How 20$ Saved Me 100$ + A Month - HDTV Antenna
I really hate TV. I don’t even watch it. It is something that you should be able to pay for what you use, not pay for everything and use a little bit of it, so here is what I did.
I went to Best Buy and picked up and HDTV Antenna.
It rocks. I just plug it in to the coax, do a search and it finds the local channels. ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WB, PBS, and Weather Plus. Picks up the regular versions and HD versions. Since that is all that Emily wants, to see weather alerts and crap, it’s good enough for me.
I have PlayOn setup on my Vista box so I can get Hulu, YouTube and Netflix streaming to my PS3. I can rent movies, buy movies and TV shows on the PS3, Xbox 360, and AppleTV, and I can get podcasts and YoutTube on the AppleTV. What else do I need? And if I really want something, I can get it using rapidshare or whatever, or stream it on my laptop.
So, yeah, “Hello, Charter? Cancel my cable, I don’t need you anymore, kthxbye”
It’s liberating, and adds more $$ to my bottom line every month.
Simlar Posts

November 9th, 2008 at 10:30 am
Are the channels you are receiving broadcasted out of Madison? I am just wondering how far HDTV signals travel and if this solution would work in St. Cloud.
November 9th, 2008 at 10:47 am
If I remember right you tried this one time before and ended up going back to cable. What was the deal then that made you go back?
I’ve thought of doing things like this before but find that there are shows that I like to watch and don’t feel like watching them on my laptop. Maybe my mind will change if I ever get a decent Media center pc.
November 9th, 2008 at 11:03 am
@Michael - yes I pick up the stations in Madison. I am in Sun Prairie, some of the antenna’s are like 17 miles away (west side of Madison) you can do more checking here http://antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx
@B-rad - yeah I did get cable back, but like I probably mentioned in earlier blogs, is that the only reason why is that Emily wanted the local channels, for news and weather. Yeah, you should get a decent pc, what ever happened to FFMC
November 9th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Well FFMC kinda died out when the developer behind the project decided to move away…..
November 9th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Every month when I pay my bills, I truly enjoy it. Because I know that none of my money is headed for Charter HQ. You are correct: “liberating” is exactly the word I’d use.
November 11th, 2008 at 1:54 am
I stopped cable ages ago, and love every minute of it. Since one of the antennae broke off, my rabbit ears are a lot more fuzzy, but I don’t even care. Because I’m not getting raked over the coals by Charter for frickin TV where 90% of the stuff on is crap anyways.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:15 am
too bad you’re not in PDX anymore or i’d go over and watch Hulu and YouTube Charlie videos ALL day.