Ditching the dish?

[Daren Todd]

I have a crummy cable company and a lot of big trees so haven't tried satellite. Cell phone reception lousy out here. Old tv, no modern knick knacks. Does anyone have any ideas of how to get the Canadian tv stations? They dropped it off the cable lineups. I liked to watch the figure skating and a couple of other things. I need a kid that understands all these new gizmos...anyone got a grandchild they want to loan out for a day or two?

When we first bought our house, we had an option of a crummy local cable company. They charged $1 per channel. Minimum of $52 and very limited selection of stations. The other option was satellite. We too were covered up with trees. No Internet options except an air card through a cell company or satellite. Both option cost an arm and a leg, for limited usage. Didn't get the option for dsl till the first tornado came through and wiped out the infrastructure. Then it was crummy still. But at least it was unlimited usage. They have finally built up a demand to where they could upgrade.

Had to have both big satellite providers come out and give us options. Mainly I needed to know which trees needed to go Dish had the best option with only two big trees needing to come down to get line of site. Direct TV needed 6 to come down and it was still gonna be iffy All the trees around the house are mature oaks with a minimum height of 70ft. Still cost $2400 to get the two trees dropped in the front yard to get line of site. One of those trees was 3ft in diameter and 1 ft off the house And was about 80ft tall!! They had to bring in a large crane and take it down in 4 sections. Three of which had to be swung over the house Before they started, I made sure there insurance was current

Took a week of sawing after work to clean up the front yard and move the trees. Was gonna be $4500 for dropping and hauling off

BTW, that mom and pop cable company went out of business 6 months after we moved into the house.

 

[sdk1968]

That view is being challenged by content stakeholders (eg: cable companies) the world over. While the box itself does not make or store a copy, it can be used to view streamed copyrighted material. Courts are being asked to interpret that as a means of defeating copyright protection -- effectively ruling that the android box itself is illegal.

the key there is "being challenged" .. STILL LEGAL for now.. thats all that matters.

whether someone breaks the law or not with ANYTHING decides if the ACTION is legal or illegal not the device itself.

example: killing someone with a knife is illegal. the knife isnt illegal.. how you used it was.

the precedent is already set from the FTA boxes that many of us had for years.. happened back in 2004.

having the box is not illegal. doing something illegal with it is.

thats how this is gonna play out. same as before.

instead of paying hundreds a month.. even if you only get to use it for a few months & then "they" decide that this is "illegal" & they/you turn it off..

you still saved way more money than you paid for it. making it worth the investment.

if your watching TV from Canada or Europe thru a legal provider (which is FREE)...... there is absolutely ZERO they can do about it.
our Gooberment has no control over what Canada or Britain can let you watch for free.

there are literally 100's of legal FTA (free to air) streams out there.

now if your stealing cable? or internet? or using an illegal stream? or stealing PPV's?

SURE. thats illegal & you know it when you do it. you get what you deserve.
THIS is whats gonna happen to the people who illegally use KODI.


SKeets: slingblade TV is another $20 a month TV service thru the internet that gives you 25 channels.

 

[torch]

You have a legal right to make an archival copy of copyrighted material for your own use. You have a legal right to convert the form of copyrighted material into another format for your own use if that format is not offered commercially (eg: large print version of a book). You have a legal right to copy sections of copyrighted material for "fair use" purposes.

However, the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (in the US) and similar legislation in many other countries makes it illegal to sell, own or use any device that could be used to circumvent digital copyright protection schemes, despite such a device being the only way to exercise your legal rights granted to you under copyright law. The intent or purpose is not considered, just the capability.

The DMCA, et. al. principle prohibits the act of circumventing technological measures that "effectively control access" to a copyrighted work without the consent of the copyright owner. Content providers are arguing that the android boxes are already illegal under this principle, since they can be used to permit access to a copyrighted work without consent of the copyright owner.

I personally think that's like saying cars should be outlawed because they can be used to exceed the speed limit on the highway, but the argument has sufficient legal merit to win an injunctions prohibiting further sales while the case is being heard in at least one Canadian court. I expect the same will happen down there soon if it hasn't already.

 

[sdk1968]

^^^^it hasnt happened here yet & it didnt work with the exact same act you qouted on the FTA devices....

Just because some people use them illegally doesnt mean everyone is.

So its not very likely that they are gonna be able to "outlaw" android based devices.

They can go after someone if they violate a law..
They cant do anything to you for being completely legal & using the device for legal purposes.

Its probably not a good fit for you. Doesnt mean its fine for someone else..

