and that, along with Discovery Health were the 2 channels I was very upset to be losing, but I will tell you - it has been mostly a non-issue. When we first cut out cable - I went out and bought 2 seasons of whatever dd's favorite DIsney show was (can't even remember - maybe Hanna Montana) on DVD. And since then it hasn't been an issue. The kids watch Disney shows on Netflix (Wizards of Waverly Place and Good Luck CHarlie) and we record some shows on regular stations (America's funniest videos, the voice) that they watch.
There are some shows that you can watch online - so I do watch a couple of ABCFAMILY shows.
You can 'pay per veiw' through something like Amazon prime.
Ultimately though - you ARE paying a TON less....so you will likely have to make some sacrifices. But, if you are like me, you get very used to it very quickly and love the savings even more.
tvguy
Question anything the facts don't support.
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2003
- Messages
- 47,734
Wrong Walnut Grove.
Is the antenna still on the roof? If so, all you need to do is hook up a digital ready TV and you'll see. If you don't have a digital ready TV, you will need a digital to analog converter. If that roof antenna is gone, like I said, go to Walmart or Target or Radio Shack and buy the cheapest set of rabbit ears they have, just make sure they are both VHF/UHF. $10 for the rabbit ears is cheaper than my air fare, hotel and meals to come to your house.
Wrong, tvguy
Sending someone out to immediately buy a rabbit-ear antenna without knowing what stations they can get, and their distance from the transmitters is just a waste of time and money.
If you want to know whether OTA (over-the-air) antennas will work for you there are a couple of places to check.
1. TVFool.com - you plug in your address and zip code and you will get a listing of what stations are available to you - and it will tell you what kind of antenna to get. It's color-coded, and the antenna boxes are also color-coded for distance, etc.
2. Antennaweb.org - same thing here.
In either case, you will be shown exactly what kind and size of antenna you need - indoor, outdoor, etc. and you will be shown the direction to point your antenna. In some instances, you may also need to allow for VHF as well as UHF, so be sure to read carefully what you need for your particular situation. (There are also some signal boosters, and splitters that you can add to your setup, but that's getting into details not needed here...) Rest assured - antenna prices are nowhere near $600 - you can get excellent antennas for less than $100...
To get the best reception, follow their guidelines. Once you get set up, you will be amazed at the quality. Virtually all OTA signals are crystal clear - there will be no snow or fuzziness since they are all digital signals. At the very least, you should be able to get all the major networks and their sub-stations. Yes, substations - for example, my ABC main station also has a 24 hour weather station, and an "oldies" movie station. You will also get all the sports, etc on those stations. (CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, FOX, CW and in many cases even more (I get 44 stations including some religious and foreign languages that I don't want. Stations I will watch are about 24)
Once you know what stations you will get, you can go to zap2it.com, plug in your zip code and see just what is playing on those stations. You might be surprised at all that's available to you!
Sending someone out to immediately buy a rabbit-ear antenna without knowing what stations they can get, and their distance from the transmitters is just a waste of time and money.
If you want to know whether OTA (over-the-air) antennas will work for you there are a couple of places to check.
1. TVFool.com - you plug in your address and zip code and you will get a listing of what stations are available to you - and it will tell you what kind of antenna to get. It's color-coded, and the antenna boxes are also color-coded for distance, etc.
2. Antennaweb.org - same thing here.
In either case, you will be shown exactly what kind and size of antenna you need - indoor, outdoor, etc. and you will be shown the direction to point your antenna. In some instances, you may also need to allow for VHF as well as UHF, so be sure to read carefully what you need for your particular situation. (There are also some signal boosters, and splitters that you can add to your setup, but that's getting into details not needed here...) Rest assured - antenna prices are nowhere near $600 - you can get excellent antennas for less than $100...
To get the best reception, follow their guidelines. Once you get set up, you will be amazed at the quality. Virtually all OTA signals are crystal clear - there will be no snow or fuzziness since they are all digital signals. At the very least, you should be able to get all the major networks and their sub-stations. Yes, substations - for example, my ABC main station also has a 24 hour weather station, and an "oldies" movie station. You will also get all the sports, etc on those stations. (CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, FOX, CW and in many cases even more (I get 44 stations including some religious and foreign languages that I don't want. Stations I will watch are about 24)
Once you know what stations you will get, you can go to zap2it.com, plug in your zip code and see just what is playing on those stations. You might be surprised at all that's available to you!
pat fan
Sad my tag won't fit :(
- Joined
- Oct 2, 1999
- Messages
- 6,258
OTA TV
Here's what Antennaweb says
No Stations were predicted for this address
Due to factors such as terrain and distance to broadcasting towers, signal strength calculations have predicted no television stations may be reliably received at this location.
Sigh..........
