# Tivo with OTA Antenna



## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

I'm tired of paying TWC for a hundred channels I don't watch so I'm thinking of getting rid of it and buying an OTA antenna and a TivoHD, the one that goes for about $300. A few questions:

Will I be able to record the OTA HD broadcasts in HD?

Will I be able to record two channels at once?

If I subscribe to the service will it have the scheduling grid so I can use that to schedule recordings and not have to set them manually?

Basically I guess I'm asking if I will have all of the same features using an OTA antenna that I would with cable.

Thanks much,
Harold


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## RonDawg (Jan 12, 2006)

Hcour said:


> Will I be able to record the OTA HD broadcasts in HD?


Yes. Note that unlike with cable, if the broadcast is in HD, it will ONLY record in HD (unless the station has an SD subchannel). Cable usually has SD versions of its HD channels, with few exceptions. That will affect your recording capacity.



> Will I be able to record two channels at once?


Yes. EDIT: And watch a third program off the hard drive, or via certain broadband sources, while both tuners are busy.



> If I subscribe to the service will it have the scheduling grid so I can use that to schedule recordings and not have to set them manually?


Yes. You will also have the ability to schedule online as well. EDIT: TiVo allows you to set "Season Passes" for specific shows, and "Wish Lists" to look for programs using certain criteria such as subject matter or even favorite actor.



> Basically I guess I'm asking if I will have all of the same features using an OTA antenna that I would with cable.


The only difference is the number of channels you'll receive. The features are all the same.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Outstanding!

Thanks,
H


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## RonDawg (Jan 12, 2006)

Added a couple of additional features to my original post.


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## cl8855 (Jan 2, 2009)

Yes I do everything you asked about...

our OTA signal is quite good with just an indoor antenna...


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## MsRoboto (Oct 12, 2003)

If I subscribe to the service....

There is no choice you either subscribe to the service or you record nothing. There is no record by time if I don't choose to get the service.

There were some older non-HD units that allowed that but not on these units.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Ok, thanks for the info, guys. I'm getting kind of excited about this. The only thing I really watch are news, sports, and movies. I can get my news and sports from the networks and movies from Netflix, both dvd and streaming on Tivo. There are also a lot of podcasts out there, like the Rachel Maddow show and Countdown, two of my favs.

I can save almost $100 a month, this thing will pay for itself almost immediately.

Harold


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## gastrof (Oct 31, 2003)

Don't forget to consider buying LIFETIME.


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## Len McRiddles (Dec 21, 2002)

Hcour said:


> Ok, thanks for the info, guys. I'm getting kind of excited about this. The only thing I really watch are news, sports, and movies. I can get my news and sports from the networks and movies from Netflix, both dvd and streaming on Tivo. There are also a lot of podcasts out there, like the Rachel Maddow show and Countdown, two of my favs.
> 
> I can save almost $100 a month, this thing will pay for itself almost immediately.
> 
> Harold


This is what I did in January. Went from giving DISH over $100.00 per month to giving NetFlix under $10.00 a month. I went for lifetime subs also. You may be surprised at how much OTA content there is in your area.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

We made the same change dumping Comcast in Sept 2007. Have been OTA since. Lots of money not going down the drain any more and have been very happy with our service.


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## plateau10 (Dec 11, 2007)

I suspect this configuration will continue to grow in popularity. I just dropped DirecTV after 13 years for this setup. Well over 90&#37; of what I watch is available for free, and when that's not enough I can stream from Netflix or buy from Amazon. I'm almost two months into about a ten-month break-even period. After that I'll be saving money.


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## TheGreenHornet (Nov 1, 2007)

Harold,

I have a series 3 w/ lifetime that I bought with the savings of dumping Comcast. I had already had a series 2 single tuner w/ lifetime. Everything I want to watch on cable such as HBO (Entourage) appears on DVD via Netflix. 

After two years of OTA with Netflix, I will can not give you a good reason to go back to paying for television. My only suggestion is to research the proper antenna for your location (antennaweb.com). Buy the correct antenna at retail where you can return it just in case there is an issue. But do your testing while you keep pay TV alive for a month in case there is a major issue. 

Once you are OTA tested with the new Tivo - you will feel a great deal of relief after you make the call to cancel pay TV.


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## djtweed (Mar 17, 2006)

+1 for the TivoHD with OTA Antenna + Netflix. 

