Cable and Satellite TV Alternative: The Computer

We do not have cable or satellite TV.

While this would have been enough to elicit a reaction years ago, the number of people getting rid of their cable or satellite TV subscription has been steadily increasing in recent times.  The most common reasons are:

• It costs too much.
• There is nothing to watch.
• To watch what you want when you want it, it costs extra.

A computer we purchased in December 2007 came with a TV tuner, and that has been such a wonderful device!  If you have a relatively new computer, check the connections in the back.  Find a port that has no cable connected to it yet.  Check out its labels.  My TV tuner card has “DTV Ant”, “FM Ant” and “Analog Ant” underneath the ports. 

This is the indoor antenna I have sitting on top of my computer.  It is a Philips High Performance Amplified Indoor Uhf/Vhf/Fm/HDTV Antenna.  I connected the antenna cable from that to the port on the back of my computer marked “DTV Ant”.  Then came the fun part of trying to get the right orientation.

My computer has Windows Media Player and it made setting up the indoor antenna so much easier by providing feedback on the antenna strength of each channel available to me.  Click here to check if your computer already has Windows Media Player.

Another thing that helped me find the right orientation is a website called antennaweb.org.  I entered my address (and made sure I unchecked any subscription opt-ins) and it gave me a listing of the stations in my area plus their compass heading, frequency assignment, and distance from my location. 

If you do not have a TV tuner card on your computer and you know what you are doing around electronics, you can get one like this Hauppauge 1128 WinTV-HVR-1800 Internal Hybrid TV Tuner/Video Recorder.  You will need to install it in your computer and set it up.  I recommend you get a techie to do that for you.  A computer is expensive and you don’t want to mess it up!

More “Cable and Satellite TV Alternative” articles to come.  Check back soon!