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Like to cut the cord

roadie1

roadie1

Super Member
Good day all! I recently went on a fixed income and I'm looking to squeeze every penny I can out of my pay. I had my landline dis-connected and now I'm looking to cut off my cable but I need something for distraction.

Has anyone here heard of the Mohu Leaf indoor antenna? It has good reviews but you know how that can be. It's inexpensive at $50 and would let me get at least 4-5 channels which would get me by.

Anybody? Thanks!

...r1
 
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I can't help with that particular antenna, but there are other factors to consider. How far are you from the transmission towers? Where can you place the antenna? Obviously, its performance will be different if placed in a basement away from the transmission towers compared to the second story with a clear shot.

We are seriously thinking about suspending our satellite service and relying on OTA and Netflix disks (our DSL is too slow for streaming) for our entertainment.
 
I bought a winegard antenna and it works well. I looked on tvfool.com to find out where the stations were located and the winegard site also has an antenna recommendation tool. I dumped DTV when the blackouts occurred, final straw.

Do I miss it? sometimes yes but usually no. Thankfully my TV has a very good tuner.
 
Another nod for the DIY route.

This is one I made with a sheet of paperboard, foil heating duct tape, package tape and a balun. It performes *much* better than two store bought antennas I bought each in the $50-$80 range.

The design and layout is easily found on the web usually made with coat hanger wire. I made it flat so I could put it on the wall behind a framed painting. Actually worked better than the first one I made with coat hangers.

img7037x.jpg
 
I have a Mohu Leaf antenna, I used it for a few weeks before going back to the old rabbit ears. It worked about as well as any other antenna.
 
I use a small outdoor UHF antenna which I use indoors. Since I have a dedicated home theater room, my wife does not complain too much about it. Though if that ugly thing were in the living room, I am pretty sure she would object. Anyway, it is vastly better than any indoor antenna that I have ever tried. I also use an amplifier, and except when there are storms, I have great reception. Here is a link to some info on antennas:

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html

Including a very useful comparison:

http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

I used that to select my antenna, and also I used that site to select my amplifier. I have the antenna mounted to a table leg that I bought from Ikea, which is screwed to a board, and is on top of my home theater rack.

I carefully measured my space, and picked the biggest, best antenna I could from that comparison. (Generally, with antennas, bigger really is better.) I also paid attention to the frequencies used in my broadcast area, to get the best antenna I could for my specific situation. It was a bit of reading to research this, but it was well worth it.

I have a small homemade dipole antenna for VHS, optimized for the frequencies used in my area. Again, read up on antennas carefully, and you very likely will get the best results that are reasonably possible in your location.

Start at my link above, and read everything at that site. It is a very useful site, also with some links to other useful sites.
 
I kissed the satellite company goodbye earlier this year. My monthly DTV bill had risen to just shy of $150 a month. Considering how little TV I watched it was just stupid to spend that kind of coin.

I have one of those flying saucer looking antennas about 3' above the peak of my roof. Mine looks like this one.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...ce=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032189

I'm ~45 miles from the closest Tampa transmitters and ~60 miles from the Orlando transmitters. Between the 2 markets I pick up over 50 channels flawlessly.

Between the OTA stations and my Roku box with NetFlix ($8 a month) I absolutely DO NOT lack for something to watch. Add to that an occasional RedBox DVD and I'm plenty entertained for the few hours a week that a TV is on here.

Unless there's cable (or satellite) channel that that you can't live without OTA and streaming can provide TONS of viewing at very low costs.

Go here: http://www.antennaweb.org/Address.aspx and plug in your address and it'll tell you what's available to you with an antenna.
 
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That antenna has me interested.

jhoak said:
I kissed the satellite company goodbye earlier this year. My monthly DTV bill had risen to just shy of $150 a month. Considering how little TV I watched it was just stupid to spend that kind of coin.

I have one of those flying saucer looking antennas about 3' above the peak of my roof. Mine looks like this one.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...ce=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032189

I'm ~45 miles from the closest Tampa transmitters and ~60 miles from the Orlando transmitters. Between the 2 markets I pick up over 50 channels flawlessly.

Between the OTA stations and my Roku box with NetFlix ($8 a month) I absolutely DO NOT lack for something to watch. Add to that an occasional RedBox DVD and I'm plenty entertained for the few hours a week that a TV is on here.

Unless there's cable (or satellite) channel that that you can't live without OTA and streaming can provide TONS of viewing at very low costs.

Go here: http://www.antennaweb.org/Address.aspx and plug in your address and it'll tell you what's available to you with an antenna.
Click to expand...
But isn't this the same antenna for a much lower price??
 
