So what's the price breakdown for the Spectrum streaming service and internet? I'm paying Spectrum ~$150/month for 100/10 internet, mid-tier channel package + HBO, Showtime and Cinemax. I also use Tivo so no hardware fees other than ~$3 for a cable card.

I think I'm looking at ~$83 if I stick with 100/10 internet for the same package. I'm just wondering if the shows we watch are available on demand? Inability to record live TV could be a problem. I think I can log into the app with my current package.

Philo looks interesting too. They do allow recording. Too bad they don't have Cartoon Network.

I know you can hide behind a VPN, but how do you pay anonymously?

Ehh, if they ever get busted, they'll cough up that customer list without blinking an eye. It does look neat though.

They'd probably just threaten legal action unless you pay them a set amount to go away. That's what happened when DirecTV started going after people who bought hacking hardware from vendors like this. When a site got busted, most of them turned those customer lists over real quick. Customers either paid up or lawyered up.

Ethics are fluid. I've seen some very "ethical" people get real unethical when the shit actually hits the fan. I'm personally not gonna judge your moral compass on whether you've streamed a few ill-gotten movies.

But Bitcoin isn't really anonymous?

Thanks! This is good info. Looks like Openbucks is about to stop accepting Subway gift cards though. I suspect that might be a trend.

https://www.openbucks.com/news/subway-notice.html

I'm just trying to figure out why VacFink waited until post #266 to get judgemental? I think "shady" methods of watching content have been mentioned since around post #4. That said, purely streaming doesn't appear to be illegal for the consumer watching the stream. If you are streaming for a large group, like say at a bar, then even streaming can be illegal. This is all based on 5 minutes of Googling so do your own due diligence.

I'd also say that for anyone doing anything "shady" enough, those Subway cards ain't gonna save you. They'll make it a little harder, but you can be found.

Put one of these in the attic and be amazed. The one I built many years ago worked really well.

https://www.markdigital.com/2009/01/24/making-an-inexpensive-antenna-for-digital-tv-with-coat-hangers/

Anybody using this? $20 per year for news and VPN (lifetime rate). I think I'm about to embrace the dark side again.

https://controlpanel.newshosting.com/signup/index.php?promo=best-usenet-deal-ever

Things are about to get very interesting with 5G and satellite broadband. I expect prices to go down once your local cable provider isn't the only "good" option.

Anybody using www.locast.org for locals? Some cities sure have a lot of local stations that they stream for free.

If anybody with a philo account wants to PM me their referral link, I'm going to sign up later today.

Got one. Thanks, homegameroom!

I can't believe I waited this long to get a Roku. There is so much free content. So far, Philo has worked great. It kills me that my cable only Tivo with lifetime is not worth much right now, but I got a good 5 years out of it so it did pay for itself and then some.

I never get rid of anything. Found an old Hauppauge Dual Tuner card from 10 or so years ago. Going to try to get it working with Plex and build a badass omnidirectional antenna as well. Thank you, Hauppauge for keeping the drivers updated.

Have any of you built one of these?

https://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-TV-antenna/

Plex Server on a Shield Tablet? I don't think that's going to work well.

For anyone interested, the Amazon Recast stuff is on sale again (Prime Day prices) at BestBuy.

I finally cut the cord. New bill is $65.99 for internet and I'm paying $20 for Philo. There are no taxes or fees for internet service so that's nice. Check your bills. They've (Spectrum) been charging me for internet+wifi forever and I've always used my own equipment, so there should not have been a monthly wifi charge.

I'm still undecided on OTA recording. I'm not even sure I really need to bother. My region gets ATSC 3 next year, so thinking I may hold off. Are any of you guys in an ATSC 3 test area?

If I had grabbed some of those $25 4K Firesticks a couple of weeks ago, I'd probably have bought a Recast from BestBuy this week. I don't have a huge need to record OTA though.

I bought a 60 mile range amplified antenna and the channels would glitch intermittently. I replaced it with a 30 mile range non-amplified antenna. Even with a very weak signal, the channels don’t glitch. Most of my stations are ~35 miles out.

