[GTALUG] ot: sort of, is it really impossible to get real cable anymore?

[Evan Leibovitch]

One option available to some cord cutters is going back to the antenna.

I have one on my rooftop and it does quite a good job of picking up Toronto
and Buffalo channels, which I find preferable to the Robellus options for
two reasons:

   - The off-air signal is not compressed so it can be noticeably sharper
   than cable or satellite
   - The cable/dish options usually get their US feeds from Detroit or
   Boston or some such; Buffalo local news and weather will be more relevant
   to me

This isn't just limited to people with their own houses. A good small UHF
antenna can also work well from an apartment building, especially if you're
south-facing. I once lived on an upper floor in a St. Jamestown tower
(Wellesley/Parliament) and my reception was outstanding with just a simple
loop. A really good website for determining what you can get at your
location is tvfool.com.

I use these channels mainly for local news, sports and weather. Most actual
programming can be found on the web, either through a subscription to a
service like Crave or ... there are other paths
<https://www.howtogeek.com/71315/the-how-to-geek-guide-to-getting-started-with-usenet/>.
I also have a tuner called an HDHomerun that takes antenna input and
provides it through your home network (ie, accessible to your PCs and
phones) so you don't even need a coax-input TV.

Of course you can in theory receive over the air channels using an antenna
> and an ATSC tuner, but if you are in a basement that seems unlikely to work.
>

For the expense of a simple loop
<https://www.amazon.ca/Antenna-Indoor-Amplified-Digital-Miles-Support/dp/B0BWDSXVLG/ref=sr_1_20>
-- some are available for under $25, and you can return it if it doesn't
work -- if you're close enough to the CN Tower you might be surprised.

- Evan


On Wed, Nov 29, 2023 at 12:23 AM Karen Lewellen via talk <talk at gtalug.org>
wrote:

> Hi,
> If I could get the digital box, without having to use a modem, I would
> likely  be fine, because the digital box would tap into the existing
> blanket internet  wireless wise would it not?
> In fact that was my landlord's idea adding an extra receiver to his
> account, for which I would pay the rental, as it is just on another floor.
> I am curious how the antenna idea works, I am above ground for the area
> where   my television sits, so perhaps?  what do I need?
> Oh  boy does my television have optical outs..in spades
> The DVD player  has an HDMI port, I imagined connecting the cable box to
> this, and since the set is connected to the  player it would be enough.
> I still have my old Roger's  digital cable box, the one they provided for
> older televisions as well.
> wish I had fewer trees, not only is satellite less complex, from bell
> there
> are   channels automatically provided with audio description for the blind
> enabled..they do not provide this for Fibe.
> Kare
>
>
>
> On Wed, 29 Nov 2023, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
>
> > On Tue, Nov 28, 2023 at 08:09:47PM -0500, Karen Lewellen via talk wrote:
> >> Hi folks,
> >> before simply saying you avoid television, Part of what I do
> professionally
> >> means accessing  a great deal, news channels and other things for
> example.
> >> And for me, the, I will just watch it on my computer is a nailed shut
> door.
> >> This entire property is Bell fibe saturated which  while it might
> translate
> >> to one of their fibe TV boxes working for me, its almost December and I
> am
> >> no closer to my land line solution..even with photographs of the
> existing
> >> jacks.
> >> So,I am wondering if at all, it is still possible from anyone to simply
> find
> >> old fashioned cable box cable.
> >> I have all the rest of the equipment, and it all works..even my VCR.
> >> I am even wondering if, since the place is so saturated for wireless,
> if I
> >> got an older apple TV, third gen still had optical connectors, or a
> rocku, I
> >> could come up with something. not as good as regular cable, but I am
> >> grasping for ideas.
> >> thoughts?
> >
> > Bell's Fibe service has only ever worked with their boxes.  Rogers cable
> > has been moving to all digital over the last quite a few years, and
> > analog cable (that a VCR could directly tune) has been gone for a while,
> > with everything going digital.  They even gave people free little boxes
> > for a while to connect to older TVs that could tune the basic digital
> > channels but I don't think they even do that anymore.  I think everything
> > now involves a digital cable box.  On top of that they have been moving
> > to IP based systems (Rogers Ignite) for a number of years and I doubt
> > they would install the legacy digital cable anymore for new accounts.
> > Definitely no analog cable left anymore.
> >
> > Of course you can in theory receive over the air channels using an
> > attenna and an ATSC tuner, but if you are in a basement that seems
> > unlikely to work.
> >
> > So unfortunately as far as I can see, the only things you can get these
> > days is Bell Fibe or Rogers Ignite, both of which require using a box
> > from the respective company and only outputs HDMI.  VCRs won't do
> anything
> > with that, and older TVs won't either.
> >
> > The streaming method might work, although if you were looking to get
> > access to local TV stations, I have no idea if any of the streaming
> > services offer that.
> >
> > As far as I can find, some of the Bell Fibe boxes have optical audio out.
> > The Rogers Ignite boxes do not appear to have it.  Of course some TVs
> > also have optical audio out, so it might not have to be optical out on
> > the box you are receiving with, if the TV has that.
> >
> > --
> > Len Sorensen
> >
> ---
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-- 
Evan Leibovitch, Toronto Canada
@evanleibovitch / @el56
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