I did call a different tv company and they are going to come over sometime in the next couple weeks to see what I might be able to get. I'm guessing nothing.
Here's what Antennaweb says
No Stations were predicted for this address
Due to factors such as terrain and distance to broadcasting towers, signal strength calculations have predicted no television stations may be reliably received at this location.
Sigh..........
I did call a different tv company and they are going to come over sometime in the next couple weeks to see what I might be able to get. I'm guessing nothing.
tvguy
Question anything the facts don't support.
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2003
- Messages
- 47,734
Wrong, tvguy
Sending someone out to immediately buy a rabbit-ear antenna without knowing what stations they can get, and their distance from the transmitters is just a waste of time and money.
If you want to know whether OTA (over-the-air) antennas will work for you there are a couple of places to check.
1. TVFool.com - you plug in your address and zip code and you will get a listing of what stations are available to you - and it will tell you what kind of antenna to get. It's color-coded, and the antenna boxes are also color-coded for distance, etc.
2. Antennaweb.org - same thing here.
In either case, you will be shown exactly what kind and size of antenna you need - indoor, outdoor, etc. and you will be shown the direction to point your antenna. In some instances, you may also need to allow for VHF as well as UHF, so be sure to read carefully what you need for your particular situation. (There are also some signal boosters, and splitters that you can add to your setup, but that's getting into details not needed here...) Rest assured - antenna prices are nowhere near $600 - you can get excellent antennas for less than $100...
To get the best reception, follow their guidelines. Once you get set up, you will be amazed at the quality. Virtually all OTA signals are crystal clear - there will be no snow or fuzziness since they are all digital signals. At the very least, you should be able to get all the major networks and their sub-stations. Yes, substations - for example, my ABC main station also has a 24 hour weather station, and an "oldies" movie station. You will also get all the sports, etc on those stations. (CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, FOX, CW and in many cases even more (I get 44 stations including some religious and foreign languages that I don't want. Stations I will watch are about 24)
Once you know what stations you will get, you can go to zap2it.com, plug in your zip code and see just what is playing on those stations. You might be surprised at all that's available to you!
Congrats on your first post.
With plenty of caveats -- a prime example is MLB.tv which is made available over the internet, and a few set-top boxes (i.e., Apple TV) for an annual fee.
Due to restrictions imposed by Major League Baseball, one cannot watch any live home or away games with their "local" team on MLB.tv (for example, all of New England could not watch any home/away games featuring the Boston Red Sox) -- in other words, once the game is completed, you can then watch it at your leaisure on your favorite device (but by then, the score, etc. is broadcast all over the news/Facebook/Twitter). But, if your favorite team is not in the town/region where you live, you're in luck.
To compound problems, most "local" baseball games no longer air on local broadcast TV stations (there may be a few exceptions, out there) as over the next few years, teams will be signing mega-million dollar deals with cable networks such as Fox Sports/Comcast --or do as the Yankees did and establish their own cable network.
Similar rules are in place for basketball/hockey.
Football fans don't have it nearly as rough, since most games air over the weekend on local Fox/CBS stations, as well as NBC's Sunday Night game.
Hope this clears things up...
leagirl12
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2008
- Messages
- 769
Antenna web said the same for me too but just two weeks ago on the advice of a friend we bought a $20 antenna from Walmart and it worked great. We get our local channels with the exception of one and we also get several channels I never knew existed.
hsmamato2
<font color=magenta>Tink in Training-Good Girl,Bad
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2005
- Messages
- 15,653
lots of people here have cut the cable,etc. We got a good antenna that could either be on the roof,or in the attic- we put it in the attic and pull in 10 channels (more, but we don't watch all of them)
We also bought a used tivo on ebay (do your research) that came with lifetime sub,so no more fees. We paid more upfront for the Tivo, but that is important to us,and I love it.
Most people can't build their own, so we have to choose what's available. We also have netflix,and way more to watch than we keep up with....not sorry at all to ditch satellite.
netflix has some disney stuff now,plus spongebob and a million other things to keep kids happy.......
hsmamato2
<font color=magenta>Tink in Training-Good Girl,Bad
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2005
- Messages
- 15,653
Oh, I also bought a few antennas before I settled on one, I did research on the abovementioned site,(some of which were just plain wrong) and then returned what didn't work for us.
OP can try a cheap antenna before deciding,just to see what will happen... The site I found most useful was amazon (user reviews) and another which showed us the direction of the local channels,so we could point the antenna properly for max reception.
Antennaweb was good start, but it shows less than half of the actual channels we receive...
) and then returned what didn't work for us.OP can try a cheap antenna before deciding,just to see what will happen... The site I found most useful was amazon (user reviews) and another which showed us the direction of the local channels,so we could point the antenna properly for max reception.
