Dumped cable today...YEA!!!!!!!!!!
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OK, so the CC was out today and disconnected the channels. I did a scan on my old CRT tv and my sons HD CD tv. I also have a RCA HD monitor in the basement the kid turned on when he got home from school. Of course, he wanted to know what we still had on tv. I showed him what I had in my bedroom, which is about 45 channels of very fuzzy tv. Some channels are worse than others, this is true for audio as well. His HD tv gets an additional 9 digital channels that look fantastic. My bedroom CRT, for example, gets passable video but poor audio on Cartoon Network. The HD monitor in the basement is opposite. Poor video but good audio. The basement tv is about 8' from where the cable comes in the house, my bedroom tv is at the opposite end of the house. This got me to thinking about a signal amplifier, which I had to use back in analog days but not since the digital transition (actually before the transition,my cable co went digital a few years before it was mandated). So, I don't think this qualifies as "hack talk", I'm just curious if an amplifier will improve the a/v of the tv's in my home. There are lot's of 'em on ebay. Some plug in to an outlet, some don't. Some are made by well known brands (Motorola) some are made by no-name brands. Can anybody give me the scoop on these devices? How about if I have internet through the cable, which I do? If you've gotten the impression I'm cheap and trying to get something for nothing, well...you are entitled to your opinion. Sometimes this trip called life sends us on a detour which demands cutting back on "luxuries". So please don't say "Just pay for the cable, thats what it sounds like you want anyway". I just need to make the most of what I can afford, which is at this point cable internet. Thank you all again for the input.
Normally the analog channels are scrambled but if you subscribe to cable Internet and have a tv with a digital qam tuner as most newer hdtv's do, then usually the locals are unlocked along with the internet and sometimes a few other channels. I got all the locals in HD and subchannels with my cox Internet for the last 5 years, until I switched providers a few months ago.
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Yes, I do still get all the channels I used to...just either very fuzzy picture or very poor audio, or somewhere in between. I have seen "scrambled" signals before, I had digital cable at one point and the PPV stuff was always just a mess, unless of course you were paying to see it. This is not like that. It's like an antenna a/v quality from a station that is too far away. And I'm pretty sure I already stated that my sons HD tv is getting an additional 9 digital channels that look fantastic. All that being said AGAIN, can someone give me the scoop on signal boosters/amplifiers. Will one of these devices clear up the signal I am now receiving since being disconnected fom TV, but still have internet on the cable. FWIW, the fuzzy signals are all displayed (by the TV itself) as SD, I assume this is standard definition.
I used to have cable for the internet and TV. But the quality of the picture was terrible so I dumped the TV and kept the internet connection. I get 20 digital channels for free. About ten of them are pay per view stations. I was just about to remove them from my channel list when one of the channels popped up unencrypted. For some reason last night I got to watch 3 PPV movies on 3 different channels
Don't know how or why but I watched them! The other channels are my locals in HD and SD and I also get a Canadian channel.
The amplifier isn't going to help. The amplifier will extend the distance you can transmit the signal if you have a decent signal at the amplification point. If you try to amplify a weak signal the noise gets amplified along with the desired content.
An amp shouldnt bring in the picture any better then what it is right now on the analogs which you are describing. The picture is somewhat there and the audio is gone because the audio carrier signal (dbmv) is lower then the video carrier. The SNR is high enough now that putting an amp inline will make things a lot worse. The way the traps are designed is to put the signal deep into the noise.
Besides, the amps online are usually cheaply built and very prone into backfeeding a lot of noise into the system, which could put the modem offline. If the noise is way too high (I have seen this a number of times), a noise filter will be put in at the tap to keep it from feeding into the cable rf plant which will put the modems offline.
Now for taking a signal amp into the house to get back the channels that they are not subscribed to, yes that does count as stealing as you are trying to defeat the means to block out the channels that you arent subscribed to. What comes in now are either too high or low that the trap cuts out. But the stuff in the middle that is blocked is meant to be blocked. Trying to defeat that block is signal theft to the cable co's eyes
Besides, the amps online are usually cheaply built and very prone into backfeeding a lot of noise into the system, which could put the modem offline. If the noise is way too high (I have seen this a number of times), a noise filter will be put in at the tap to keep it from feeding into the cable rf plant which will put the modems offline.