Plus, I just rip my DVD's and copy them onto my TivoHD. (I did upgrade to a 500GB drive though)


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## JimboG (May 27, 2007)

I dropped Time Warner Cable for over the air digital TV in October 2008. I really haven't regretted making the switch. Just need to be a little patient to catch up on Weeds, True Blood, and Venture Brothers when they come out on Blu-ray through Netflix.

Whether or not you can get by with OTA only depends largely on how much of a sports fanatic you are. I get enough college and pro football free over the air in the fall and winter. Sure, I'd like to get more hockey and baseball, but I'm not willing to pay $60+ per month just to get ESPN HD. I'd rather walk to the local sports pub for the occasional game that I really care about.


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## pkscout (Jan 11, 2003)

We dropped our TWC service a couple of months ago and went OTA only. We filled in our few cable shows via Amazon Video-on-Demand and have been very happy. We're spending less overall than we were before and getting everything we watch in HD (we previously only had analog cable service for stuff like USA and TNT).


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## daveak (Mar 23, 2009)

The best part about OTA is the savings. If you can get yourself an extra $50 to $100 a month, that is an extra $600 to $1200 a year. What will you do with the extra money?  More and better Home theatre gear?!? Another TiVo?


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## gastrof (Oct 31, 2003)

Candy!!!!!


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

I want a pony.


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## newskilz (Jul 11, 2008)

Me? Haven't used anything but OTA since moving into a house (harder to get OTA in the apartment I was in, their cable was cheap enough) I have never been able to justify the cost of the few channels I'd want from cable or satellite. So, as mentioned, check out which antenna is best for your location and get it set up and make sure it all works well and that the TiVo gets good signal strength on all the channels you are concerned about getting.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Hmmm. Well, can anybody recommend a good indoor antenna? I just tried Radio Shack's most expensive, $50, the 1892 model, which is strongly praised in the AVS indoor antenna thread, but it didn't quite make it. Almost, but not quite.

I don't mind the cost, it'll pay for itself in a matter of months. But I've been bouncing around the net and I really don't see an indoor everybody just flat out raves about, at any price.

Thanks for any thoughts.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

I haven't really looked into them but I suggest you check out antennaweb since it is supposed to recommend antennas based off your location.

EDIT: After checking it again it tells you approximately what type of antenna you would need to pick up certain channels.


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## pkscout (Jan 11, 2003)

Hcour said:


> Hmmm. Well, can anybody recommend a good indoor antenna? I just tried Radio Shack's most expensive, $50, the 1892 model, which is strongly praised in the AVS indoor antenna thread, but it didn't quite make it. Almost, but not quite.


A more expensive antenna won't change the physics of your situation. Unless you're pretty close to the tower(s) and have nothing obstructing your line of sight, indoor antennas can be very temperamental. I had an antenna in my attic for awhile with OK reception, and when I finally bit the bullet and put it on the roof my reception has been stellar.

If there is anyway to get an antenna to the attic or roof, I think you'll be much happier. If you decide to go that route, you might try a Channel Master 4221. Even with a mounting bracket the 4221 is probably less than $50.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Did some more experimenting tonight, I may have found the sweet spot! According to my tv, I'm getting from 6 to 9 (out of 10) signal strength on all 4 networks. Been watching for a while and I don't see any dropouts or macroblocking.

I doubt my landlord will let me put one on the roof, but I'll check if it comes to that.

Antennaweb's a good site, thanks. All the stations are 16-17 miles from me. I have an airport nearby, I think that can cause problems.

Anyway, I'll see how the channels look tomorrow during the day with the current placement.


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## Resist (Dec 21, 2003)

TheGreenHornet said:


> Everything I want to watch on cable such as HBO (Entourage) appears on DVD via Netflix.


True, if you are willing to be a year behind the current season.


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## Mars Rocket (Mar 24, 2000)

I have an antenna on the roof on a short mast (8 ft). I tried an inside antenna but couldn't receive anything with it - really nothing at all. I live about 25 miles from the antennas. I can get a perfect HD OTA signal from the big 3 networks and maybe WB or whatever they're called these days, but something like 80&#37; of our Season Passes are for cable channels so I'm not giving up cable any time soon.


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## Rick313 (Mar 29, 2009)

Hcour said:


> Well, can anybody recommend a good indoor antenna? I just tried Radio Shack's most expensive, $50, the 1892 model, which is strongly praised in the AVS indoor antenna thread, but it didn't quite make it.


Indoor antennas are kind of a crap shoot. There are SO many potential sources of electrical interference and/or multipath interference that even the best antennas may not work in every location.

