One of the things I’ve been doing instead of blogging is learning how to live without cable television. It occurred to me that every show I watch can be found online on Netflix, Hulu, or on the website of a major network. I decided that the 80 or so bucks a month I spent on cable Television was an unnecessary expense so about 4 weeks ago, I canceled it.
I went to the store and purchased an expensive indoor/outdoor amplified antenna, plugged it in and turned on my TV. Unfortunately I only got 6-7 channels. No matter what I did or under what configuration I placed the antenna (indoor or outdoors), I still only received just a handful of the available channel.
One of the things I’ve learned in my years of working with computers is that sometimes it’s easier to find a problem by eliminating the suspected causes one-by-one. I grabbed my daughter’s $9 antenna and automatically got over 20 channels. The reception wasn’t great on some of the channels, but it certainly performed better than the fancy antenna I purchased. So I took it back and bought another. I found that it performed about as well as the $9 antenna I already had. I could receive almost every channel that is available in the Tulsa area but the reception wasn’t that great.
What I figured I needed was more antenna surface area, but I really did not want a larger antenna. It occurred to me that I had two cheap antennas and a cable splitter, so I connected the two antennas to the “output” side of the splitter, and the TV to the “input” side. In a sense I used the splitter and a combiner. And voilà, perfect, crystal-clear, free HD reception! Apparently this is not an original idea, what I had stumbled upon is something called antenna diversity.
I’ve discovered a few things after ditching cable.
1. There are a lot of great channels that are available over the air. (24 hour children’s programming, weather, movies, religious, educational, documentaries, network programming, etc)
2. I have not missed a single show that I want to watch. (see Hulu, Netflix, etc)
3. I spend a lot less time watching TV surfing several hundred channels trying to find something on. As a result I spend a lot less time watching TV. (it doesn’t take long to surf 20-30 channels)
I must say I do not regret cutting the cable, if you think you can live without it, I recommend giving it a try.
7 comments:
We dropped our cable to the lowest possible tier a couple of years ago. I find life to be much more peaceful now. Most of the shows I like to watch are on the major networks. I certainly don't miss the so-called "news" networks. The only time I miss cable is when the Cowboys play on ESPN or NFLN. However, I find those occasions to be good excuses to go visit a friend with a large TV.
I went the opposite way and now I spend more time watching tv and less time on the computer.
We thought about dropping to the lowest level but that's just local channels with a dv.... I figured I'd let hulu be my dvr...
Good for you! We dropped the TV and cable almost 7 years ago and haven't looked back once. I think I actually watch better shows because I spend time actually seeking out great speeches, talks, lectures, and shows.
Best of luck! I hope it is as rewarding a move for you as it has been for us.
We dropped our cable 5+ years ago, and aside from the occasional pang of regret about channels like Discovery and TLC, we dont miss it, or the extra $40 a month bill.
Is there a way to get Fox National news, either over the air or by the internet?
There is more than one way to skin this cat....this is one of them http://www.zahipedia.com/2009/07/01/watch-online-fox-news-live-free/
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