TV stations i'll get with only an antenna?

[shesgottasurf]

I'm trying to cut the cable bill! (MEDIACON!!).... can't find anywhere that lists the stations I can get with a well positioned antenna. Anyone doing this? What stations do you get?? I would love to hear- and thank you in advance!

[Lake View Too]

Back in the day (and I mean a long time ago) you could get channel 7 and channel 13 from PC, but a little bit fuzzy, and channel 4 Dothan came in just fine. Cable TV is about as necessary as gasoline in modern day life.

[Zebraspots]

No idea on stations, but you can get free DVDs and videos at the library.

[lms47]

My sister lives on Jolly Bay and only has an antenna. She receives 7,13 out of PC and 4 out of Dothan. She also receives PBS and about 4 other channels. She rents movies through Netflix and seems to be happy with her adequate antenna service. It would be worth a try, I think.

[beachmouse]

The FCC's digital television transmission maps:

http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/

If you're west of Grayton Beach, it gets pretty problematic.

[pennstater]

If you haven't already done this, you could get rid of just the cable box(es) and tune the unscrambled signals directly on your TV. Just go with the lowest cost basic service. I believe this will save some money.

Before Mediacom carried HD, I used an antenna to receive HDTV in Seagrove Beach. I was able to receive all networks except FOX with an indoor antenna. Go to antennaweb.org for help. Of course for OTA you will need a TV with a built-in digital tuner or an external tuner/converter for older analog TVs.

[GetawayOn30A]

I have a home near 30A in Blue Mtn Beach and have tried and tried to come up with a solution to cut out (mediacomm) but with a metal roof it seems we just cant find any type antenna that will pick up TV stations. At this point we are stuck subscribing to mediacomm Has anyone found a solution or an outside antenna that solves this problem?

[beachmouse]

Between there and about Navarre is effectively an over-the-air dead zone. For a long time, cable companies were supposed to offer some sort of 'lifeline basic' service that's like local networks, WGN/TBS and a couple shopping channels. I'd call Mediacom directly to see if it's an available option yet because they probably won't list that kind of thing on their web page.

[kdp4th]

If you have internet you can use a Roku player and net flix and or Hulu. No locals, but lots of TV to choose from.

[GetawayOn30A]

Contacted Mediacomm - no luck on any "lifeline" service - they said their cheapest package in this area is 29.99 monthly

[kwalsh0001]

Google is your friend. Search on "television station finder", and you'll get a number of useful websites that give the transmitter site, frequency/channel, distance, signal strength and direction.

Try this one: http://www.antennaweb.org/Address.aspx

I personally find it interesting that Ft Walton Beach has no local stations. You'll have to look "east" to Panama City and Dothan for pick up. In a way, that's good. A good directional antenna should be able to pick up both Panama City and Dothan, without a need to look "off a back lobe" for anything in Ft Walton Beach. A good antenna pre-amp will also help.

Make certain you check your friendly community covenants. They may not allow an outdoor antenna (i.e., "visual clutter").

[GetawayOn30A]

Ok found out that Mediacomm is offering a 39.99 monthy package deal for 2 years of service contract for WIFI, BASIC CABLE, and PHONE.

Heck - thats more like the kind of deals I need, so I jumped on it and they were out within 3 days to get me up and running :)

[seagrover]

I would love to cut my Mediacon bill. I've heard you can tell them you are thinking of switching to another carrier, in our case, I think besides the antenna the only option is Dish.

Anyway, I found a way to get rid of Century Link. I switched to Voipo for 25 months for $165.00. I don't really use that phone that much but need to be able to send a fax. This will sure beat the almost $75/month with CL by paying 6.60/month. This way I still need Mediacon Internet but I'm all about giving It a try.

Anyone else use any of these VoIP services?

[NotDeadYet]

Here's what I did. Got rid of Dish after two years, too expensive for the amount of time I actually used it.
Got rid of Century Link. long distance. Kept it for DSL and landline, local calls only. There is no blocking charge for long distance if you just eliminate it all together, but you can still call 800 numbers. For long distance I use my cell phone, or you can also buy a card at Tom Thumb for long distance calls using an 800 number. For tv I have a Roku and netflix, but mostly I watch "tv" on the internet. Thinking of hooking the computer up to stream directly to the tv next.
I can't send a fax but I have a scanner. Things I used to fax, I scan them and send as an email attachment.
I also got rid of the cell phone contract and went to monthly. Cheaper and also saves on all the taxes and fees that run up the cell phone bill. On the monthly deal all you pay is straight sales tax, not all those other fees.
Total savings over $100 a month.

[ray]

I have a rental and it mandatory i have a land line. i could go vonage but if theres a storm and eectricy out i'm screwed with vonage. one life and death emergency and net out and they need the landline i'm screwed and would be sued. also as far as cable goes people pay me $350 a night. i must have 120 stations. mediacom offered me $10 a month for net and $10 for phone. they could not get the net to work so i cancelled. small price to pay $150 a month on all 3 items to make $350 a night in rental

[Zebraspots]

Is phone really required? The place friends stayed in last visit specifically stated no phone. Since they always use cells and had an amazing view they didn't care.

Someone told me it was law that if you plug phone into wall jack it must be able to dial 911. I thought that was just cells.

[Beach Runner]

I'll ask my son-in-law who is a year away from getting his Ph.D. at Georgia Tech in electrical and computer engineering. They don't pay for land lines or Internet. I think they use Netflix and their Xbox. They definitely don't wardrive for Internet because that's so unsafe when you live in a place where there are so many Georgia Techies who love to hack just for the sport of it.

[NotDeadYet]

I got the feeling from the person who started this thread that she was a permanent resident looking to save money on her cable bill. I don't rent so my situation is different from ray. However, a comment. If the only reason you are keeping a landline is to avoid a lawsuit in the case of a power or computer outage, then you better also be sure you provide an old-fashioned wired phone, because cordless phones are useless if the power goes out. Seems obvious but people forget this. (I forgot it myself once after a hurricane ) You can buy one for less than ten bucks at Dollar General. A Century Link tech told me that if you have an active DSL account you can dial 911 by plugging into a phone jack even if you don't have landline service. What he said was "if you keep your DSL, then you can call 911 with a wired phone" which I took to mean if you don't keep it, you can't, but I did not specifically ask that question. Anyone with a rental who wants to do this, I would verify with Century Link for sure and attach instructions to the wired phone. In an emergency renters may also forget a cordless won't work if the power is out.

[ray]

not dead thanks for the info. thats big if so. my phone is used proably 1-2 times a yr.i do have dsl. i do have a hard wired land line phone . as far as being sued thats just caution. i'll call century tel

[RiverRat]

I have a antenna and I get some channels from Dothan and PC and daystar but I hooked up a analog tv for my little boy and he gets more channels on his than I get on my big screen. Some are the same as other that are like the radar I haven't had a chance to sit and really look but it's better than some of the stuff I've seen on cable and I don't have to monitor it. He gets his cartoons so daddy's happy. I even think I'm gonna raise mine cause my grand parents have a booster on their's and I get all the channels they get but 18-6 I think without the booster. The only thing I have found that is depending on location, direction your antenna is pointed and the weather is what your gonna pick up. Hope that helps ya.

[reddsings]

Suggestion; Buy a ROKU box.... it works via the internet and your tv. $50 ONE TIME (walmart, best buy sells them) and you get 700 FREE channels from all over, movies, 30a TV and many others, as well as Netflix and HULU
its the death of the cable box....