As relatively flat as your area is, you might be able to pick up stations from Columbus.
 
BRAVO to roadie1 for not wanting to PAY for commercials and crappy programming anymore!! I quit paying for that crap two years ago and have never looked back!
I think it's insane to pay to have somebody attempt over and over and over and over again to sell you something on TV.
Broadcast TV is great(because it's freeeeee) and believe me the money you will save will buy you a TOWER and a great outdoor antenna if you wish and then after that, you'll keep saving your hard-earned money!
Look at it as your "Flag of Independence"!!
 
jhoak said:
I kissed the satellite company goodbye earlier this year. My monthly DTV bill had risen to just shy of $150 a month. Considering how little TV I watched it was just stupid to spend that kind of coin.

I have one of those flying saucer looking antennas about 3' above the peak of my roof. Mine looks like this one.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...ce=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032189

I'm ~45 miles from the closest Tampa transmitters and ~60 miles from the Orlando transmitters. Between the 2 markets I pick up over 50 channels flawlessly.

Between the OTA stations and my Roku box with NetFlix ($8 a month) I absolutely DO NOT lack for something to watch. Add to that an occasional RedBox DVD and I'm plenty entertained for the few hours a week that a TV is on here.

Unless there's cable (or satellite) channel that that you can't live without OTA and streaming can provide TONS of viewing at very low costs.

Go here: http://www.antennaweb.org/Address.aspx and plug in your address and it'll tell you what's available to you with an antenna.
Click to expand...


I have wanted to cancel my cable tv for a long time but I never thought to even look for a site that would give me the information about the channels I could get with an antenna.
Thanks for this jhoak!

Well, I'm glad I haven't canceled my cable yet! I can only get one channel (CBS) with an antenna.
That's a sad thing because everytime the word "cable" is mentioned in my neck of the woods people get angry. Most aren't disappointed with the service but the cost of that service is what really pisses people off. We only have one choice for cable service so there is no competition and the only other alternative is satellite and that's even more of a rip-off than cable.

I just got a new, first for me, flatscreen smart television so I'm going to be looking into all types of alternatives. I'm also going to start a new thread so y'all in this forum can help me understand (good luck) all this modern stuff.

Al
 
cubby01 said:
Another nod for the DIY route.

This is one I made with a sheet of paperboard, foil heating duct tape, package tape and a balun. It performes *much* better than two store bought antennas I bought each in the $50-$80 range.

The design and layout is easily found on the web usually made with coat hanger wire. I made it flat so I could put it on the wall behind a framedpainting. Actually worked better than the first one I made with coat hangers.

img7037x.jpg
Click to expand...

What a simple but brilliant idea for a FLAT (and therefore "hide-able") antenna. Thanks for posting that!

Angler said:
I have wanted to cancel my cable tv for a long time but I never thought to even look for a site that would give me the information about the channels I could get with an antenna.
Thanks for this jhoak!

Well, I'm glad I haven't canceled my cable yet! I can only get one channel (CBS) with an antenna.
That's a sad thing because everytime the word "cable" is mentioned in my neck of the woods people get angry. Most aren't disappointed with the service but the cost of that service is what really pisses people off. We only have one choice for cable service so there is no competition and the only other alternative is satellite and that's even more of a rip-off than cable.

I just got a new, first for me, flatscreen smart television so I'm going to be looking into all types of alternatives. I'm also going to start a new thread so y'all in this forum can help me understand (good luck) all this modern stuff.

Al
Click to expand...

Free-to-air programming is available here, and virtually every high-rise building (which about 99 percent of the population live in) has a built-in antenna. My building includes HDTV antenna capability; I'm not sure if all buildings do yet, or not.

In spite of having a broadband TV connection that offers a range of channels, what I've found is that I don't watch nearly as many of those programs, as I stream stuff from online. There are many entire television series and programs, both oldies and new stuff, available online for free, if you look hard enough. Many of the programs are the same ones shown on the paid channels.

There seems to be one difference between here and the States, judging from this thread. The channels I PAY for have no advertising. That's what I pay for. The free-to-air channels have advertising; that's what pays for them. To ask you to pay for programming AND make you watch a lot of ads is unreasonable, IMO. I don't blame anyone facing that situation for cutting off the paid channels.

I've even thought of cancelling my subscription when it expires, in spite of decent programs and no ads, and just watching stuff online. Not because of ads or poor quality or anything like that, but simply because I'm not sure our watching habits justify paying for something that isn't used all that much. Pinching pennies is hardly ever a bad choice, anyway.
 
We cut cable about a year and a half ago, surprisingly enough, we still pick up about 24 free DTV channels over the cable line.

Not sure if were supposed to, but it works for us!
 
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