Well, this is the last straw...

[Solid_State]

Charter Communications went 100% digital in my area back in September 2014
They tout it like that is a good thing (Good for them as they get more $ as everyone gets to rent a STB from them)

I used to have a TV tuner card in my PC and I recorded my shows from the clear QAM tuner but now that there is no more clear QAM I bought a CableCard tuner for the computer (One plus side is I get all of my shows in HD now not just the networks)

I get a free year of up to 2 devices (I got one set top box and one cable card) at the end of the free year I will be paying an extra $12 to them

Also more and more channels are moving to the silver package which is an extra $20

I need cable as in my area antennas simply do not work (Unless you want PBS and one Spanish station)

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by Solid_State

Charter Communications went 100% digital in my area back in September 2014
They tout it like that is a good thing (Good for them as they get more $ as everyone gets to rent a STB from them)

I used to have a TV tuner card in my PC and I recorded my shows from the clear QAM tuner but now that there is no more clear QAM I bought a CableCard tuner for the computer (One plus side is I get all of my shows in HD now not just the networks)

I get a free year of up to 2 devices (I got one set top box and one cable card) at the end of the free year I will be paying an extra $12 to them

Also more and more channels are moving to the silver package which is an extra $20

I need cable as in my area antennas simply do not work (Unless you want PBS and one Spanish station)

In what city, town, area, etc. are you located? I cannot imagine any area of the United States being as completely blocked from receiving OTA signals as yours seems to; I would think that if you put up a long-range antenna you should be able to receive many more than just two stations. In most areas, an antenna will work to bring in one or two channels (as in your case), but to be entirely cut off from the networks... You must be in a mountainous area (such as California, some parts of Pennsylvania, et al.) that is in fact blocked from getting TV from most cities.

If you are having that much trouble getting OTA reception and cable's ever-increasing rates bother you, I would suggest you get a Roku streaming player. These little wonders operate by streaming video from your local TV stations, cable, etc.; they have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with cable. I have a Roku box and am currently using it alongside my cable service, but when (not if) the cable rates go through the roof, I just might drop the cable altogether and use the Roku box exclusively. As it stands now, I can get every channel that is presently on my cable, by virtue of an application program from Time Warner Cable (their TWC TV app).

While I do not receive digital subchannels of the local stations through the Roku player, I can get the stations' primary signals just fine, and in HD to boot. The loss of the digital subchannels does not bother me, as I can still see them on my cable; when and if I drop cable, I have DVDs and VHS tapes of a lot of the old classic shows now on MeTV and Antenna TV. For programs I do not have on DVD or VHS, I can find them on my Roku player via Hulu, Amazon, Crackle, et al. I have Amazon Prime, so I have unlimited video streaming as well as 2-day shipping when I order anything from them online.

Streaming video via devices like the Roku player, Apple TV, et al. seems to be the way things are going for television programming (the wave of the future, if you will) these days. I will not say these platforms will mean the end of OTA TV any time soon, or that they will put traditional TV stations out of business; however, I do feel that they are claiming a large share of the networks' viewers. The networks may not like it (truth be known, they don't, since every lost viewer means that much lost advertising revenue--and the networks darn well don't like that one bit), but that's the way things are in the 21st century and beyond.

I have a Roku player so as to "future-proof" my TV; that is, the cable rates can go as high as they need to, but that won't bother me since I am getting a lot of my TV through that little coaster-size player. I like it so well that I am wondering why I waited so long to get one. Between the Roku player and my tapes and DVDs, I am now getting more TV than I could watch in 50 years, and I will not miss cable when the time comes to drop it. Not that I will have it disconnected, as I found out today through TWC's "TWC on Roku" website that the TWC TV app will not work unless you have an active cable connection and at least Standard TV (what TWC used to call "expanded basic"). I am saying that, when the time comes, I will simply watch most of my TV through my Roku player. I can get the local stations plus most cable channels through the box, so my cable connection will only be there to fulfill the requirements for the TWC TV app. At least one other VK member has cable service similar to mine, but he says he no longer uses the cable-TV connection; just the phone and Internet service.

Only time will tell how many other people will do the same when cable rates go through the roof, as they have in so many areas, including the small town in which I live. I see a day coming in the not-too-distant future when most folks will be watching television exclusively via streaming video, DVD, and VHS, rather than over standard TV stations. This will actually benefit most viewers, even those in fringe areas, as there is no fading, ghosting, multipath, etc. with video streams as there so often is with traditional OTA TV. Certainly, there will be the occasional dropout or freeze, but for the most part, video streams are much more reliable than OTA TV signals. I also notice that many video streams from my favorite TV and cable channels look better through the Roku box and my flat-screen TV than they ever did on cable, but that's probably because I am receiving unmodified video streams via the player. With cable, the signals are compressed and goodness only knows what else by the time they get to our TVs, so we probably are not seeing the absolute best picture quality our flat screens can deliver. I don't know what resolution value constitutes "HD" TV, but the number that sticks in my head (and the resolution my FP TV is designed for) is 720p.