Now for taking a signal amp into the house to get back the channels that they are not subscribed to, yes that does count as stealing as you are trying to defeat the means to block out the channels that you arent subscribed to. What comes in now are either too high or low that the trap cuts out. But the stuff in the middle that is blocked is meant to be blocked. Trying to defeat that block is signal theft to the cable co's eyes
That's why I stated if you have a tv with a DIGITAL QAM Cable tuner. The analog stations are in fact scrambled. It is just some bleed thru from the filter they installed to block those frequencies. As stated an amp won't help. Best bet is find a standalone digital cable tuner for your analog tv's. I don't know if Tivo's will do it without a subscription. My Sony HDD 250 OTA/Cable dvr worked fine. I used it to dvr the cable feeds when I needed an extra tuner to record a local channel when my Dish dvr had all of it's tuners in use. I don't know if any of the FTA boxes will tune digital qam either.
You might already be aware of this, but I am thinking from this quote that those old dishes are probably old 20'' DirecTV or Dish Network dishes? If so, they will not work for Ku band on FTA. You would have to get the proper type of LNB, linear rather than circular polarization which is what is on them now. Then you would have a very hard time getting a signal with one that small. Probably the smallest that would work well would be a 90cm dish which is close to 3'. You might could get by with a 76cm on some birds.
I mentioned before I dumped DirecTv a couple weeks.
To fill the void:
I connected a computer to my hdtv. I can stream hulu, youtube, netflix, HGTV & Discover Channel clips etc... vga cable $10 on ebay. The computer was pretty expensive but a much lesser would work too.
I put up a very good but old Radio shack vu-190 on a rotor on the roof. Tripod and antenna to replace $130
I put up a 39" Ku dish with a Invacom qph-031 mounted on a sg-2100 motor on the roof (I could see from 30W to 148W if 148W wouldn't have gone "boom") with tri-pod $200
Switching, line amplifiers and other connectors ?? $150 ??
I have a standard def STB that is a very good blindscanner and good motor controller that sits at one TV $50.
on the Big TV I have an AzBox HD Elite. $249. It is slaved off the other STB. It does not control the motor
$890 my investment so far spent over 4 years.
I have the OTA running everywhere, FTA STBs at 2 TVs, an xbox at 1 TV (xbox will stream netflix)
We have plenty of TV everyday.
You can get a basic blindscanning sd fta setup with STB, dish, LNB and motor for around $150. (you want a motor)
To fill the void:
I connected a computer to my hdtv. I can stream hulu, youtube, netflix, HGTV & Discover Channel clips etc... vga cable $10 on ebay. The computer was pretty expensive but a much lesser would work too.
I put up a very good but old Radio shack vu-190 on a rotor on the roof. Tripod and antenna to replace $130
I put up a 39" Ku dish with a Invacom qph-031 mounted on a sg-2100 motor on the roof (I could see from 30W to 148W if 148W wouldn't have gone "boom") with tri-pod $200
Switching, line amplifiers and other connectors ?? $150 ??
I have a standard def STB that is a very good blindscanner and good motor controller that sits at one TV $50.
on the Big TV I have an AzBox HD Elite. $249. It is slaved off the other STB. It does not control the motor
$890 my investment so far spent over 4 years.
I have the OTA running everywhere, FTA STBs at 2 TVs, an xbox at 1 TV (xbox will stream netflix)
We have plenty of TV everyday.
You can get a basic blindscanning sd fta setup with STB, dish, LNB and motor for around $150. (you want a motor)
I read your post and it doesn't sound like you did your research in terms of whether the available programming was going to satisfy your needs or desires.
Given unlimited fundage, anything can be made simple.
The problem remains that the hardware your looking for is going to require a pretty substantial investment and in the end, it is doubtful that you'll be able to approximate the programming you're looking for via FTA.
Such is not to say that there isn't anything that might appeal to you but there will be a pretty high investment in your time to find it and an even larger investment to follow it.
@freezy:
Thanks for discussing your setup.
In my location, there are no OTA signals due to distance (over 100 miles) and obstacles (mountains).
Internet options are via satellite or dial-up. I'm not sure about other satellite internet options, but Netflix, Hulu, et.al. spend more time buffering than playing. When I mentioned streaming Netflix at the satellite internet vendor, I was cautioned about using too much bandwidth and being 'FAPped' (Free Access Policy where after so much bandwidth is used the account is slowed down).
My first FTA setup was 39" dish, SG2100 motor, Traxis 3500 and cable for about $350. That worked fine and I was satisfied until Montana PBS changed to S2. So I acquired an AZBox P+ which could pull in those signals. I moved the Traxis 3500 STB to my dad's house, added a fixed dish on 97.0w to the 4 OTA signals there.