In my experience, simple is best. Most of the expensive antennas out there are no better than something that you could get for $10 to $20. For me, a traditional pair of unamplified rabbit ears has proven the most reliable.



Hcour said:


> Did some more experimenting tonight, I may have found the sweet spot!


That is absolutely key. Reception can often vary greatly just by moving the antenna a few inches. It takes patience and persistence to find that sweet spot, but it's definitely worth the effort in my opinion.



Hcour said:


> I have an airport nearby, I think that can cause problems.


Indeed it can. Airplanes passing overhead can create additional multipath interference. Many people have found relief by using a directional antenna such as the Philips Silver Sensor, Terk HDTVi, or RS 1892. Since you're already using the 1892, I would just suggest that you try tweaking it a bit more or moving it to another location in the room. Also, make sure that you have the amplifier turned down as low as possible. If you have it turned up, it could be doing more harm than good.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Rick313 said:


> In my experience, simple is best. Most of the expensive antennas out there are no better than something that you could get for $10 to $20. For me, a traditional pair of unamplified rabbit ears has proven the most reliable.


I agree. I built an antenna similar to this one and it works perfectly.


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

I live in an apartment with pre-run coax for cable tv. Can I plug in an antenna in one room and have it's signal feed a TV in all the others?


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## robla64 (Mar 25, 2008)

I would love to drop cable, but in my area, cable is the only option for broadband. So it would cost 62 a month for internet rather than 42 if you are a TV subscriber. they do have a local basic TV option for $12 and that would give you the discount as well.... then the total would be 54.... which is better than the $100 I am paying now.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

OTA with TIVO is the way to go. Lots of shows go into sydication and are shown late at night. With dual tuner, you can record plenty of football and basketball. Baseball is kind of scarce of you don't live in a in a city with a team that broadcasts the games. Only $8.99 per month for unlimited streaming through netflix.


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## Rick313 (Mar 29, 2009)

robla64 said:


> I would love to drop cable, but in my area, cable is the only option for broadband. So it would cost 62 a month for internet rather than 42 if you are a TV subscriber. they do have a local basic TV option for $12 and that would give you the discount as well.... then the total would be 54.... which is better than the $100 I am paying now.


That surprises me. Are you sure about those numbers? A couple of years ago, I was paying about $100 per month for cable internet and TV (about $45 and $55 respectively). I dropped the cable TV and found that they also had a cheaper internet option, so now I pay $35 per month for internet only.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Well, I just ordered a refurb TivoHD from their site. I added 2 day shipping so I should get it in a couple of days. I'll start with the monthly plan for now and go to Lifetime soon, I'm sure. 

I've been experimenting extensively with antenna's for 3 days now, 3 different ones from RS, they just didn't cut it. I finally tried out the Clearstream 2, from Best Buy, $100 and it did the job. Oddly enough the sweet spot is in a corner on the floor in my bedroom. It really is a matter of inches when finding the proper placement. This gives me all 4 networks and ETV HD all at 60&#37; to 90% strength, as well as about 10 other channels. They look very good. My brother was over today and he was impressed. I'm pleased with it now, but I may consider trying a pre-amp sometime to see if that will give me any more of a boost.

The airport near my home isn't a commercial airport, just a small local, there aren't that many planes flying over, so it shouldn't be a big problem.

So I spent about $350, it will pay for itself in about 5 months, after that it's all savings.

I've already got an ext 1TB hd that I use with my TWC cable box, so hopefully it will work with my Tivo box and give me that extra storage space.

Really looking forward to setting up my Tivo and my desktop, streaming Netflix, subscribing to Podcasts (those things are so cool) and recording a bunch of sports!

Thanks again for all the input!


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

I just called BrightHouse and canceled my Cable TV. I'm keeping RoadRunner and the phone service (which may go next), for a savings of at least $838/year. At this moment, I'm rerunning Guided Setup for antenna only.

Wow.


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## Len McRiddles (Dec 21, 2002)

OTA with all the various iptv sites suits me just fine. I won't be returning to cable or satellite anytime soon.


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## daveak (Mar 23, 2009)

orangeboy said:


> I just called BrightHouse and canceled my Cable TV. I'm keeping RoadRunner and the phone service (which may go next), for a savings of at least $838/year. At this moment, I'm rerunning Guided Setup for antenna only.
> 
> Wow.


Welcome to the club. And with the yearly savings, you can justify a new series 4 with lifetime when they finally arrive.


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## daveak (Mar 23, 2009)

Len McRiddles said:


> OTA with all the various iptv sites suits me just fine. I won't be returning to cable or satellite anytime soon.