[Solid_State]

Sorry I did not get back to the forum sooner as I just noticed this post

I am in Trumbull, CT in an Apartment complex (I can't put an antenna outside the apartment and they are all one story buildings so an indoor antenna does practically nothing)
that used to have TV antennas for the whole complex that were "mysteriously" removed when they announced a 20Yr contract with Charter Communications to be the sole provider for TV in the complex.
The antennas were in a state if disrepair according to the maintenance department

What I heard after the digital switch power was removed from the distribution amps known to me by the fact the power meters were removed and replaced with a blank cover but now they are totally gone

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

In what city, town, area, etc. are you located? I cannot imagine any area of the United States being as completely blocked from receiving OTA signals as yours seems to; I would think that if you put up a long-range antenna you should be able to receive many more than just two stations. In most areas, an antenna will work to bring in one or two channels (as in your case), but to be entirely cut off from the networks... You must be in a mountainous area (such as California, some parts of Pennsylvania, et al.) that is in fact blocked from getting TV from most cities.

Snip....

[Electronic M]

Originally Posted by Solid_State

Sorry I did not get back to the forum sooner as I just noticed this post

I am in Trumbull, CT in an Apartment complex (I can't put an antenna outside the apartment and they are all one story buildings so an indoor antenna does practically nothing)
that used to have TV antennas for the whole complex that were "mysteriously" removed when they announced a 20Yr contract with Charter Communications to be the sole provider for TV in the complex.
The antennas were in a state if disrepair according to the maintenance department

What I heard after the digital switch power was removed from the distribution amps known to me by the fact the power meters were removed and replaced with a blank cover but now they are totally gone

I'd look for a good cheap outdoor antenna and bolt it to the ceiling in a large closet, or a bedroom (and get a bed with a canopy close to the celiling to hide it).

[Jeffhs]

I am surprised your landlord does not allow outdoor TV antennas. There is an FCC rule, just recently enacted, that states outdoor TV antennas may in fact be erected in apartment buildings, if certain requirements are met. (Your landlord and/or building manager may not be aware of this ruling.) I live on the first floor of a 2-story, 12-unit apartment building where outside TV antennas are not forbidden per se (in fact, several tenants here have satellite dishes), but the building is wired for cable so there is little or no need for outdoor antennas. My first landlord (this building has been sold once since I moved here 15 years ago) did in fact forbid any kind of outdoor antennas anywhere on the building (even small ones that attach to window ledges), but the current landlord apparently will allow TV antennas to be erected, if a tenant desires to do so.

I see no reason why you could not use a small antenna inside your apartment, if rabbit ears or other types of indoor TV antennas, for whatever reason, will not work. If you are in a reasonably strong signal area, even a small antenna such as the ClearTV digital antennas (you may have seen their commercials; they run nationwide) will provide good reception, provided all TV stations in your area are on UHF DTV channels and are no more than about 50 miles distant. I have a ClearTV antenna that works very well in my area, a small town 35-40 miles from the Cleveland TV transmitters; I would be using it now instead of paying for cable, except for the fact that it does not receive two local channels (CBS channel 19 and FOX channel 8), the subchannels of which are MeTV and Antenna TV, respectively, and are the two stations I watch the most. I do not receive these stations using my ClearTV antenna because they are on VHF DTV channels (ten and eight, respectively); the ClearTV antenna is designed for UHF only. The other stations, plus an audio-only channel operated by the Cleveland Sight Center (a reading service for the blind), come in just fine, because they are on UHF DTV assignments.

Edit: I just looked at TV Guide's listings for New York City area TV stations (OTA broadcast), and found that there are about 68 channels potentially available using an antenna. As I mentioned in my post, you must be either in a very low-elevation area or in an area blocked from New York stations by terrain features or other obstructions. At the very least, I would think you should be able to get the NYC network stations with an antenna, but again, if there are obstructions between your apartment and the TV stations' towers, reception will be compromised. I have never been in or lived in New York City (although I have a cousin who lives in Brooklyn), but I would imagine that, due to buildings and other obstructions, unless you are within, say, five miles of where the New York stations' towers are located (atop the Empire State Building), your reception may be fair to poor at best, especially with the far weaker signals from DTV stations compared to the hundreds-of-kilowatts to megawatt (up to five megawatts for UHF) signals the old NTSC stations had. Where you are in Connecticut seems like a far-suburban or even a near-fringe area for NYC television reception; this may explain why the master TV antenna system in your apartment complex was dismantled, removed, and the entire building wired for cable.