Every DVR solution for OTA seems to have some sort of drawback (price, reliability, stupid limitations, video quality). I ended up snagging a used Tivo Roamio OTA with Lifetime sub for ~$100 off CL. This was perfect for me. I've noticed people seem to be dumping Tivos too. The new Hydra OS sucks IMO, but it is easy enough to revert to the traditional Tivo OS which is great. I wish I could have everything piped through one device. The Tivo "should" be able to do that, but no Philo app. The Roku is fine for Philo, but for sports it sucks. Sunday ticket looks so much better on my Xbox vs Roku.

I've been using Tivo for a couple of decades off and on. My last new purchase was a cable only (which I regret) Roamio. I had that sucker 98%+ full most of the time and never got a nag to upgrade to the new OS. I figure if I keep the HD full, they won't be able to upgrade it. As little as we watch OTA, I thought we'd be OK with live broadcasts, but once you get used to pausing and rewinding, it's tough not having it.

Given how so many have voiced disdain for the new OS, it's a little hard to believe they will totally force it on me. Ultimately this is a band-aid until I have an ATSC 3 solution. I don't see that happening anytime soon, so I should get at least a couple of years out of the Tivo.

Philo is surprisingly good to my eyes. My senior citizen in-laws can't tell the diff between SD and HD.

I just use the news apps on my Roku when I'm not using OTA. I like the MSNBC app. The evening news is generally live on it.

Philo mostly scratches my itch for cable TV. I do miss CN, but you can always find certain shows somewhere on the web.

There's a multiple page thread on an antenna forum about this antenna. I think it's supposed to be pretty good and is an old winegard design. I only need UHF. The UHF portion of this antenna is that little section at the front.

Here it is...

http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=16264

I re-used the ground block from my satellite dish.

https://www.amazon.com/Weather-Connector-Frequency-Coaxial-Satellite/dp/B00URX8WXW

An ATSC 3 HDHomerun is on Kickstarter now. I might get one.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1275320038/hdhomerun-atsc-30/posts

Well yeah. You have to supplement Fox with OAN and Nigel Farage tweets to be well informed

The problem is sometimes the VPN stops working. Then what? Youtube + internet is roughly the cost of cable + internet a couple of years ago for all the f'n TVs in my house.

I'm doing well with internet + antenna + philo. I find everything else as I need to, but it sucks to have to do all of that.

Eggs
Zebras
Tomatoes
Vegans

Italy
Ohio

But if your VPN craps out while you are seeding certain shows, don't you get a shit ton of DMCA warnings? Asking for a friend...

Well shit! That's good to know. Thank you!

Any opinions on Privado? My dirt cheap VPN switched to them a few months ago. It is faster, but choosing Oslo, Norway gives me a Romanian IP. I'm not sure that actually matters...

Fyi tmobile via Tmobile Tuesdays gives free mlb.tv subs every year, at least for the last few years. I wish they did that for sunday ticket.

Broadcasters are required to support the old stuff for 5 years after they start transmitting ATSC 3, but I'm more inclined to go with the new stuff as soon as something good is available. Silicon Dust has an ATSC 3 HD Homerun coming soon, but I think it only has a 100 megabit interface which seemed a little lacking to me for ATSC 3.

I never got a notice, but Locast now works in Central Florida. I also read somebody created a Chrome extension that successfully tricks their geolocation. Could be a very cheap way to watch blacked out games.

I'm using this Wineguard with an Onn amplifier and am picking up everything within 40 miles great. So much interference went away when I moved the antenna from the attic to outside. I paid ~$10 for mine. I would not pay $40...

https://www.homedepot.com/s/freevision%2520wineguard?NCNI-5

There are a couple ways to do it. An app called Channels is one. I can't recall the other. Unfortunately for me, none work with Roku.

Actually, there's an unofficial app for Roku called Stremium (formerly Fitzy) that will record Locast. Gonna check this out...

Every solution I've explored is expensive on storage cost.

See my prior post. It’s cloud storage and they aren’t giving it away. I imagine YouTube TV would be cheaper in the long run. I’ll stick with my antenna and $100 TiVo OTA (with lifetime) for now.

T-Mobile is pulling the plug on Tvision. Instead, T-Mobile customers can get $10 off per month on Youtube TV and $10 per month Philo. The Philo deal is pretty good. I believe you have to cancel and restart your accounts for the discount.

https://tmo.report/2021/03/tvision-to-shut-down-april-29th-will-be-replaced-with-discounted-youtube-tv/

No ,this was regarding trying to record Locast.

