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Cutting the Cable (or Dish) with Antenna TV
By Tom McMorris (mcmorrisphoto.com)
In today’s world it seems that the cost of everything keeps climbing and
climbing including the price of cable or satellite TV.
My wife and I realized that most of the time we were watching Network TV
(NBC, ABC, CBS) programming. So why should we pay for something that we
can get for FREE! Over the past year we experimented with alternatives
to cable or satellite TV and here is our journey.
Antenna TV first got our interest when we constructed a home-made TV
antenna. I was amazed that we could actually receive some watchable
channels.
The problem with this simple antenna is that it only received about
three channels, not much of a replacement for our satellite TV.
We then investigated what off-air antennas were recommended for our
area. One thing you need to pay attention to is what channels you want
your antenna will receive. Many antennas only receive channels 7 and up
so be careful if you want channels below 7 in your area.
I checked various websites and they showed we would only be able to
receive three channels!! Other sites indicated we would not be
able to receive any signals in our area. So don’t automatically believe
the information on the web sites.
In spite of the possibility of only receiving 3 channels (or none at
all), we decided to purchase an antenna along with a mast pole and
mounted it on top of a pole near our house.
The reception with our new antenna was ok, but sporadic. With a digital
TV signal it is all or nothing. You either get a signal or it is
unwatchable unlike the old analog broadcast system.
At this point we were receiving channel 6 signals and it seems channels
10 and 13 signals would alternate at as to reception. Note that most of
the off-air channels have multiple channels. Channel 6 has 6.1 and 6.2-
channel 10 has 10.1, 10.2 and 10.3. Channel 13 has 13.1, 13,2 and 13.3
etc.
We next added a bidirectional amplifier to our system where our coax TV
cable comes into the house.
This type of amplifier is relatively inexpensive and easy to put on your
system. The amplifier helped to stabilize our signals and definitely
helped make our channels more viewable, but it was still not great and
not to the level where we would consider cutting our satellite TV.
After conducting more research I found out that, with digital TV, almost
every off-air TV antenna setup needs a pre-amp to receive signals
properly.
The pre-amp on our antenna system made all the difference. We now
receive 22 to 24 channels off-air at no cost and the signal is in High
Definition (for the programs that are broadcasting in HD).
Reception on some channels can still be broken up from time to time
depending on the weather and sun spots.
Our neighbor, that still has both a satellite dish and an antenna, was
watching a program on satellite when a storm came through. He lost the
signal from the satellite so he switched to the “Free” antenna signal to
watch it.
After a year of experimenting we finally “Cut the Cable” or in our case
satellite TV and now use FREE- Antenna TV in HD. We were spending $80 a
month on satellite TV and we now spend zero saving us hundreds of
dollars a year.
You Too can begin Saving Hundreds of Dollars a year!!
Click Here For Your Complete Guide to "Cutting the Cable" and
Start Saving TODAY!
Jan. 26,
2011
Nature’s Treat
Sugar-On Snow/Snow
Cream
Article and pictures by Jean McMorris
Not sure what to do with all this snow?
Grab a bucket and a spoon and fix yourself a sweet
treat!
As children in New York and Vermont we took a scoop
of fresh clean snow and poured warm maple syrup over the top to create
“Sugar on Snow”.
Some Vermonters told us they served it with
pickles.
In Georgia a friend told us her Granny made them
“Snow Cream.” It consisted of fresh clean snow, milk, sugar & vanilla.
We have conducted a taste test (without pickles)
and it was a toss up.
Half liked “Sugar on Snow” and half preferred “Snow
Cream.”
The natural resources are plentiful so next snow
day treat your kids and yourself to what nature has to offer.
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