Cutting the cord

[adambr2]

I've been pleasantly surprised with how easy it is for the cord cutting NFL fan to still get all their content. 

A high range roof antenna is a must, at least for me. Perhaps those who live in a big city can get by with an indoor antenna. I have a 150 mile range antenna on my roof and can pick up NBC from Eau Claire in Wisconsin Rapids and FOX and CBS from Wausau. So that covers my Sunday Packer viewing as well as the other afternoon broadcast games, as well as SNF.

I thought I'd be out of luck for MNF being on ESPN, but it turns out it's on ABC as well, so I get that free as well. 

The only viewing cost is Amazon Prime for TNF, which we owned well before Amazon bought the rights to TNF for Amazon shopping. 

 

[MrTPlush]

I have gone no cord and no stream for the last 6 months after march madness. However, now that college basketball is back upon us I am itching to go back to streaming. I really just need the $35 Sling that includes ESPN channels because that will cover nearly all Kansas games for me. However, I decided to try an indoor antenna to get CBS (to get the off Kansas game that is national TV there) and to get some of the other local channels for NFL games.

It was rather sucky and I just can’t figure out how to get a decent broadcast out of it. Now yes, my expectations are realistic…I don’t expect worlds best signal. However, I literally live a few miles from quite a few of the towers (Wausau) and can see them blinking out my window. I mean, jeez, it can possibly get much better minus climbing the tower and attaching the antenna to it.

[homer]

43 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

I have gone no cord and no stream for the last 6 months after march madness. However, now that college basketball is back upon us I am itching to go back to streaming. I really just need the $35 Sling that includes ESPN channels because that will cover nearly all Kansas games for me. However, I decided to try an indoor antenna to get CBS (to get the off Kansas game that is national TV there) and to get some of the other local channels for NFL games.

It was rather sucky and I just can’t figure out how to get a decent broadcast out of it. Now yes, my expectations are realistic…I don’t expect worlds best signal. However, I literally live a few miles from quite a few of the towers (Wausau) and can see them blinking out my window. I mean, jeez, it can possibly get much better minus climbing the tower and attaching the antenna to it.

re Sling

I did the "free trial" with a few different emails on my computer. For some reason, one still works and I haven't paid for Sling in over a year. 

[LouisEly]

1 hour ago, MrTPlush said:

I have gone no cord and no stream for the last 6 months after march madness. However, now that college basketball is back upon us I am itching to go back to streaming. I really just need the $35 Sling that includes ESPN channels because that will cover nearly all Kansas games for me. However, I decided to try an indoor antenna to get CBS (to get the off Kansas game that is national TV there) and to get some of the other local channels for NFL games.

It was rather sucky and I just can’t figure out how to get a decent broadcast out of it. Now yes, my expectations are realistic…I don’t expect worlds best signal. However, I literally live a few miles from quite a few of the towers (Wausau) and can see them blinking out my window. I mean, jeez, it can possibly get much better minus climbing the tower and attaching the antenna to it.

You are likely getting interference from something nearby:

In the presence of electrical interference, you may experience frozen images or intermittent audio while viewing over-the-air television programs. This interference may be caused by equipment in your home, such as hair dryers, sewing machines, electric drills, doorbell transformers, light switches, smartphone chargers, power supplies, computing devices, washing machines, clothes dryers, fluorescent lights, LED lights, or garage door openers.

Electrical interference may also be caused by power lines. Interference caused by your power company's electrical equipment is normally continuous, and your power company should be notified.

A simple method of determining the location of electrical interference is by using a portable battery-powered AM radio tuned to a quiet frequency at the lower end of the dial. You should hear static or a buzzing sound as you get close to the source of the interference. The closer you get, the more intense the static will be.

If you're in an apartment/condo, it could be from a neighbor.  If your antenna is near a wall, my guess is that there are electrical wires behind the wall or outside the wall.

[NBBrewFan]

3 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

I have gone no cord and no stream for the last 6 months after march madness. However, now that college basketball is back upon us I am itching to go back to streaming. I really just need the $35 Sling that includes ESPN channels because that will cover nearly all Kansas games for me. However, I decided to try an indoor antenna to get CBS (to get the off Kansas game that is national TV there) and to get some of the other local channels for NFL games.

It was rather sucky and I just can’t figure out how to get a decent broadcast out of it. Now yes, my expectations are realistic…I don’t expect worlds best signal. However, I literally live a few miles from quite a few of the towers (Wausau) and can see them blinking out my window. I mean, jeez, it can possibly get much better minus climbing the tower and attaching the antenna to it.