It's unwatchable without a donation, but for $5 well worth it. I just wish we could easily and cheaply record.

I know where to find most of the shows, but some of them other folks don't record so much.

Philo is upping their price from $20 to $25 per month starting 6/8. Accounts created prior to the increase will stay at the old rate indefinitely. Accounts on the new price plan will retain recordings for 1 yr vs the current 30 days.

Yeah, sports is the killer weakness with Philo, but otherwise I agree, lot's of bang for the buck. With T-Mobile it's only $10/month for that matter.

If you have someone to split the cost of a Youtube TV family membership, I'd say that's the way to go, especially if you use a VPN to get around sports blackouts.

Only 3 simultaneous streams though right?

You kinda get the impression YouTube TV is making it too easy to share an account. If there are 5 people sharing 3 streams, I’ve gotta believe there would be some getting kicked off, if it was enforced.

Effective immediately, Locast is nag-free even without a donation.

Me too. We should be good through football season since they still haven’t gone to trial.

I guess they had a change of heart. They just suspended operations. Damn!

I suspect they are done for. If any former Locast customers need an antenna, here's an offer for a free one...

https://www.cordcuttersnews.com/antennas-direct-is-giving-away-free-antennas-to-previous-locast-users/

Once you've had a taste of what location spoofing can do for sports, an antenna ain't gonna cut it. I'm gonna try Youtube TV. $55/month sucks, but the timing of this shi* is impeccably bad.

Roku Ultras will be going on sale for ~$50 to $70 in a couple of months. They always do.

Ultra LTs are on clearance now at Wally World...

https://slickdeals.net/f/15229297-roku-ultra-lt-hd-4k-hdr-streaming-media-player-35-walmart-extreme-ymmv-b-m-35?v=1&src=SiteSearch

I think they pretty much do every year. Though maybe not this year with the Covid supply chain issues. I'm really not sure of anything new they could introduce. If you can get an Ultra LT for less than $50, I'd do that before buying a stick type media player.

Watched the FSU game last night with regular old OTA. God it was beautiful! I've never been willing to pay the Sony Premium, but lucked into a slightly used Sony OLED for cheap. I've seen the light. I'll have to pony up when this one dies.

Cheap ass tuners. My Tivo and HiSense were glitchy at times. My Sony is rock solid even with a Bouganvilia growing in front of the antenna.

Can someone recommend a vpn that YouTube tv won’t detect?

Thanks! Locast worked simply using location spoofing. YouTube TV is making me work for it…

Philo is great if you don't care about sports. Video quality looks good enough to me. I've got it for $10/month via T-Mobile. Though I now also have Youtube TV ($55/month) and find I don't watch Philo much at all. I think the only thing I'm missing is History Channel from Philo.

Do any of you guys load up on discounted Google Play gift cards to make Youtube TV cheaper?

I've got it with Philo. I just meant the only channel I miss with YouTube TV is History.

What about T-Mobile Internet? We rented a cabin in BF North Carolina and used it to reliably stream Netflix all week. I was surprised how well it worked.

Yeah, it's a regular Philo account. You don't have to use your phone.

Your cable modem likely has a user accessible admin console. I had a similar problem as you and got nowhere with support until I started monitoring the error logs and pointing out all the errors that preceeded losing my connection. They then sent a tech who found a wiring problem at the main box on the street.

But then nobody would buy a mini. Tivo made deals with cable companies and f'd it all up. They could have been Roku, but better. Just piss poor leadership.

I still say if you can find a Roamio OTA with lifetime for ~$100, buy it. It's worth it for the hassle free ability to record OTA with a guide. Used minis are dirt cheap as well.

Absolutely!

If any of you folks need antennas, Lowe's is clearing out a bunch of models. I got this for ~$16. There was also a Clearstream for ~$30 and a couple of others on clearance.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-Pro-Yagi-Outdoor-HD-UHF-VHF-TV-Antenna/1000309169?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-elc-_-ggl-_-LIA_ELC_204_Surge-Safety-Multimedia-_-1000309169-_-local-_-0-_-0&ds_rl=1286981&gclid=CjwKCAiA8bqOBhANEiwA-sIlNzYj7dqdr6HBv7Od-Z04kqCblHKmMMjztfecnSeqk_8UifPaREs4xBoC_BkQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Yes, you can use brickseek to check in-store inventory and pricing.