:up:


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

shwru980r said:


> OTA with TIVO is the way to go. Lots of shows go into sydication and are shown late at night.


You're not seeing the entire show if you watch syndicated shows.. they cut out big hunks for more commercials.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

mattack said:


> You're not seeing the entire show if you watch syndicated shows.. they cut out big hunks for more commercials.


I never watch commercials with TIVO.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Len McRiddles said:


> OTA with all the various iptv sites suits me just fine. I won't be returning to cable or satellite anytime soon.


IPTV is internet tv? Sounds interesting. Can this work with Tivo?


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Tivo already works with some of them. From Tivo Central, look under Video on Demand > Browse Web Videos.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

IPTV is not the same as Internet TV.
IPTV, as I know it is more of a layer 2 thing, while Internet TV is a layer 3 thing. Uverse is an example of Layer 2 IPTV.

Some Internet TV works with TiVo directly, others with PC based software to serve to a TiVo format.

Layer 2 IPTV works with TiVo so long as the TiVo supports a box; needed to receive/watch/record true layer 2 IPTV.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

When I dump Charter for U-Verse I still plan on using my Tivo HD with OTA. Figure since I have a lifetime sub I may as well keep using it.


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## GreenMonkey (May 28, 2008)

We're probably going to do this as well soon to save on the budget.

However, I'm 30-40 miles away from my stations...probably need an outdoor antenna. I had a very good Radio Shack indoor antenna that would work...mostly...given a lot of tweaking..but it was never reliable (audio dropouts, etc).

Any good recommendations for an OTA antenna for 30-40 mile range and some very tall trees (probably 20 foot taller than the house). Something I could secure to the side of the house would be best, unless I can figure out where to get a really tall pole for it.

Antennaweb recommends a Medium Directional Antenna with pre-amp.


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## jtrain (Jan 17, 2006)

Comcast dragged their feet too long on my request of 3 cablecards and Limited Basic (for getting my local HDs w/ correct guide data), giving me the run around as to why they couldn't do it...(which i know they can 

I built my own antenna (search youtube for 'build hd antenna') and i hooked it in to my Series 3 TiVo, which is currently connected to a Sony 50" KDS-A2020 and it works great...i'm currently getting anywhere from 80-98 signal strength from my Local HD's. I had a radio shack outdoor antenna to go with my FiOS service and i've since removed the outdoor antenna and may move it to use in another part of the house.

The reason i'm leaving FiOS? Rates going up (when my contract ends in mid-October) and in the Oregon market Verizon is in the process of transferring everything to Frontier Communications...i don't want to lock myself in a contract that Frontier potentially may not be able to uphold...and maybe save myself some money in the process.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

classicsat said:


> IPTV is not the same as Internet TV.
> IPTV, as I know it is more of a layer 2 thing, while Internet TV is a layer 3 thing. Uverse is an example of Layer 2 IPTV.
> 
> Some Internet TV works with TiVo directly, others with PC based software to serve to a TiVo format.
> ...


Shows what I know. 
I thought IPTV = internet TV as well.
Thanks for setting the record straight.


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## PhillyOTA (Apr 22, 2009)

Hcour said:


> , but I may consider trying a pre-amp sometime to see if that will give me any more of a boost.


The pre-amp wont help you in this situation. You would only need it for cable attenuation and splitter loss.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

shwru980r said:


> I never watch commercials with TIVO.


Irrelevant.. My point was that shows on DVD *typically* (*) are the entire originally broadcast show, but syndicated versions are cut to show more commercials.

(*) There are instances where the syndication versions have shown up on DVD, and that is typically viewed as a mistake (though not corrected IMHO). e.g. someone asked Roseanne about that on Larry King a few years ago. Apparently the first season was the syndication versions.

Also, I *did* recently watch a show, "Love Monkey", on Universal HD... only because it's not on DVD and they were airing previously unaired (at least during the original run) episodes. So I was seeing stuff I hadn't seen before, but still likely 'syndication cuts'.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Well, I got my Tivo this afternoon and I'm all setup, no problems. The only thing is it said my ext hd wasn't approved or something and might not work, I don't know if that means it works or not. I guess the only way to tell is to record a bunch of hd programs and see if I get beyond 20 hours?

I want to be able to dl video from my PC to Tivo so the next couple of days I'll either buy Tivo Desktop Plus, or try PyTivo or Galleon.

OTA HD looks fantastic, all my stations seem to be coming in clearly.

