I’m trying to cut costs these days. One of the way of doing this is to stop my satellite dish subscription. Dish Network is currently billing me $60 a month for a 200-channel subscription with DVR service. Sounds impressive, but out of 200, I only watch maybe 5 of them on a regular basis.
Also, I don’t even get HD programming. I like to get them, though. I know some people have told me to go the easy way: pay the extra $15, or so, and get it off cable or satellite. But that’s defeats the purpose of trying to cut cost in the first place.
So, my goal now is to get it off-the-air (OTA). And that requires, a terrestrial TV antenna.
I remember back in the 70’s where my parents sell TVs for a living. We had a trained staff who could go up to roofs and install those big ugly antennas. They were also able to do the cable work from the roof to the main floor. Those guys would leave in the morning to do 2-3 jobs, and wouldn’t come back until late at night. It was hard work.
Now, here I am, thinking about doing the same thing. I don’t have any experience in running cables to the roof (or attic, in my case). Actually, I’m kind of afraid of messing things up there in attic. I’m not keen on punching holes on the drywall either.
Instead, I’m going to try my best with “rabbit ears“, or set-top antennas. Originally, after checking with AntennaWeb, I thought this area would never get a signal. I’ve tried by getting a cheap antenna from Radio Shack. That didn’t work. Recently, I had a chance to buy a $15 AverMedia card for my laptop, with a small antenna. I thought I should try it in other locations, like Irvine, where I might get a better signal. To my surprise, even in my house, I managed to get HDTV channels! I only get 3 channels, but it’s a small victory. All is not lost. I’m hopeful.
I’m now going trying to find the right desktop antenna to get more channels! Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to be brave, and venture into the attic, and install one there.
Speaking of getting a good TV reception, I recalled a hilarious skit by Mr. Bean where he was trying to use himself as an antenna. I felt like Mr. Bean when I was fumbling around with the rabbit ears to get a proper HD signal for my TV. Here’s the video:
Hat tip to CK for reminding me of the Mr. Bean episode.
Photo Credit: fladrifscorzapelle
Tags: hdtv, low-cost, television
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Hey Rudy,
Please post an update if this works out. My father-in-law just mentioned to me that in LA with digital he is now getting a lot more channels over the air. I’m not sure how it would work up here in Santa Barbara, but I wouldn’t mind dropping my cable TV bill. Like you, we watch very few of the channels we pay for.
~ Steve, the trade show guru
PS. Mr Bean ROCKS!
trade show guru´s last blog post..The Dirty Little Secret to Designing Great Trade Show Exhibits
Hey Steve,
I haven’t heard them upgrading the broadcast towers. I’m just hoping they will.
I’ll update for sure when I can get more HDTV channels.
[…] the broadcast towers. The Over-The-Air (OTA) digital signals are poor in most places, including mine. The only way to get a reliable signal is via Cable or Satellite Dish. However, signals from […]
I know what you mean, our cable bill is going through the roof as well. We just left Charter Communications after they jacked up our bill from $120 to $180. Now they keep sending us promotional offers to win us back. lol.
ahh rabbit ears. Brings back memories. 60 dollars a month is quite costly. I agree with you, most people will end up watching an average of less than 20 channels when they have about 200 channels… that’s only 10% of all of the channels… what a waste. Ahhh I love mr. Bean though. Who doesn’t? He always makes me laugh!
-Randy