The other 4 were probably in a box in the overhead bins. Always check the overhead bins. They write the SKU on the boxes.

Check Facebook Marketplace. I've seen them pretty cheap there if you don't mind used.

Did you test the Clearstream as well? I found that GE for ~$11 at another Lowes so gonna go pick one up. Some posts on TV Fool indicate it is a good antenna.

Lowe's also has an RCA pre-amp on clearance. My store was ~$15. There are 2 models mixed together under the same SKU. The older model is the better pre-amp. It has separate UHF and VHF inputs vs the newer one has them combined.

This dude tore apart a Clearstream. What a rip…

Mine works great. Make sure you don’t have a splitter between the power inserter and pre-amp.

It’s a channel master clone. Someone on TV Fool did a tear down and they were very similar.

That's the model. Here is the thread with pics...

https://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=13530

I've been looking for an RCA ANT705 antenna for a good price. It generally retails for $40 to $50 and is currently $49.99 at Ace Hardware. If you do a Google search for ANT705 though, it pops up in the Google Ads for $29.99 @ Ace Hardware. I clicked through the ad and sure enough $29.99. If you join ACE Rewards and download their phone app, you can get another $5 off (after a 24 hour wait). So I got an ANT705 for ~$25 + tax. Credit to ADTech from TV Fool for the following antenna comparison. It's supposed to be really good for UHF.

tvfool (resized).PNG

I read this last night and tried it on my Ipad then. It showed $43.99. On my desktop now it shows $49.99. I don't know??

The tv fool reviewer measured 9v on a working pre-amp as I recall. The link is a few posts up.

“The supplied power brick is hard wired to the power inserter and is rated @ 12 VDC, 200 ma. Mine actually outputs 16.63 VDC. Output from the power inserter measured 9.50 VDC unloaded and 9.47 VDC with the amplifier connected. This is important to know because unlike my Winegard amps that have the voltage regulation in the mast head unit the RCA amp. has the regulation in the power inserter”

I’ll check output voltage on mine tomorrow. My TiVo gives signal strength % and I tested with and without the pre-amp. My signal strength improved with the pre-amp. The TV Fool reviewer was very thorough and sounded like he knew what he was doing.

I'm measuring 9.08v with the pre-amp disconnected. One of my weaker channels was ~57% without the pre-amp. Installing the pre-amp kicked it up to ~67% so I know it is working. I'd have to pop it open to measure voltage coming from the wal-wart so can't measure that.

I'm wondering where the Amazon reviewer got their info?

The first reviewer says it should read 18v. The second reviewer says 12v. I call BS. In my limited understanding, you would need a step-up converter on the power injector to get 18v from a 12v power supply. Also, there is an answer provided by user ANT if I search Q&A for voltage.

"Q: What is the power inserter output voltage supposed to be? i've purchased several and they only put out 9v dc.
A: The voltage from the power injector to the amplifier is DC 9.0 +/-0.5V. The power injector is not a direct power in and out, it includes many electrical components and we use a 9V voltage regulator inside of it, so the output voltage should be 9V not 12V.
By ANT on November 2, 2021"

Yeah probably. I see he typed 12v elsewhere. But he's still wrong. I asked you earlier and I don't think you responded, but are you certain you don't have a splitter somewhere between the power inserter and pre-amp? Most splitters don't pass-through power. If the pre-amp isn't getting power, it's going to make the signal worse.

ANT705 showing up for $29.99 again (also 10% Rakuten Cashback available now too). If it doesn't work, try using zip 32725.

ant705 (resized).PNG

This thread may be helpful and also contains a pic of the power inserter innards. One user explained that with one particular power inserter he was trying to install, it wouldn't work if you screwed the coax connector all the way tight. You had to back it off a half turn.

See post #94

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/rca-tvpramp1r-preamp-a-technical-review.1794290/page-5

Also, he has twin-lead wire going to the antenna. Cool looking antenna though. I bet it is real old.

Looking at the stations you want and aren't getting, they are both vhf-hi. That ANT705 isn't going to help you.

I'm wondering if you may be experiencing FM transmitter interference? See here....