I like the interface, much nicer looking than the TWC box. I do wish it had a button to go forward day by day, like the TWC box, Tivo requires several button presses, but I suppose I can make a macro on my universal remote for that.

The podcasts and Netflix services are just about as cool as they come.

Tomorrow I'll return my TWC box and remote, let the savings begin!


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

classicsat said:


> Some Internet TV works with TiVo directly, others with PC based software to serve to a TiVo format.


Ok, thanks for the info. Could you list some of the software that does this? Thanks!


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

PhillyOTA said:


> The pre-amp wont help you in this situation. You would only need it for cable attenuation and splitter loss.


Ah, ok, good to know. Everything seems to be coming in clearly now, but if I have problems I can always put the antenna outside.


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## porges (Feb 28, 2001)

Hcour said:


> Well, I got my Tivo this afternoon and I'm all setup, no problems. The only thing is it said my ext hd wasn't approved or something and might not work, I don't know if that means it works or not. I guess the only way to tell is to record a bunch of hd programs and see if I get beyond 20 hours?


Look under Messages and Settings-->Account and System Information-->System Information. You'll see some capacity info, although I don't know what your values would be for with and without that extra storage.


Hcour said:


> I like the interface, much nicer looking than the TWC box. I do wish it had a button to go forward day by day, like the TWC box, Tivo requires several button presses, but I suppose I can make a macro on my universal remote for that.


If you're in the Live Guide in grid mode, the FF button goes forward one day.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

porges said:


> Look under Messages and Settings-->Account and System Information-->System Information. You'll see some capacity info, although I don't know what your values would be for with and without that extra storage.


OK, it says "Variable, up to 21 HD hours, or 184 SD hours." So apparently did not recognize the ext hd. I know there's a thread on how to fix this, I'll get to it. This is really the only thing that hasn't worked smoothly right off the bat.



> If you're in the Live Guide in grid mode, the FF button goes forward one day.


Exxxcellent. Perfect, thanks.

H


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Hcour said:


> OK, it says "Variable, up to 21 HD hours, or 184 SD hours." So apparently did not recognize the ext hd.


If you have a TivoHD, you *have* to use the Western Digital My DVR Expander. It's the only one the TivoHD supports.

The original Series 3 Tivo is the only one that can use any external drive because of a loophole.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

mattack said:


> My point was that shows on DVD *typically* (*) are the entire originally broadcast show, but syndicated versions are cut to show more commercials.


Irrelevant, since TIVO HD will not play DVDs. You could possibly stream the DVD version through Amazon or Netflix.


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## hc130radio (Sep 16, 2004)

GreenMonkey said:


> We're probably going to do this as well soon to save on the budget.
> 
> However, I'm 30-40 miles away from my stations...probably need an outdoor antenna. I had a very good Radio Shack indoor antenna that would work...mostly...given a lot of tweaking..but it was never reliable (audio dropouts, etc).
> 
> ...


My dad finally dumped cable/satellite and chose to install an OTA antenna on his roof for local and HD content. We went to Antennaweb and bought his antenna from the websites recomendations. He lives in rural Kansas about 50 miles (as the crow flies) form the closest transmitter with flat/rolling hills between him and the transmitter. No issues. He's extremely happy with the results.


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## Tom White (Feb 3, 2008)

All of you saying that everything you want to watch is available OTA or on netflix must not be sports fans. My favorite NBA team's games are all on Fox Sports Indiana, and my favorite college teams are either on the Big Ten Network or ESPN. Other than those, I am absolutely addicted to a number of the original series from SyFy and USA (Gotta have the various Stargate series, Sanctuary, and Monk). Other than for financial reasons, I don't know how you handle only having the national OTA networks. As for PBS, they could go out of business today and I wouldn't know or care.


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## innocentfreak (Aug 25, 2001)

Tom White said:


> All of you saying that everything you want to watch is available OTA or on netflix must not be sports fans. My favorite NBA team's games are all on Fox Sports Indiana, and my favorite college teams are either on the Big Ten Network or ESPN. Other than those, I am absolutely addicted to a number of the original series from SyFy and USA (Gotta have the various Stargate series, Sanctuary, and Monk). Other than for financial reasons, I don't know how you handle only having the national OTA networks. As for PBS, they could go out of business today and I wouldn't know or care.


Nope not at all. Other than MMA and that I only watch every so often. I get bored watching sports around 5 minutes in and felt this way even back when I played them.

