One option available to some cord cutters is going back to the antenna. I have one on my rooftop and it does quite a good job of picking up Toronto and Buffalo channels, which I find preferable to the Robellus options for two reasons:
- The off-air signal is not compressed so it can be noticeably sharper than cable or satellite - The cable/dish options usually get their US feeds from Detroit or Boston or some such; Buffalo local news and weather will be more relevant to me This isn't just limited to people with their own houses. A good small UHF antenna can also work well from an apartment building, especially if you're south-facing. I once lived on an upper floor in a St. Jamestown tower (Wellesley/Parliament) and my reception was outstanding with just a simple loop. A really good website for determining what you can get at your location is tvfool.com. I use these channels mainly for local news, sports and weather. Most actual programming can be found on the web, either through a subscription to a service like Crave or ... there are other paths <https://www.howtogeek.com/71315/the-how-to-geek-guide-to-getting-started-with-usenet/>. I also have a tuner called an HDHomerun that takes antenna input and provides it through your home network (ie, accessible to your PCs and phones) so you don't even need a coax-input TV. Of course you can in theory receive over the air channels using an antenna > and an ATSC tuner, but if you are in a basement that seems unlikely to work. > For the expense of a simple loop <https://www.amazon.ca/Antenna-Indoor-Amplified-Digital-Miles-Support/dp/B0BWDSXVLG/ref=sr_1_20> -- some are available for under $25, and you can return it if it doesn't work -- if you're close enough to the CN Tower you might be surprised. - Evan On Wed, Nov 29, 2023 at 12:23 AM Karen Lewellen via talk <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > If I could get the digital box, without having to use a modem, I would > likely be fine, because the digital box would tap into the existing > blanket internet wireless wise would it not? > In fact that was my landlord's idea adding an extra receiver to his > account, for which I would pay the rental, as it is just on another floor. > I am curious how the antenna idea works, I am above ground for the area > where my television sits, so perhaps? what do I need? > Oh boy does my television have optical outs..in spades > The DVD player has an HDMI port, I imagined connecting the cable box to > this, and since the set is connected to the player it would be enough. > I still have my old Roger's digital cable box, the one they provided for > older televisions as well. > wish I had fewer trees, not only is satellite less complex, from bell > there > are channels automatically provided with audio description for the blind > enabled..they do not provide this for Fibe. > Kare > > > > On Wed, 29 Nov 2023, Lennart Sorensen wrote: > > > On Tue, Nov 28, 2023 at 08:09:47PM -0500, Karen Lewellen via talk wrote: > >> Hi folks, > >> before simply saying you avoid television, Part of what I do > professionally > >> means accessing a great deal, news channels and other things for > example. > >> And for me, the, I will just watch it on my computer is a nailed shut > door. > >> This entire property is Bell fibe saturated which while it might > translate > >> to one of their fibe TV boxes working for me, its almost December and I > am > >> no closer to my land line solution..even with photographs of the > existing > >> jacks. > >> So,I am wondering if at all, it is still possible from anyone to simply > find > >> old fashioned cable box cable. > >> I have all the rest of the equipment, and it all works..even my VCR. > >> I am even wondering if, since the place is so saturated for wireless, > if I > >> got an older apple TV, third gen still had optical connectors, or a > rocku, I > >> could come up with something. not as good as regular cable, but I am > >> grasping for ideas. > >> thoughts? > > > > Bell's Fibe service has only ever worked with their boxes. Rogers cable > > has been moving to all digital over the last quite a few years, and > > analog cable (that a VCR could directly tune) has been gone for a while, > > with everything going digital. They even gave people free little boxes > > for a while to connect to older TVs that could tune the basic digital > > channels but I don't think they even do that anymore. I think everything > > now involves a digital cable box. On top of that they have been moving > > to IP based systems (Rogers Ignite) for a number of years and I doubt > > they would install the legacy digital cable anymore for new accounts. > > Definitely no analog cable left anymore. > > > > Of course you can in theory receive over the air channels using an > > attenna and an ATSC tuner, but if you are in a basement that seems > > unlikely to work. > > > > So unfortunately as far as I can see, the only things you can get these > > days is Bell Fibe or Rogers Ignite, both of which require using a box > > from the respective company and only outputs HDMI. VCRs won't do > anything > > with that, and older TVs won't either. > > > > The streaming method might work, although if you were looking to get > > access to local TV stations, I have no idea if any of the streaming > > services offer that. > > > > As far as I can find, some of the Bell Fibe boxes have optical audio out. > > The Rogers Ignite boxes do not appear to have it. Of course some TVs > > also have optical audio out, so it might not have to be optical out on > > the box you are receiving with, if the TV has that. > > > > -- > > Len Sorensen > > > --- > Post to this mailing list [email protected] > Unsubscribe from this mailing list > https://gtalug.org/mailman/listinfo/talk > -- Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada @evanleibovitch / @el56
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