Texas Star
US Veteran
I'm embarrassed to have to admit it, but live on a fixed income, and can no longer afford the fee that the cable TV service wants. Time-Warner sold out to Spectrum, and prices went up. I'm sure they'll continue to do so. There oughta be a law limiting what TV and telephone companies can charge. But there isn't, so they'll get away with what they can.
With no cable TV service firm in the picture, what are the odds of getting TV reception? I've been told that one can get a converter box or whatever it's called to have a TV get the new type signals that all broadcasters went to a few years ago, and that some sort of aerial may be possible to get.
I have a flat screen TV that I think is about 20-22 inches across. I'd have to measure it. I guess this aerial would be attached to the TV some way and left alongside it.
I live in an apartment complex and the people in the office were very vague. One guy said he'd tried an aerial that he got at Wal-Mart and it "sort of" got three channels, no more. Really poor reception. He thinks that Best Buy may have better antennas. And just where you live may be a big factor in how well such antennas work. Which way your windows face, etc.
Have any of you been in this situation, and how did you solve the problem, and still get at least good reception on local major network channels, like ABC, CBS, NBC. I doubt that I'll be able to get cable channels like Fox News, Animal Planet, History Channel, etc. After all, that's what cable companies charge for. But one should be able to get the public channels free. I hope... Until all of this cable stuff started and they changed the basic tramsmission signals a few years ago, we took that for granted. It was just there for everyone, provided that you owned a TV, of course.
My flat screen TV is just over a year old. Would it aready be equipped to receive the new type signals that replaced the old basic signals, without a converter box? What would such a converter box convert, if so? Do modern TV's like this have internal aerials?
I think I still have my late mother's Magnavox TV that was made long before flat screen technology and the newer signals appeared. I'm sure it would need something to let it receive the new signals. But the new unit is so much sharper (or, was, while I had cable service!) that I plan to just use it, if I can keep it receiving main network channels.
I don't deal well with electronics, and hope I've explained matters well enough that you can see what I'm asking. Hopefully, some of you here have crossed this particular bridge and learned how to get TV reception without a cable TV service.
With no cable TV service firm in the picture, what are the odds of getting TV reception? I've been told that one can get a converter box or whatever it's called to have a TV get the new type signals that all broadcasters went to a few years ago, and that some sort of aerial may be possible to get.
I have a flat screen TV that I think is about 20-22 inches across. I'd have to measure it. I guess this aerial would be attached to the TV some way and left alongside it.
I live in an apartment complex and the people in the office were very vague. One guy said he'd tried an aerial that he got at Wal-Mart and it "sort of" got three channels, no more. Really poor reception. He thinks that Best Buy may have better antennas. And just where you live may be a big factor in how well such antennas work. Which way your windows face, etc.
Have any of you been in this situation, and how did you solve the problem, and still get at least good reception on local major network channels, like ABC, CBS, NBC. I doubt that I'll be able to get cable channels like Fox News, Animal Planet, History Channel, etc. After all, that's what cable companies charge for. But one should be able to get the public channels free. I hope... Until all of this cable stuff started and they changed the basic tramsmission signals a few years ago, we took that for granted. It was just there for everyone, provided that you owned a TV, of course.
My flat screen TV is just over a year old. Would it aready be equipped to receive the new type signals that replaced the old basic signals, without a converter box? What would such a converter box convert, if so? Do modern TV's like this have internal aerials?
I think I still have my late mother's Magnavox TV that was made long before flat screen technology and the newer signals appeared. I'm sure it would need something to let it receive the new signals. But the new unit is so much sharper (or, was, while I had cable service!) that I plan to just use it, if I can keep it receiving main network channels.
I don't deal well with electronics, and hope I've explained matters well enough that you can see what I'm asking. Hopefully, some of you here have crossed this particular bridge and learned how to get TV reception without a cable TV service.
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