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GottaDEAL 2021 Black Friday Prize Club Thread

Brad

By Brad
in 2021

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len_mullen

len_mullen

Posted
Posted
On this Independence Day, I would like to talk about Pay TV.  More specifically, my independence from Pay TV.  It's been eleven years since I fired Comcast.  I've saved some money, but mostly I have simply enjoyed television -- which I love -- the way I want.

 

WHAT HAPPENED

 

When we moved into our brand new home in 1990, the first thing I did was to call the cable company.  They said installation would be about $5000 as there was not yet any cable on the new cul-de-sac.  Heron suggested I work with my neighbors to split the cost.  Instead, I bought an antenna and put it in my attic.  As I was dragging the boxes to the bottom of my driveway, a Heron cherry picker was string cable on my street.  

 

We did not consider pay TV again until my oldest entered kindergarten in 1998.  We thought it was important that he could talk about Sponge Bob Square Pants and such things with authority, so we had Dish Network installed. 

 

By 2008, Heron had been bought by Adelphia and Adelphia sold out to Comcast.  We were paying for television, internet, phone, local long distance phone, and long distance phone services.  When we bought our kids a PS3, we got our first HDTV and Dish wanted more money for HD boxes and a 'technology fee'.  Comcast offered to provide all those services for less than $100 per month...for two years.  At the end of the two years, I offered Comcast $150 per month for that service if they locked the price for life -- Comcast declined.  We settled on a 'skinny' plan at a discounted rate for six months.  I spent that six months planning my independence from pay TV.

 

In 2009 I purchased an OOMA hub from Best Buy for $210.  My Comcast bill said I was paying $50 per month for phone service, so my break even point would be five months.  When I cancelled my Comcast VOIP, my bill only decreased $5 per month as the 'triple play' discount almost entirely offset my VOIP charge.  

 

In January of 2010, I purchased a DB8 antenna from Amazon.  In February of 2010, we lost power for more than a week!  I had a generator, so we had heat, hot showers, and other necessities, but we were without internet and tv.  I hung the DB8 from the rafters in my attic and snaked a coax cable from the antenna to a television in my bedroom.  Just like that, we had FREE TV!  When power was restored, my family started watching Comcast again...I didn't.  I left the television in my bedroom connected to the antenna. 

 

By 2010 Comcast had begun the shift to 'digital tv'.  This change compelled me to replace old CRTs with HDTVs.  In 2010, Comcast began moving 'premium' channels (including HD locals) to channels that required a set top box.  One day in March, my oldest asked me to put his TV on the antenna.  His younger brother ('Me Too') asked for the antenna as well.  By April of 2010, only our living room TV was using Comcast.  After reviewing the recordings on the DVR, we decided we did not need one.  In May, we cut the cord.

 

It took us about a week to figure out we used a DVR for more than recording unwatched shows.  All of a sudden, we had to choose between a phone call and tv.  We had to 'hold it' until the next commercial.  We actually had to PLAN dinner around TV.  Worst of all, we had to rely on TV stations and the news for instant replay and slow motion.

 

So the quest for 'time shifted TV' began.  I was SHOCKED to learn that an 'all-in' TiVo cost $800.  I looked at PC based options like MythTV, XBMC, and Windows Media Center.  All of these were too expensive, too much work, and low WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor).  I stumbled across an Echostar DTVPal on Ebay.  There were a lot of these recently discontinued OTA DVRs and I snagged one for less than $200.  Within hours of receiving my DTVPal, I was back on Ebay looking for a second.  Eventually, we had one on each of our five televisions.  My wife and kids loved the DTVPal as it worked just like the Dish DVR we had before Comcast.  I loved the price.  Five cost only a little more than one 'all-in' Tivo.

 

I still only pay $50/month for unlimited, unthrottled, high speed internet.  From time to time, I check out Xfinity prices.  It would cost me close to $200 per month to service my nine televisions.  Regardless, using my 'lifetime offer' or $150 per month as a benchmark, I figure I saved $100 per month for 134 months or $13,400 overall.  I've spent about half that on infrastructure and set top devices, but I am very happy with the results.

