Good digital OTA antenna, and other "cutting the cable" questions

[Steve Pickering]

Depends on where you live. I use a Radio Shack MXU47 ( Antennacraft MXU47 UHF Antenna : UHF Antennas | RadioShack.com ) but I am putting up one of the rotatables so I can get some Eugene Stations also. I get 39 stations from Portland and Salem now.

[HonuMan]

Originally Posted by doggiemama

HonuMan-- Did you ever get your digital antenna? We are considering dumping Comcast and I was wondering how it worked out for you.

We got a Mohu Leaf antenna ($40) to test it out, and it works quite well. We'd been waiting for the new SiliconDust HD HomeRun tuner to come out in January so we could use a Mac as a DVR before cutting the cable, but Frontier sent us a special offer to return to them for $79 per month for Internet and cable TV, with no contract and free installation. Comcast's monthly bill had crept up to over $200 per month for basically the same service plus a land line, which we didn't use. At that price, switching to Frontier was worth it, and if they start raising their rates, we'll keep their Internet service (which is $30 per month vs. Comcast's $70 per month for the same speed) and dump cable TV. We use the Mohu Leaf on our bedroom TV and have a Frontier DVR on our living room TV.

[doggiemama]

Originally Posted by HonuMan

We got a Mohu Leaf antenna ($40) to test it out, and it works quite well. We'd been waiting for the new SiliconDust HD HomeRun tuner to come out in January so we could use a Mac as a DVR before cutting the cable, but Frontier sent us a special offer to return to them for $79 per month for Internet and cable TV, with no contract and free installation. Comcast's monthly bill had crept up to over $200 per month for basically the same service plus a land line, which we didn't use. At that price, switching to Frontier was worth it, and if they start raising their rates, we'll keep their Internet service (which is $30 per month vs. Comcast's $70 per month for the same speed) and dump cable TV. We use the Mohu Leaf on our bedroom TV and have a Frontier DVR on our living room TV.

Thanks! We're still debating.

[Sherwoody]

If anyone is interested, you must buy today 3/21/14.

TERK Omnidirectional FlatPanel HDTV Outdoor Antenna OMNITVO - Best Buy

[Steve Pickering]

If you live outside a metro area, avoid the flat panels.

[Lonney105]

Originally Posted by hamellr

I've had the wind blow down a 30 foot mast with one of their 15db Omni Directional antennas at the top hitting the ground first. I am still using that same antenna.

That is a wifi antenna, optimized for 2.4GHz, it wont be suitable for digital TV reception.

North American television frequencies - depending on what channels are used in Portland, and where you live will depend on what type of antenna you need, which could be anything from a bit of wire poked into the socket on the back of the TV to a high gain VHF/UHF antenna with a mast head amplifier and good quality RG-6 cable if you live in a fringe area.

Not sure about there, but here the cable tv company (GCI) feeds the local OTA or Free to air channels unencrypted down the cable, with it connected directly to the tv it tuned in all the local stations plus some extras that were unencrypted.

[Lonney105]

Originally Posted by Rob Allen

That's a bug, not a feature, IMO. If I'm watching something, I'd rather get degraded picture and sound for a little while than miss it completely. That can be really frustrating.

"I've deduced that the killer is..." <blank screen>

"Half a second left! Here comes the inbounds pass..." <blank screen>

"This is an emergency alert..." <blank screen>

That means you're on the edge of the minimum signal required, its not a fault of the standard, or the transmission system. More likely your bunny ears on the tv, or that 20 year old rotten antenna on roof with water down the coax

If you had an analogue signal at that same level where digital starts to drop out, the analog signal would be unwatchable by then