Antennaweb was good start, but it shows less than half of the actual channels we receive...
Oddly enough, when I went to TVFool.com I got basically the same stuff - address cannot be resolved - or some such nonsense. I wonder what has happened there and at AntennaWeb.org - they were previously very reliable. Maybe they are just overwhelmed with people looking up addresses...
It seems to me there is also a government site that will give the same info - I'll check and see what i can find.
Found it! Try this - transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/
add the usual "h" stuff at the beginning. (I don't have enough posts yet to post the actual url...)
Plug in your address, zip, etc and go. Actually this one is even easier to read than the ones at antennaweb and tvfool! When you click on the call signs for each station, it will show you where the transmitter is. (The main stations will pretty much be grouped together) The color coding is easier here, too...
Yes, you can go to the big box stores like bestbuy, or even Amazon, and try out some antennas, as long as they have a good return policy.
It seems to me there is also a government site that will give the same info - I'll check and see what i can find.
Found it! Try this - transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/
add the usual "h" stuff at the beginning. (I don't have enough posts yet to post the actual url...)
Plug in your address, zip, etc and go. Actually this one is even easier to read than the ones at antennaweb and tvfool! When you click on the call signs for each station, it will show you where the transmitter is. (The main stations will pretty much be grouped together) The color coding is easier here, too...
Yes, you can go to the big box stores like bestbuy, or even Amazon, and try out some antennas, as long as they have a good return policy.
We already have an antenna for our kitchen TV, and Antennaweb got it right in our case, 9 stations, 18 with substations, only one or two I will watch while in the kitchen. Otherwise, it is pretty worthless. It seems we mainly watch the cable stations.
Also, we did the Netflix free trial, and it is terrible. Constant buffering, and lagging. It gets so bad I literally shut it off. Seems it can't be used if anyone is on the computer or lap top at the same time. With 3 teens and a DH who uses it every evening for business, even the 7.99/month is a waste of money. We have a smart TV, a Wii, and PS3 so are capable of streaming to more than one TV, but how that would happen when we can't even get one is beyond me. We even hard wired instead of WiFi and it had no effect at all.
Plus, Netflix has a lot of selections, but not much we are interested in watching. In one month we went through the stuff we were interested in, and very few new selections come up. So not too impressed w/ their streaming selections either.
DH complains every single time the cable bill comes in.
I don't blame him, and w/ kids starting to enter college, our first this year, we would like to save where we can, but I just haven't found a really good alternative to cable. Unless, we just give up TV watching, which I really can not see doing. 
Is there a way to resolve the streaming issue? As far as movies and older TV shows, we can rent most of those for free from the library, so we really are only interested in the newer stuff.
Any suggestions?
If you don't watch a lot of network tv, then keeping cable is probably your best bet.
As far as netflix buffering, what is your Internet speed and what is it supposed to be?
www.speedtest.net
I found we had to increase our Internet speed to stop the lagging and buffering. Plus, if you log into netflix on a pc, you can adjust your streaming preference. I have ours set to better.
We were on a basic Internet plan and were averaging 1-3 gbps which was too slow since we typically have several devices connected. We upgraded to a midrange speed plan (up to 12gbps) and now average 6-10 gbps, depending on time of day.
As far as netflix buffering, what is your Internet speed and what is it supposed to be?
www.speedtest.net
I found we had to increase our Internet speed to stop the lagging and buffering. Plus, if you log into netflix on a pc, you can adjust your streaming preference. I have ours set to better.
We were on a basic Internet plan and were averaging 1-3 gbps which was too slow since we typically have several devices connected. We upgraded to a midrange speed plan (up to 12gbps) and now average 6-10 gbps, depending on time of day.
We already have an antenna for our kitchen TV, and Antennaweb got it right in our case, 9 stations, 18 with substations, only one or two I will watch while in the kitchen. Otherwise, it is pretty worthless. It seems we mainly watch the cable stations.
Also, we did the Netflix free trial, and it is terrible. Constant buffering, and lagging. It gets so bad I literally shut it off. Seems it can't be used if anyone is on the computer or lap top at the same time. With 3 teens and a DH who uses it every evening for business, even the 7.99/month is a waste of money. We have a smart TV, a Wii, and PS3 so are capable of streaming to more than one TV, but how that would happen when we can't even get one is beyond me. We even hard wired instead of WiFi and it had no effect at all.
Plus, Netflix has a lot of selections, but not much we are interested in watching. In one month we went through the stuff we were interested in, and very few new selections come up. So not too impressed w/ their streaming selections either.
DH complains every single time the cable bill comes in.
Is there a way to resolve the streaming issue? As far as movies and older TV shows, we can rent most of those for free from the library, so we really are only interested in the newer stuff.
Any suggestions?
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