We hardly ever watch TV so we decided to turn off cable, they are coming today to pick up the equipment and turn off the cable. Does anyone know if you have to have one of those converter boxes to get the local stations if your TV is HD? I didn't think we would have to get one but when I unplugged our cable box and changed the Video Source to TV, all of the channels were "snow". Any suggestions?
Thanks Ladies!! Our TV is HDTV so I'll pick up an antenna next time I'm out. We're going to be saving about $100 a month by dropping cable! We had all of the HD channels, DVR, etc and never used it! I wish I would have done this sooner! Thanks again :)
Good for you!! We've been cable free for 2 years and love it. What little bit of tv we do watch, I watch on the internet for free. www.sidereel.com has links to most shows. Why pay for it? :-)
Congrats! =) We don't pay for tv -- we have one local channel, and lots more family time. It's so much better than paying ever-increasing cable or satellite bills! =)
If you have an older TV you will need a converter box.
We ditched cable last summer and I could not be happier. It just wasn't worth it! We have an HDTV, so we still get the regular over the air channels through our antenna and we also have a $10/month netflix subscription - with our laptop connected to the TV we watch streaming netflix most of the time. LOVE IT!
We haven't had cable for a couple years now. If you have an HD tv you don't have to have a converter box but you need an hd antenna (should be able to find a cheap one for around 20 bucks). And you also need to do the channel scan, it's probably under menu on your remote control.
We have never (in our married life) had cable, and we've been quite happy with our little antenna. We watch whatever is broadcast (PBS is usually great), our own videos, and shows/movies we can stream through the internet.
If you have an HD tv, then you likely have a digital receiver in it which does the job of those converter boxes. You only need a converter box if your tv does not have a digital receiver (in other words, it's old).
But you will also want a digital antenna to help pick up the signals. You don't have to have one that mounts on the roof or outside, although they probably work better. Ours sits inside on the bookshelf right next to our tv. We got ours at Target--they were right next to the TVs.
This is the one we have and it's been working just fine:
http://www.amazon.com/GE-24775-Quantum-HDTV-Antenna/dp/B0...
But there are others available too.
Hooray for you for going cable free! :) Great way to save money!
You already got your answer, but wanted to say Good for you for getting rid of the cable. It's a waste of money. We only have it b/c it comes with our rent. Once we move out of here, it will be back to bunny ears. :)
We tried to give up cable and use antennas but we had no luck. We ended up going with a very basic (not even advertised) cable package. You have to be very sly and push for what you are asking for with the cable company. They'll up your monthly charge a dollar here and a dollar there. It pays to stay on top of it. Our package basically gives us the local channels and a few really bad movie channels and ABC family. It seems to be working for us and the spare dollars really help out. We wish we could have made the antennas work but the cost of each antenna was more than paying for cable. Good luck!
I just saw that you've already solved your issue - we did the same thing about two years ago, and we haven't regretted it. You'll find that the channels you get through your antenna are actually more than through cable in some areas. For instance, our NBC from Indianapolis is channel 13, and we get the regular feed at 13.1, a local weather channel at 13.2 and a sports channel at 13.3. Our PBS channel has different parts (one is the regular feed, one is "create," one a 24-hour children's show channel, one a Spanish language channel) - there are a number of them like this! It also makes us laugh that companies say you can buy their package and receive "free HD for life" - you can get free HD through the proper antenna, without a subscription fee! :)
Enjoy!
We don't have cable or satellite. If you don't have a digital TV, you will need a converter box. We have digital TV's, but had to get a $100 antenna to pick up the channels, but we live in the country. You need to do a channel scan on your TV. Most of the channels have a -1 or -2 after them. For example, instead of 13, it will be 13-1, 13-2, etc.
We haven't have cable for YEARS! If your TV is HD you shouldn't need a converter, but you may need a good antenna. We have a Omni-directional antenna by Winegard:
http://www.winegarddirect.com/sview.asp?q=metrostar
We have the metrostar 2000.
we have lifeline cable its $9/month you get pbs and the regular broadcast channels(nbc,cbs,fox ect) plus turner movie classics its through time warner
they won't tell you about it you have to ask for it. its just enough for the kids and i love masterpiece theatre:)
We do have cable now, but before we purchased an HD Antenna from Ebay and installed it ourselves. The quality all depends on how close you are to the stations that are broadcasting. I live in Twinsburg and the channels came in pretty good. If I remember correctly, I think WB was the worst channel for us.
Yes, I think you need one...did you try keeping the cable coax plugged into your TV from the wall? Maybe that will work too? IDK? Sorry.
If nothing else, just ask the cable guy when he comes...maybe he will have one on the truck?
with the new hd you HAVE to have cable, converter box, or a digital tv THANK GOD with work bonus one year my husband and i bought a NICE digital tv, we havn't had cable it like 3 years
Tossed the cable years and years ago. What we do is stream movies and tv shows through the laptops and xBox through the TV.
I don't have cable and my friend doesn't have cable and we get local channels. You may have to re-program because cable has different channels for the local ones when you have cable.
