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[lunarworks]

I always get CityTV confused with CTV

I still harbour a grudge against CTV for what they did to Citytv and the whole CHUM empire.

 

[Raistlin]

Not completely sure what you're wtfing about but he's right about Canadian TV. CTV, Global, and CBC cover just about anything you'll want to watch on TV aside from regular season hockey games which you'll need to juggle between Sportsnet, TSN, and CBC. Unless you care about sports, you'll find every major American show on Global and CTV. CBC carries most Canadian content. The few that isn't covered by those channels usually isn't broadcast in HD anyway.

I'm wtfing the fact there's such a limited selection of subscription-based HD content in the great white North. Simply surprised.

So you'll still basically need an HD cable box to make this happen? Those are still around the $350+ mark, right?

As others have stated, as long as your TV has an ATSC tuner - you're set.

Is there an easy-to-setup recording solution with Antenna to emulate PVR functionality?

There are plenty of DVR's available that have OTA support (including several TiVO's). Also, there are plenty of PC-based options. Of that latter, I'd recommend the HD HomeRun.

 

[firehawk12]

Just a question - if I have an old ass TV, can I still receive analog signals with these antennae?

I have a paid of old school rabbit ears, but I guess because I have too much concrete around me, I can only receive two channels (barely).

 

[Cheerilee]

Just a question - if I have an old ass TV, can I still receive analog signals with these antennae?

I have a paid of old school rabbit ears, but I guess because I have too much concrete around me, I can only receive two channels (barely).

The antenna is just an antenna. You can pick up analog channels with it just fine, although the government is trying to phase those out in favor of digital channels. But you need a converter box to get any digital signals into your old TV. If you can't pick up much with rabbit ears, and don't have anything stopping you from installing a rooftop antenna, you should probably try getting a rooftop antenna.

The old ones from the 1960's, or good homemade ones, are just as good (or better) than anything Best Buy might try and sell you.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Just a question - if I have an old ass TV, can I still receive analog signals with these antennae?

I have a paid of old school rabbit ears, but I guess because I have too much concrete around me, I can only receive two channels (barely).

But a $20 converter box and hook it with the rabbit ears. I have an old HDTV without a built in tuner so I bought an external tuner and rabbit ears. It isnt an HDTV tuner (those are almost impossible to find for a good price), but I get all the broadcast channels in widescreen for free, and all the cable shows the wife and I watch we hit Hulu.

 

[lunarworks]

I'm wtfing the fact there's such a limited selection of subscription-based HD content in the great white North. Simply surprised.

Well, there's two main reasons.

1) Canadian specialty channels seem to be slow on the HD uptake. I dunno who is at fault in this: The CRTC for being slow at granting licenses, the big media companies for dragging their heels on applying for licenses (and upgrading their facilities), or the cable/satellite companies being stingy with channel allotment. (I tend to think the media companies are to blame, since they're even defying the CRTC's declaration that analogue broadcasts end in 2011.)

2) The big US cable channels aren't licensed for carriage in Canada. (There's a good reason for this: a country of 300 million easily culturally overpowers a country of 30 million that speaks the same language. Cancon requirements may seem evil, but they sorta work... sorta.)

 

[SapientWolf]

You need a UHF antenna. Bunny ears (VHF) don't work that well for digital channels. You can make your own if you're the DIY type.

 

[Firestorm]

Monoprice has acceptable ones for like $20.

If I use a converter box, it won't be HD right? =/

 

[jamesinclair]

Buy the cheapest pair of rabbit ears you find at a store with a good return policy (like walmart).

Try it at home, see what you get. If youre missing channels, return it, and get a better model. Repeat as necessary. Antenas run from 15$ (basic) to 100 (amplified)

My TV has a HD receiver in it. I just hook it up to the cable coming from my wall and it finds about 40 channels to watch. this is without paying for any cable service. I can pretty much get all the channels I care to watch for free.

Youre probably stealing cable BTW.

To OP: When you cancel comcast and return your boxes, hook up the cable directly to the TV and run a scan. Comcast rarely sends someone over to physically cut your line.

that is the common confusion with the DTV transition. The little boxes they were selling a while back. You only need that if you have an old TV.

Most TVs before 2005, even HDTVs. Most best buys and walmarts still have them in stock. But again, this is ONLY for older TVs.


It blows my minds that some people dont understand OTA television.

Most cities have 20+ OTA channels.