The AZBox worked fine on the 19inch Sharp TV bought new in 1985, but of course, was not HD. So as time and money allowed, an HD TV was acquired.
Most recent additions to 'the farm' include the 6ft WSI 1870p dish, actuator and mover. I invested about $250 to get it up and moving across the arc.
This is 'mission creep' at it's finest because the ROI is exponential as well as beneficial in the challenge of locating and perfecting the acquisition of signals.
Yes, I could have stayed with the original configuration and invested nothing more but I would not have been satisfied.
Thanks for discussing your setup.
In my location, there are no OTA signals due to distance (over 100 miles) and obstacles (mountains).
Internet options are via satellite or dial-up. I'm not sure about other satellite internet options, but Netflix, Hulu, et.al. spend more time buffering than playing. When I mentioned streaming Netflix at the satellite internet vendor, I was cautioned about using too much bandwidth and being 'FAPped' (Free Access Policy where after so much bandwidth is used the account is slowed down).
My first FTA setup was 39" dish, SG2100 motor, Traxis 3500 and cable for about $350. That worked fine and I was satisfied until Montana PBS changed to S2. So I acquired an AZBox P+ which could pull in those signals. I moved the Traxis 3500 STB to my dad's house, added a fixed dish on 97.0w to the 4 OTA signals there.
The AZBox worked fine on the 19inch Sharp TV bought new in 1985, but of course, was not HD. So as time and money allowed, an HD TV was acquired.
Most recent additions to 'the farm' include the 6ft WSI 1870p dish, actuator and mover. I invested about $250 to get it up and moving across the arc.
This is 'mission creep' at it's finest because the ROI is exponential as well as beneficial in the challenge of locating and perfecting the acquisition of signals.
Yes, I could have stayed with the original configuration and invested nothing more but I would not have been satisfied.
for the $40/month the only channels worth watching were DIY, HGTV, Food, Discover Science and only Standard Def. If you like Church, cartoons/disney stuff there is a bunch for $40/mo. I already had locals on my OTA. $29/mo plus taxs, service fees etc.=$40
Netflix for $8 is a bargain
OTA I have over 23 channels without spinning the rotor
Hulu is pretty great too...and free unless you upgrade to plus.
Thats 2/3s of a tank of gas, a bag of groceries, no bounced checks from auto-withdraw
The equipment has been paid for back when I had lots of money...a long time ago.
Netflix for $8 is a bargain
OTA I have over 23 channels without spinning the rotor
Hulu is pretty great too...and free unless you upgrade to plus.
Thats 2/3s of a tank of gas, a bag of groceries, no bounced checks from auto-withdraw
The equipment has been paid for back when I had lots of money...a long time ago.
I take it you're not counting the religious channels we get
I show 41 stations here in SW burbs near Valleyfair....well 43 since I can get KEYC & KEYC-DT2 also
Many ears ago, when I had cable and internet, the cable company made 1 run with a coax cable into my house. Then they used a splitter between the incoming cable ...cable modem ....and TV.
Later on we added a IP phone. They run an extra cable to from the outside of the house to my TV. They left the splitter on the original coax for the cable modem and for the phone.
More than 2 years ago I canceled cable TV and IP phone, but I kept cable internet.
For 2 years I had dishnet work and Last year I canceled it too.
But.....
I hooked up my TV on a 5 way splitter ...internet cable , one to modem and the other to TV. No problem.
What I found out thou that you have to use the right frequency splitter. The frequency I am using for the splitter is 5-1000 mhz, anything higher does not work for me and I get way less channels if I do.
I get about 10 more channels this way than OTA .
Later on we added a IP phone. They run an extra cable to from the outside of the house to my TV. They left the splitter on the original coax for the cable modem and for the phone.
More than 2 years ago I canceled cable TV and IP phone, but I kept cable internet.
For 2 years I had dishnet work and Last year I canceled it too.
But.....
I hooked up my TV on a 5 way splitter ...internet cable , one to modem and the other to TV. No problem.
What I found out thou that you have to use the right frequency splitter. The frequency I am using for the splitter is 5-1000 mhz, anything higher does not work for me and I get way less channels if I do.
I get about 10 more channels this way than OTA .
I only get the 5 chans on 25I take it you're not counting the religious channels we get
I show 41 stations here in SW burbs near Valleyfair....well 43 since I can get KEYC & KEYC-DT2 also
Bownze,
I believe you catch on quickly and the first thing you should note is that we, all of us, don't want you to waste too much money on an experiment. So, start out small and cheap first like I stated previously.