I've used a flat pad type indoor HD antenna for awhile and usually just tape it to the glass in the upper corner of a window that faces where the antennas are located.  In some cities it wasn't necessary (I could put it on a wall), but I found in WI that the window works the best. Second level usually helps. The issue is where is your TV in relation to the best location.  To make that irrelevant, I got an AirTV through Sling when they had a deal.  The AirTV device allows the Antenna to connect to your wi-fi network so that any TV that can run the Sling App will have the channels integrated into Sling.  The good thing is that it still works when you cancel Sling so you have a local channel setup until something breaks (I am on year 8 of my AirTV).  At the moment they are running a $49 special for a HD antenna and an AirTV2 when you prepay 3 months of Sling. I haven't used the RCA antenna that is part of that deal, but I have used an RCA outdoor antenna and it worked very well. So if you are committing to Sling for at least 3 months think about the $49 special for an HD antenna and the AirTV2. The other advantage is that within the part of the Sling App to scan for the channels they have a crude signal strength metric so you can literally move the antenna from room to room and rescan the channels and see where you are getting the best reception based on signal strength and 99% of the time reception quality is directly related to signal strength.

[MrTPlush]

21 hours ago, NBBrewFan said:

I've used a flat pad type indoor HD antenna for awhile and usually just tape it to the glass in the upper corner of a window that faces where the antennas are located.  In some cities it wasn't necessary (I could put it on a wall), but I found in WI that the window works the best. Second level usually helps. The issue is where is your TV in relation to the best location.  To make that irrelevant, I got an AirTV through Sling when they had a deal.  The AirTV device allows the Antenna to connect to your wi-fi network so that any TV that can run the Sling App will have the channels integrated into Sling.  The good thing is that it still works when you cancel Sling so you have a local channel setup until something breaks (I am on year 8 of my AirTV).  At the moment they are running a $49 special for a HD antenna and an AirTV2 when you prepay 3 months of Sling. I haven't used the RCA antenna that is part of that deal, but I have used an RCA outdoor antenna and it worked very well. So if you are committing to Sling for at least 3 months think about the $49 special for an HD antenna and the AirTV2. The other advantage is that within the part of the Sling App to scan for the channels they have a crude signal strength metric so you can literally move the antenna from room to room and rescan the channels and see where you are getting the best reception based on signal strength and 99% of the time reception quality is directly related to signal strength.

I got the antenna to work, finally. It just had to be moved like two feet lower on the patio door. Must have been something in the house ticking it off because that two feet made a weak 1 bar signal a full 5 bars. Thanks for explaining AirTV...I saw it, but didn't really understand what exactly it does. That will be way easier than running new cable lines in the basement...not that I won't be tearing up some walls for the bar, but at least it is one less thing to mess around with. 

[NBBrewFan]

47 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

I got the antenna to work, finally. It just had to be moved like two feet lower on the patio door. Must have been something in the house ticking it off because that two feet made a weak 1 bar signal a full 5 bars. Thanks for explaining AirTV...I saw it, but didn't really understand what exactly it does. That will be way easier than running new cable lines in the basement...not that I won't be tearing up some walls for the bar, but at least it is one less thing to mess around with. 

There are 2 limitations to the AirTV 2:

1) Only 2 devices can "stream"/record local channels at the same time (can be different channels).  If you are planning on recording local channels (See #2) it effects the number of streams available for watching as a recording takes 1 of the available tuners.  So AirTV 2 can record 2, watch 1/record 1, or watch 2 at the same time. The AirTV Anywhere device, also on special with Sling, but $99, has 4 tuners so you can watch/record 4. 

2) There is no DVR functionality built in for local channels (the sling built in DVR will not record local channels), but you can hook up a 1-2 Tb USB hard disk drive to the AirtTV 2 then you can record up to 200 hours of local TV. The AirTV Anywhere device has 1 Tb built-in for DVR.

Edit: There are also other devices that allow you to hook up your HD antenna to your wi-fi network.  One is a Tablo that has various device options.  You use their app and hook up a USB drive for recording (I don't think the newer versions have a built-in HDD, but I am not sure).  No integration with Sling and more $.  The nice thing about the Tablo is you have a lot more functionality with how you setup the device (AirTV is pretty much plug and play - no customization). One negative for Tablo is that you need to pay for the the Guide for shows (with AirTV it's built into the sling app) to see what's playing so an additional monthly charge or a large lifetime subscription purchase.  I have also tried the HDHomerun device (first gen) and I believe the main issue with them is they don't use wifi and require an ethernet connection to your network (an issue since my wifi and antenna have never been on the same floor).  The other issue is how they DVR shows as I believe they require a network storage device, but I believe some of the newer versions have a built-in DVR/HDD.  I also hated the interface as the AirTV and Tablo are 10X better.  Overall the easiest and cheapest to use would be the AirTV devices (mostly as Sling bought them several years ago to allow local channel access). 

