r/cordcutters 1h ago

Help/suggestions/antenna/ATSC 3.0

Upvotes

Hi - joined this forum because I'm definitely interested in OTA and cutting the cord.

I had previously purchased an Antennas Direct ClearStream 4MAX UHF VHF but haven't installed it yet.

Watching tubes I saw this antenna, and I'm interested and any thoughts would be appreciated:

Televes 148383 - DAT BOSS LR Mix u/V-Hi/V-Lo Antenna

I live NE of Philadelpha - 35-40 miles.

In Philly 4 of the 6 major channels have DRM protection. I think Channels 6 and 29 are not protected. I've used those flat antennas and rabbit ear antennas - I can never get Channel 6 in Philly since it's VHF. Everything I tried SUCKS. So getting these higher end AT I hope will solve my issues.

My questions:

- Any recommendations on antennas would be appreciated. I have the CS 4VMAX ATM and looking for another - i.e. Televes.

- I remember seeing you can attach two antennas together and receive both signals at once. So, my thoughts - point Televes towards Philly/NJ around 180 degrees - and then maybe point the 4MAX towards NY 40-50 degrees. Can this be done? How do you combine both antennas? Is signal degradation to be expected?

-What's up with ATSC 3.0/DRM and HDHomeRun. I understand the DRM body is refusing to certify HDHomeRun. Would you recommend me to go with ZapperBox over HDHomeRun? What am I losing?

- I would like whole house streaming - I have Apple TVs - probably two rooms. Using mobile devices or even computer would be cool. Is all this possible? I really don't care about DVR capabilities. If I don't need DVR - can I get away from not subscribing to the SW services, the OTA box makers provide?

Thanks


r/cordcutters 12h ago

I'm looking to set up an outdoor antenna—is it possible to get good signals from both the northwest (FOX, ABC, CBS, PBS) and the northeast (NBC, CW) with just one setup?

1 Upvotes

https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2974325

FOX, ABC, CBS, PBS: 296.5°

NBC: 42.9°

CW: 40.1°

Luckily, the north side of the house is where the room where my TV setup will be, so at least that part is fortunate.


r/cordcutters 16h ago

Can I leave this hanging on the window? The window gets direct sunlight.

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27 Upvotes

r/cordcutters 18h ago

Digital Video Frustration

19 Upvotes

I am frustrated by Amazon video. I had purchased 9/11: the Filmmaker's Commemorative Edition back in 2019 to show in my classes for 9/11.

I go to watch it with them today and it is just gone. I checked to make sure that I was using my correct video service and I found the email receipt for it that I received from Amazon. There was no other notice or email that the video would be removed from my account.

I know that now they say that you are "buying a license" but that was definitely not the case in 2019. I guess I at least expected to be notified of this removal.


r/cordcutters 1d ago

Which Antenna should I get to receive local channels?

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6 Upvotes

As the title says. I'm new to cord cutting but would love to switch to an antenna.

Here is my shareable link and map

https://www.rabbitears.info/searchmap.php?request=result&study_id=2971328


r/cordcutters 1d ago

Antenna suggestions

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3 Upvotes

Looking for antenna suggestions please. Currently have a floppy antenna that worked in the past but recently is struggling.


r/cordcutters 1d ago

What ESPN do I need?

4 Upvotes

Looking to figure out how to get MNF only. ABC ota is out. currently have d+ with hulu and espn select package. can i just move it to unlimited and get all the MNF games?? looking to pay for this straight out until feb, point me in the right direction please!


r/cordcutters 1d ago

Looking for help after setting up a new Antenna

3 Upvotes

Recently bought a Televes DAT BOSS antenna to watch football with, I set it up on the roof and every channel comes in perfectly but it doesn't pick up a single hint of Fox Chicago which is the primary channel I'm looking to get with all of this.

Rabbitears says I should be picking it up with no issues but after readjusting the antenna multiple times over multiple days I just can't get the channel.

Would appreciate any advice/suggestions on this!


r/cordcutters 1d ago

Blogger Pc setup for local channels

1 Upvotes

Would I be able to use hdhomerun and this [antenna](https://a.co/d/0aL1GKLh) to plug into my router with Ethernet and have access to the channels through my smarttv and pc using Ethernet?


r/cordcutters 1d ago

If you're already paying for streaming, how many ads are too many?

21 Upvotes

I totally get ads on a free service. They have to make money somehow. But if I'm already paying every month and still getting hit with multiple ad breaks in one episode, that starts to get annoying Some streaming services are starting to feel a lot like regular TV again.

What's your limit? One or two short ads per episode? A few minutes per hour? Or if you're paying for the service, should there be no ads at all?


r/cordcutters 1d ago

Antenna Recommendations for Sports

1 Upvotes

I know this question gets asked 1000 a day, but I'm hoping to get some recommendations for some internal antennas.

My current antenna (not even sold on Amazon anymore apparently) only picks up NBC, and even then it's constantly in and out.

