I have cut the cable. Any recommendations on a good HD antenna?

mirth · July 03, 2016, 11:11:42 AM

Thanks for the info, Nef.

MetalDog · July 03, 2016, 11:37:19 AM

^+1. I live in the foothills. About half an hour outside the broadcast city. Really the only reason I would want one is to watch football. I can get by without watching as I can follow online, but, it's not the same.

DoctorQuest · July 03, 2016, 02:36:38 PM

I looked at the FCC tower location website and the good news is we are VERY close to the towers for a number of local stations. The bad news is Fox and CW stations are about 16 miles away which explains the poor reception for those channels.

I should be good for my fill of the NFL and enough college games to keep me happy. I also use ESPN3 on the internet which is not tied to the cable company. That is really still the downside of cutting the cable right now. Too many networks are in bed with the cable companies. I think that is going to change over time but for the moment it can still bite you.

Consumer Reports had a decent article on HD antennas. The interesting thing was the best performers were not the most expensive. It was strictly indoor types and the caveat was that your location still has the biggest influence on signal quality.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/07/indoor-hdtv-antennas/index.htm

mirth · July 03, 2016, 03:06:04 PM

Thanks for the link, Doc.

bayonetbrant · July 03, 2016, 03:56:23 PM

DQ - how are you getting ESPN3 w/o a cable subscription?

MetalDog · July 03, 2016, 03:58:43 PM

I'm pretty sure that 3 is their computer platform. Not sure there is an actual "ESPN3" on your cable system.

mirth · July 03, 2016, 04:01:21 PM

I'm a huge fan of ESPN 8, "The Ocho".

DoctorQuest · July 03, 2016, 04:21:15 PM

Quote from: MetalDog on July 03, 2016, 03:58:43 PM
I'm pretty sure that 3 is their computer platform. Not sure there is an actual "ESPN3" on your cable system.

That is exactly what it is. It is the streaming platform for ESPN. I'm expecting ESPN to go the way of HBO at some point and tell the cable companies to go screw themselves. If ESPN had granular enough subscription services (I only want football for instance) I would consider it.

CptHowdy · July 03, 2016, 04:29:43 PM

whos got time for tv with all these great games to play? :o

Staggerwing · July 03, 2016, 05:20:18 PM

Quote from: DoctorQuest on July 03, 2016, 04:21:15 PM
Quote from: MetalDog on July 03, 2016, 03:58:43 PM
I'm pretty sure that 3 is their computer platform. Not sure there is an actual "ESPN3" on your cable system.

That is exactly what it is. It is the streaming platform for ESPN. I'm expecting ESPN to go the way of HBO at some point and tell the cable companies to go screw themselves. If ESPN had granular enough subscription services (I only want football for instance) I would consider it.

The network winds are certainly blowing that way. CBS is already dipping it's toes in the streaming waters with CBS All Accesss, soon to be the home of the newest Star Trek series. The cable companies must be scrambling to find a backup business model to their Bundles of Want/Not-Want.

bayonetbrant · July 03, 2016, 08:16:42 PM

Quote from: MetalDog on July 03, 2016, 03:58:43 PM
I'm pretty sure that 3 is their computer platform. Not sure there is an actual "ESPN3" on your cable system.

Every time I log into ESPN3 from not-my-home-network it asks me to sign in w/ my cable company login info to verify that I have an account that should be able to access ESPN3

MetalDog · July 03, 2016, 09:49:27 PM

Quote from: bayonetbrant on July 03, 2016, 08:16:42 PM
Quote from: MetalDog on July 03, 2016, 03:58:43 PM
I'm pretty sure that 3 is their computer platform. Not sure there is an actual "ESPN3" on your cable system.

Every time I log into ESPN3 from not-my-home-network it asks me to sign in w/ my cable company login info to verify that I have an account that should be able to access ESPN3

Thereby proving, once and for all, that I truly have no idea what I am talking about. ;D