And was it easy to install? I'm thinking of doing the same when fall shows start, but don't want to get a piece of junk.

Radio Shack... ebay or Amazon. 20 to 30 bucks max.

Works great

What you bought is really an 'amplified' antenna.

A few years ago, when the signals were required to go digital...which can be harder to pick up...the manufacturers of these antennas added 'digital' to the box. Same box...same antenna.....just re-branded.

So any ole antenna will sill work, even in a digital world. The advantage I find with the amplified antenna is that it sits indoors and nothing clutters up the roof. I also get stations from sixty miles away.

But anything will work - an old rooftop antenna from a garage sale....rabbit ears, etc. So if you live in town, ditching cable could be really cheap.

BTW there really is no such think as a HD antenna. I receive HD TV on antennas I mounted 20+ years ago. 2 well known brands are Channel Master and Weingard.
http://www.channelmasterstore.com/
http://www.winegard.com/

2 flat panel antennas:
http://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master-CM-3000HD-Omni-directional-SMARTenna/dp/B000BSKO84/ref=sr_1_16/176-0059847-2976130?ie=UTF8&qid=1402762029&sr=8-16&keywords=channel+master+antennas
?1392717240


http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-FL5500A-FlatWave-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B00BN5Z2WM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1402762737&sr=8-1&keywords=flatwave+amped

This unit was given high marks by Popular Mechanics magazine
If you are in a rural area you will need an external antenna mounted on a pole. And just so you know, broadcast stations do not include FAUX Snooze, M$NBC, CNN ESPN and a host of other cable only channels.

We receive CBS,CW, NBC, MYTX, MeTV, MUNDO FOX, THIS TV,2 PBS stations, ABC, Telemundo, FOX (not news).

The closest transmitters to us are 30 miles and the furthest are 100 miles.

is great if you like British TV. Unfortunately, we've been having major issues with it stuttering and stopping lately. Not sure why. Still it doesn't seem like a widespread problem, so do check them out if you're interested.

otherwise, i would so do it now.

i do not watch much. if i want to watch, library dvds, or hastings.

i have watched three series that way. works for me.

Plus...networks show the football games and you can watch them with an HD antenna.

Sure, the networks have games. They don't have very many games.

It's really the only thing I miss (and I don't really miss it the wife does) about having dropped satellite about 2 years ago.

At one point they didn't.

Failing that you can try something like wiziwig for live sports.

I cut the cable cord 3 years ago and haven't missed anything of note. If a cable show is big enough, it usually shows up on the internet somewhere - Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or directly from the network or it's talked about so much it feels like I've watched it. I forget the outdoor antenna I got, but it was an outdoor one. I also hooked in a signal booster which brings in a few more channels and strengthens the ones I did receive. I found this website which helped choose the right antenna - http://www.antennaweb.org.

Also considering dumping the iphone and going back to the land line only.

Still need to buy a tablet, Nook or Kindle.

Hopefully, when my cellphone contract is up in November I will have decided how exactly I will go with all this.

Some teck wags predict that "support" for land lines will end within 5 yrs. The Refusal of the phone company to clean out the static made phone service worthless; hence the shitty Splint Samsuck cell phone. I'll drop cable shortly & get a flat screen with antennae. The ONLY reason I have I-net is because I can't do basic transactions without it.

We bought a Roku box almost 2 years ago and subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, and recently added Acorn TV. Netflix & Acorn have all of what we watch with the exception of a favorite brit com that Amazon streams,"Yes, Minster" and "Yes, Prime Minister".

I don't miss 24 hour news stations AT ALL. I get my news from much better sources on the internet.

I think you will like your TV experience much better without the cable company parting you and your money.

Maryland Public TV used to show it on weekends ... saw the whole series. Have to get it on DVD someday.

Found sites where I can live stream 24 hour news channels, signed up for Netflix, regular free Hulu is enough for me and I used to record shows onto blank discs so I have an entire bookcase of favorites to watch. And if you haven't heard, Game of Thrones is most pirated show - I found a website that posts the episodes right after they air. Though I do buy the dvd's as soon as they come out. I had to cut costs and thought I would miss a lot of stuff. Turns out I don't.

