Anybody use OTA TV?

[BWR1953]

Amazon.com

Check out the Superbox. Will get you anything you want from all around the world. Initial outlay of $220, but that is it. No monthly fees.

Well, I did a lot of reading and video watching last night and the Superbox is another IPTV device. Pretty sketchy on legalities and possible access to reprehensible stuff. Not something I want.

A bunch of folks said that their boxes became a "prohibited device" by their ISP after using them for only a short time, including those who purchased from Amazon sellers. And those were shut down and blocked. Other folks seemed to have success for longer periods.

But, as I said in Post #11, I record 99% of what I watch and that gets into a legal issue if using an IPTV device.

So, getting 1,600 channels for free, including streaming services which normally need to be paid for, isn't something I want to do if there is legal risk. Nope.

And that brings me back to an OTA antenna and probably a DVR as well. I found this guy on YouTube who gives some good info.

https://www.youtube.com/@AntennaMan/videos

 

[BWR1953]

This antenna looks pretty good.

 

[havoc_squad]

Yeah, my TCL also offers quite a variety... of stuff I don't watch. My cable company is offering an a la carte option of 15 stations, but that doesn't quite match up with our viewing habits. And even so, it only cuts our bill by about $80 a month. And I'm a big-time DVR user and record pretty much everything I watch.

I've considered trying going with no home cable and internet and just using 5G phone. But, I'd have to get a 5G phone for that and am not sure what kind of coverage and data rate I'd get.

Still researching.

If you have very short patience for situations like waiting at long lines at the DMV, then do not use a smart phone for your primary internet connection if you have any significant internet usage (Hulu, Netflix, AppleTV, etc.)

For example, try downloading a large video during Monday around noon on a smartphone, especially in a sizable city. It's an effort in futility many times.

Cell phone data speeds suffers the most from peak periods and environmental interference.

 

[BWR1953]

If you have very short patience for situations like waiting at long lines at the DMV, then do not use a smart phone for your primary internet connection if you have any significant internet usage (Hulu, Netflix, AppleTV, etc.)

For example, try downloading a large video during Monday around noon on a smartphone, especially in a sizable city. It's an effort in futility many times.

Cell phone data speeds suffers the most from peak periods and environmental interference.

Yup, I've tested by turning off the Wi-Fi on my phone and I'm only getting about 10 meg download speed. Ugh. How 1990s!

 

[cptbill]

Do you use a power rotator?

The first ant. I had had a rotator but that was a real pain(between the wind and the seagulls I was always making adjustments) no rotator on this one, according to the chart most of the stations are between 138 & 150 degrees so I aimed it at 144 degrees

 

[BWR1953]

The first ant. I had had a rotator but that was a real pain(between the wind and the seagulls I was always making adjustments) no rotator on this one, according to the chart most of the stations are between 138 & 150 degrees so I aimed it at 144 degrees

Got it.

 

[ezbtr]

yup I have at least 20 ish OTA channels, I use the USB (I think) to TV mouse pad type of antenna works decent, also tons of streaming channels too

 

[BWR1953]

yup I have at least 20 ish OTA channels, I use the USB (I think) to TV mouse pad type of antenna works decent, also tons of streaming channels too

I tried one of those antennas last year and got zero stations.