I could see getting by on OTA if I had to. Everything for the most part comes to DVD eventually. Lately I find myself saving shows until I have several to watch at once anyway so I could see waiting for the DVD to watch an entire season.


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## pkscout (Jan 11, 2003)

Tom White said:


> All of you saying that everything you want to watch is available OTA or on netflix must not be sports fans.


I'd say that's a fair assumption, and true in my case. We watch very little sports, and what little we do watch is on the major channels. I also just discovered that ESPN shows at least some of it's content on one of the sub-channels of our ABC affiliate. If you're a big MLB fan, I have heard good things about the web based MLB season pass.

All that being said, I think that big sports fans can and will still find value from some kind of pay TV provider (be it cable or satellite).


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## orangeboy (Apr 19, 2004)

Tom White said:


> All of you saying that everything you want to watch is available OTA or on netflix must not be sports fans.


I fit into that category.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

So I've had my Tivo with OTA HD for a week now and I'm extremely pleased. The integration of computer, internet, and tv is very cool. All the podcasts available thru the Tivo menu are a lot of fun, and of course many others can be downloaded to my computer and transferred to the DVR. I'm still learning about all that, reading around it seems you can pretty much automate the whole process using various programs like kmttg and/or others. Right now I'm subscribing to podcasts using Miro, then putting them in Vuze which converts them for Tivo. This way I can still watch two of my favorite news shows from MSNBC, Rachel Maddow and Countdown, even though I no longer have cable. Sweet.

The OTA HD PQ is absolutely pristine, as I understand it the cable companies compress the HD, so OTA PQ is actually better. The college football games I recorded last wknd looked great, can't wait for the NFL this Sunday. Also been watching the U.S. Open (go Melanie Oudin!). Not a lot of baseball, at least the AL championship series and the World Series will be on Fox. And when the Olympics roll around I'm hoping a lot of that will be on one of the networks. So yeah, you do have to give up something, but I'm more than satisfied. There's certainly plenty of college and pro football.

I ended up putting a 1 TB hd in my Tivo, which, yes, voided the warranty, which makes be a bit nervous. But I already had the hd and I just couldn't see paying $179 for the DVR Expander. That's pretty much what I paid for the refurbed Tivo HD, so if perchance it just dies on me and I had to get another one, I'd still come out about even. And having all that storage space on the int hd is just great, I've got about 50 shows recorded already and they're only taking up about 60 GB. Nice.

I'd really come to resent TWC, who was nickle-and-diming me to death every chance they got. Every year they find some excuse to go up on their prices, this or that tax or service fee or whatever they would call it, and just recently I got some bs notification that my "promotion period" had ended, even though I've been using them for almost 10 frigging years, which added $10 to my monthly bill. Plus the SA8300HD DVR's kept going bad on me, so I'd lose all my recordings when I had to exchange it. Last time was only a month ago, it only lasted a year, with my ext hd I lost over 150 recordings. This happened every year or two. Very aggravating. Turning in my TWC cable box and remote and saying "SO LONG" to TWC TV felt great! Yeah, I'll miss ESPN and Discovery HD and a couple of other channels, but I can live w/o it. Especially considering the savings, almost a cool 1K a year. I wish the cable companies had an offering where you could pick like 20 channels that you wanted for a reasonable price.

As I said before, I watch mostly news, sports, and movies. Between OTA and podcasts I can get my fill of the first two, and with Netflix streaming and the one-at-a-time disc plan there are plenty of flicks. The Netflix streaming is just fantastic, it's like having HBO, Showtime, etc, except much greater variety.

So no regrets, I'm having a ball with my new Tivo and saving a bundle to boot.


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## PhillyOTA (Apr 22, 2009)

Yes I am OTA/Netflix only. And I find some great programming on my PBS channels. This gives me plenty of quality shows to choose from with the time I have available for watching.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

PhillyOTA said:


> Yes I am OTA/Netflix only. And I find some great programming on my PBS channels. This gives me plenty of quality shows to choose from with the time I have available for watching.


Agree about PBS. I've rediscovered them in this last week with OTA. They have some wonderful nature, science, and news shows, many of them in HD. I particularly like BBC World News.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Hcour said:


> I ended up putting a 1 TB hd in my Tivo, which, yes, voided the warranty, which makes be a bit nervous. But I already had the hd and I just couldn't see paying $179 for the DVR Expander. That's pretty much what I paid for the refurbed Tivo HD, so if perchance it just dies on me and I had to get another one, I'd still come out about even. And having all that storage space on the int hd is just great, I've got about 50 shows recorded already and they're only taking up about 60 GB. Nice.