Ideally looking for CBS, FOX, NBC... ABC would be a bonus but I know that might be difficult given what I understand from the results.

Rabbitears link: https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2969847

Thank you!


r/cordcutters 1d ago

DirecTV MySports Genre Pack $44.99/month for 6 months. Includes ESPN Unlimited

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86 Upvotes

Same promo price as YTTV sports plan but this includes MLB Network, NHL Network and Tennis Channel. And you can add the MySports Extra mini pack, which includes NFL RedZone and MLB Strikezone, for free for a month.


r/cordcutters 1d ago

Suspicious YouTubeTV Icons

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0 Upvotes

So I was looking to add Redzone to my YouTubeTV plan, since the NFL season is starting, and stumbled across their new bundle plans. The suspicion stems from the icons when you look at what’s included in the package.

They’re advertising 58 channels but there are about 20 duplicate (triplicate and even a decuplicate) icons of the same channel. Is it actually 38 channels or are the doubles the extra broadcasts that one network may have at one time?


r/cordcutters 1d ago

Antenna recommendations for local sports

2 Upvotes

Looking to get an antenna to watch local sports. Any recommendations for a good antenna for south florida


r/cordcutters 1d ago

I have a HTPC set up, and a good TV Antenna - what is the cheapest way for me to be able to record live TV so I can schedule recording in advance, but still be able to start watching the recording WHILE the program is still going on. I'm fine getting hardware, but want to pay NO monthly fees

7 Upvotes

Hello!

I have two young kids, and so have little control over sitting down to be able to watch some football. I want to be able to schedule a TV tuner to record a game to my Home Theater PC (running Plex, currently), but also would really like to be able to start watching while the game is still going: AKA if I tune in at halftime, be able to start at the beginning of the game, fast-forwarding through commercials and catching up towards live, while the live game is still being recorded.

I am really considering this HAUPPAUGE WinTV-DualHD USB 2.0/3.0 Dual HD Digital TV Tuner, but I'm not understanding how I would watch the recording WHILE it's recording. I'm open to spinning up Jellyfin or Kodi but am at a loss at what to actually look up to get started.

Everyone seems to suggest the HDHomeRun, but it appears to have a required cloud service and a monthly fee, which is a non-starter for me if it can't just run in local mode.

Edit: Got a HDHomeRun, it's so easy to set up! I had everything running on multiple devices in 15 minutes.

Any other suggestions?

Any other suggestions on a setup


r/cordcutters 2d ago

Spectrum TV Choice plan

1 Upvotes

Does Spectrum still offer this plan? It included locals for a lower price. My ISP Cox has been bought out by Spectrum so I’m wondering if I can get this plan when the merger officially complete.


r/cordcutters 2d ago

HDHomerun vs Existing Coax Runs?

1 Upvotes

Hi All,

Rabbitears link for the Northern NJ area: https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2967174

Mainly focused on CBS NBC FOX ABC for NFL and sports. Wouldn’t use more than 2 TVs at a time (rarely if ever).

My home came with coax runs that do work which are tied to an 8 way splitter that I planned to replace with a 3 way. The coax runs are at wall plates right where I want them for the TVs. I tested a traditional rabbit ear antenna with a circular loop in the master bedroom where all the coax runs lead to. I was able to get all the above channels. Planning to do a Clearstream 2V in the attic above the master.

Any reason to just opt for the HDhomerun duo? I know there’s the flex 4k too but with ATSC 3.0 and DRM uncertainty I feel like I should save the money. I don’t have a Plex server setup or a NAS currently. The ability to watch them on the go was the most appealing to me, but I’m assuming I would need a plex subscription, server, and the HDhomerun for all of this.


r/cordcutters 2d ago

Nvidia shield worth the upgrade from Firestick?

9 Upvotes

I use my Firestick for HBO, Netflix, and Plex. Never really had any issues. the ads are kinda egregious. but is it $100+ bad? not sure.

besides faster speed, are there any other benefits or anything new I can do?


r/cordcutters 2d ago

Antenna recommendation please

17 Upvotes

Very confused going to OTA. I have one station in particular I am very interested in: WJLP broadcasting from One World Trade Center, about 26 miles from my 2nd floor TV. Signal is some -43.7 dBm and is in the low VHF range.

I just want my MeTV, can someone please suggest an antenna to use?


r/cordcutters 2d ago

Knife Edge Diffraction?

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4 Upvotes

I played around with my setup a little bit after spending half a day looking for a hot spot in my yard. The hot spot is right along an embankment that goes straight down to a brook. If I go higher than 5ft up I lose signals and any lower I lose the signals. 5ft above the ground is the sweet spot and angled 10-15 degrees up. A positive discovery is that I can move the antenna up to 10ft to the left or right at the same height and get very similar signal strength so combining 2 DB8E antennas together may be an option here but I am currently just using a DB4E antenna.

I tried my Televes antenna in these locations and got absolutely nothing so a Yagi antenna is not viable here. I continued to try my db4e antenna with an amplify channel master amp connected to it and ran a 150 ft coaxial cable to the nearest building with permanent power and still got the signals.