 

WHAT FREETV IS LIKE

 

At my house, this is what is on TV...

 

WBZ: CBS programming including AFC football games

Start TV: CAGNEY AND LACEY, THE CLOSER, COLD CASE, CROSSING JORDAN, DR. QUINN, MEDICINE WOMAN, FAMILY LAW, GHOST WHISPERER, THE GOOD WIFE, IN PLAIN SIGHT, MEDIUM, NASHVILLE, RIZZOLI & ISLES, SUE THOMAS: F.B.EYE, TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL, UNFORGETTABLE

DABL: Martha Stewart Living (Everyday Baking, Everyday Food, Martha Stewart Living weekend, Martha weekdays), Escape to the Country, Emeril Live, Essence of Emeril, Home Again with Bob Vila, Jamie's 30-Minute Meals, Jamie's 15-Minute Meals, Kitchen Nightmares, You Gotta Eat Here!, Doctor & The Diva, CityLine, The Living Room, Sell This House, Flip This House, Flipping Boston, Flipping San Diego, Cesar 911, In the Kitchen With David, Pet Project, Pick A Puppy, San Diego Zoo

FAVE TV: Run's House, The Jamie Foxx Show, The Wayans Bros., Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team, Auction Hunters, Bar Rescue, The Challenge, Punk'd, T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle

WCVB: ABC programming

MeTV: The Abbott and Costello Show, Adam-12, The Addams Family, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Andy Griffith Show, Barnaby Jones, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Big Valley, Bonanza, The Brady Bunch, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Bugs Bunny and Friends, Cannon, The Carol Burnett Show, Columbo, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Donna Reed Show, Dragnet, The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show, The Flintstones, The Fugitive, Gilligan's Island, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., Green Acres, Gunsmoke, Happy Days, Have Gun - Will Travel, Highway Patrol, Hogan's Heroes, The Honeymooners, In the Heat of the Night, The Invaders, The Invisible Man, The Jetsons, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Land of the Giants, Leave It to Beaver, Lost in Space, The Love Boat, The Lucy Show, M*A*S*H, Mama's Family, Mannix, Matlock, Maverick, Mission: Impossible, Mr. Lucky, My Three Sons, Perry Mason, Peter Gunn, Petticoat Junction, Popeye and Pink Panther's Party, The Powers of Matthew Star, Rawhide, The Rifleman, Saved by the Bell, Star Trek, Svengoolie, The Three Stooges, The Time Tunnel, The Tom & Jerry Show, Toon In With Me, The Twilight Zone, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Wagon Train, The Waltons, Wanted Dead or Alive

WHDH: Independent local programming and actual local news.

ThisTV:  Mostly movies plus The Avengers, The Saint, In the Heat of the Night, Sea Hunt, Bat Masterson, Mackenzie's Raiders, Awesome Adventures, E/I, Get Wild at the San Diego Zoo E/I, Whaddyado E/I, Wild About Animals E/I, Wild World at the San Diego Zoo E/I

WMUR: ABC programming

WENH: Main NHPBS programming / PBS, Explore, World, Create, PBS Kids

WBTS: NBC programming

Cozi TV: Charlie's Angels, Columbo, Emergency!, Frasier, Highway to Heaven, Little House on the Prairie, Murder, She Wrote, My Favorite Martian, Roseanne, Smell-a-Vision, Starsky & Hutch, The Bionic Woman, The Munsters, The Nanny, The Office, The Six Million Dollar Man, Will & Grace

WFXT: Fox programming including NFC football games

LAFF: According to Jim, Grace Under Fire, Home Improvement, How I Met Your Mother, Night Court, That '70s Show, he Bernie Mac Show, World's Funniest Videos: Top 10 Countdown**

