Looking for easy device to cut the cord (1 Viewer)

[coolecho]

Hello,

I'm brand new here. I'm sick of cox cable and am hoping to cut the cord on that.
Is there a device that can allow viewing of local channels (San Diego)?
I need something easy because my wife only needs local channels and she is not tech savvy she needs a push button type of device that's easy to use.
My TV is Hi Def and has all the usual inputs HDMI ....

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Dan:

Does your TV have an internal tuner? Have you tried old school OTA reception (with an antenna)?

And welcome to the forum!

 

[coolecho]

Dan:

Does your TV have an internal tuner? Have you tried old school OTA reception (with an antenna)?

And welcome to the forum!

Hi Mike,

Thank you, glad I found this site ;-)

It has no tuner. Its a smaller size HDTV i don't recall the model/make. It is not a smart TV either.
I haven;t tried OTA, but i saw somewhere there are HD antennas. We are ~30 miles north of San Diego behind a mountain.

Thanks

 

[Mike Frezon]

You can buy a small digital tuner that connects to your TV with an HDMI connection. I don't think they're expensive.

But you'd also need a good antenna that won't frustrate with lousy reception.

You mentioned that mountain that's between you and the rest of the world. There are sites where you can find out where the local stations' towers are located and what your reception might be like. But, of course, you won't know for sure until you physically hook things up to see (unless you've got a neighbor who took the plunge ahead of you).

To go back to your original question, I'm afraid for local stations, the only options are OTA or cable (or satellite). I was in cost-cutting mode myself a few years ago and switched over from cable to Dish Network. Hated it. The upside was when that contract expired, I got such a good deal from my local cable company because they LOVE getting back former customers who had deserted for satellite.

But I can tell you that OTA HD TV reception--when the signal is strong--is beautiful. Sometimes better, in fact, than a cable transmission.

 

[coolecho]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for all of the information! Our problem with Cox cable is that numerous times the recievers just stop working for lack of signal and like 8 or so techs couldn't figure it out since February with the typical try something and see if it works! Used to have ATT dsl at the old house was great but not available here.
From poking around on amazon etc it looks like maybe the Roku Ultra combined with an HD outdoor antenna may be worth a try.
I just need to double check on inputs/outputs for these devices so I can hook up correctly. And check the station site locator.

Thank You!

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm ignorant of what streaming boxes have to offer.

You'll have to find out if they've got any local channel capabilities.

Hopefully other members will chime in.

Good luck!

 

[coolecho]

On afterthought I'm thinking that Roku probably won't take input from antenna. I need to get the antenna first and see how to hook up to the HDMI, may not need the Roku.

 

[Mike Frezon]

If you get an antenna, you'll need a tuner (unless the tuner is built-in to the antenna. I don't know if such a unit exists.).

And I don't know of any streaming device that'll give you local channels.

 

[coolecho]

Cool Thanks I'll be heading to Frys, Best buy for starters I'm pretty sure they'll have stuff to check out!

 

[DaveF]

On afterthought I'm thinking that Roku probably won't take input from antenna. I need to get the antenna first and see how to hook up to the HDMI, may not need the Roku.

Roku and such are internet devices, not tv tuners. Don’t try to plug an antenna into one.

 

[DaveF]

You could look at Sling TV. It supports streaming local channels in some areas.
Here’s the lookup site: http://help.sling.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/How-do-local-channels-work-on-Sling-TV

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

If you’re interested in a DVR, TiVo makes streaming models with built-in tuners that accept an antenna. You can get deals or used ones pretty cheap (we’ve never paid more than $125 for one). A $15 a month subscription gets the channel guide and automatic recording functions, chicken feed if you’ve been paying a cable bill. We ditched our $130 a month DirecTV years ago for the TiVo. Between the monthly fee and subscription to a few streaming services (like Hulu), we’re paying less than half what we were before.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[David Willow]

I suggest an antenna and a network tuner like these from Silicon Dust. Then you can use pretty much any smart device to watch TV.