I wouldn't worry too much if everything is working as expected. The plus side to this is if the upgraded HD bites the dust, you still have the original you can swap back in and get the Tivo up and running ASAP.


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## TheGreenHornet (Nov 1, 2007)

PhillyOTA said:


> Yes I am OTA/Netflix only. And I find some great programming on my PBS channels. This gives me plenty of quality shows to choose from with the time I have available for watching.


Phlly OTA: Oh, you get WHYY (PBS) that broadcasts on VHF12? How are you for ABC O&O WPVI on RF VHF6? I still can not get those two stations post transition on VHF in my living room 10 miles from the towers. I do get them on my office TV hooked up to a series 2 w/ converter box by Insignia as back up. It appears I have to fix this problem before the new TV season starts.

Anyway, I must agree with my "neighbor" in Philly about Netflix, PBS and OTA in general. There are a lot of great scripted shows on the networks. I am looking forward to Heroes and Survivor returning soon.

I can not think of one current cable series that I have missed that has not appeared on DVD. The studios are going to milk every revenue stream and they know there are many who are not going to pay for HBO or Showtime for a few series. Sure, I can not join in the discussion about the raves about the third season of "Mad Men". I will see it eventually.

I am busy with other series that I want to watch on the air or on DVD. In fact, during the main TV season I save a ton of money by not going out as much with all the OTA shows on Tivo and the pile of Netflix discs.

That is a real savings combined with not paying almost a grand per year to those blood sucking leaches who you may be familiar with by their trade name: Comcast.


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## timckelley (Oct 15, 2002)

Hcour said:


> Hmmm. Well, can anybody recommend a good indoor antenna? I just tried Radio Shack's most expensive, $50, the 1892 model, which is strongly praised in the AVS indoor antenna thread, but it didn't quite make it. Almost, but not quite.


My antenna just cost $11.99 and seems to work beautifully. The trick was to put it on a window sill facing the TV towers.

My antenna came recommended to me by an antenna expert over on the avsforum. Also conveniently, there's a radioshack across the street from my office, so it was simple for me to walk over there and buy the antenna.


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## mp11 (Jan 29, 2008)

PhillyOTA said:


> Yes I am OTA/Netflix only. And I find some great programming on my PBS channels. This gives me plenty of quality shows to choose from with the time I have available for watching.


OTA gives you something else you dont normaly get with cable or satellite...sub channels. You will find quite a few interesting programs on sub channels.


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## mp11 (Jan 29, 2008)

Hcour said:


> Agree about PBS. I've rediscovered them in this last week with OTA. They have some wonderful nature, science, and news shows, many of them in HD. I particularly like BBC World News.


PBS also has the highest HD quality of all of them IMHO.


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## fishinjim (Jan 28, 2009)

Tom White said:


> All of you saying that everything you want to watch is available OTA or on netflix must not be sports fans.


Quite corrrect.

You don't get Monday Night Football now, you don't get NBA playoff games (except on the weekend). You don't get MLB games, and if college football games are on ESPN or Fox Sports, you won't get them either.

I like sports but not when it costs me about $1000/yr for TWC.

I ditched TWC in Feb of this year once I got my TivoHD Lifetime, rooftop antenna, and Netflix working. Now I pay $9.00/mo - and that's primarily to keep my kids happy. Netflix does a decent job of presenting prior season tv shows on instant view.

in addition to the antennaweb.org website, use avsforum.com and their HDTV area for info on antenna recommendations specific to your locality.

Jim


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## janry (Jan 2, 2003)

My wife is addicted to on-demand and just wants the convenience of turning on the TV and watching what she wants so we still have full Comcast service. 

However I find OTA sound is so much better than Comcast till I get all our network programming/recording OTA.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

I don't consider myself an avid sports fan so I get more than enough through OTA.
During football season, there's at least 2 games a week OTA. Satisfied there.
Between FOX and its sister station here, I get more than enough baseball than I care to watch.
2/3 of the NASCAR season is broadcast OTA. I would rather it be 100%, but I can live with it.
(I'd like to see more racing in general, especially F1, but not if I have to pay for it.)
Don't care about NBA basketball until the finals and most of those games are broadcast OTA.
I get enough hockey with what they broadcast OTA.
Oh, and the NBC station here broadcasts NBC Universal on one of its sub channels and that is almost 24/7 sports.