WSBK: Two and a Half Men, Impractical Jokers, Bloodline Detectives, The World Is Yours, The Coolest Places on Earth, The King of Queens, The Young Icons, Justice With Judge Mablean, Cooking with Emeril, The People's Court, Judge Judy, Divorce Court, Judge Mathis, Friends, 2 Broke Girls, black-ish, The Big Bang Theory, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Seinfeld

Heroes & Icons: STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, WONDER WOMAN, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN, BATMAN, BAYWATCH, BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON, COMBAT!, CSI: CYBER, THE DEAD ZONE, THE DISTRICT, THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO, THE GREEN HORNET, HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL, THE HIGH CHAPARRAL, HILL STREET BLUES, HOUSE, JAG, LANCER, MACGYVER, MARTIAL LAW, MAVERICK, MONK, MUTANT X, NASH BRIDGES, NUMB3RS, THE PRETENDER, THE RAT PATROL, RAWHIDE, RENEGADE, STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE, STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE, STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES, STAR TREK: VOYAGER, TOUR OF DUTY, 12 O'CLOCK HIGH, THE UNTOUCHABLES, WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE

Comet: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, DUST, NIGHT GALLERY, QUANTUM LEAP, SLIDERS, STARGATE SG-1, THE OUTER LIMITS, THE RAY BRADBURY THEATER, THE X-FILES

Charge: CSI: MIAMI, KNIGHT RIDER, CHIPS, MAGNUM, P.I., HUNTER

Circle: The Dailey & Vincent Show, Opry, Bonanza, Coffee, Country and Cody, Chasing Down Madison Brown, The Patty Duke Show, Hee Haw, Soundstage, Phil Vassar's Songs From the Cellar, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy, Fury, The Lone Ranger, Petticoat Junction, Ditty TV Concert Series, Authentic America, The Southern Weekend, Landmarks: The Stages of Country Music, Circle Country Countdown, Talking in Circles with Clint Black, Better Half, Rusty's Rockfeast, Circle Sessions, Gospel According to Al Green, Outdoor America, THE WRITE STUFF, Austin City Limits, AMERICAN MUSIC SPOTLIGHT, THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, CMA SONGWRITERS, F-Troop, On The Road, OPRY DOCS, STAND UP NASHVILLE!, SOUNDSTAGE

WLVI: The CW programming

Buzzr: Blockbusters, Body Language, Card Sharks, Concentration, Classic, Concentration, Family Feud, Match Game, Match Game PM, Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour, Now You See It, Password, Password Plus, Super Password, Million Dollar Password, Press Your Luck, The Price Is Right, Sale of the Century, Supermarket Sweep, Tattletales, To Tell the Truth, What's My Line?

ION: Blue Bloods, Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Criminal Minds, Hawaii Five-0, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, NCIS: LA, NCIS: New Orleans

Bounce: Family Time, Grown Folks, In the Cut, Last Call, Mann & Wife, Syndicated, A Different World, The Bernie Mac Show, Catch 21, Everybody Hates Chris, The Game, Greenleaf, Judge Faith, Judge Joe Brown, Law & Order, Living Single, Moesha, The Newlywed Game, One on One, The Real (day-after repeats), Scandal, The Wendy Williams Show (day-after repeats), Without a Trace

GetTV: Charlie's Angels, Hart to Hart, Fantasy Island, Tomorrow's World, Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, Hondo, Laredo, Casey Jones, Bret Maverick, Walker, Texas Ranger, Starsky & Hutch, Good Times, Paradise, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, All in the Family

Grit TV: eath Valley Days, Laramie, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre 

Mystery: Crime Stories, CSI Miami, Forensic Files, Scandal, It Takes a Killer, American Greed, American Greed: The Fugitives, The First 48, The FBI Files, Unsolved Mysteries 

TrueReal: Wahlburgers, Intervention, I Survived…, Gene Simmons Family Jewelsl, Storage Wars, Married at First Sight, Hoarders, and Little Women: LA. ***

Defy: Pawn Stars, Forged in Fire, American Pickers, The Curse of Oak Island, Ice Road Truckers, Alone, Dog The Bounty Hunter, Ax Men, Swamp People and Counting Cars

 

WHAT I HAVE SPENT MY MONEY ON

 

I have nine televisions and nine Echo Shows.  I watch television on all of these for FREE.  I have televisions and Shows in every room of my home.  I don't watch television on all of these very often, but I like to watch when I am on the elliptical machine or soaking in the whirlpool or even sitting on my deck.  If you sleep over my house, chances are your bedroom will include a 55" HDTV.