[GAME05]

After two years on the waiting list I finally got my email from Starlink for service. Though they said the area was at capacity, so I can have it, but I'd be low-priority if use was getting maxed out, and I'd only be bumped up when it comes open.

Though I read that you typically can't take the satellites with you when you move because they're tied to your GPS location. And there's a 5% chance I'll be moving in the next six months, so the email will be left unanswered. Not gonna pay for a $550 box if it's useless in six months.

[patrickgpe]

I have been thinking for a while on what I want to do after Brewers season since there isn't much reason to be paying 95 dollars a month for direct TV stream. Decided I will go with YouTube TV since I loved their interface and I do get a 10 dollar discount as a recent (new) T-mobile mobile customer. 

[homer]

On 9/15/2022 at 9:47 AM, adambr2 said:

I've been pleasantly surprised with how easy it is for the cord cutting NFL fan to still get all their content. 

A high range roof antenna is a must, at least for me. Perhaps those who live in a big city can get by with an indoor antenna. I have a 150 mile range antenna on my roof and can pick up NBC from Eau Claire in Wisconsin Rapids and FOX and CBS from Wausau. So that covers my Sunday Packer viewing as well as the other afternoon broadcast games, as well as SNF.

I thought I'd be out of luck for MNF being on ESPN, but it turns out it's on ABC as well, so I get that free as well. 

The only viewing cost is Amazon Prime for TNF, which we owned well before Amazon bought the rights to TNF for Amazon shopping. 

 

I live in Milwaukee now and bought a cheap $27 indoor antenna from Best Buy. If it rains, I can't really get Fox...so I was glad the game ended before that whopper of a storm hit on Sunday. I do have to put it high up on the window in order to get the best reception. I may look into getting a better one at some point. Getting Chicago stations would be cool so if we end up buying this place I may get a nice outdoor unit.

[MrTPlush]

55 minutes ago, homer said:

I live in Milwaukee now and bought a cheap $27 indoor antenna from Best Buy. If it rains, I can't really get Fox...so I was glad the game ended before that whopper of a storm hit on Sunday. I do have to put it high up on the window in order to get the best reception. I may look into getting a better one at some point. Getting Chicago stations would be cool so if we end up buying this place I may get a nice outdoor unit.

I figured out the rain downside of the indoor antenna pretty quick. NBC got a little shotty when it started raining a decent amount, but it still played pretty well. Though...my rain was probably nowhere near what you are referring to. Guessing mine would crap out for NBC at that point.

I guess I can't complain regardless. The NBC tower is 55 miles away and my antenna is not pointing that direction at all. It does make me rethink the AirTV concept though if rain is that problematic. Realistically I already have a cable running to the roof for a Dish...so doing a rooftop antenna wouldn't actually be that inconvenient for me to do.

That being said my significant other probably needs some dumb channel not on sling so my cheap plan will probably be foiled once she moves in. Eventually I will have to ask her for her non-negotiable....channels.?

[NBBrewFan]

6 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Realistically I already have a cable running to the roof for a Dish...so doing a rooftop antenna wouldn't actually be that inconvenient for me to do.

 I did that before we moved back to WI.  In fact the upright was still connected to the roof from the previous installation  (DirecTV IIRC) so I was able to easily clamp the outdoor antenna on, point it at the towers and connect the cable to the antenna and all the cable outlets in the house now had the HD antenna feed.  No need for the AirTV (unless you want to record). We lived about 3 miles from the towers and had pristine HD almost 100% of the time.

Also consider putting an outdoor antenna in the attic.  Works almost the exact same as having it on the roof (depending on your position and where the towers are located) without having to deal with the weather and wiring 50+ feet of cable. It's relatively easy to run cable down an inside wall and to an outlet that you punch in the wall to attach the AirTV. The first time I went up into our attic in WI I found the previous owners had an outdoor antenna hanging there and they had wired most of the house with outlets so I was able to easily switch the antenna into the wall outlet on the 2nd floor attached the AirTV and had HD for any TV.

[MrTPlush]

15 minutes ago, NBBrewFan said:

 In fact the upright was still connected to the roof from the previous installation  (DirecTV IIRC) so I was able to easily clamp the outdoor antenna on, point it at the towers and connect the cable to the antenna and all the cable outlets in the house now had the HD antenna feed. 

