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Bad reception vs. TV wear-n-tear

Botch

MetaBotch Doggy Dogg Mellencamp
Superstar
I've posted several times about my great, then poor, then non-existent OTA reception in my location. It was perfect when I set up my current system (and joined this forum) 12 years ago, but gradually I lost network after network (suspected the large RAM facility built on HAFB, right between my antenna and the transmitters on the top of the Oquirrh Mountains, about 45 miles away). I ended up getting Dish Network, paying a monthly fee to watch network TV with commercials. BotchLuck™

Then, about a month ago, I wasn't getting Dish. Got a "Not authorized" message, and a phone number. The recording said I owed $260 and my service had been disconnected, got an option to pay with a CC but no way to talk to a hooman. (shades of Sirius XM!) Drove to their local office but that section of town had been re-arranged, couldn't even find them. Right now I'm waiting for them to either call/write me; I had them on Auto-pay and the printed records from my Credit Union to prove it. In the meantime, I've switched my TV's input back to the roof antenna, with odd mixed results. I can mostly get CBS, ABC, NBC, and PBS now, but all exhibit some digital hash, depending on the day (right now I'm watching college football on ABC virtually hash-free, first time that's happened this month).

TL;DR / My question is: Any channel I watch has digital hash (pixel switching/audio buzzes/tones) to varying degrees, depending on the day. By continuing to watch these degraded sources, am I harming my amp, speakers, or TV?
I still can't believe there isn't a way to watch the major networks (you sorta can for PBS) over the 'net, with commercials.
 
I can't say with absolutely certainty that your speakers won't be affected but I'm 100% positive that you're not hurting your TV.

As for streaming OTA channels ... you can, There are several services like YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream but those aren't free. Here in Houston all of the local affiliates are streaming live TV over their own apps.
 
I can't say with absolutely certainty that your speakers won't be affected but I'm 100% positive that you're not hurting your TV.

As for streaming OTA channels ... you can, There are several services like YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream but those aren't free. Here in Houston all of the local affiliates are streaming live TV over their own apps.
Thanks Tom; I'll look into those tomorrow. :)
 
We have Hulu Live + for our local needs, as well as a couple of individual networks, like Paramount(CBS) and Peacock(NBC). If Disney would start carrying ABC and FOX on their + app, we could probably ditch Hulu. I will say that the local channels look so much better streamed than they ever did over a satellite company.
 
Thanks Tom; I'll look into those tomorrow. :)

I don't use the local channel apps so I checked them last night. Looks like they only show the content they produce, like local news and variety shows, and not the National Feed.

Sorry if you went on a wild goose chase.
 
I use DirecTV Stream. You don't have to use it but they also offer their own box which makes the service work almost just like regular TV.
It comes with a universal remote and when powering up It launches straight into the app and the last channel. It's not as full featured as. Roku box but it worked really well.

The service itself is really good and works especially well on mobile devices.
 
Thanks for all the help guys. After doing some digging today, it looks like EweTube TV is the best for me. It carries all four commercial networks I want, CNN (for Fareed's GPS only), and an unlimited online DVR service, for (after the free period and with taxes) $70/mo; I was paying Dish $120/mo.
Today I used my OTA antenna to watch NFL this afternoon, then CBS New and 60 Minutes, pretty much hash-free, but then switching to the Chicago/Green Bay game tonight on NBC, it's hashing all over the place; I need to fix this before the season goes any farther.

Now, the other issue I hope I can solve tomorrow: my Logitech Harmony One has "Watch TV" on the first screen, hope I can swap it with "Watch Roku" on the second page, with support for universal remotes by Logitech sinking fast. Yeah, first-world problem. This IS easier than wrapping your TV antenna with tinfoil, but not by much...
 
Cord, cut.

Took a bit longer to figure out than I wanted, but I'm slow with these things. TV screen kept telling me to type in a code on either my laptop or "mobile device" (and I didn't want anything EweTube on my phone) but it wouldn't work; turns out their system was looking for GPS data to allow "local" channels, and only my phone would do that. Pause, and FF thru commercials is working, but I have a bunch more button presses to go from CBS local news to CBS nat'l news, but I'll get used to that eventually. For whatever reason EweTube TV erased all my EweTube website subscriptions, but I'm fixing that as I think of things. No digital hash or delays that I've seen; I can live with this.

Again, thanks for the help folks.
 
Quick Question for the EweTube TV folks here: do you not have the ability to DVR local news?
 
Learning Curve, for sure.
Seems like I can't DVR a broadcast, and then watch it/FF thru commercials, until it goes over 20, 25 minutes recorded. I can live with that, just had to figure it out. If I click onto the 6 o'clock news at 6:10, and I hit the FF button on my Roku handset, I just see black screens and can't tell if the commercials have finished yet or not. This is "sixes" compared to my Dish system; there I could hit FF once and watch it whiz by, but of course my Harmony One would fall asleep just as the program started again, so I'd have to hit the "Back" button a few times to line up.

I still like books. :)
 
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