thanks for all of the comments. very appreciated.
well to update, I have my ota antenna up and running and i receive 25 channels free (transmitter 80 miles away and this is all of the channels I get in my area). I used the lava hd-2605 amplified antenna which is atop a 30' pole to get the best reception since I live out in the country. direct tv wasn't too happy with me when I called and cancelled with them, even offered a $20 reduction in my over $100 bill which didn't make sense. also, when I mentioned that I went back to my 1st generation dish and was not happy with their 2nd generation dish, they had no idea what I was talking about. also mentioned to them that I went back to my (BUD) and still they had no idea what I was talking about. when I mentioned that along with my bud, fta, and ota I was getting over 200 clear channels, they didn't know what to say. even went as far as asking what ota and fta meant. so, I told them what that was and they mentioned they would have to look into that as they had never heard of either one. make one wonder.
anyhow, everything is up and running thanks to some help here on this forum. for that guys, thank you.
as Michael said there are shows that I cannot get that are on dish and direct tv, but, I can watch some shows by streaming history channel and discovery channel on the computer. plus, I have a smart tv so I can watch movies on Netflix whenever I want to see one.
now that this is sort of behind me, I was wondering if there are any companies that plan on replacing the 4dtv with something newer or maybe someone here knows of something that I am not aware of.
have a nice day.