There are some really cool things available to you. Most are FREE beyond the price of the equipment itself. But, part of the entertainment is the challenge of learning HOW to get these signals that no one knows about. It can be a great deal of fun and a great learning experience, regardless if you like or dislike what you find. The knowledge you find during the process is highly worth just a short adventure and a few bucks.
Personally, I am not paying for any TV service (cable or sat). I do subscribe to Netflix now, but $12 for 6-10 movies a month is fair. I have OTA, FTA satellite and Netflix and trade and swap movies with friends. I can personally say that I have way plenty of options available to me and I cannot possibly watch it all. Truly, I don't have enough time to watch everything that IS available for free.
I LOVE most of it (RTV and MeTV and ThisTV and all the PBS channels and CubaVision and the wild feeds, too.) You'll appreciate the feeds when you get involved. Sports, news and other feeds are great, although they are sporadic and you have to HUNT for them.
You gotta have the personality to make this work. But, the main thing is money. To be honest, I never watched more than three or four channels while I was growing up. And they all went off air around midnight or at least by 2 am. We never paid for those channels when I was a kid and I won't pay for channels ever again. I will buy cheap movies on discs, though. I can support that, how about you?
I do not have an agenda to kill cable, Dish Network, DirecTV or any other provider. I am not advocating a boycott of any sort. I just don't think that TV should be that bad or paid for. I grew up with OTA free TV (the advertisers paid for the TV service). Advertisements during my youth were the intermissions (time to rush to the bathroom and beat your sister so that you could get back first to watch the show restart). Or to refill on popcorn that Mom made in a kettle with real vegetable grease or maybe even lard and REAL butter and simple table salt. You want to taste REAL POPCORN? Try that.
I am kinda taking a trip down memory lane here, but you get my point. Popcorn tastes better when Mom made it. Old movies thrill you more than new ones do and the scary ones made it much better. Westerns made heroes and comedies made you laugh. Laugh at jokes where they didn't need to cuss. Science fiction made you dream of ways to make it all happen. Awh! The days when all TV was free! It still is my friend! It still is.
If you adopt FTA satellite, OTA terrestrial TV and whatever CHEAP options you can find, you will find it acceptable. You just have to adjust to it.
RADAR
I believe you catch on quickly and the first thing you should note is that we, all of us, don't want you to waste too much money on an experiment. So, start out small and cheap first like I stated previously.
There are some really cool things available to you. Most are FREE beyond the price of the equipment itself. But, part of the entertainment is the challenge of learning HOW to get these signals that no one knows about. It can be a great deal of fun and a great learning experience, regardless if you like or dislike what you find. The knowledge you find during the process is highly worth just a short adventure and a few bucks.
Personally, I am not paying for any TV service (cable or sat). I do subscribe to Netflix now, but $12 for 6-10 movies a month is fair. I have OTA, FTA satellite and Netflix and trade and swap movies with friends. I can personally say that I have way plenty of options available to me and I cannot possibly watch it all. Truly, I don't have enough time to watch everything that IS available for free.
I LOVE most of it (RTV and MeTV and ThisTV and all the PBS channels and CubaVision and the wild feeds, too.) You'll appreciate the feeds when you get involved. Sports, news and other feeds are great, although they are sporadic and you have to HUNT for them.
You gotta have the personality to make this work. But, the main thing is money. To be honest, I never watched more than three or four channels while I was growing up. And they all went off air around midnight or at least by 2 am. We never paid for those channels when I was a kid and I won't pay for channels ever again. I will buy cheap movies on discs, though. I can support that, how about you?
I do not have an agenda to kill cable, Dish Network, DirecTV or any other provider. I am not advocating a boycott of any sort. I just don't think that TV should be that bad or paid for. I grew up with OTA free TV (the advertisers paid for the TV service). Advertisements during my youth were the intermissions (time to rush to the bathroom and beat your sister so that you could get back first to watch the show restart). Or to refill on popcorn that Mom made in a kettle with real vegetable grease or maybe even lard and REAL butter and simple table salt. You want to taste REAL POPCORN? Try that.
I am kinda taking a trip down memory lane here, but you get my point. Popcorn tastes better when Mom made it. Old movies thrill you more than new ones do and the scary ones made it much better. Westerns made heroes and comedies made you laugh. Laugh at jokes where they didn't need to cuss. Science fiction made you dream of ways to make it all happen. Awh! The days when all TV was free! It still is my friend! It still is.
If you adopt FTA satellite, OTA terrestrial TV and whatever CHEAP options you can find, you will find it acceptable. You just have to adjust to it.
RADAR
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