 

I have 4K FireTV Sticks on all of my televisions (many of which are TCL Roku TVs) as well as five TiVo Roamio OTAs and two TiVo Minis.  Collectively, the TiVos have about 10t of storage and you can watch shows on any TiVo from any television equipped with a Roamio or Mini..

 

We can talk about the venerable Echo Show next month, but, with regard to television, the Shows stream over-the-air programming from an Amazon Recast DVR.  I have a Show between the stove and sink in my kitchen.  When I sit outside for Trick or Treat, I set one on a bistro table at the top of my driveway.  The Recast has four tuners, one terabyte of storage, and supports two concurrent streams.  It integrates streaming services and broadcast tv in a single, grid style program guide.

 

I have four 55" 4K TCL Roku televisions (one for each bedroom).  These are the VERY BEST televisions for 'cord cutters'.  For starters, the TV has a magical USB port.  Not only does it meet power requirements of the 4L Fire TV Stick (another cord cut?), but if you plug a 16GB USB stick into it, it can play media from the stick or set up a two hour buffer on the stick.  Once that buffer is set up, the TCL Roku television can pause, rewind, or fast forward through two hours of broadcast television.  Pretty slick, right?  If your phone rings, you have to pee, or dinner is ready, TCL has your back.  The TCL Roku televisions support PSIP data.  PSIP data is programming information sent in the broadcast stream.  The data is stored on the television and used to populate a grid style guide.  That means, 1) you do not need to connect the television to the internet for a program guide, 2) you do not have to pay for a guide service (TiVo), and 3) you do not need to worry about your provider going out of business (Simple TV).  The TCL Roku television has a Roku built in.  If you decide to plug your television into the internet, the Roku provides access to a lot of free and for fee streaming content (maybe we can talk about that in September).  Finally, the TCL Roku televisions can be programmed to remember the last used input at power on.  No need to search for the right HDMI input.  

 

Most of the time, I watch television on a TiVo Roamio/OTA.  I have five of these and am in the process of upgrading each to 3t.  I carefully select programming to record on each to facilitate the whole of them as a 10t program and movie archive.  I would not pay $800 for any set top box.  I got my first three for $300 (May of 2015x2 and August of 2015) each with the 'all in' service.  I added the last two (November of 2016 and November of 2017) at $200 each with 'all in'.  The two Minis are attached to less used televisions.  The Minis are supposed to be wired, but I find they work fine using ethernet over premise wiring.  TiVo requires an internet connection at least once every two weeks to function.

 

I do not think TiVo will be in the set top DVR business for long.  I do not expect them to release an ATSC 3.0 set top DVR.  I do not expect them to pull the plug on their service any time soon and broadcasters are required to simulcast ATSC 1.0 for five years after transitioning to ATSC 3.0.  I can live with that.  To date, I have had the five TiVos for a total of 316 months with a cost per month per TiVo of $4.11.

 

I have a couple SiliconDust HDHomeRuns.  I bought these to add Live TV to my Plex server.  I mostly use them to point, monitor, and maintain my antennas.  These could be my ATSC 3.0 solution as additional ATSC 3.0 (already available) could be integrated into my existing infrastructure.

 

I have a Sling AirTV Anywhere DVR.  I got it on the cheap and like the way it integrates OTA with their streaming services.  Only use it to stream my antenna outside my home.

