How Do I Get Local Network from Other Areas?

[hottdawgg1]

I live in South Florida. Thinking of cancelling Directv.

Is there anyway for me to watch local networks from other areas of the country.

Say I wanted to watch a channel from Dallas. Or Baltimore, or Oregon, etc.

Would the old Big Ugly setup do it?

Internet viewing, or pc tv?

Anybody have ideas for a novice - newbie to the game.

Don't know much other than turning on the receiver and hitting the remote, but willing to learn.

Thanks for any help!!!

 

[Copykat]

Is there anyway for me to watch local networks from other areas of the country.

Say I wanted to watch a channel from Dallas. Or Baltimore, or Oregon, etc.

Would the old Big Ugly setup do it?

It could, but you'd have to take what you can get. No picking and choosing the city you want unless what's up there is what you want.

 

[caddata]

....Is there anyway for me to watch local networks from other areas of the country.......to watch a channel from Dallas. Or Baltimore, or Oregon, etc....

If you're talking of the "Local Channels", you're out of luck. They're "Spot Beams" that are transmitted with a highly directional signal to a limited area. You may be lucky to find a wild feed somewhere, but they'd be unreliable for daily viewing. I hope that local channels will be able, some day, to stream their signals over the internet.

Harold

 

[classicsat]

As a rule, stations do not broadcast on satellite, let alone FTA. Nor do stations usually stream online. What is up there are from either DBS provider, only for subscription within that market.

 

[Bill_KY]

The only options.

# 1 High gain fringe antenna with a mast mounted preamp to get other markets within 75 miles of you.

#2 Move your DBS service address to an area that you can receive a spot beam. Usually 150 to 200 miles +/-

#3 If you have a RV, you can get a RV exemption to get NY/LA on the conus with a DBS ..but need a separate account from your regular DBS service address.

#4 Canadian satellite TV....they have U.S. networks...

.

 

[delta_charlie]

The only options.

# 1 High gain fringe antenna with a mast mounted preamp to get other markets within 75 miles of you.

#2 Move your DBS service address to an area that you can receive a spot beam. Usually 150 to 200 miles +/-

#3 If you have a RV, you can get a RV exemption to get NY/LA on the conus with a DBS ..but need a separate account from your regular DBS service address.

#4 Canadian satellite TV....they have U.S. networks...

.

Hi all, there is one more option - check to see if any of the locals of interest offer Internet streaming. More and more are offering this now.

Later, DC

 

[Skyscanner]

Hotdawg,
Welcome to Satellite Guys! Why not just get your own locals OTA and incorporate them into your FTA setup? That's probably what nearly everyone else does. I simply use my VCR to switch between local and satellite. Unless you're just interested in news local to other areas, that would give you the regular primetime network programming, and you can get national news from ABC, NBC and others, even your locals show national news. I have a Logitech programmable remote that switches between local and sat, it operates my Magnavox OTA converter box, JVC VCR/DVD combo, Coolsat 6100 receiver, and my ancient RCA TV. No need for all those remotes, and when I finally take the plunge and buy a GBox positioner, there is room for that too. FTA has all kinds of possibilities. Iceberg just gave us a heads up on a switch from Radio Shack [16-2571] on closeout for about $9 that looks like it might be useful for those who want to combine OTA and satellite without a lot of complication.

 

[GreatFTA]

I recently bought one of those HDTV outdoor antenna from the Heartland catalogs and after 2 hours of putting it together and placing it outside, I was amazed! I paid like $35.00 for it and it suppose to have a range up to 100 miles. It has a remote and you can rotate the antenna 360 degrees for better signal.
Right now I have it on a tripod on the ground and soon will mount it up high.
I built one of those clothes hanger HDTV antenna and it work "ok". Only picked up like 6 local channels. This antenna from the Heartland catalog really work great. I average between 10 to 14 channels and some as far as Memphis, TN (110 miles) and Jackson, MS (aprox. 125 miles).
Sometimes late at night I receive those "Drifting" signals from way off, like up to 20 or more!
If you old CB radio old timers can remember, we used to get CB signals from far off.

