Rabbit Ears
I just noticed my cable TV bill went up again. Not sure when it went up. I just noticed it when I opened the bill from Suddenlink that had been laying here on the table for a couple days. I'm fit to be tied!
I suppose it's not that big of a deal but, seems to me, when I first switched to basic cable just a few years ago (don't think it's been more than four years) my monthly bill was $19.00 and change. This latest bill came to $23.41. It seems to have crept up every year, just like it did when I subscribed to more channels at the higher price. I'm half tempted to give up on cable all together.
Thanks to lewrockwell.com for reminding me about old fashioned broadcast TV and those old "rabbit ears" TV antennas. I'd actually thought about this before a couple years ago. I guess I never pursued it because I wasn't sure I could handle just 3, maybe 4, channels. But this web site says I should be able to get more like 6 channels if I'm in the right location.
I'll have to check and see what channels the shows I like to watch are on. I think I still have the old circular antenna that came with our flat screen TV. I'll try that first and see how much we like using just broadcast alone and, if it's acceptable, maybe I'll dump cable.
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Speaking of TV web sites, any of you pay your bill through the Suddenlink web site? What a goof ball idea they have there. They have their business web site set up as one of those news/ entertainment web sites.I pay my bill online and each time I go there I have to look around for the log on link and then for a link to pay my bill. Seems to me Suddenlink should have their site set up for business only- a place to look at service options and to pay bills- not to have news updates and stuff like that. I can't imagine why anybody would want to go there to read news. Lame.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 7:39 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
AntennaWeb is a great resource for determining channel availability and the direction to turn your antenna for best reception, on a channel-by-channel basis.
There are more than six channels in Eureka. I pick up nine.
Click the link above and input your street address info (no e-mail address necessary). You'll be shown a street map. Make any correction necessary by creating a new pinpoint on the map, then click Continue and you'll be shown available channels and signal strengths. Click the "View Street Level Map" button and you'll see which way to point your antenna.
Digital TV makes the channels crystal clear, or completely unwatchable. There's no middle ground. There's a huge quality difference among antennas (Radio Shack is your best bet).
Fred,
I was up last month from San Diego and stayed at Redwood Acres in my trailer. I was able to get 8-10 stations. Was quite suprised. 13 had 2 or 3, as did several others thanks to digital. There was even a station that had movies on all day. You'll need digital tv of a converter.
jim Conroy
Thanx for the heads up, AJ. That site has the kind of info I want. I'll check out antennas from Radio Shack.
Jim: Good to hear from you. Wondered if you were still stopping by here, since you moved.
What you might have had going on at Redwood Acres was piggy backing on other people's satellite connections.
Connie bought a digital converter for an elderly friend of hers. All her friend had was an old broadcast TV that got something like 3 channels. After she hooked up the digital converter she said that tv got "all kinds of stations". The next door neighbors had a satellite dish and we were thinking maybe the converter snagged some of the satellite signal?
I know of one guy years ago that lived right next to the TV station on top of Humboldt Hill. Apparently he was so close to it he essentially got free cable as he received all the channels on cable without cable.
I shit-canned all cable. I have an antenna in the attic aimed toward Kneeland where I think the TV transmitters are. Get all the channels like Jim. Some like KIEM don't always have a signal. Others seem to be broadcasting analog over digital. KEET channels are perfect.
If you go to that AntennaWeb site that AJ has linked to above, put in your address and such and then use the map link. It shows you what direction the transmissions come from.
For me, most of them come from the southeast- wrong side of the house for easy siting of an antenna. Did you actually put your antenna inside your attic? That's the second or third time I've heard that referenced today. I could try that, but long way to the living room for cable.
As for my first try, tried the bowtie type antenna that came with our tv. Had to go to Radio Shack for an adapter so I could plug it in to the cable connector.
Didn't work, even if I moved the antenna around. Got one channel, barely. Rest was all snow.
Like I said, it's on the wrong side of the house. I need to make the wire longer, move it to the south window of the living room and try it there.
I've also bookmarked some sites that tell you how to make your own antenna. Don't want to spend a whole bunch of money to see if an external antenna will work here.
For now, I've hooked cable back up until I can try the antenna with a longer wire from the south side of the room.
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