TV, where does it fit in your preps?

[crudos]

So my current Directv contract ends this summer and I've been looking to completely cut the cord with satellite tv. Looking around at inexpensive options for free OTA (Over The Air) to my old SDTV. Any of the shows that I currently enjoy watching can be found online via Netflix, or Hulu, etc., so why should I pay nearly $90 a month for service, when I don't even watch that much tv anymore? My main concern would be having someway to view OTA tv in case of an emergency situation, instead of just getting rid of the boob-tube all together. Looking for antenna advice, what works, what doesn't, mainly and any other ideas you have incorporated into your bol or current home in regards to tv.

My first thing is to find a digital conversion box so I can see what kind of signals I get in my current location from area tv stations, and then plan from there. Can't find much info on what is a decent conversion box anymore, since it seems most people have jumped to HDTV with this capability already built-in the set. My old SDTV is still going great, but also thinking that it would be a more enjoyable overall experience to switch to a newer HDTV in regards to viewing movies and what not.

Any thoughts appreciated! Granted there are alot more important preps to get squared away before worry about tv, but thought I'd put this out there anyway.

[WhiteWolfReloaded]

It doesn't fit. It's a television. There's this device they used to use back in the olden days called a radio.  Some of the much wiser and older gentlemen here may want to chime in on how they work though. I just know they have knobs and switches, but from what I recall learning on the history channel they have no fees other than the device itself and batteries, no installation cost, and dozens of channels. They use something called AM and FM too. I think FM to AM is like HDTV to SDTV.

Seriously though. TV's a freaking waste. As is I only watch 3-4 channels (Direct TV also) and if I really need to watch something I can usually find it online. Rather put the money in to good internet than "good" tv. Also, those old tubes last longer than flat screens. Every HDTV we've bought has needed work done within 2-4 years of purchase. And I ain't talking the cheap tv's.

[APX808]

I don't have cable TV since at least 7 years, and I don't miss it at all.
I totally replaced it with shows and movies I download from thepiratebay.
Many TV channels also transmit over internet, so when I want to watch de news I use that.

In case of needing to entertain kids, a laptop and some burned DVDs with cartoons will save you as Walker suggested.

[thatGuy]

We are running converter boxes and digital boosting antennas on our old TVs, they work great.

We couldn't hardly get PBS prior to the conversion but got ABC/CBS now we get ABC and PBS it's a fair trade!

That said we live way out in the country!

If you have a good internet connection then throw the TV out.

[JohnyMac]

Crudos, we ran into this problem when we were forced from our house up to the BOL for 130 days while the house was being put back together. We had little to no electricity and in the past we just watched DVD's and video's for entertainment on a pre-HD TV; so this is what we did.

1) We assessed our electrical drain. We had a 10ga. extension cord running about 200 yards from the neighbors farm that currently fed our
    great room ceiling fan, on occasion our old TV and playing devise and the wireless box. We also had a solar system (one pannel and three
    group 27 marine deep cycle batteries which gave us about 150 working amps each day (3 x 105 maps = 315 amps / in half = 150 amps).
    In the old cabin we also had a 12 volt Sirius radio.
2) Once power availability and need were assessed, we purchased a 24" flat screen HD TV. The power used was half of the old tube TV. We
    bought a Roku devise which used about the same electricity to run as a cell phone charger. Obviously kept the fan (Used about 8.5 amps
    amps an hour) and wireless box. We also purchased a digital set of rabbit ears for local programing.
3) After we made our purchases and hooked everything out this was a normal day at the BOL.
    - Get up, stoke the wood stove, put water on for coffee then go to the old cabin and fire up the Sirius radio to FOX Friends in the morning.
    - Once 9:00AM came, turned off radio and turned on the TV / Roku and listened to and or watched Glenn Beck (Watch it Crudos and TG)
    - Noon, we turned off the TV and turned on the Grundig radio and listened to Rush and at 3:00, on the same station listed to Hanity OR
      turned back on the TV / Roku and listed to pandora.
    - 5:00, turned off the Grundig and or TV/ Roku and turned on the sirius radio again to listen to The Five on Fox.
    - Seven-ish we would turn on the TV/Roku and watch flix on Netflix or Hulu and occasionally bought a movie from Amazon.
4) Sundays, we listed to The Patriots on Sirius radio or on occasion at the Pub in town. One 8:30PM Sunday game I watched the game on my
    lap-top.

Last, twice the electric from across the way went out do to nasty weather. We just fired up the inverter and ran the ceiling fan off the batteries. Those days we only used the Grudig or the Sirius radio. We never had to, but if the solar panel couldn't keep up with the drain we would have just fired up the generator to charge the battery bank. Never had to though.

Now we are back home in RI we resigned up for cable BUT we took the most basic service as we have the Roku. Before we went to the cabin we paid $130- a month on cable at the house. What we saved on no cable we used for a quality 24" flat screen TV and Roku at the cabin. Now we spend $50- or so for cable at the house in RI. If I could get Fox here without using cable I would drop it in a heartbeat.

Hope that helps.

     

[crudos]

We are running converter boxes and digital boosting antennas on our old TVs, they work great.

We couldn't hardly get PBS prior to the conversion but got ABC/CBS now we get ABC and PBS it's a fair trade!

That said we live way out in the country!

If you have a good internet connection then throw the TV out.

What brand or model are the convertor boxes and digital boosting antennas?

[thatGuy]

The antennas are RCA and the converters are Digital Stream... whoever they are.

The DS converter is nice because it does the preview thing.

We are using the RCA bunny ears because they work WAY better than the flat panel ones.