 

I got a TabloTV DVR on the cheap as well.  This is the very best whole house DVR for those who do not want to stream.  TabloTV requires a service (monthly, annual, or lifetime) to access premium features and requires internet access to work even without the service.

 

WHAT YOU SHOULD SPEND YOUR MONEY ON

 

Maybe Comcast.  If your taste in television aligns with Comcast's programming, you may be better off paying them for what you want.  If you are also paying for cell phones, a security system, and other Comcast bolt on services, you may find their total cost is not much different that what you could get by wheeling and dealing and doing a lot of work yourself.  If you are not good at troubleshooting and maintaining a home network, streaming media infrastructure, and other such things, maybe it's worth an extra hundred bucks a month for 'a guy' who will take of those things for you.

 

On the other hand, if you would like to declare your independence from cable bills, start at http://TitanTV.com. Set up a guide for antenna reception for your zip code and see if you are satisfied with available programming.  Then head over to  RabbitEars.Info and enter your location.  I like to stand at the location where I plan to install an antenna and use a compass app on my phone to get the longitude and latitude and use longitude and latitude to create a study.  

 

If your study and programming are favorable, it's time to choose an antenna.  The best antenna for you will be one that receives the stations you want.  Antennas are not HD or Digital.  They are designed to collect radio signals at specific frequencies.  In the case of television VHF-low (ch. 2-6), VHF-high (ch. 7-13), and UHF.  You can purchase an antenna that receives all three, but those are large and expensive.  In my case, combining a VHF-high antenna pointed northwest and a UHF (ch. > 13) antenna pointed south, I was able to receive stations from two directions without rotating the antenna.  If you have multiple televisions or plan unattended recording, this might be important to you. 

 

This is a good time to join AVS Forum and ask your neighbors to recommend an antenna (Local HDTV Info and Reception | AVS Forum).  

 

Most cord cutters I know simply install an antenna and run a cable to a television.  Some just put one of the mud flap antennas on the wall or in a window.  Some install a bigger antenna in the attic or on the roof.  You can still buy rabbit ears that sit on each television.  This is TRULY FREE TV and is, in my humble opinion, a great place to start.  Invest $200 in an antenna and a coax cable and see what you get.  That is how I started out.  If your televisions are not digital, you will need a digital to analog converter.  For most people, I would recommend replacing the television.  Low cost sets from Hisense and TCL will provide a huge improvement in your viewing experience for just a little more than a converter.  Black Friday is only five months away.

 

If you run a rabbitears study and need some help picking an antenna, post or pm a link to the study.  I'm pretty good at sorting things out.

 

Happy Independence Day

 

cut-the-cable-with-streaming-tv-1200x588

  • Like 6
ytmomof4

ytmomof4

Posted
Posted

If you like that kind of stuff, you should plan a trip to the Air Force Museum in Dayton Ohio. You can walk through the history of flight and learn about the very beginnings of the space program. They have a Navy branded UFO as well...

 

Avrocar%2C_National_Museum_of_the_United

 

You can even take a shuttle to Wright Patterson AFB and walk on the Presidential Aircraft and experimental aircraft.

 

OHDAYusaf_jfk_bash4_620x300.jpg

 

Admission is free, so you can visit for many hours over many days.

 

141020-F-IO108-005.jpg

 

National Museum of the USAF

I live right down the street from the museum. It is a pretty great place to visit

Hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th

  • Like 1
ilikefree

ilikefree

Posted
Posted

We rolled back into home about 3:00 this morning from vacationing in Florida. I was so sad to leave there but we did have a nice, relaxing time while we were there. Happy Independence Day!!

len_mullen

len_mullen

Posted
Posted

I live right down the street from the museum. It is a pretty great place to visit

 