 

[GreatFTA]

I never tried the antenna on my Coolsat 8000 receiver... I will try it tomorrow.

 

[Tron]

I recently bought one of those HDTV outdoor antenna from the Heartland catalogs and after 2 hours of putting it together and placing it outside, I was amazed! I paid like $35.00 for it and it suppose to have a range up to 100 miles. It has a remote and you can rotate the antenna 360 degrees for better signal.
Right now I have it on a tripod on the ground and soon will mount it up high.
I built one of those clothes hanger HDTV antenna and it work "ok". Only picked up like 6 local channels. This antenna from the Heartland catalog really work great. I average between 10 to 14 channels and some as far as Memphis, TN (110 miles) and Jackson, MS (aprox. 125 miles).
Sometimes late at night I receive those "Drifting" signals from way off, like up to 20 or more!
If you old CB radio old timers can remember, we used to get CB signals from far off.

I've always wondered about the performance of these antennas. The price seems too good to be true, so I've never tried to order one. It uses the coax for power and control, right? Might just have to plop down some cash on one of these and give it a spin. I can mount it at least 15 feet above ground level, so maybe it'll get me Baton Rouge and Biloxi. How is it on VHF hi?

 

[JimmyMcGee]

I recently bought one of those HDTV outdoor antenna from the Heartland catalogs and after 2 hours of putting it together and placing it outside, I was amazed! I paid like $35.00 for it and it suppose to have a range up to 100 miles. It has a remote and you can rotate the antenna 360 degrees for better signal.
Right now I have it on a tripod on the ground and soon will mount it up high.
I built one of those clothes hanger HDTV antenna and it work "ok". Only picked up like 6 local channels. This antenna from the Heartland catalog really work great. I average between 10 to 14 channels and some as far as Memphis, TN (110 miles) and Jackson, MS (aprox. 125 miles).
Sometimes late at night I receive those "Drifting" signals from way off, like up to 20 or more!
If you old CB radio old timers can remember, we used to get CB signals from far off.

What are the dimensions on that antenna?

 

[signal.quest]

I recently bought one of those HDTV outdoor antenna from the Heartland catalogs and after 2 hours of putting it together and placing it outside, I was amazed! I paid like $35.00 for it and it suppose to have a range up to 100 miles. It has a remote and you can rotate the antenna 360 degrees for better signal.
Right now I have it on a tripod on the ground and soon will mount it up high.
I built one of those clothes hanger HDTV antenna and it work "ok". Only picked up like 6 local channels. This antenna from the Heartland catalog really work great. I average between 10 to 14 channels and some as far as Memphis, TN (110 miles) and Jackson, MS (aprox. 125 miles).
Sometimes late at night I receive those "Drifting" signals from way off, like up to 20 or more!
If you old CB radio old timers can remember, we used to get CB signals from far off.

Does this antenna provide better performance than a regular antenna? According to antennaweb.org to get distant locals I would need a large directional with pre-amp. What type of Antenna is this considered?

 

[empiretc]

make a coat hanger antenna and put an amp on it. I get locals from ~100 miles away and it is mounted in my attic.

 

[signal.quest]

make a coat hanger antenna and put an amp on it. I get locals from ~100 miles away and it is mounted in my attic.

Do you live around mountains? Can you post a link describing the shape of the antenna to make? What make/model is your amp?

 

[empiretc]

Amp: SVI Digital SV-A15-4PRA
it's a 4 port, bidirectional drop amp w/ 7.5db gain per port. If you only need one connection, I recommend getting the single port version as it will net you 15gb gain on the single port.

My antenna is basically like this one, but I added the back and connected the sides to make a web design. This provides 360* reception.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw]YouTube - Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna![/ame]