Entertainment

Alternative to Cable?

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  • Aug 2nd, 2013 10:14 am
Sr. Member
Apr 30, 2013
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King City

Alternative to Cable?

Anyone have suggestions? I don't like the fact that I'm paying close to $50 / month for basic cable. Just find it a ripoff.

Roku / Netflix / HD antennas ? Anyone have recommendations or experience with any? Anyone leave Cable tv for a more viable option?

Thanks for sharing!
16 replies
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Oct 22, 2009
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For regular TV go with an HDTV OTA (over the air) Antenna (the best brand is Antennas Direct....get the DB4 model..I have the smaller DB2 model but it is discontinued).

If you want PVR Functionality...you can buy an OTA PVR Recorder box (they are a bit expensive but you will save money in time since you are not paying for cable anymore). OR build your own PVR HTPC (Home Theatre PC) with a HDTV tuner. (Google them both for more info).

For your movies and series...go with Netflix it's only $8/month.

The only downside to HDTV OTA is you do not get famous channels from cable/satellite...like Discovery, Space, Nat Geo etc.
But there are other *ahem* "options" to get shows, if you are desperate to watch some of them, that are on these channels from various online sources if you know what I mean. ;)
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Nov 12, 2011
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Scorpionsy wrote: For regular TV go with an HDTV OTA (over the air) Antenna (the best brand is Antennas Direct....get the DB4 model..I have the smaller DB2 model but it is discontinued).

If you want PVR Functionality...you can buy an OTA PVR Recorder box (they are a bit expensive but you will save money in time since you are not paying for cable anymore). OR build your own PVR HTPC (Home Theatre PC) with a HDTV tuner. (Google them both for more info).

For your movies and series...goe with Netflix it's only $8.

The only downside to HDTV OTA is you do not get famous channels from cable/satellite...like Discovery, Space, Nat Geo etc.
But there are other *ahem* "options" to get shows, if you are desperate to watch some of them, that are on these channels from various online sources if you know what I mean. ;)
Any suggestions for indoor antennas? Also, can the DB4 be mounted in the attic?
Sr. Member
Dec 19, 2010
671 posts
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Vancouver
A roku or WDTV (maybe google chrome dongle now?) suffice. after a few months you forget about cable, but the first few are hard. The only hard part for me is live sports, but I pay a bit for the league specific and still come out better than the $1000/year I'd spend on cable. The biggest miss is NFL, as there is just no way to watch a quality broadcast without cable.
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Jun 8, 2008
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We installed an exterior antenna on the same mount that our Bell Satellite dish used to sit on, and then use the pre-existing lines to run things into the house - added a splitter and have two tvs running fine off the one antenna. OP - the choice of antenna, and preferred height will depend on your location - check out tvfool.com to see what channels you might get, play around with the height as well.

We have the antenna, OTA PVR box (as someone said, it was $$ but we didn't want to bother with building our own PC, we just wanted something very simple to run) and we have Netflix. You can also pay a small monthly fee to get US Netflix but we don't really feel the need to right now. I put a plugin onto my laptop on Google Chrome to access Hulu (but don't currently subscribe to Hulu plus) but I very rarely use it.

I was recently browsing my sister's Rogers Cable guide and was seeing shows that I used to watch when we had Bell Satellite, and I had forgotten they existed - and that's okay ... since looking back, they weren't very good anyways ;) We have enough tv options as is, and I'm rediscovering TVO and pleasantly surprised!
Deal Guru
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Oct 22, 2009
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Typhoonz wrote: Any suggestions for indoor antennas? Also, can the DB4 be mounted in the attic?
The DB2 which I have, which is half the size of the DB4, is an outdoor antenna but I use it indoors...next to the window. It is the ultimate Indoor antenna because it has such high gain...and I get around 22-25 channels.

But I got my friend a DB4 (which he also is using indoors) and it has double the gain of the DB2. He was looking for a way out of Cable subscription charges...so I suggested the DB4 / Netflix combo ...and he just loves it and the amount of money he is saving,

So yes, you can use it in the attic..but preferably next to a window...and the more it is pointed towards the CN Tower (in Toronto) the more channels you will pick up.

Now there are indoor antennas that people claim are good, but each person has different results..so mixed results. Like for example the Turk Indoor Antenna models (you can find them at The Source). I tried one and returned it because it was not that great...for me at least.

After doing quite a bit of online research and comparisons, I felt that the DB2 (and larger DB4) are really the BEST indoor antenna you can get right now...if you can find a nice little spot for them indoors. (I actually hide mine behind the curtains right at the window).

