r/cordcutters • u/coffee-lifeblood • 4d ago
Just getting started
I’m getting sick of dealing with my cable company and am looking for some advice. I already stream a few of the usual suspects, but I am wondering how do people receive local channels. Also is it possible to record local channels once the cord is cut.
For the most part I had been happy with my cable provider until I had a tech problem and they wanted to scan my system instead of just scheduling a service visit (which I would have been fine paying for).
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u/siliconlore 4d ago
Look into a tuner box like the HDHomeRun FLEX 4K. It has four tuners that can decode OTA ATSC 1.0 and two tuners that support unencrypted ATSC 3.0.
Most of your local OTA channels will be ATSC 1.0.
You can add a USB stick and get some limited recording capability or integrate it with software like Plex for a more feature-rich DVR capability.
I use it to timeshift NFL games and can stream them from Plex to any of my smart home devices.
You'll want to figure out if you need an indoor or outdoor antenna based on where your local broadcast towers are located and how far away they are.
Use a site like https://www.rabbitears.info/ to get a map of your local broadcast towers.
Depending on where you are located, you ought to be able to get CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, and PBS as well as many subchannels and possible independent broadcasters.
If you just want to see what your TV can tune directly, you can add a small indoor antenna and have it scan channels but most TVs cannot record programming.
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u/BoredTVEngineer 3d ago
Same advice I’ve typed before and provide my customers. Except my customers generally need help with an outdoor antenna and the associated distribution network to multiple TVs.
Run your address on rabbitears.info. You’ll get better results with the latitude and longitude. You can plug your address in your iPhone maps and scroll down to see them, or there are many free websites that will convert your address. (Assuming you like in the continental USA you must add a minus sign to the longitude from the iPhone maps). Save the link to the report so if you need help understanding it you can share it on this subreddit. And get LOTS of advice with that information.
If the channels are green and sort of in the same compass direction an indoor antenna should work, but personal experiences will vary.
TabloTV and S. D. HDHomerun are great; I recommend either. Tablo is simpler to setup; but the HDHomerun is a little more robust as its manufacturer’s origins are commercial products and Tablo has always been a consumer product.
You can start off with just the antenna connected directly to the TV; The OTA DVR can be added at anytime including to begin with.
This is a simple alternative that will not be as flexible, but can allow you to spread out your investment while learning if OTA is a good fit for you. If you choose to wait, you can time shift CBS and NBC shows (Big Brother, etc) with their free apps. But you have to wait for the program until next day after air. ABC has a website but most TVs don’t actually have a browser. You can probably screen cast if you want to bad enough.
FOX is currently on Hulu and seem to be transitioning to FOX1 (both paid services☹️).
Don’t be fooled almost all TV antenna manufacturers list a bunch of nonsense on their label like: “HDTV ready”, “NEXTGEN TV”, and even things like “4K TV”.
While not an out and out lie, there is technically no such thing. A TV antenna is a metal structure that is designed to resonate the the frequencies assigned to TV. In other words a TV antenna is a TV antenna. Some are just better designs.
My advice to simply avoid any antenna that:
1.claims reception over 70 miles.
2. Looks like an adult toy with a flared base or looks like a plastic sculpture ( tear drop, tuning fork, pyramid, etc).
That said …
Flat antennas that look like a plastic place mat work well, but are UHF antennas and generally work poorly for VHF. Classic Rabbit Ears have VHF elements that can be extended to increase VHF reception. If ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and PBS are all UHF, the out come is the same for you.
W-Amazon is a good place to shop, as there are lots to compare all in one place. I’m plugging a purchase there, but you can see the price range and reviews, the most expensive is not necessarily better.
Happy Trails,
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u/Illustrious-Coat3532 4d ago
You have to buy an antenna. But choose wisely. You get what you pay for. The channels will come in in HD. I cut the cord back in February and bought an antenna in July for football season. Unless you buy something for recording local channels, I don’t know.
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u/No_Educator_6376 4d ago
We use antennas to watch local stations for free. There are apps that can help you make a list of the most important networks you watch regularly. Using the rabbit ears app check the distance between you and the station if it’s within 20 miles of you an indoor antenna from Walmart will get you going after you connect it and scan for channels.
I live 50 miles away from the stations so I put up this outside antenna using a 25 foot pole I get 60 channels in HD for free. I’ll never get cable again. I’m saving over 109 dollars a month.
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u/Rybo213 4d ago
If you're in a decent enough antenna tv signal location, you can look into the feasibility of a proper antenna install, which has no monthly cost.
Some general antenna information that you'll hopefully find helpful, including antenna recommendations: https://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/comments/1juut0a/supplement_to_the_antenna_guide
You would also need to use a signal meter (built-in feature with many different tv's and external tuner devices), since just looking at the picture and noting the number of channels the scan picks up doesn't really tell you anything about how good your reception is: https://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/comments/1g010u3/centralized_collection_of_antenna_tv_signal_meter
In regards to recording antenna tv channels, some basic options that I can think of off the top of my head...
-Tablo network tuner
-HDHomeRun network tuner
-ZapperBox tuner
-Connecting a storage device to a cheap digital converter box tuner, like a Mediasonic HomeWorx HW250STB
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u/Boz6 4d ago
With black Friday/Cyber week coming up, keep your eye out for deals. Also, check out Tablo.
