Efiwym, my wife and I have had conversations about getting rid of cable TV. As Efiwym sees the bills monthly, the idea of “cutting the cable” will be brought up. I will agree with her concerns about the constant increases in a product we truly do not take advantage of. There are hundreds of channels, and we probably watch 10. We most likely have kept it because of the local channels and the DVR. We do record plenty of shows and watch them when it is convenient. When we do watch something live, it is usually background noise, as we both are occupied on our iPad or phone.
I do like to use the DVR during football season. I hate watching football in real time. I like skipping through all the non-playing time and commercials. I try to stay away from news or social media during the game, so I do not know the outcome, but recently, I just check the score online, and if my team loses, I just erase the game and go on living my life. Life is too short to sit and watch the team you have been a fan of for 65 years, just to see them lose. Nonetheless, you still can get DVR’s, so that excuse to keep cable is moot.
To cut the cable, there are three main issues to consider: getting over-the-air local channels, recording shows, and streaming shows we do watch on cable.
Efiwym has purchased digital OTA antennas on Black Friday. We have a TV in one bedroom that does not have a cable box, so we wanted to at least have access to the local channels. She gave one away, and we had two left over. We have five TVs in our house, so we needed 5 antennas. So, my first task was to learn about digital OTA antennas.
After looking briefly online, I found an inexpensive on sale digital OTA antenna at my favorite home improvement store where I could save an additional 11%. In fact, when we went shopping, we bought an even cheaper one too. We decided if neither one worked, nor one of them worked, we could take them back.
Prior to purchasing these two antennas, I installed one on our TV in the living room. This digital antenna had rabbit ears and was amplified. When Efiwym bought this antenna for a very cheap price, I found out why. The cord was missing to amplify the signal. This antenna used a 6-amp AC adapter. However, I only had a 7.5-amp AC adapter. Guess what? I used the 7.5-amp AC adapter. And, so far, there has not been an issue
It is recommended to put the digital antenna near a window or outside wall. Well, the TV is not located on an outside wall. So, I needed to run some coaxial cable from the TV to the antenna that now sits on a cable by the outside wall.