I dropped cable years ago, and have relied on broadcast ever since. I just use it for background white noise anyway, not many shows interest me all that much. I’m sitting here right now with the stupid public service thing playing over and over, on the only channel that still picks up, starts out with stupid electronica Muzak, then the dweeb with the nervous tic, then en Espaniol, wash, rinse repeat.
I guess I’ll break down and hook up the infernal box that’s been laying on a shelf for a year, after this last signal dies, lol. I’m getting some sort of weird satisfaction, watching it go, myself.
Your not missing much...Weather radar is available 24/7 on 35 channels.
Try turning the antenna and re-scanning in 45 degree increments. Old school but that’s what worked for me.
Don’t know exactly where you’re at but if you’re around the junction of I85 and I40 according to the FCC you should be able to pick about 7 channels.
Here’s their web site, just plug in your zip code:
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/
I mean if you can’t trust a government agency to give you straight information.... Never mind.
If you live on the fringe, buy the right antenna and booster. It made a HUGE difference for us.
for example ... http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-DB8-Multidirectional-Antenna/dp/B000EHWCDW/ref=pd_cp_e_2
Another cable refugee here. The local monopoly only carries Fox News Channel as part of the upscale “premium” package. I’m not interested in paying $66 for $10 worth of product. If I can’t get what I want at an affordable rate that way I’ll get the essence of it from the ‘net.
So I signed up for the coupon and purchased a box when the local broadcasters started offering digital content. I quickly discovered that while I get decent analog signal in my area, the digital signal is nearly nonexistent. So I bought a new combo VHF-UHF antenna. That got me about 15% better signal and could actually receive a few stations every once in awhile.
Encouraged, I bought a signal amplifier and that was good for about an additional 10%. Now I’m getting four stations 40 to 60% of the time (they regularly freeze up and dissolve into digital dust the rest of the time). So I went from 10 stations (analog) to not quite 4 (digital). The net result of this exercise was that I spent several hundred dollars and a couple of trips up on the roof and I’m in worse shape than when I started.
I sent emails to each of the local broadcasters whose signals I had lost and explained that my results were likely to be repeated by thousands of others in my area and only two responded. One told me that “There is no Constitutional right to television signals”. I had to LOL!
TV for me was an attractive nuisance - I can easily live without it. There are many whose lives are so dreary that TV is one of their chief distractions. They were the supporters of TV and now TV has cut them off.
I predict more fallout and none of it good for the industry.