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/providence-ri-ota-indoor-antenna.2130410/

I believe that's essentially an RCA ANT751 with vhf-lo extensions added. You can get the ANT751 much cheaper.

I believe that's a distribution amp and should be fine. Maybe try hooking up the pre-amp again. And just to be clear, the Antronix amp wasn't in-between the RCA pre-amp and power inserter? If it was, that's a problem.

Try re-adding the pre-amp. This time keeping the distribution amp and put the power injector for the pre-amp between it and the pre-amp.

In my home setup, I use both a pre-amp and a distribution amp.

And also keep in mind, if you can get the RCA pre-amp working, it already has a built-in fm trap. There is a slider switch to enable/disable it. Default from factory is enabled.

Out of print book I found online, TV Antennas and Signal Distribution Systems...

https://nvhrbiblio.nl/biblio/boek/Salvati%20-%20TV%20antennas%20and%20signal%20distribution%20systems.pdf

I'd think snow on the roof would make it worse, but maybe snow covering the ground between you and the transmitter helps? We never did ask what kind of roof you have. Hopefully not metal. That kills reception.

T-Mobile now offering a free year of Paramount +.

https://www.t-mobile.com/offers/paramount-plus-deal

Old modem spewing a shi* ton of error traffic? You should know real quick with the new modem. Just monitor it over the next few days.

Were you finally able to get Starlink?

Isn't it f'n crazy? I was able to get the BF Hulu deal again this year for ~$1/month I think. Netflix is partially subsidized through T-Mobile as well as Philo, and I think Paramount Network as well. My HBOMax is free with ATT Fiber. Prime I pay full price and don't use much. I also have a Tivo with Lifetime sub and watch OTA pretty regularly.

No way would I pay full price for all this shi*. I don't use it enough.

This might be worthy of it's own thread! Please keep us updated on how it goes.

Test it with ethernet. I bet it's better than that.

I hate when companies do that shi*.

Do you have an option to the speed from Starlink to router?

But being able to upload at gigabit speeds is a game changer for cloud backup.

As you said, it's so much better than what you had. I still think it ought to be faster. This is from Q4 of last year. Do you have any obstructions?

slink (resized).PNG

That image is from Ookla. If nobody runs a speed test, that’s what it shows.

Oh no, I was referring to my AT&T fiber. For me gig downloads are mostly a waste, but thanks to the gig upload speed, I can backup lots of data quickly. That’s a game changer for me.

Had a bad storm today. Heavy winds and downed trees. FIOS says no outages in my area, but we lost internet during the storm. Can’t get a tech out til Wednesday.

I was on Fios while working on my daughter's place. Their service sucks! Lost the ONT during a storm. It took 2 full days before a tech could come out and replace it. No internet, no antenna, shitty cell signal, and an empty house. I bought a cheap antenna. The TV was in the basement. I got 2 channels, an English Religious Channel and a Spanish Religious Channel.

You can find the Roamio with lifetime for ~$100 used. That's what I'm using. I think the newer Tivos got a lot less reliable when they went to laptop hard drives. Even if your Roamio fails, I think Tivo will let you swap it out for another lifetime refurb for ~$75.

The problem with Smart TVs is they get dumber every year after purchase. The support and updates fall off after they go out of production. I would not buy a new TV just to get the smart features. If you have an old LED/LCD and have an itch for something new, I would look at the OLEDs. That is a worthwhile upgrade plus it will be a smart TV and should also have an ATSC 3 tuner.

I would be real careful with how you pay for that. They mostly go after distributors but if you are paying for a service that you know is illegal, you are giving them a paper trail to prosecute. It has happened.

No problem! And when the distributor gets busted, they are happy to offer up that paying customer list for some leniency. Much better to just share a legit service with a buddy or 2.

I'm not really sure. I don't use them. I do know there have been some big busts of IPTV providers recently. Back in the glory days of satellite hacking, they'd go after the distributors, then they'd get those customer lists and go after the customers. I'd be vary cautious.

Not really, but you are paying for a legit service, not a fraudulent one. That is key. And most anyone with older kids will tell you, legit services don't want you to share, but they don't really enforce it too severely either.

We actually had some folks who were selling hacked Firesticks at a nearby flea market get busted by local cops. I was kinda surprised by that as you'd think that wouldn't be real high on their list of crimes to devote resources to.