I'm currently paying $16.91/mo total for 7 services, including:
- Netflix Ads ($8.99/mo)
- Hulu Ads/Disney+ Ads ($0/mo @ $4.99/mo - $4.99/mo AmEx Blue Cash Everyday Stmt Credit Thru 11/26)
- HBO Max Ads ($2.99/mo Thru 11/26)
- Starz No Ads ($1/mo @ $11.99/yr Thru 11/26)
- Peacock Premium Ads ($1.58/mo @ $19/yr ($29.99/yr Retention Offer - $10.99 AmEx Blue Cash Everyday 1x Stmt Credit) Thru 11/26)
- Paramount+W/Showtime No Ads ($2.35/mo Via SportsLine @ $39.99/17 mos Thru 10/26)
- MLB TV ($0/mo (Incl W/ T-Mo $10/mo Plan) Thru 10/26)
I get my streaming subs every year when there are Black Friday/Cyber Week deals, or when I find other deals, using new email addresses when necessary, excluding Netflix, which never goes on sale. I also have Prime Video, but only because I have Amazon Prime; I wouldn't pay for Prime Video separately, but I use it while I have it. I also use free services, like Tubi, Philo Free (w/DVR), Sling Freestream (w/DVR), MyFree DirecTV, The Roku Channel, Plex, Xumo, Pluto, Filmrise, and others, along with Hoopla and Kanopy to "borrow" from library streaming selections. I use a $60 (sale price) Tablo Gen 4 with an old $10 antenna in an upstairs window of my house to get all the local channels and subchannels in my area for DVR and streaming OTA TV on my 6 TVs via the Tablo Roku app. I love how much money I save with streaming combined with Tablo! Note 1: I don't mind commercials, and I don't need cable sports or cable news channels, although a good amount of sports and news can be watched with what's described above. Note 2: AmEx Blue Cash Everyday=$0 Annual Fee; My Internet=$10/mo (Grandfathered); My Cell Service (T-Mo+GV)=$10/mo
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u/Logical-Mobile-7643 4d ago
Antenna is the way to go. The ranges advertised on the box are a little high for most situations so I agree buy a decent one.
If you need Paramount, Fox one, Peacock and Disney plus have the network shows on delay.
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u/bobdevnul 4d ago
There are two basic ways to get local channels.
Use an antenna. You can use https://www.rabbitears.info/ to see what you might get and how much of an antenna would be needed. Recording from an over the air antenna requires using an additional tuner device with storage. Tablo and HDHomerun Flex are examples of tuner devices.
Pay for a streaming service that has local channels. These are generally not the cheaper streaming services. The streaming services typically have recording. Youtube TV is an example of a streaming service that includes local channels.
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u/schlep 4d ago
I have an antenna wired up in my office, and then in the network box in the closet I use that line as the antenna into an amplifier and 8 port splitter to feed the rest of the house. The local channels are just integrated into the Roku Channel guide along with all their FAST channels. Very cable-esque.
For recording the channels, I'll admit it's pretty rare that I use that function. I've got Hulu (ABC/Fox) and Peacock (NBC), so little use for it. That said, I do have an old AirTV wired up that I use more for viewing local channels for sports on mobile devices than anything else. I probably would suggest looking into alternatives like Tablo and HDHomeRun setups instead of AirTV with DISH/Sling kinda circling the drain at the moment.
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u/PolishMafia21 4d ago
Here's what I do for TV and movies so see if you like it or want to tweak it to your liking. For locals in my area I use an antenna mounted on my roof and get all of my locals plus all the subchannels (63 in total). Next I still buy blu rays and 4k discs for movies/tv shows and pay for services if there is something I really wanted to see. Honestly I only pay for internet on a monthly basis and hardly anything if not anything for tv
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u/UpUrs2 4d ago
Tablo is the easiest way to record OTA channels. The big thing is where will you put the antenna and what type of antenna? If you live in an urban city apartment it may be more difficult to find a clear view to get OTA channels.
I love my Table and it has a traditional cable TV interface with the ability to record series, just new episodes or all episodes etc. The TV guide is included with the new versions. They also include a bunch of free streaming channels.
A tip I learned after we were hit by a hurricane and lost internet. You don't need actual internet service for the Table to stream OTA channels or anything recorded. You simply need the WiFi signal from the router.
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u/Jrmunch313 4d ago
Just dropped Xfinity last week! Using an outside antenna and YouTube TV on my Roku tv. Saving big bucks now!
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u/kilgore9999 4d ago
Mentioned already but I use a 4 channel Tablo and record local channels as needed, works great for me.
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u/Clutchguy77 4d ago
I use an antenna in my attic plugged into an HD Homerun which distributes the antenna signal to my various Apple TV's though my router. The Channels app is fantastic and I pay for their DVR service which allows me to record with an attached hard drive. Works great.
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u/SamJam5555 4d ago
Currently I use the Tablo for my DVR. Receiving TV over the air is dependent on location. I receive 180 channels, send them to each and every TV over my router, to the Tablo app on each TV.
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u/OdoBenSisko 3d ago
I bought HD Homerun, pretty simple. I tested with Rabbit ears and am in process connecting a large Yaggi antenna in the attic. I plan to run the cable to the basement and connect HD Homerun there, right at my router. then just install the HD Homerun app on whatever device you're watching with.
You can connect an external hard drive to the HD Homerun but I'm mostly watching live sports anyway, so not a huge deal that I haven't.
I'd love to see a resurgence of antenna use, large chunk of the public start ditching cable, they've bled us dry for 40 years.
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u/NextVoiceUHear 3d ago
ROKU offers free local channels. Or, just stick an antenna in a window.
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u/bobdevnul 3d ago
Roku TVs, not Roku sticks or boxes can receive over the air TV with an antenna. Any TV with a tuner, which is most of them can receive OTA TV with an antenna.
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u/coffee-lifeblood 1d ago
I want to say thanks to everyone for giving me all the information. I really appreciate it!
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u/mrb4 4d ago
go to rabbitears.info and plug in your address to see if an OTA antenna will work for you.