Yah, the Dish is literally still on the roof from a previous owner and the long cable cord still attached to it running down and into the house. I figured I could do exactly as you did and just attach an antenna to the base from the dish. 

I imagine I could still get AirTV and utilize it for TVs that don't have direct hookups near them? My 'mancave' has two hookups, but neither is anywhere near where my TVs are/will be. For the life of me I have no idea why they put them where they are...just dumb. It wouldn't be that hard to add some, but I have enough wire and walls to mess around with.

[MrTPlush]

Annnnnnd Disney and Dish/Sling couldn’t make an agreement for ESPN is gone.

Sigh, maybe time to go back to cutting the cord and cutting the subscription.

[patrickgpe]

On 10/2/2022 at 10:56 PM, MrTPlush said:

Annnnnnd Disney and Dish/Sling couldn’t make an agreement for ESPN is gone.

Sigh, maybe time to go back to cutting the cord and cutting the subscription.

I didn’t realize it affected sling too. I dropped direct tv stream on Sunday and went with YouTube tv until brewers season starts back up. You really can’t get a service that you need to sign up for long term because you don’t know what you will have tomorrow. 

EDIT: looks like their was an agreement to continue service while they work on a contract

[MrTPlush]

10 hours ago, patrickgpe said:

I didn’t realize it affected sling too. I dropped direct tv stream on Sunday and went with YouTube tv until brewers season starts back up. You really can’t get a service that you need to sign up for long term because you don’t know what you will have tomorrow. 

EDIT: looks like their was an agreement to continue service while they work on a contract

Luckily Sling is owned by Dish..,because Dish cannot simply lose ESPN and all the other Disney owned channels.

[nate82]

For the people living out in the boonies and who are constantly moving around.

https://www.starlink.com/rv

[MrTPlush]

12 hours ago, nate82 said:

For the people living out in the boonies and who are constantly moving around.

https://www.starlink.com/rv

Only $150,000 to put in my plane after I win the powerball....nice.

[patrickgpe]

Just saw notice that mlb network is leaving YouTube tv. That’s very said because it was the only in season national coverage I could tolerate 

[pitchleague]

On 1/31/2023 at 5:07 PM, patrickgpe said:

Just saw notice that mlb network is leaving YouTube tv. That’s very said because it was the only in season national coverage I could tolerate 

Well, THAT sucks.  It was pretty much the defining factor that we'd switch to YouTubeTV for the Sunday Ticket package next year. 

[nate82]

1 hour ago, pitchleague said:

Well, THAT sucks.  It was pretty much the defining factor that we'd switch to YouTubeTV for the Sunday Ticket package next year. 

It will be back.  I think this happened with another sports channel and it was back a month or two later.

[patrickgpe]

3 hours ago, pitchleague said:

Well, THAT sucks.  It was pretty much the defining factor that we'd switch to YouTubeTV for the Sunday Ticket package next year. 

My YouTube tv subscription expires tomorrow, I switched backed to direct tv stream tonight. Was going to do it for the brewers season anyway.

[MrTPlush]

11 hours ago, nate82 said:

It will be back.  I think this happened with another sports channel and it was back a month or two later.

This is pretty common negotiating when the sport isn't in season. They can let MLB Network fall off the service for a while and subscribers won't care. Bigger issue if the channel drops off in season...that is a sign of a bigger issue. 

[SeaBass]

17 hours ago, nate82 said:

It will be back.  I think this happened with another sports channel and it was back a month or two later.

5 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

This is pretty common negotiating when the sport isn't in season. They can let MLB Network fall off the service for a while and subscribers won't care. Bigger issue if the channel drops off in season...that is a sign of a bigger issue. 

I'm not as confident for this one that they'll bring it back. I hope they do. MLB Network, in my observation anyway which I guess doesn't mean much, doesn't seem to have the same pull as the NFL Network does. I could see YouTube TV just letting it go and not trying real hard to get an agreement. Maybe they'll look at the number of subscriber cancellations to see if there's a noticeable bump. I guess that would be an incentive to folks out there that are thinking of dropping YouTube TV to give it a go, maybe that will help bring it back.

[GAME05]

Comments I've gotten from campers with Starlink RV is that it usually works just fine but it'll totally drop out now and again. So not necessarily a perfect solution if you're camping but also remote working.

I decided not to get the home Starlink version. I have 3mb now and there would still be a lag if I wanted to do online gaming since it's still satellite, and surprisingly I can usually find a workable stream for sports despite the slow internet. So the $500 box and $100/mo price for Starlink becomes too much for little improvement.