Game of Thrones will no doubt start soon... (the old seasons)

The over the air stations spent a lot of money- I'm sure some or all of it was public money to upgrade to digital signals which give HD service as well as some additional channels. We receive 1 additional from our CBS station, 4 from NBC, 3 from PBS, 3 from ABC, 2 from FOX. The additional channels broadcasted by our NBC affiliate are oldies which is fine with me because I am an old white guy- N.A.O.W.G. This last is

to go digital were the public stations, not the commercial stations.

I had cable for a while, and only watched things like "Game of Thrones", Dr. Who, Rachel Maddow and the occasional movie. Sports programming was not an interest, nor were religion, shopping or reality shows. When History, Discovery, Science and National Geographic converted to aliens, conspiracies and ice roads, I gave up on them. Unfortunately, here in the States, one cannot select what one wishes to pay for. After getting a cable/telephone/internet bill of over $200, I decided I really didn't need a service that I rarely used and axed the cable TV.

Check out
http://www.watch-tvseries.net/series670/Doctor-Who-2005/
They often remove older episodes but you can watch the new season as it comes out. Lots of other series too.

just plug the cable from the wall to the TV. You'll get the same broadcast stations the antenna will give you, but usually with a bit better quality. I'm doing the same thing as you (although my streaming device is a PS3). 60 mpbs internet, and I built an HD antenna, but after I realized that there was broadcast signal coming down the line, I kept it (and yes, they did install a trap on the line after I discontinued cable service, otherwise I'd have the standard def basic cable coming in as well).

Apparently it's a law of some sort. If you have a cable coming into your house, whether it provides internet OR TV, it has to contain all broadcast stations that you would pick up via an antenna.

Awesome.

I found out after building my antenna and researching splitters and signal amps so I could run both TVs with good signal. Read it on a forum of some sort, plugged into the wall, and voila. Broadcast and standard def basic cable. A month later, they had to replace the drop to my house, and they realized there was no trap on the line, so they installed that. Kept the broadcast, lost the basic SD cable. No biggie. Lot of really great broadcast stations. PBS Create is quite cool. ThisTV (movie channel), METV (old shows), AntennaTV (old shows), LivingWell Network... I've come across great cooking shows, woodworking shows... News from other countries... Stuff I would've NEVER found if I still had cable. I'm assuming you're in Central Florida, seeing as you have Brighthouse...

You'd get the same stations I get. About 40 or 50 in all (if you count the multiple Spanish channels, shopping channels, and religious channels).

We are picking up the sports we watch in streaming packages and it is still a damn well cheaper than cable.

Those cable companies get what they deserve...a swift kick in the pocketbook.

We start before the next bill in July.
The Tikkis

Plus fast 90 for Internet and HBO and Showtime.

The bill averages 250 per month.

With the cut back I will probably pay about 100 per month. That includes internet, Netflix and Hulu subscriptions. Plus pay shows like movies, etc.

My kids have XBox and a PS3 and stream from that.

I'd say savings about 150 per month give or take a couple of dollars...

That we'd rather spend money like this on something else...

My brother is considering this as well because Brighthouse is asking too much for cable tv programming

I don't miss it one bit. I have Nretflix and Amazon Prime, so I see the shows I want.

I love not being part of the BS that is modern television!

We save a pile of money, watch about anything we want.

the British comedy series, drama, Moyers, etc.. I could give up Tennis Channel, but need C-Span. The rest of it is garbage, to me. Would love to break the cable habit.

but PBS has its own website where they offer countless programs to watch online; 18 seasons of antiques roadshow for instance.
http://video.pbs.org/

don't have a tv anymore. well there is a tv, but it's in my son's closet at college. when and if i get it back i plan to use it for my old vhs and dvd movies.
so, what is ROKU? do you need a tv?

and subscription channels like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime... You need WiFi and an HD cable connection on the back of your TV

thank you!

will never go back.

We have a wifi capable blu ray and watch about anything we would ever need.

Could this be a movement? We're always late to the game (still have tube TVs that work just fine).

to levels I had to go to them to get reduced. Now they want to jack up everything little thing - stuff I was promised for a year at least to not go up, petty stuff that they say they have increased costs over. It's simply not true on all the items they are raising the rates upon.

After giving up cable TV, they want to go up on the landline, have me pay to lower my speed on the net, and offer me insane deals on TV I turned of a dozen years ago. I get all my news off DU by links. The internet will become useless for me, as they don't care that most of us can't afford all this stuff.

