Boomerang86
Got FUD?
Premium
join:2002-10-18
VampireState
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·VOIPo
·Time Warner VOIP
| It's all about the Benjamins
I didn't leave cable, but I did downgrade to save money recently. Cable hasn't gotten worse for me in terms of performance, it's just too damned expensive for what you get.
How many left cable for OTA television, I wonder? That's still free.
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Don't pay ME back, pay it forward. |
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anony1
@comcast.net | "How many left cable for OTA television, I wonder?"
And now they are coming back due to DTV hassles, confusion.
TWC reported this in recent quarterly results. Comcast mentioned it without specific numbers. |
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eric_n_dfw
join:2001-10-22
Euless, TX
 ·EarthLink
 ·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to Boomerang86
said by Boomerang86  :How many left cable for OTA television, I wonder? That's still free. That's exactly what I did about 9 months ago - no problems with OTA HD, NetFlix streaming and a PyTivo server streaming my DVD library to my TivoHD.
I'm addicted to Tivo so that cost would be there on Cable or OTA, but $16/month for NetFlix 3 DVD plan is a lot better than the $60/month TWC was charging me before. |
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eric_n_dfw
join:2001-10-22
Euless, TX
·EarthLink
·AT&T U-Verse
| reply to anony1
said by anony1 :
"How many left cable for OTA television, I wonder?"
And now they are coming back due to DTV hassles, confusion.
TWC reported this in recent quarterly results. Comcast mentioned it without specific numbers.
I'm not really sure what confusion there is and the only hassle would be for those living outside of DTV range.
The converter box, AFAIK, is no more complex than a cable box anyway. |
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Omega
Displaced Ohioan
Premium
join:2002-07-30
Cheyenne, WY
clubs: 
·Bresnan Online
 ·Verizon Wireless B..
·Comcast
·AT&T Midwest
| reply to Boomerang86
I just got digital cable through Bresnan Cable (smaller company). They are by far the best cable company I have dealt with. (I've dealt with Cox, Comcast and Time Warner).
I got their HD digital TV package and free showtime and another movie channel for 1 year for $23/month. This was a deal on top of getting internet, which was cheaper and faster than anything Comcast had to offer.
8mbit internet is their standard internet package...and I live in Wyoming!
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Whats smells like blue? |
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SLD
Premium
join:2002-04-17 | I'd like to have your story. |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| reply to anony1
said by anony1 :
"How many left cable for OTA television, I wonder?"
And now they are coming back due to DTV hassles, confusion.
TWC reported this in recent quarterly results. Comcast mentioned it without specific numbers.
What hassels and confusion? Hell the HD signals form OTA are better than what cable or satellite provide. And the SD signals look just as good if not better than cable/satelite. And they're FREE. How hard it is to hook an antenna to your TV? |
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S_engineer
join:2007-05-16
Chicago, IL | Nice IM....its the cowards way out...but it was expected!
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BF69~~~Please stop suffocating gerbils! |
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MalibuMaxx
join:2007-02-06
Chesterton, IN
·Comcast
| reply to BF69
The digital dropoff rate is much higher that analog... for those people they have to add amps and extra equipement... i.e. rotors... omnidirectional ant... etc... So thanks to this transition there still is confusion and most definity issues.
As for me I always had an amp and a huge antenna with a rotor so nothing affected me but in this area id say im a very small portion of the population around here that is "ready" for OTA signal. |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| said by MalibuMaxx :The digital dropoff rate is much higher that analog... for those people they have to add amps and extra equipement... i.e. rotors... omnidirectional ant... etc... So thanks to this transition there still is confusion and most definity issues. As for me I always had an amp and a huge antenna with a rotor so nothing affected me but in this area id say im a very small portion of the population around here that is "ready" for OTA signal. MOST are ready. Think about it MOST people live within 25 miles of a big city. Those people need a simple indoor antenna to get channels in. People no longer getting channels in really weren't getting in those channels anyways. People think because they loss a very snowy picture they are losing something. These people SHOULD have had outdoor antenna and pre-amps and rotors in the first place.
