How much would/did you pay for OTA?

[stampeder]

Some of the solutions we recommend here in the OTA Forum could be quite costly, while others represent the price of a carton of smokes or a few cases of beer. Choose your poison, right?

This poll asks which $$$ range you expect/already paid for your OTA system, including any installation costs. This is not about wishes for an ideal top-of-the-line system unless you really want/have one.

It is just a gauge of popular expectations/findings about OTA expenses.

We'll keep this thread to examples of dollars and cents spent on OTA gear alone and not HDTVs, AVRs, projectors, etc.

[mjm70]

Originally Posted by stampeder

This poll asks which $$$ range you expect/already paid for your OTA system, including any installation costs.

I'd hazard to guess that everyone will end up paying more than they will ever admit to.

Think about the days of the DVD. If I asked the question of how much you have spend on DVD player hardware (not including movies), most would be rather forgetful of the past.

I think that as newer OTA decoders become available, then you might consider purchasing a newer unit. So the story goes.. $150 here, $100 there.. and soon you've dropped an easy $2000+ over a 5 year period after you put an HDTV decoder onto each TV in the house, and replaced them all at least once. That cost would spike through the roof if you got yourself a new TV with the ATSC decoder built in.

I think we can all probably say that it's money spent for enjoyment over the years. If I go and spend $1000 on a vacation, i get one week of memories that start to fade as soon as I get back. A $1000 on a home entertainment system that you can use for 5 years. It's all onto your priorities I guess.

[Q]

I paid a whole $30 for a chepo Phillips indoor antenna which gets me everything I wanted except NBC which does come in sometimes but is not reliable.

Everything else is a good signal.........ABC, CBS, CBC, FOX, PBS

The signal is processed by the 9200 which should not count in the cost.

[Yaamon]

joedoe that is amazing that you can pull in all those stations.

Good for you.

At your location do you must have good elevation.

[Q]

I pull in a few more as well. I get some french station and I get both CBS, UPN feeds.

Not sure about elevation. Uppermiddle and 3rd line area. Funny you say that though..........when I put the antenna at eye level I don't get them all..........when I moved it higher on top of the wall unit which is bigger than normal because it is for a HDTV I get more.

I do consider myself lucky with how much I do get and surprised.

[probak118]

I have a total of $300 spent on a uhf/vhf combo on the roof. Istalled 8 yrs ago and I get atleast 20-25 SD channels (Ontario,Michigen & Ohio). This equals $37.50 /year. I spent $190 two years ago for a Sammy T-351 and uhf amp to get 12 HDTV stations (Michigan & Ohio) so, $45 / year for HDTV. Best of all the costs get lower and lower every year !!!
How can anyone not justify an investment of $500 ? I pay in one year for HDTV what I pay for two months of my BEV SD programming.

[tricky]

how much did I pay? apprx $1270

$140 for the CM4228
$350 for the Humax receiver after taxes and shipping
$160 for rotor, amp and cable. Bought on a trip to US
$220 for the wade antenna
$400 for concrete.

[Dark_Breaka]

I'm basically a student and wanted to get better reception.

Channel Master 4228 98.00
Installation on Chimney + Supplies (Mounting Kit and Straps, Coax) - 200.00

The install is like 200.00 for about 100ft of coax. I live in the Scarborough/Toronto Area. I'll be using a HDTV Tuner Card in my computer to be recording HDTV. (FusionHDTV5 Gold Plus). The HDTV tuner card was 150.00.

My grand total: 450.00 <<< That's half a thousand dollars, or the equivalent of one course. If I want to look at it from a yearly point of view...i'm paying 37.50/month for 1 year. Should've stuck to cable...lol.

[hugh]

Nice post and something to think about if you are considering OTA.

I'm sure a do it yourselfer could reduce some of those costs and if you amortize the cost over 4 years, the price would be considerably lower but the point is well taken - free tv ain't free!

Personally (as he awaits the bricks being thrown at him), I think cable and satellite television is a great deal in this country. Much cheaper than the U.S. and for the price of taking the wife and two kids to the movies once, I get an entire month of entertainment.

[poncho@home]

I agree cable and satellite is a good deal in Canada compared to our US neighbors, and OTA can get expensive to setup. The biggest issue I have is the darn CRTC regulations here in Canada. We don't exactly have free choice to our viewing desires. My OTA setup(still in the process of actually installing it) is for receiving US OTA digital signals so as not to have to deal with ExpressVu Simsubs anymore. That alone is worth whatever it ends up costing me to setup OTA(within reason).

[tricky]

Yep.... but the second year is free! Hmm how about the third year?

Don't know anything about cable really concidering I live in the 98% portion of the country that is un cabled so to speak but does that $37.50 include the ability to get you your HD you want to record.

[hugh]

My OTA setup(still in the process of actually installing it) is for receiving US OTA digital signals so as not to have to deal with ExpressVu Simsubs anymore. That alone is worth whatever it ends up costing me to setup OTA(within reason).

There is no one solution that is satisfactory to everyone.

I just think dark_breaka made a valid point that OTA is NOT free which is the way most people describe it.

Like Dark_breaka, a satisfactory OTA solution was going to cost me hundreds of dollars, disruption in the house running wires, and a fairly large and unattractive antenna on my house!

[dsspredator]

Originally Posted by Dark_Breaka

Should've stuck to cable...lol.

An HD DVR rental would cost an extra $15 to $20/month.

Many of us have spent a lot more than $450 and do not have recording capabilities. You did well and have a nice set-up.

[Tom.F.1]

When i bought my HDTV last spring, i bought an antenna, pipe, hardware, cable etc., I was planning on getting my HD only over-the air - Free.
Then i bought another antenna. I'm up to about $400. and installed it all myself. I already had an expressvu PVR for SD. I thought that would do it.
But, I couldn't record it and my wife doesn't get the changing inputs for OTA. I read about the HDPVR on here, so sure enough, i run out and buy the 9200. plus pay BEV another $10.00 per month.
I'm really impressed with HD, so then i needed a Digital surround reciever.
Bought the poineer 1015tx, and a couple more speakers - $775.
Then i had to run speaker wires, hang the surrounds and rears from walls and ceiling. And i'm not done yet!! It grows!! Has a life of its own. Can't wait for an HD-DVD of some sort.

I've been working in the broadcast business for 23 years; don't ever get the idea that TV is there for your entertainment or as a public service. TV is there for people to take your money and spread propaganda.

[Kevin S]

If you are fortunate enough to live in a good area for OTA, it is fairly cheap. My complete OTA setup cost me $140