Digital cable TV.. Ugh..

A friend just clued me in to an app that lets me connect my Galaxy S7 Edge to my PC which will allow me to use my phone to access my PC,
and vice versa. Connection can be made via USB or WiFi. It's like mirroring, only better - I think, anyway.. I haven't actually dived into
it yet.

I had to download the mobile app to my phone, then the Windows app to my PC. Supposedly, I should connect them then open both apps and go
from there.

This is especially appealing to me because I'm cutting the cable cord this weekend, and this semi substitute costs nothing extra to
implement. Also, because it's so intimate with my PC, I should be able to use my phone's ISP on my PC, very possibly cutting the ethernet
internet cord - a bonus.

SideSync - Apps on Google Play


SideSync | Samsung US
 
I think its great that you are #1 cutting the cord and #2 actually doing it....hell Ive been thinking about it $2400 ago...
 
Thanks. At first, it'll feel like I've cut off my right arm. Eventually, I'll replace my PC screen with my flat screen TV so it won't seem too bad.
The internet connection on my phone has been very solid since day one.

The one problem I had been working on was how to watch content on my PC and control it from across the room - as with a TV remote.
This set-up will let me use my phone as the remote via Wi-Fi, which is just between the phone and PC - doesn't require a network.
 
Ha! We got a TV ad in this area about cutting cable.. the last segment has a guy seated at a table, then looks at ceiling tile with strange message about cutting cable on it, then looks back down just as a large pair of scissors slides off the table, between his legs, then sticks into the wood floor plank slightly spread apart on either side of an electrical cord.
 
For the past two weeks I've been cable free, streaming on my phone - not using any streaming providers other than YouTube and whatever freebies are available. I happened upon an LCD large screen TV at a public place which had what looked like an old parts catalog rack attached to it via cable. Looked like one of those metal catalog racks auto parts stores (among others) used before pooters took over. I whipped out my trusty phone and Googled the name off of it and struck gold.

The odd gadget is an indoor/outdoor, over-the-air HDTV antenna. I surfed through the channels on the TV and found it only received 5 - not much.

A little more scrounging and I located one at my local Walmart, so down I went, and back I came.. with a different antenna though. The first antenna I saw on the TV in the above example turned out to be only a single component of the complete kit. Basically, the minimum required piece for reception. It's part of a kit which is a motorized antenna, mountable to outside/inside walls or roof. That kit was $60 - too much for a beginner like me.

On the shelf next to that unit was something more like rabbit ears with a loop between them which rotates by hand - $15.. just right.. bought it!

This little gem connects to the coax cable connector on the rear of my HDTV, but the actual "cable" itself is like a wire from a wall wart. With a 5ft cable, it makes it ... complicated to place the TV because the antenna has to be in the window where I'm at.

I thought I might get lucky - plug and play.. nope. It took several auto-program/antenna re-positions to hit on a decent combination which yielded the most "watchable" channels. The programming scan locked onto 65 channels, of which roughly half are "watchable" (good reception), and most of those are uninteresting to me.

The wacky thing about these antennas is every time you move anything.. rabbit ear, loop, base, cable, or TV itself, you could lose one or more channels. So if you accidentally bump something while, say, vacuuming the room, and the signal is lost, you need to run auto-program.. again, to re-acquire.

I'm getting good reception on at least one channel I can live with - MOVIES! Then there's AntTV and MeTV (yay Svengoolie! :guitar:).
 
very cool.
Im too lazy to put the antenna in an attic but a dude at work brought me in a $2 garage sale antenna and it brings in around 5 stations, a couple great locals and MeTv ...great nighttime stuff and then a few others I dont watch.
I had it taped to a mic stand for awhile and could turn it but my stations locally are at only 2 directions, so I mainly only lock in to one tower angle.

but its free.

like you said theres streaming and all that for smartphones and pc's so cutting the chord sounds right.
my cable I probably have 4-5 channels and 2 or 3 I can get on the Antenna.
So Im wasting money paying $150 for 3 channels with commercials.

Ive got my best reception with this old larger $2 garage scale antenna than two others I tried. The other two were small rabbit ear type and a smaller motorized antenna.

Really if I have Locals and MeTV and Escape Im good...then add Netflix HBOGO or something for $20.
 

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Meanwhile, back at the ranch..

Having cut the cable tv cord two years ago, I don't miss it at all. OTA tv actually provides more channels I prefer to watch. Also, I replaced that $15 rabbit ear job with a $35 flat, rectangular one that can be mounted flush against a wall or window - way better.

I have developed a new exercise routine though. Some days are spent dancing around the room with OTA antenna in hand, pausing here, pausing there, sitting down, jumping up again to repeat. Antenna reception is dependant upon local street traffic, national and local weather, time of
day, position of human bodies within about a 25 ft. radius, and whatever else the tv gods feel like throwing out there. I added an in-line LTE filter that helps with 3G/4G interference.

Still, certain times of the year seem to provide sweet spots where I can leave the antenna in one position for 2-3 months at a time. But then, as if someone flipped a switch, it all goes to hell, so it's back to my excercise program until the next sweet spot arrives.

I wouldn't give this up even if my cable provider offered me service at $5/mo. I just don't like the programming.

I'm not using other (paid) streaming services, but I do watch some movies and old TV shows on YouTube - whatever is free.
 
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