Ok I live in a fringe area( 70 miles from Nashville ) so I need an outdoor antenna and an amp. Big deal. If you want a high quality DB 8 will run you $150-$200 and a high quality pre-amp is another $75-$100 max. What's that 2-3 months of cable service and that's basically a one time cost.
And actually you COULD build your own DB8. And for cheaper. hell right now I'm using a prototype DB2 I built and I'm watching Ch 2 out of Nashville right now( 4 PM ). A BD 2 is technically a 30 mile range antenna. Cost me $10 in parts to build plus $25 for the cheap wal-mart pre-amp. After June 12th the Ch 4 and Ch 5 signals will be stronger than Ch 2. At night I can get in Fox 17 and WB 58. Stations I supposedly can't get in according to antennaweb.org, DTv.gov and tvfool. This all of a DB2 I made with coat hangers and grill covers.
Anyone that thinks that people that watch TV OTA are LOSING out on anything is an idiot. No snow, a picture BETTER than cable. FREE HD if you have a HDTV and MORE channels. for example my local PBS stations now has 3 channels instead of one. Yeah MORE choices and a better picture sucks. |
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True_But
@sbcglobal.net | reply to BF69
I live 40 miles away from the actual TV stations and 30 miles from the antennae yet I can not use OTA. Why? Because there are some mountains in between me and the signal. It would be nice though... |
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en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA | I live 40 miles from the antenna (Mt. Wilson), and get ~53 channels including subs. Fine tuning of a directional antenna + preamp is needed. I've got +1 mountain between me and a Mt Wilson.
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Canada = Hollywood North |
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tmh
@qwest.net
| reply to Boomerang86
said by Boomerang86 :I didn't leave cable, but I did downgrade to save money recently. Cable hasn't gotten worse for me in terms of performance, it's just too damned expensive for what you get. How many left cable for OTA television, I wonder? That's still free. I did. I built my own UHF antenna (»forums.snapstream.com/vb/home-th···now.html) and I got 30+ digital channels OTA, some from up to 26 miles away.
The video quality is excellent, with the occassional (rare) dropout. The analog equivalent, which I assume comes from the same location and distance, is pretty crappy in comparison.
Many stations have subchannels (x.1, x.2, etc.) that carry alternative programming like sports, movies, etc.
No more tied to stupid cable programming. |
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cornelius785
join:2006-10-26
Worcester, MA
| reply to Boomerang86
I'm one that dumped cable for OTA DTV, got a little fed up with another price hike (going up faster than inflation for something that isn't tied to something that isn't limited by how much there is, like milk, gas, food, etc.) to $80. i could have down graded, to just basic extened, but still fairly expensive, or further to just basic cable consisting of the OTA channels. At that point, why bother with cable at all, unless you can't get anything without spending lots of money on an expensive setup
with my home made DB-8 antennae, which I should tweak with individual rods to their proper lenghts as they vary an inch total overall, I get channels 30 to 40 miles out. Although my viewing habits have changed, I'm surprise it doesn't suck as much as I expected, especially with mythtv to record stuff at the weird hours for me to enjoy when convenient. I just hope OTA television stays free and easy to record, as in no forced compliance of the broadcast flag, but in that case I'd get something that doesn't observe that flag, which do exist. |
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tschmidt
Premium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
 ·Hollis Hosting
·Verizon Online DSL
·Fairpoint Communic..
| reply to Boomerang86
said by Boomerang86 :How many left cable for OTA television, I wonder? We have always used over the air (OTA), Cable and Sat are too expensive for the amount of TV we watch.
I think conversion to broadcast Digital TV is resulting in somewhat of a resurgence in interest in OTA due to cost savings and improved picture quality.
The big problem, at least in our area, there are very few TV antenna installers left. So unless you are somewhat technical and handy setting up an attic or roof top antenna can be a daunting task.
/tom |
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