So anyone who thinks there is not enough sports OTA is a sports *nut*, not a fan.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

Had my Tivo 2 wks now and I'm just having a ball with this thing, what a great toy. I have a pretty nice HD home theater, 56" Samsung and surround sound w/a kickass subwoofer, a Popcorn Hour to play movies, so a good DVR is a vital component in my setup. Some really cool things I like about Tivo vs my former TWC SA DVR:

- Resume function. Pretty much everything I watch is recorded. With the TWC box you could only resume with one recording at a time, Tivo seems unlimited, just about everything in my NP list can be resumed, so I can basically "channel surf" using my recordings. So I can watch some football for a while, then change over for a segment of a "Countdown" podcast, watch a story on "60 Minutes", catch an episode of "The Simpsons", watch some more of the football game, check out some of the new CNET podcasts tech tips or reviews that Tivo has downloaded for me, watch some new movie trailers on my YouTube subscription, watch NBC Nightly News, change over to David Letterman's monologue, finish the football game, start another football game, and so on... Mucho coolness!

- 30 sec skip. This is a brilliant feature and works just great on sports. 4 to 6 presses and just about everytime I'm right there at the return to the start of play. The 8 sec backup is also a excellent on those rare occasions you have to rewind or fast forward a bit.

- Schedule recordings online. At work, where I have plenty of free time on the computer, I used to use TitanTV, which is a nice online service, but I'd go thru the schedule at work and set Reminders, then when I got home I'd have to go thru the Reminders on my computer as I set my recordings on the DVR. Now I can check the TV schedule on the Tivo website and set the recordings right then and there, with some great options. One of my favorites is the option on a Season Pass to not record if something else conflicts. With the TWC box I would constantly have to cancel all recordings of something because it conflicted with a one-time recording of something else, then reset the recordings for that show the next day. Tivo eliminates that problem. I notice that option is not available when setting up a Season Pass from the actual Tivo. Odd.

- OTA HD quality. I'm seeing much less of the graininess in football games in the fast motion during the actual plays. It's virtually non-existent now, while it was quite prevalent with the cable HD. Someone mentioned the sound quality, I also find that the surround-sound of the stadiums during football, the "roar of the crowd", seems much better OTA.

- Netflix streaming. I know some folks have had trouble with this, but mine is working fine and I think the offerings are plentiful and expect them to only get better with time. Who needs HBO?

- Podcasts and YouTube. I haven't paid much attention to either of these in the past as far as watching them on my computer, but using Tivo I'm having lots of fun with them. I've already mentioned the MSNBC podcasts, but I also really like the CNET HD podcasts, being something of a computer geek, as well as some of the tech reviews and tips that can be found on YouTube.

- pyTivo and kmttg. Just started playing around with these, the ability to transfer recordings from my Tivo to my computer for stuff I want to archive using kmttg is just about too good to be true. I would have killed to have had that on my TWC DVR. And using pyTivo for podcasts that aren't available via Tivo VOD is great. Also, both these programs were a breeze to install in Vista and both are working pretty much flawlessly. kmttg also fills the need of a significant shortcoming in Tivo, knowing how much space on your hard drive you've used, very important if you record pretty much everything you watch and like to have a nice variety of choices available at the press of button.

- Speaking of that last, having a 1 TB internal hd is just too cool for school. And of course I can even add on an ext hd when and if I ever have the need.

Some in this thread have lamented the lack of programming available via OTA vs Cable and of course that's true, but only to an extent. I can record all 4 available NFL games on Sun and 3 to 4 college games on Sat. It's more football than I can possibly watch. Netflix carries most of the tv series I like, if not all of them, and I don't mind waiting for them to be released after the season is over. In fact if I really like a series I prefer to watch them on DVD, or now streaming using Tivo, because I usually prefer to watch several episodes in a row. If an episode has a cliffhanger, there's no waiting to see what happens next wk, the next ep is right there.

OTA w/Tivo vs Cable comes down to savings vs content, savings are significant and personally I really have no problem with content. With everything that is available between OTA, podcasts, and Netflix, I have more than enough to watch, more than enough variety, to satisfy my entertainment needs.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Joined the forum in December 2007 and just now got a Tivo?

What took you so long? 

Glad you're enjoying it. Your post reminds me how I felt when I first got a Tivo, even though there were less features at the time.


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## Hcour (Dec 24, 2007)

steve614 said:


> Joined the forum in December 2007 and just now got a Tivo?
> 
> What took you so long?


Yeah, it took a while. I had TWC at the time, so the problem was no SDV dongle. No point in getting Tivo just to lose most of my HD channels. Then I went OTA and bought it right away.


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