They don't care if you do without it if you can't pay those 'middle class' fees. They have phone, TV and net all bundled in one piece and won't break it up to reduce costs. I've been going through this battle with them for years and now I may end up going offline.

I think this is what you're seeing, that the internet providers are refusing to keep to a contract, they change it from month to month. Those of us on a fixed income cannot budget for the insatiable greed of these firms.

If I agree to reduce my speed, I most likely will get little use out of DU, will be unable to load pages and enjoy youtube or images. It's a bummer but maybe it is time to move on anyway.

Sadly, I used to work for Comcast in my college days. I heard many complaints and vowed to never get their service.

Hopefully you will be able to get internet at some reasonable rate and speed. But you are right; they are nickel and diming people like crazy.

Here we have three or four people on at the same time.

Can't watch Dora the Explorer 24/7 (makes your head spin)...

Even at full speed can slow things down... even further during PRIMETIME hours when everyone and their uncle on your DSL line is doing stuff...

All of your friends knew you were on line after a certain time and your phone would be busy.

Remember Compuserve???

Then there's the the old Wildcat BBS stuff and of course,....Telemate.

in the early '90's

One of the advantages of the BBS days was that you could set up a date with someone in your own area code.

I used to host the occasional pizza feeds at Shakey's.

forums and mail... also, games...

a bit like the net anyway...

I forget which actual software I used...

People used mine for socializing. I also had a few ANSI RPGs.

If you can throw a little "because I will NOT tolerate Pox Noise" in there, might help deliver the message with a little more oomph. Connectivity can be a good thing!

Just a thought.

without contributing to clutter or the landfill. I haven't been disappointed, it turns out to be a wonderful way to get arty magazines. I also found it good for ordinary reading, something I really didn't expect because my eyesight sucks.

I've still got Direct, but I couldn't afford any satellite or cable service until mid 2006. The novelty has worn off and if I start to find myself listening to net radio more than listening to the tube, it will go.

I've streamed one movie on the Fire and found that using headsets for decent sound and having to hold the tablet close enough to see everything wasn't much fun. I'll do the streaming on the computer from now on.

but I had to beg to get it back. My spouse is stubborn. He broke the antenna and it would barely get any channels anymore and whenever we had a storm, it would blow over (on the roof). I wanted to get HBO again. Every time we left town, we watched Bill Maher at the hotels and I said, no more. I want tv again. So he finally found a way that was not only affordable, but fair. We had it turned on again last month. I'm thrilled. It's summer here in Southern AZ and we spend a lot more time indoors now so we can finally catch up on all of the shows we missed when we cut the cord before. I used to believe not having cable/dish was a good thing but I wanted it back. Cabin fever in June, July and Aug.

you said, "So he finally found a way that was not only affordable, but fair.
We had it turned on again last month."

What did he do do? or what service did you go with?

I'm in So. AZ too, and am curious what your solution was. Thanks much~

direct tv and got a pretty decent deal on it. We only have it hooked up to one tv and have a DVR for taping what we want. We got HBO and showtime for 3 months free. We'll keep the HBO and although it's cheap the first year, it goes up after a year to 80 something. We'll have basic and HBO. They came out in two days so not a long wait. The installer knew what he was doing too.

You're welcome! We're in Tucson, you?

I'm going to be moving and really want to save money/ cut costs in the new place. I'm trying to research everything.

Thanks so much.

to meet you! I hope I could help you with your choices.

Digital converter boxes are showing up right and left at yard sales and on trash piles. I mean, who has an analog TV anymore? Now that everyone's TV is digital, coupon-eligible converter boxes (CECBs) are just paperweights, and their the value has crashed.

Well, I have a few analog TVs, mostly small ones that fit in small places.

It was just about six years ago today that I used my gummint coupons and bought two Zenith DTT901 converter boxes at Circuit City, just as they came out. The shelves held both the DTT900 and DTT901 boxes, side by side for the same price.

I use rabbit ears, though I acknowledge that I'd be much better off with an antenna in the attic. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to doing something about that.

I've have other boxes, specifically DigitalStream and Apex, but the Zenith outdoes them.