So the DB2 (if you can find one) and the DB4 really are your best indoor antenna choices...but if you want a smaller indoor-designed antenna (even though you might not pick up that many channels but the strongest signal ones) then the Turk Indoor model will work too.
~~~~~~~~~~> Get...THAT DEAL...Over Here!!!
Sr. Member
Apr 30, 2013
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King City
Thanks for your input! I appreciate those that shared their ideas. I will do a bit more reading but I'm sure more people will post here as well.

What Channels do you get with the OTA antennas and what about HD?
Member
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Mar 21, 2008
448 posts
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Edmonton
I cancelled my cable about 6 months ago, it was costing $60+. So I upgraded my internet speed. So far I use.

Roku for Netflix, NHL Gamecenter and justin.tv for my Nascar.

Couchpotato to D/L my movies.

Sickbeard to D/L my TV series.

Movies and TV series are then transfered on a external HDD


Hopefully one day ill upgrade to a NAS setup.
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Scorpionsy wrote: The DB2 which I have, which is half the size of the DB4, is an outdoor antenna but I use it indoors...next to the window. It is the ultimate Indoor antenna because it has such high gain...and I get around 22-25 channels.

But I got my friend a DB4 (which he also is using indoors) and it has double the gain of the DB2. He was looking for a way out of Cable subscription charges...so I suggested the DB4 / Netflix combo ...and he just loves it and the amount of money he is saving,

So yes, you can use it in the attic..but preferably next to a window...and the more it is pointed towards the CN Tower (in Toronto) the more channels you will pick up.

Now there are indoor antennas that people claim are good, but each person has different results..so mixed results. Like for example the Turk Indoor Antenna models (you can find them at The Source). I tried one and returned it because it was not that great...for me at least.

After doing quite a bit of online research and comparisons, I felt that the DB2 (and larger DB4) are really the BEST indoor antenna you can get right now...if you can find a nice little spot for them indoors. (I actually hide mine behind the curtains right at the window).

So the DB2 (if you can find one) and the DB4 really are your best indoor antenna choices...but if you want a smaller indoor-designed antenna (even though you might not pick up that many channels but the strongest signal ones) then the Turk Indoor model will work too.
Thank you. If I don't have access to a window will it present a problem?
Deal Guru
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Oct 22, 2009
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freeforall wrote: Thanks for your input! I appreciate those that shared their ideas. I will do a bit more reading but I'm sure more people will post here as well.

What Channels do you get with the OTA antennas and what about HD?
You are welcome.

Most of the channels are HD channels (they are actually much sharper image quality than cable HD channels because OTA data is not compressed like with Cable services) and you get some SD channels too (usually they have HD counterparts except for the odd few).

Off the top of my head...all the American Public channels (NBS, CBS, ABC etc.), all the Canadian public channels (like City, CTV, Global, CBC, TVO, Omni 1 & 2, CTS etc. and some French-language Channels too like RDI), a Classics Movies/Series channel (a fave of mine), a new channel called "Bounce" (shows movies and series...but it seems to focus on content with African-American actors/celebrities), an Audio-only Music channel. That is all I can recall at the moment.
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Typhoonz wrote: Thank you. If I don't have access to a window will it present a problem?
Glad to help out.

A window will allow you clear view of the sky which will get you the most channels (factoring also where you are directing the antenna). If you don't have a window, it will still get quite a few channels other indoor antennas cannot get (but of course less than next to a window or if mounted outside on the roof/wall)...because, again as I said before, the DB2/DB4 has a very strong gain capacity.
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Picked up a Terk antenna for my parents. Without pointing out a window I pick up 30 channels with perfect quality.
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Typhoonz wrote: Picked up a Terk antenna for my parents. Without pointing out a window I pick up 30 channels with perfect quality.
Well, that's great. Like I said Turk Indoor antenna experiences vary between different users (and locations). So it's good that you can pick that many channels without even pointing at a window.
~~~~~~~~~~> Get...THAT DEAL...Over Here!!!
Sr. Member
Apr 30, 2013
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King City
Nice!
What's your location if you don't mind sharing? A friend of mine in the Marylin Monroe condos and get's only 8 channels from 32nd floor using the Terk.

I think I'll just go to the store in Mississauga and see what they say about my location, etc.
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Scorpionsy wrote: Well, that's great. Like I said Turk Indoor antenna experiences vary between different users (and locations). So it's good that you can pick that many channels without even pointing at a window.
I was just surprised how many it picked up! Thanks again for the help.
freeforall wrote: Nice!
What's your location if you don't mind sharing? A friend of mine in the Marylin Monroe condos and get's only 8 channels from 32nd floor using the Terk.

I think I'll just go to the store in Mississauga and see what they say about my location, etc.
They actually live in the St. Catharines area, so there aren't many high rises around that block signals. It's a regular house they are in so nothing high up like an apartment building.
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Typhoonz wrote: I was just surprised how many it picked up! Thanks again for the help.



They actually live in the St. Catharines area, so there aren't many high rises around that block signals. It's a regular house they are in so nothing high up like an apartment building.
You're Welcome. :)

Yes, another factor for getting more channels would be preferably a clear view sky...so the more buildings in front of you or surrounding you...the more they can impact your reception and can affect the number of channel you get.
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Dec 26, 2010
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This would not work for us outside of a major TV market. OTA where I am consists of 3 channels. Kept my satellite equipment and though a bit costly gives me everything I can think of (including 100 high def channels). I can use the OTA antenna for local news. For downloaded content, you still have to have someone record and upload it. Of late, several shows I got asked to look for have been non existent (I checked various sites and Usenet) so I made recordings from my own equipment of those shows. Lots of old content is like that as well...not online anywhere. Hey...you liked the old Spider-Man TV series with Nicholas Hammond? Got that. Recorded on tape in 1993. Hard to find online though...

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