ABC
CBS
Fox
NBC
CW
MynetworkTV
ION (was PAX)
Universal Sports
Univison
Telefutura
Telemundo
Galavision
Azteca
LAT

+PBS channels (ie, the unofficial food network, unofficial travel channel....)
+Digital subchannels

And if you have comcast or verizon internet, you get espn3.com for free.

 

[Raistlin]

2) The big US cable channels aren't licensed for carriage in Canada. (There's a good reason for this: a country of 300 million easily culturally overpowers a country of 30 million that speaks the same language. Cancon requirements may seem evil, but they sorta work... sorta.)

I can kind of get that ... except now that I check, a number of providers are claiming ~100 channels.

http://www.tvb.ca/pages/hd+channels+in+canada_htm

What is amusing, stuff like HGTV, Green, Science, etc aren't there, yet a nice chunk of the shit you're getting is what you should be worried about culturally :lol. At least you aren't subjected to much of the Viacom hell (MTV, VH-1, Nick, etc) nor Disney.

Spoiler

I still blame you for the numerous iterations of Degrassi

 

[Raistlin]

Monoprice has acceptable ones for like $20.

If I use a converter box, it won't be HD right? =/

It's a bit of a tricky issue, as there really isn't a standardized nomenclature. When most people talk about a DTV converter/tuner though, yes they usually mean SD. What you are looking for (at least as defined by many) is an HDTV or ATSC converter/tuner.

http://www.ultimate-hdtv.com/dtv-set-top-boxes.php

That gives some nice info and references to other sites.



In general, there aren't all that many set-top ATSC tuners made anymore since most HDTV's have it built in. If you look around at places like ebay, you can find some of the older models though.

Another way to go is with a DVR. If you're looking for something new, on the PC side the HD HomeRun family is pretty popular, and for standalone boxes a modern TiVo or any DVR with an ATSC tuner can be used if you want.

 

[Eggo]

I did the same thing you're thinking of doing 2 months ago and don't regret it one bit. I bought this HDTV Antenna from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007MXZB2/?tag=neogaf0e-20 since I'm in an apartment. You can get roof-mounted HDTV antennas as well that can pick up even more channels.

The antenna I got it plugs into an outlet and the coax cable goes right from the antenna to the TV. I pick up all the major networks in HD glory right over the air and a couple others. Between those channel and anything I can get online I'm watching everything I want and don't miss the cable box at all.

I called Comcast to cancel my cable. I do have internet service through them so in order to keep the discounted price I have for internet service they threw a basic cable package for $10 a month on my account....which makes the internet service cheaper than if I were to get it through them standalone.

Because of this thread, I purchased the same antennae from Amazon. It's something I'd been wanting to do for a while but kept putting off for some reason. I checked the company's website http://antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx and there is a broadcast tower within 3 blocks of me (I live in Los Angeles). CBS and NBC come in crystal clear in HD, but I don't get ABC for some reason. Fox seems to be SD, and I have a bunch of channels in languages like Vietnamese and Spanish. I'm pulling in 70+ channels, most of which are not HD, but it's great for free. Luckily, I have an iPad for ABC programming. I'm covered! Fuck cable companies.

I am using Time Warner/Roadrunner for Internet. I'm tempted to plug the coax from my wall into my TV to see if I get additional channels. But if I do, I lose my Internet. Is there a coax splitter, and if I used one, would it slow my Internet connection speed if I did this?

 

[Rentahamster]

Because of this thread, I purchased the same antennae from Amazon. It's something I'd been wanting to do for a while but kept putting off for some reason. I checked the company's website http://antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx and there is a broadcast tower within 3 blocks of me (I live in Los Angeles). CBS and NBC come in crystal clear in HD, but I don't get ABC for some reason. Fox seems to be SD, and I have a bunch of channels in languages like Vietnamese and Spanish. I'm pulling in 70+ channels, most of which are not HD, but it's great for free. Luckily, I have an iPad for ABC programming. I'm covered! Fuck cable companies.

I am using Time Warner/Roadrunner for Internet. I'm tempted to plug the coax from my wall into my TV to see if I get additional channels. But if I do, I lose my Internet. Is there a coax splitter, and if I used one, would it slow my Internet connection speed if I did this?

Doesn't antennaweb tell you what direction you should point your device in order to catch ABC?

You can split the cable yourself, but you want to use a high quality splitter with the least signal loss. You should probably check first to even see if you can catch any stations due to the cable guy not shutting off your apartment.