NEED HELP WITH LOCAL CHANNELS ASAP!

[jason2507]

Hey guys I'm new to this board but found it today and looks like it can be a great help to me. I'm sorry if this question has already been answered before but I'm freaking out lol. I'm moving to Smiths next week and having Direct TV installed. I'm obviously not in a location for local channels. When I set it up they said they will bring an antenna for local over the air channels that can be hooked up next to my dish.


I'm wondering is this the best thing to do to recieve me locals or would getting an antenna from best buy myself be better. I'm not mounting so I won't be able to go into the attic will I? I'm going to have an HD-DVR in the living room with an HD box in the bedroom. I will also have a basic box in another room. My wife wants local channels because of our local news but here is the kicker. She loves the CW and it's a local channel and not offered with Direct TV. I'm probably leaving stuff out but if someone could help me with advice or anything it would be greatly appreciated.

[Mike Slade]

I guess it depends on what type of antenna they bring. If it's one of those dish mounted antennas you may not get good results. I think you'll probably need a good rooftop antenna. I have a Channel Master 4221 and it performs great for me. However it is directional and if you are pointing at the columbus towers you probably won't also be able to get the digital CW station unless you have a rotator. However they are only SD digital so it's probably just as good to pick up their analog station. It's on the tower with the columbus stations. I pick it up very clear.

I don't have directv myself so someone correct me if i'm wrong. You say you're getting their HD-DVR. If they bring you the HR21 it does not have a built in OTA tuner so you will be missing out on that. Their HR20 has one although it may be hard to get from them. It's been posted that they are producing an add on box for the HR21 that adds an OTA tuner but i don't know when that will be available.

[bamafan1965]

I have CTVEA myself and it sux but that is another story. it works for me and the service has improved in the last few years. I get my local HD channels via CTVEA QAM and to this point I can watch or record them.

Now...DirecTV has two addresses. One is a service address. That is how they determine if you are eligible for the local stations. The other is a billing address. That is where they generate and send your bill. We are in the Atlanta spot beam area.

So the point if some one gave an Atlanta 'service address' they could pick up the Atl network SD channels and HD channels via DirecTV. I don't think that is something the FCC would like but then I read on the web tens of thousands of people do it. DirecTV gets there $5 a month and they are happy, and you don't have to put up a $500 rotating setup to get your locals. Heck in some parts of Phenix City you can't even get them with a good antenna.

Ain't that a novel idea paying for the programming that you want instead of being told which broadcast you can watch?

[jason2507]

what is a CTVEA QAM. I'm an idiot to this stuff.

[bamafan1965]

CTVEA is Cable TV of East Alabama. They serve Smiths too. QAM is a method of sending high definition programming via cable. CTVEA rebroadcasts the local HD channels as part of basic cable. If you want ESPN, ESPN2, Discovery HD, then you have to get their equipment as they are encrypted.

Directv also sells local channels if you are in a major market. In Atllanta, they sell both the HD and SD versions of the networks for $5 a month I believe. The HD package is probably like $10 a month for all of the HD channels--ESPN, ESPN2, Discovery, etc.

[Mike Slade]

To further explain, the cable companies must provide the local channels "in the clear", meaning they can't encrypt them and require you have their box to be able to view it. If you have any QAM tuner you are supposed to be able to view them. Most of your newer HD tvs do have a builtin QAM tuner i believe. As bamafan mentions, CTVEA does have the locals in the clear but all their other HD channels are encrypted and require their HD box. Up until recently they had all their HD channels in the clear but they only had TNT, ESPN/ESPN2 and Discover HD in addition to the locals. They've added a few more now and are encrypting them.

[DJ]

jason2507 said:

When I set it up they said they will bring an antenna for local over the air channels that can be hooked up next to my dish.

I work for DirecTV's largest installer for the area, Bruister & Associates. At this time we do not install off-air antennas on installations, since DirecTV no longer offers the service as an add-on option. It used to be available for $99 on new HD installations and upgrades, but that was when all of DirecTV's HD equipment had off-air tuners built-in.

DirecTV is horrible about telling the customer what they want to hear, just to get the sale. But let me assure you, unless it is an actual "LINE-ITEM" on the work order, we are not obligated in any way to install an antenna. We're told DirecTV no longer offers support for antennas, which would explain why we haven't seen a work order for one in nearly a year. To be honest, I don't believe our warehouse even stocks them anymore.

Keep us updated on what happens. If you'd still like an off-air antenna installed, I would be happy to assist you. I am well experienced in off-air antenna installations of all kinds.

[jason2507]

Yeah I did a bundle through AT&T and in the direct tv add on selection where you can upgrade it had an over the air antenna for $49 dollars. I selected it and even talked to Direct Tv and they told me that they would have there driver bring this. If he doesn't then I will probably tell them to cancel the entire service because that is not what I asked for. I'm just looking for the best advice on what to do. So with Direct TV can I have east alabama install basic cable to run off a seperate input or something. I'm really just looking for what people have in my area and what is the most cost effective way to do this. I need help lol

[bamafan1965]

I would cancel the DirecTV and get CTVEA. An antenna setup in Smiths would require an excellent UHF antenna, signal amplifier, etc., and the you may or may not get all of the local channels clearly anyway. DirecTV has no reason to tell you just how difficult and expensive getting those channels can be.

[Mike Slade]

I think if you could go with DirecTV and are able to pick up the locals OTA you'd be much happier that way. However if you can't pick up the locals OTA your best bet may very well be with CTVEA.

I'm not sure exactly where you'll be located but with a good rooftop antenna it's not that hard to get the locals OTA. But i wouldn't say with 100% certainty that you'd get them.

I think it also depends on how much other HD programming you want. DirecTV has a lot more HD than what CTVEA has.