Tired of $80 cable bill every month


 
Len Dennis

Len Dennis

TVWBB Diamond Member
I've considered going to an antenna but I didn't want to spend a grand (at this stage of my dissatisfaction) getting an on-the-roof antenna. I looked into an in-the-attic antenna but that didn't really appeal either.

That left set-top stuff (rabbit ears for hd programming) and ones to set on the floor for $50-$100 each).

Then I came across this fractal antenna
from this site http://www.htpc-diy.com/2012/04/diy-flexible-fractal-window-hdtv.html

It's made out of aluminum foil (gee, I already have a roll or two of that for my smoking ;) ) a piece of paper, some glue, an 8x11 piece of somewhat stiff plastic,two small machine bolts/nuts and a balun (that item at the bottom of the pic). Used to use one when cable first came out but the tv didn't have the correct female end so had to clip it to the antenna input screws.

FlexibleFractalAntennav1.jpg

Got it hooked up in the sunporch (enclosed) and get 20 channels (19 HiDEF tv and one music). This gizmo is awesome. Other than the balun which cost $5, there is ZERO dollars invested in this gizmo.

If you're tired of hi cable tv bills, look into this. I've got two websites that will tell you 1)what channels you can expect in your area and 2) programming for channels that you can expect in your area (Canada OR U.S.).

The channels are listed kinda weird number-wise on the tv and you don't get a guide like on cable. That's what the second website can do for you.

Gonna try this out for a week and see where we go. Never paid much attention to what station a program is on so it's going to be trial and error. I know I WON'T be able to get Walking Dead but I hope to be able to stream that online with chromecast (which also works great).

I do get all the majors (NBC, etc), all the locals and 3 or 4 stations from Buffalo (about 55 MILES so it is quite impressive for a piece of paper and a bit of aluminum foil)
 
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But will it pick up Cardinal's baseball? :confused:

We recently went from dish to cable.
TV, phone, internet, and we're paying less for all three than we were for AT&T's phone and internet service alone.
Our internet is blazing fast now too.
 
I keep internet separate from cable. If one goes down, I still have the other (for now). If power goes out, have nothing anyways so no loss.

The only way you'll know if u have cardinals on is to wait till the season starts and give it a shot. For $5, it's worth a shot. Or if you know/remember what station (non-cable station that is), try it now. It'll only cost you the cost of the balun.

Wife isn't sold on it yet. She loves her re-runs. And more re-runs. We'll see what happens after a week.
 
Netflix up here sucks big time. I used to get hulu via vpn (not avail in Canada) on my 'puter but they've started to block vpn so I'm looking at alternatives. I can get internet via built-in software/card in the tv itself. It's a pain though having to use an on-screen key board (one letter at a time to enter the url--->yech. Takes 5 min to key in an url)
 
Cliff Bartlett said:
Interesting Len. I'd be ecstatic if I could get my cable (satellite) bill down to $80.
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ChuckO said:
amen brother
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Well, this was one of the posts on that website I linked to in post 1:

had to give this a try when I saw it. Hdtv antenna for the price of a happy meal? I only had to buy Rg-6 coaxial cable for $2.99, matching transformer for $1.19, and a pair of nuts & bolts for 40 cents. Everything else was at home.

My hat off to you, the antenna works great. I live in Los Angeles and the antenna picks up just over 100 channels. Of course this depends on where you live and where's the signal coming in around your location. Use http://www.antennaweb.org/Address.aspx to find where your signals are coming at and point your antenna into their direction.
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You near L.A.? That link in the quote will only give you the "proper" antenna so it says, NOT the fractal that my post is about. There are other sites that will actually give you what stations you could expect to receive OTA.

Try this one (I set it for 90210); hit "change your location", just enter your zip
http://tvschedule.zap2it.com/tvlist...90210&setMyPreference=false&lineupId=PC:90210

Make sure you go to the bottom and select (Broadcast Antenna).

edit--just a heads up that "tvschedule" link does not show all the stations you can get. It's missing some of the ones I can get. YMMV.
 
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Great idea & saving's going the homemade route, I been looking into the cheap digital antenna's right around 40 buck's & there's right around 80 free over the air channels for are area.
 
Len,
Have you built and run this antenna yourself ?

Bob - who has a 'few' antennae lying around...
W6AJO
 
if it'd pick up ESPN, The NFL Network and The B1G Network, I'd be all over that.
there are really only 4 cable/satellite channels I tune in to regularly (TMC the 4th).


waiting for the time to come when you can choose your own channel line-up.
 
I cut the cord 7 years ago. Don't miss it one bit. Was able to get a rooftop Omni-directional antenna installed on the roof for $200. I use a Tivo and set up a plex media server on my PC. If you are an Amazon prime subscriber there are thousands of movies and TV series you can watch for free. I also have an Amazon firestick for other streaming applications.
 
Bob Bass said:
Len,
Have you built and run this antenna yourself ?

Bob - who has a 'few' antennae lying around...
W6AJO
Click to expand...

Yes I did and it works great! (Gets 19 HD channels and one music channel). This is on a 15 ft cable run from antenna to tv. Signal strength (per TV) is 100%.

I'm currently going to try this same setup on my basement setup which is more complicated (adding an AVR to the mix) . The trouble I'm trying to solve is the now 75 ft cable run (I have a nearby basement window but it faces east and is obviously low to the ground). I may have a blockage issue.

Going to try a "reverse" feed on the cable lines and see how that works. If I can get something, I'll consider getting an amp to boost the signal. Basically I want to use the existing internal cable network in reverse.

Hey, this thing is cheaper than dirt. It took me 30 minutes to glue it up and cut it out. The balun was the only costly item (at $5). Give it a shot. All you've got to lose is 12 inches of h.d. aluminum foil.
20160124_152135_zpssuilqrgm.jpg
 
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Back to cable. Not enough re-runs for the wife so she's back to std broadcast (crappy pics but more selection).
 
Just get a fire stick for 30-40 bucks and side load Kodi on it... It has almost EVERYTHING, even theater movies.
; )
 
Clint said:
If you'd like to 'tivo' the stuff off the air you can get a tv card or standalone device - I've had a couple made by a company called Happuage. Which one to buy depends on if you have a PC connected to your TV or not.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=as_li_s...alias=aps&linkId=GFJWDS2KDUJ74GAP?tag=TVWB-20

I cut the cable/satellite several years ago. I've had Netflix for a few years, added Hulu a couple months ago (rethinking that)
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i had a whole slew of hauppage cards when I ran sage tv. I have not used them for a while but silicondust makes really really good tuners ( OTA or cable card) and their customer support is, by far, the best I have ever used.

And if you need channels that are not OTA ( like espn or any other sports channel) slingtv is pretty good provided you have beefy internet. It can be run on pretty much any box that runs netflix and hulu. 20 bucks a month for 20-ish channels, add ons like hbo are a little more.

I'd prefer to have cable but its not an option in the boonies where I live so we have been making due with ota and slingtv/netflix
 
espn1 and 2 are included in the basic sling tv package, I think the sports add on has the SEC channel but probably not the nfl network. sling with the sports package is 25 bucks a month.

For me ( a sports guy) OTA/SlingTV/gamecenterlive covers about 95% of it
 
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