I love the old movies on OTA TV. I've seen cable. There's nothing there for me.

If you find a CECB that can run on a battery and a TV that does the same, you can have TV when there's no power.

I haven't missed a thing. Even now, when I'm somewhere that has cable, there will be 600+ channels and nothing to watch.

Congratulations--you'll be a lot happier and a lot richer!

I've already pared down to "standard" and haven't noticed a difference losing all of that noise. One can buy a season of Mad Men on AMC via iTunes (and Breaking Bad when it was on) and go online for many other PBS pieces.

I have Amazon Prime and Netflix and run wonderful documentaries, political/environmental talks, and other BBC and Masterpiece Classics off of YouTube.

However, TCM runs so many great old flicks that you can't seem to find elsewhere. Does anyone know of a way to get that content without standard cable?

If so I suggest contacting the film studios to get 'em to put those rarities on DVD or Netflix.

If MLB didn't have the blackout rules, I'd just get their service.

cable the day after election day Nov 2002. Now I don't even have a tv but that's just me.

I assume you are stressed out by how the Miami pro basketball team is doing against El Supremo's favourite team of the week.

Cable subscription prices have skyrocketed over the past 10 years or so. I really don't want to pay that much for content that can be obtained online anyway.

I know lots of people who have cable and they tell me all the time that they can't find anything to watch about half the time. If people spend so much time glued to the tube that they need cable, they have a problem. They need to develop other interests besides sitting on their asses, watching programmed garbage. It's not worth the money, folks! They won't bring their rates down, either, until large numbers of people start saying that they've had enough. Paying $100 or more a month to watch that shit is just plain foolish.

my husband knows and does NOTHING on a PC or even cell phone! We're BOOMERS, so he not that old, just 4 yrs older than me. Just says he's rather be working outside or fixing things, so guess I'll have to keep shoveling money to feed my cable bills. But, I will say he can fix almost anything that breaks and has saved us lots and lots of money on so many repairs over the years. He can build houses, work on vehicles, washing machines, dryers, sinks, air conditioners and on and on. But I do carry warranties on the big items like AC, etc.

Still, I'm a little jealous because it's all about saving money these days. Prices keep going up & up!

2008, I think. Internet, Netflix, UNC-TV and lots more reading...

When the Watch ESPN and HBO GO apps are available for a paid service I am dropping cable completely but till then I am kind of tied to it.

The only thing worse than the "holier then thou" attitude is he hypocrisy of waiting until the corporate media cable series you can't do without is off the air.

not seeing the "holier than thou" part.

really get how watching TV shows online and online videos in general differs much from watching TV. Yeah, you do have more control over what you watch, but it's almost the same thing when you get down to it. You're still spending time staring at a screen, and you still encounter annoying ads unless you happen to have an ad-blocking feature installed. It's one thing to give up cable and spend the extra time doing something totally unrelated like reading or playing soccer with some friends, but aside from financial reasons, I don't see much point in doing so if a person is just going to spend much of the extra time online.

HBO has said it can't be profitable if they went to a Netflix like service. People have had campaigns to get HBO to do just that, because cable is costly, and there are hundreds of channels people don't care about but are forced to have.

not sure how to watch sports. That's the only thing holding us back.

Moving, specifically, to an area without service. Provide a fake address if possible. They cannot hold you to the contract at that point.

This is a most helpful thread, so close to home for everyone.....thanks again.

Haven't missed it yet.

HBO Go was available for non TV subscribers. So many young people, and older, don't want TVs now and prefer to watch on tablets and computers. A friend with HBO gave me her password so I can watch shows on Go on my laptop. It's great!

Although streaming media service wasn't available then, so I just severed the wire, period. Now, when I occasionally see television programing, like in a hotel, it utterly appalls me.

I cut the cord a while back and it's great! I've got netflix streaming and have been amazed at all the great content on youtube. Spent a couple of nights at a hotel recently so had the tv on a bit. It was awful. So glad to not be paying for that shit anymore.

To cutting the cord!

Julie

There is nothing but reality show after reality show on TV. I refuse to pay for it. I have Amazon, HULU and Netflix. Why do you think the cable companies are fighting net neutrality so much. When people can stream, they drop cable.

If Aereo wins the Supreme Court case, then I will be able to stream local channels so why spend so much money on crap cable.