I stopped in every time I flew in or out of Dayton -- which is a lot.  I was there so much that some of the people who worked at the museum recognized me.  I planned a vacation around a stop there so my kids could experience the museum.  We drove from New Hampshire to Hershey Pennsylvania.  We camped at Hershey Park.  From there, we visited Gettysburg to watch a reenactment of Picket's Charge.  We did all the Hershey attractions.  The day we spent in the amusement park, Billy Joel was in concert next door and they pumped the concert into the park.  Then Amish Country where I learned that the plainly dressed merchants were not actually Amish.  I found an actual Amish restaurant where we enjoyed a simple meal.  Then we 'relaxed' in an Ohio campground where I got a ticket for picking trash up off the beach -- it turns out that trash is property of the state of Ohio and I was stealing it.  Never camped in Ohio again.  From there we visited the AF Museum and spent a day in Cleveland (Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame and Hard Rock Cafe).  That was my second visit to Cleveland and I attest to the fact that the city is grossly underrated.  NICE and HELPFUL police were more like tour guides than law enforcement ("Just follow me and I will take you to free parkiing").  Then we stopped in to Canton which was very disappointing.  Then Niagara Falls (where I will get married if I marry again) and Fort Niagara).  And, finally, Cooperstown -- which is spectacular.  My favorite exhibit at the MLB Hall of Fame was at the very end.  They had a TV looping Abbott and Costello dong 'Who's on First'.  The benches were filled with little kids who were laughing out loud at the timeless skit while their parents and grandparents smiled over them.

bluebear

bluebear

Posted
Posted

Happy Fourth of July!

 

The summer is chugging right along. At work, we have the new teachers coming in for orientation in 2 weeks, the rest of the teachers the week after that, and then in 4 1/2 weeks students will be back in the buildings!

packratfamily

packratfamily

Posted
Posted

July is here and I am going doctor-free for the foreseeable future.

No one gives the same answer so I am thrilled to call a halt.

Nothing life threatening!
 

Enjoying summer here and hope you all do too.

  • Like 2
stationchief

stationchief

Posted
Posted

I'm declaring my independence from basal cell carcinoma on the top left of my scalp. It was a very large chunk the dermy had to cut out so I was sent to a plastic surgeon who did a skin graft from my left shoulder. I just took the upper white bandage off so I now have a sponge literally stitched into my head until Thursday when they take it off. Meanwhile it's painkillers, binging and rest until then. Joy. :D

  • Like 2
stationchief

stationchief

Posted
Posted

On this Independence Day, I would like to talk about Pay TV.  More specifically, my independence from Pay TV.  It's been eleven years since I fired Comcast.  I've saved some money, but mostly I have simply enjoyed television -- which I love -- the way I want.

 

Fired/snipped Pay TV a long time ago. Never looked back since. Watch local channels regularly and am addicted to Comet (classic sci-fi) and Buzzr (classic game shows).

  • Like 1
len_mullen

len_mullen

Posted
Posted

I'm declaring my independence from basal cell carcinoma on the top left of my scalp. It was a very large chunk the dermy had to cut out so I was sent to a plastic surgeon who did a skin graft from my left shoulder. I just took the upper white bandage off so I now have a sponge literally stitched into my head until Thursday when they take it off. Meanwhile it's painkillers, binging and rest until then. Joy. :D

 

Gross, but yeah!

len_mullen

len_mullen

Posted
Posted

Fired/snipped Pay TV a long time ago. Never looked back since. Watch local channels regularly and am addicted to Comet (classic sci-fi) and Buzzr (classic game shows).

 

I love Heroes and Icons from the Good Guys at Sunrise (westerns) to JAG, Nash Bridges, House, and Monk in the afternoon, to Hill Street Blues in the wee hours.  I watch Start while preparing dinner for two hours of The Closer.  I also enjoy Only in America (Larry the Cable Guy) on Circle.

 

We only pay $59 per year for Prime and I am starting to consider life without it.  I cannot remember the last time I watched anything on Prime.

chester5

chester5

Posted
Posted

Well, Back to School sales are in full swing (school doesn't start in WI until September 1st) and at my latest trip to Sam's Club, they already had Halloween costumes and candy out.  I wasn't quite ready for THAT!  :)

  • Like 2
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