Like most people lately, I’ve been assessing monthly bills and trying to find areas to cut back on.
One glaring monthly charge was for satellite TV service, coming in at almost $200 a month, on top of other streaming services. I realized that the satellite was mainly being used for local news and sports, all of which could be watched for free over the air.
With that in mind, I decided to go in on an antenna system.Now I wished I had done the switch earlier.
The initial configuration was easy
The beauty of antennas is that they can literally be plug and play with your TV; if you want advanced features like a scrollable TV guide and the ability to record shows, then it’s best to also purchase an Over The Air (OTA) DVR. There are several options and based on our research, most were comparable; ultimately, I landed on Zapperbox to support two televisions.
Zapperbox is compatible with any antenna but I chose its own indoor/outdoor model that was created in partnership with Televes, which has been manufacturing antennas for decades. All of the new equipment totaled approximately $500, which is less than three months of the current satellite charges.
Courtesy of the author
The initial setup was very straightforward; it only took a couple of hours to complete all of the configuration, including wire management. To secure the antenna, I opted to drop it onto a PVC pipe that was posted in an 80 pound bucket of cement, ensuring little movement when monsoon storms hit.
Antenna placement can be tricky
A key requirement if you are switching over to an antenna system is to have a lot of patience. We got lucky on a first placement attempt and received virtually every channel during a full scan. But that magical first try provided a false sense of security and an adjustment to attempt a stronger signal was disastrous.
For the first several weeks of the antenna’s original placement, we struggled with inconsistency in receiving channels or getting broken transmissions. Small tweaks could sometimes fix it but it was frustrating because it was a guessing game. You never knew one day to the next if certain channels would come in, which defeated the purpose of using the antenna for watching sports.
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Our house is not in an ideal spot to use an antenna but based on research from online maps that show signal strength for your address, we knew it was doable to capture all of our local networks in a perfectly watchable state. It’s taken a significant amount of trial and error to find the current placement, which can be tedious. I decided to dedicate one entire Saturday to moving the antenna around the entire property, testing various placements. The effort was worth it, because we finally found the optimal area where all channels are coming in with high signal strength.
We’ve not had to adjust or tweak the antenna once since placing it in the new location. While it was previously out of sight, it’s now visible and tucked in the corner of the yard. To spruce up the look, we painted the pipe and bucket and turned the top of the bucket into a flower planter.
We get to watch everything we want
The new setup has worked out well and we’ve been able to watch everything we’ve wanted to plus far more. The subchannels for some of our broadcasters contain a wealth of programming that focuses on the local area that we were never able to access with satellite. Even our regional NBA and WNBA games are available through a local provider, no sports subscription needed.
Not only that, but there are so many OTA channels that contain old game shows, sitcoms, movies, and more that we’re constantly discovering (or rediscovering) fun content to enjoy, all for free. These have all been a bonus, so we’ve had an even better return on our investment.
Courtesy of the author
It’s been three months since we cancelled our service and set up the antenna. Overall, I’m so glad to have made the switch and honestly, I haven’t missed satellite at all. Since switching, I’ve had three of my streaming applications announce price hikes, so now, I’m evaluating all of those as well. With so much available for free over the air, I’m finding less and less incentive to continue paying others for content. At this point, my only regret is not cutting the cord sooner.
