30 Replies to “Not Watching For The Asteroid”

    1. I tried a trick that someone had posted on SDA a while ago. Refresh the page and then press ESC. That worked for me.

    2. I didn’t get a paywall, but the advice you got should work if you do. Hit the esc key several times as it loads.

  2. My son makes his own antennas and gives them away as Christmas presents. All the channels seem to be hi-def. Only real problems are a) many channels are crap (like the shopping channel) and b) so many commercials – so very similar to cable 🙂

  3. The options outlined in this article probably work well if you are with an antenna’s reach of a large market. What if you are 3 hundred kms from a large Canadian Market?

    My experience with the over-the-air antenna purchased some time ago was that the we could get at most two local channels and the antenna was problematic in the basement.

    I’m a boomer and I have never paid for cable. I have lived in places where my employer provided the accommodation and cable was included, but, I have never paid for cable.

    When I stay in a hotel and I turn on the TV I’m always left with a feeling that there are so many channels all delivering the same crap!

    1. The limiting range is about 100 km for direct receive from a transmitter due to the curvature of the earth. Putting the antenna in the attic works best. In the basement the signal is the worst. My daughter places hers on her balcony. You have to point the antenna in the direction of the signal – usually toward the south when north of Toronto (it’s also best to have the antenna on that side of your house). When it works you are treated to about 30-40 channels of crap (at least in Canada). In the USA you get over 100 channels (of crap).

  5. I’m surprised you can still do that.
    I was under the impression that the local channels had quit broadcasting their signal over the air.

    2. Visible almost everywhere in North Burnaby, Mount Seymour has giant antennae that transmit
      HDTV signals for all the local TV stations.
      Cut the cable 10 years ago when we moved and bent a coat hanger to get the 2010 Olympics.
      That’s about the last time we watched any network TV. Don’t miss it at all.

      –Bad News

    3. I was just in Windsor, ON this past X’mas and my dad (late 70s) has one of those over the air digital antennae. When I was a kid the main US channels were 2 (CBS), 4(NBC), 7(ABC), 56(PBS) and an assortment of UHF channels that were local to the Detroit area, which if you’re over a certain age group you may remember for some really eclectic programming. With the addition of FOX which is now Channel 2, CBS has been relegated to Channel 20. Anyways, each of those main channels each has a .1, .2, etc. For example, Channel 7 would be your regular ABC programming, then 7.1 would be 1970s movies, and 7.2 would be 1950s sitcoms and it would be a different mix for each of the main channels…One of them showed Shirley Temple movies back to back on X’mas Day…I found it to be a better mix of shows than what is available on cable.

  6. If I actually wanted to watch TV and I don’t I would likely try the over the air method first if only it keeps funding away from the CBC. That aside the only stations I would get would be CBC, CTV and Global and they are the reason I stopped watching TV in the first place.

    1. There ya go….besides, If one needs news, They aren’t the gang that I would Implicitly Trust..Right.?
      Pah, a good Android Box (NVidea Shield – Minix etc), with the Right apps….no problem watching what I want when I want… I did buy the NHL.com pkg though & Netflix. TSN for the Juniors which I’ll cancel near end of Jan.

      Unfortunately I live in a 4 story condo with SE facing windows….a UHF Antnna aint gonna do much good….Nor do I really care.

  9. Here in Central Florida we get 98 channels over the air for free. Now, within those are some doubles, some Spanish-language, and some religious channels. I’d say there are about 30-35 solid channels. Not bad for free.

  10. Where I live, there are mountains between me and the transmitter antenna, so I’m stuck with online streaming to avoid cable. At my Mom’s place, it’s a straight shot, though about 90km to the transmitter towers, so we were able to cut her cable and still have lots of (mostly junky) choices.

    The thing that really ticks me off about streaming is when a network decides they are so valuable that you have to pay to get access AND watch all the commercials they provide for free over the air. If I have to pay, I’m not going to pay to watch their effing commercials.

  11. I bought my wife (Xmas) the Intel Compute Stick which plugs into the Big Screen… (64″ Plasma) and allows for Internet STREAMING of content….The stick plugs into the digital input and is running the MS-10 OS connected via WIFI
    to my COX internet.. It is a little computer outputting the normal internet… surfing, Mail, Facebook Etc .
    It beats the little screen on her phone, or this desk top…. Just saying

  15. Lordy, lordy, what we gonna’ do without ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS??? (h/t Jeff Dunham as Sweet Daddy D)

  16. The frequencies used for many TV signals are increasingly in a narrow UHF band.

    Whatever your local bands, you need a high-gain Yagi (directional) antenna for decent results. Extra expense on a good antenna is more than compensated for by less, if any, need to pour cash into mast-head amplifiers etc.

    Install the antenna as high as possible; ceiling spaces avoid the worst of weather and perching birds.

    Where I live, “line of sight” to the TV towers is obscured by a fair sized piece of rock. The solution to receiving ALL of our local channels was to simply point the antenna towards the cluster of tall buildings in the inner city, about 45 degrees “off beam”. The reflected signals work fine. I simply bought the biggest VHF / UHF combination antenna I could find, mounted it as high as I could under the tiled roof and tweaked the rotation.

    Caveat: If you have a steel roof, this caper does NOT work. Steel-framed houses can be a problem as well. Terracotta roof tiles or wooden shingles should be OK, but foil-covered, tar-paper linings may cause problems.

    Then you can sit back and watch the dross of choice in clean HD.

  20. I live about 10 miles outside of Philly and I get tons of channels over the air free. About 10 years ago I hooked up a coaxial cable to an old school antenna that was in my attic that came with the house. At least half the channels are total crap, but that’s good enough for me. I hardly spend any time watching TV anyway. I have Netflix but hardly ever watch it. I’m more of an Internet consumer.

  21. The ONLY thing I want from the mainstream media …..is their obituary notice. If you must know, my birdcage is long gone.

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