Experiment in Cutting the Cable

Digital TV still uses the airwaves. Mostly UHF, but still some VHF.

 

I use ROKU on top of my cable service. The device has been very reliable to me with no bandwidth issues. Also worth doing a web search for "hidden channels". There are some channels that you can program in that are not advertised or listed by ROKU. They are legit "private channels". The only channel I have paid for on ROKU is Night Flight. If you have Amazon Prime you have another channel available with content for no extra cost.

 

Thanks for the inflammation!

 

If your not a sports fan, cord trimming is easy. I've been at it since October of 2011. Outside of live local sports, the hardest part was getting reliable over the air reception. I detest ladders so the most expensive part of cord trimming was paying $300 to have a $50 Antenny 5884 attached to a chimney. I'm a proponent of TiVo, Roku and especially physical disc loans from my local library.

Death to data caps, Michael

 

As for the ChannelMaster DVR+, for question #1, I'm sorry, I don't know because I've never needed to. By that do you mean, be watching a show on the DVR and have it be streamed to different sets in different rooms?

For #2, the guide is refreshed, yes, over the internet, and the unit has an ethernet port. If you want wifi, you can buy a wifi dongle from ChannelMaster for $30 or $40 that plugs into one of its two usb ports.

 

Thanks, Dan. Regarding #1, yes, I mean being able to stream to more than one TV, either simultaneously or not. For example, I might be watching something live in the LR, while my wife might be watching the same channel or a recording or streaming via Netflix in the BR.

 

I'm not that much of a sports fan, except for Formula One racing, which is on NBC Sports channel. I am pretty sure I can get that streaming, but will have to check. I also like football and can always pay for NFL network streaming if I can't find something free. I should also be able to get the major networks with the antenna.

I will report back.

 

I also expanded my viewing choices with an email address tied to my sister-in-laws Verizon account. She subscribes to every premium cable channel out there. The email attached to her account allows me to access HBO Go, Showtime Anytime, Cinemax, NBC streaming, ABC Streaming, Fox, FX Now... The only problem with the network streaming apps is the lack of 5.1 audio and commercials.

Speaking of 5.1 audio, i just read that Hulu is offering Ultra HD aka 4k streaming on the Xbox One and Playstation 4 but only stereo sound.

Happy trimming, Michael

 

Yeah, I kind of figured streaming would not allow 5.1 audio.

 

Netflix offer a lot of 5.1. Some of it even uses the smarter compression algorithm Dolby Digital Plus. Amazon offers a lot of 5.1 and a pretty awesome 1080p picture due to it's elevated bandwidth. I especially noticed the better picture quality when watching Son's of Anarchy. Go figure that a run of the mill FX drama would be demo quality. Other 5.1 streamers; HBO Go, Starz. Showtime is still stuck in stereo. But 2.0 sound is why we have Dolby Pro Logic II or DTS Neo.

 

Mrs. Marmot and I cut cable about 17 years ago. We currently sport Netflix dvds and get news off our i-pads. We have no digital feed to our tv.

It can be done.

 

Good to know- thanks.

Both me and my wife swear that the picture quality of streaming movies we watched on Amazon and NBC is better than my Verizon Fios picture, but I can't say for sure. I will say that I am amazed at how good it is. I think that having a pretty fast internet connection probably helps. Dolby Pro Logic II and Neo are good enough for most sources. Thanks for the info!

 

I'm currently paying around $170 a month for cable- even if I get some pay services, I should be able to cut out a significant chunk of that.

 

You're welcome.

 

Last time I had a cable bill, I thought $50 was getting too high.

 

I was thinking of cutting my cable also. I have Apple TV, it's really good. I also have Amazon Prime, Amazon works with my Ipad connected to my tv, ether with RCA wire or airplay. I have Netflix , $8.99 and Hulu for $5.99, only for the first year. Basic cable runs me $129 a month. I do get Turner classics which I enjoy very much.

 

I cut the cable in 2001. We rely on Netflix DVDs and discs from the library. Our local library also has a free music and video streaming service, which I use occasionally.

 

I don't think it's capable of doing that, but I'd hate to say that and then find out I was wrong.

Googling around, there are a lot of discussion threads about the DVR+ and people are always coming up with creative ways of doing things. So, the dvr+ files are saved to the external drive using the ext2 file system. I know this because I have used linux to schlep shows off the hard drive and convert them to h264 and archive them. So... just thinking out loud, and I am getting over a cold and kind of loopy right now so this might be just a crackpot idea... could you use some kind of a server as your dvr+ external hard drive, and then access that server remotely to watch your stored programs in another room or another town.

The filenames of the stored programs aren't user friendly... they're partly in hex, they're like Strm001B.ts. But if you sort the files by date created you might be able to make an educated guess as to which file is the one you want.

Wow yes I just googled channelmaster dvr+ server and there are people talking about setting up a slingbox-ish type situation that is remotely accessible. But I'm a little too fogged over right now to get too far into it.

 

since getting roku/hulu I rarely hit the cable channels, only for some old standards (hbo shows, survivor...etc) I know I could get them other ways just haven't completely cut the cord

 

We use an antenna and an Amazon Firestick loaded with Kodi.

 

All that to cutting the cable oh god tv is that good .. anymore.
Firestick Moonstick good grief..

 

Great research. I'm going to sound like the guy who was touting a Windows Media setup in my old thread. But...

TiVo has the Plex streaming application built in. Combine that with an upgraded internal or external hard drive and some of the optional Stream boxes around the house and you have a similar setup with a much simpler user interface.

 

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If I was single I'd dump DirecTV for a set-top box for the local channels. I consider the
TV to be a monitor for BDs and DVDs now.

 

I remember in 1980 - $10/month for 13 channels ...