Its like telling someone they have to buy a certain brand.... or they cant have it. (android vs microsoft vs apple)

EDIT NOTE: i'll let Torch get the last word in on this as it doesnt really matter what either of us "think" at this point.

 

[Daren Todd]

How about we keep this informational instead of a debate

I like the links for the free over air channels in your area Wife and I are considering the antennae posted, as well as a tivo unit for the DVR feature. But honestly, I started this thread to find out what options are out there, and to find out what folks are using. Plus good features and pros and cons for each device

 

[torch]

^^^^it hasnt happened here yet & it didnt work with the exact same act you qouted on the FTA devices....

You might want to Google "Aereo Lawsuit" and "Viewtech charges" to name just two. Aereo used small remote antennas to capture FTA transmissions and stream them via the internet to a specific receiver. They were shut down by the US Supreme Court. Veiwtech made FTA satellite receivers that could be modified to descramble pay services. They were shut down by the US District Court in Southern California which found that the Viewsat receivers themselves (not the modification and use) violated the DMCA.

Understand that I am not defending the excessive and stifling way that copyright has been distorted in recent times, DRM in particular. I don't support piracy, I believe that authors, performers, etc. should have a reasonable expectation of earning a living from their work just the same as any other. But at the same time, consumers also have rights and our rights are being trampled by the big corporate interests, one piece at a time.

What I am saying is that the creep continues -- your rights are being eroded and will continue to be eroded so long as people bury their heads in the sand and do not take action to support those defending their rights (eg: the Electronic Frontier Foundation).

 

[KubotaVet]

How about we keep this informational instead of a debate

I like the links for the free over air channels in your area Wife and I are considering the antennae posted, as well as a tivo unit for the DVR feature. But honestly, I started this thread to find out what options are out there, and to find out what folks are using. Plus good features and pros and cons for each device

If you do go for a roof antenna you should be able to use your old dish coax cables. I had to do some custom work to make it fit but it just took some washers and drilling a new hole to make mine fit. My dish had 3 cables so I just hook up one and installed a new 1 to 4 junction box in the basement and by trial and error I found the right cable. Also my antenna came with a signal booster so I hooked that before my Splitter to boost all TVs.

I was very pleased at how easy it was to get the signal to all my existing TV's. The only thing I missed from my dish was the program guide and DVR service. So broke down and got TiVo. It's been great as well even though it's not free but it's worth it for us. Also there are other DVRs out there that don't charge a monthly fee, they usually cost more money up front.

Here's my antenna hooked up on my dish base and as a bonus that base is already grounded when they installed the dish [emoji3]

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[dandeman]

We never had cable or satellite by choice. Our local PBS station that we've been a regular contributor to has had content that we really enjoyed for decades.

For the last several years Acorn.TV has become our favorite streaming source. All the British TV production content for only $49.95/year. Fantastic bargain.

 

[Daren Todd]

If you do go for a roof antenna you should be able to use your old dish coax cables. I had to do some custom work to make it fit but it just took some washers and drilling a new hole to make mine fit. My dish had 3 cables so I just hook up one and installed a new 1 to 4 junction box in the basement and by trial and error I found the right cable. Also my antenna came with a signal booster so I hooked that before my Splitter to boost all TVs.

I was very pleased at how easy it was to get the signal to all my existing TV's. The only thing I missed from my dish was the program guide and DVR service. So broke down and got TiVo. It's been great as well even though it's not free but it's worth it for us. Also there are other DVRs out there that don't charge a monthly fee, they usually cost more money up front.

Here's my antenna hooked up on my dish base and as a bonus that base is already grounded when they installed the dish [emoji3]

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Ya know, back when dish network was fighting with networks over contracts, I got fed up, called them and raised some hell about paying for a service and missing some of our local programming. Seemed like one channel or another was dropped over about 6 months.

They sent me a box to hook to the dish to turn it into an antennae. I never did hook it up to try. The next day, they had our local channels restored.

I need to hook the box up and see how it works. Dish network may have shot themselves in the foot since I own all the equipment Especially if it gives me the local channels without the reciever hooked up

 

[KubotaVet]

Ya know, back when dish network was fighting with networks over contracts, I got fed up, called them and raised some hell about paying for a service and missing some of our local programming. Seemed like one channel or another was dropped over about 6 months.

They sent me a box to hook to the dish to turn it into an antennae. I never did hook it up to try. The next day, they had our local channels restored.

I need to hook the box up and see how it works. Dish network may have shot themselves in the foot since I own all the equipment Especially if it gives me the local channels without the reciever hooked up

Losing our locals and price were the reasons we dropped dish. Also we've found that our antenna is more reliable than dish was, it's rare we lose our signal, even through blizzards or thunder storms.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[D2Cat]

Daren, we have an outside antenna and get local channels. Actually get about 30 channels from KC and some from Topeka.