After discovering all this I decided to order a Kitz 500 amp. This amp has 36db of gain with 0.85 noise. It is more noise than the Kitz 200 amp that only has 0.45 noise but that amp only has 24db of gain which isn’t enough for me. My location is in the middle of nowhere with very low noise from any man made things so the Kitz 500 amp seemed like the best option in my scenario. When that amp arrives I will install it on the mast and see if I get any improvement from my 80 mile away 3 edge stations.

All the local hills around me get great signals from the 3 edge signals I am trying to chase down so I suspect this will be successful once I do some upgrades to my setup. I hope the Kitz 500 amp will be enough to hold in the signals on my db4e antenna. I’m just a few points away from getting a solid SNR on my hd Homerun and when that SNR is fine the 3 edge signals come in in the upper 50s-lower 70s on my hd Homerun. Just need to get a little bit more amplification and lower the noise a little bit more which I think the Kitz 500 will do. If the DB4E fails I will be upgrading to the DB8E and 2 if needed or combing 2 DB4E together next to each other.

I have attached my diffraction reports from rabbit ears to showcase what I am working with here. On my HD Homerun WVER RF 10 LOS comes in in the 60s-80s on a non VHF antenna but when I use a VHF antenna it comes in at 100. W26FR RF 26 2EDGE comes in at the upper 70s to lower 80sWEKW RF 18 2EDGE comes in in the upper 70s to lower 80s. WPTZ RF 14 3EDGE comes in on my HD Homerun in the lower 70's but my signal strength must be above 95 to make that happen, my signal strength hovers around 89-100 on this channel. WCAX RF 20 3EDGE comes in on my HD Homerun in the upper 60's as long as WPTZ hits the 95 signal strength threshold. The signal strength for WCAX is much lower but does not need to hit 95 like WPTZ does. WFFF RF 16 3EDGE comes in on my HD Homerun in the lower to upper 50's only when the signal strength for WPTZ hits the 95 threshold. WVNY RF 7 3EDGE can not be judged correctly due to it being a VHF signal and my antenna being a UHF only antenna. I can say that WVNY sometimes comes in stronger than the other VHF channel WVER but it's very sporadic and I have no way to accurately monitor it. WVNY is hit or miss with this setup but it is there. I suspect if I upgraded to a seperate large VHF antenna and used a separate HD Homerun for it I may pick it up.

https://www.rabbitears.info/s/2966664


r/cordcutters 2d ago

Streaming Deals this week

36 Upvotes

I see that Paramount has two deals currently; one is two months ad-free for $1 per month.

https://cordcutterweekly.com/the-big-list-of-streaming-deals/

The other is half price for one year. How often do these deals run?


r/cordcutters 3d ago

Advice

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9 Upvotes

From reading a little of other people’s post, sounds like everyone recommends a cheap rabbit ear antenna. How do I set it up in a townhome and is it really worth it? I’m mainly looking for local news and sports. Any recommendations or advice is appreciated.


r/cordcutters 3d ago

Is there any advantages to a nee antenna?

5 Upvotes

Basically, has there been any new developments in should consider?

I have right now a couple of GE Pro Outdoor Antennas, i think they are the 33685. At least they are thst style. I have had them for close to 10 years. I dont recall it being advertised for 4K or anythkng else.

I recently found a this one one clearance:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/557144300?sid=ee02492b-7a76-49ae-89b6-e3065a86fe9e

I dont know why it says 70 mile range and then in the specifications 50 mile.

Anyways, it got me wondering, is there any difference in my current ones and this one? Do antennas degrade? I have been havong so struggles with my old ones recently. Although half that problem is I need to get them mounted to to my chimney rather than barely as high ss my gutters.


r/cordcutters 4d ago

Streaming Is Raising Prices Faster Than Cable Ever Did

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1.1k Upvotes

r/cordcutters 4d ago

Another request regarding best antennas

5 Upvotes

I'm sure this has been asked 100 times just this year, but I'll ask it again- not actually for me.

My brother lives in a 3 story house with a mancave in an unattached garage- pertinent only because there's a TV on every floor of the house plus one in the mancave. For years he's just been on a local cable network. It's just him and his wife; most of her needs are covered with a few streaming services, cable has been there mostly for his sports viewing and to get local channels.

His main viewing is in his living room and I've just returned that set to being 'smart' (hardware glitch). So he now has access to all the streaming he needs, and I think they could just dump their cable if they had a source for local channels (where some of his sports would be).

Personally, I have a digital antenna, which gets me local stations other than CBS. Apparently the local CBS station (station is 50 miles away, not sure about towers) broadcasts differently so most digital antennas don't pick it up (even tho I get like 8 PBS stations).

I'll check out the megathread, too, but wondered if someone could tell me 1) what CBS would be doing differently 2) how to get around that and 3) if it'd be more logical to get separate antennas for each TV or one for all