I don't have the patience for a movie, but we get NetFlix for like $10 a month for all you can stand. That's it! We have Century Link download at 10GB (I think it's called) that's used for phones, computers and all that other modern electronic gizzmo stuff!!

 

[sdk1968]

You might want to Google "Aereo Lawsuit" and "Viewtech charges" to name just two. Aereo used small remote antennas to capture FTA transmissions and stream them via the internet to a specific receiver. They were shut down by the US Supreme Court. Veiwtech made FTA satellite receivers that could be modified to descramble pay services. They were shut down by the US District Court in Southern California which found that the Viewsat receivers themselves (not the modification and use) violated the DMCA.

last thing gonna say about this: we used to sell Viewsat, Coolsat, Pansat, Sonicview & Fortec's.... & my supplier was right there in Quebec.

im pretty familiar with the regulations & restrictions on them here in the states.

& just like all those old FTA boxes were coming in from Canada... most of these new Android boxes are too.

they are LEGAL at this time.....

i also use one of the HD antenna's like are listed in this thread & get about 30 broadcast channels for free. TOTALLY LEGAL.

 

[bearbait]

last thing gonna say about this: we used to sell Viewsat, Coolsat, Pansat, Sonicview & Fortec's.... & my supplier was right there in Quebec.

im pretty familiar with the regulations & restrictions on them here in the states.

& just like all those old FTA boxes were coming in from Canada... most of these new Android boxes are too.

they are LEGAL at this time.....

i also use one of the HD antenna's like are listed in this thread & get about 30 broadcast channels for free. TOTALLY LEGAL.

I think satellite and cable will be a thing of the past. With kodi on an android you'd have a hard time watching it all. Pretty much anything you could imagine is on there, all you have to do is do a search and there it is and no charge as of right now anyway. All that is required is a high speed internet.

 

[bucktail]

Satellite and cable will be used to deliver internet. Cable and satellite TV will be kind of like land lines for phones are now. Something they try to tack on to a package.

 

[lugbolt]

When I moved into my house, I moved here with a change of clothes and about $11 to my name. That was IT. I slept on the floors for a few weeks, hit up some garage sales after the sale was over for some clothing, etc. I didn't have a TV. My mom came by one evening and I was sitting on a bucket looking at my cellphone and she asked me if I needed a TV. Dad's eyesight is so poor that he couldn't see the 43" screen so they upgraded and gave me their old one. Problem is, I had no cable. And no money to get it. So the TV sat for a while, month or two as I recall. Anyway I got up in the attic one afternoon after work to have a look-see and noticed that there was a great big antenna up there. Wonder if it still works? I hooked up a coax and yup...works great. I had 9 channels which is all I needed. 1 went away, then there was an independent weather station that went away-and I miss that to this day. I heard about an antenna "booster" and bought one at goodwill. They just happened to have one. I get 33 channels and I'm about 60 miles away from the broadcast antennae. Works well enough for me.

Next goal is to pick up a digital antenna and put it on the shop so I can watch the local weather stations on days like today where the weather is not so nice.

Screw cable TV and satellite. Satellite is $100+ a month and cable is not far behind. I can do a lot with $100 every month.

 

[scdeerslayer]

If you want a DVR like device for your antenna without paying for Tivo, check this out:https://www.walmart.com/ip/Magnavox-HD-DVR-HDD-500GB-with-ATSC-Tuner/46444957

You program it much like you programmed a VCR, but you can also use it like a DVR where you pause/rewind live TV. You can also watch one previously recorded program while it's recording something else, or watch the same program it's currently recording from the beginning. There's no guide though, and no "smart" technology like Tivo has, but it works well. You can even put custom titles on your scheduled recordings, edit recordings, and keep recordings indefinitely.

 

[Daren Todd]

Dish is gone off the roof. Replaced with an amplified antennae. We get 17 free channels. Bout five of them I actually watch. The rest is junk anyway. We also picked up a roku stick for $30 to be able to connect to netflix. Picture quality for the over the air channels looks better then what we were getting off satellite

Now I gotta call dish and cancel service

 

[Daren Todd]

Dish network sent us a box for us to send the reciever and remotes back to them. Boxed the dish up last night and dropped it off at staples this morning since they were the closest place for ups drop off. Got the impression that my wife and I weren't the only ones getting rid of satellite. There was already a pretty good stack of dish boxes on there shipping counter

So far, I don't miss the dish. I'm also liking the fact that we are only out $10 per month for movies instead of $100