[Monty205]

if you are going to advertise piracy add-on to your family members, please DO NOT advertise it as if Kodi does provide that content - it's the illegal add-ons which have nothing to do with Kodi. Kodi just happens to be the player and offer a way to browse that crap via it's flexible add-on interface.

Your point is well taken.

[doug]

Canadians located close to the US border can usually receive a good number of US and Canadian Over The Air channels. Because you're in Aliant territory, well, you can probably get CBC, CTV, and Global.

The stuff I watch is primarily on those channels so I could get by without a cable package. My wife, however, is hooked on the food network...ugh. Regardless, I watch hockey, news, and a few other programs recorded off-air and the quality is exceptional. Better than what you would get with Aliant, Eastlink or Shaw. Using Kodi with an inexpensive USB ATSC receiver is a good way to get free, OTA channels.

If your cable bill is too expensive, then you need to "play the game". Change your provider to get the cheap promotional prices or call and threaten to cancel unless you get a lower price. Shaw is losing cable customers like crazy; they'd rather discount than lose a customer right now. (But none of that is Kodi related)

[Monty205]

I'm very interested. CBC, CTV, and Global are mostly what we watch. I don't know of anyone around here doing this. In the "old days" of analog TV antennas the terrain around the antenna could mess up the signal with echos and such off nearby hills. We live in an apartment on the 2nd floor with a roadway on our side of the building; the roadway being level with the 3rd floor. Are the current digital signals OTA susceptible to the same problems?

With only 2 providers in competition the "game" is stalled at the moment with no great deals. This month my 2 year discount expired with Eastlink (who I believe might be owned or in association with Shaw).

You mention "USB ATSC" receiver. Is this a box in addition to a regular panel TV's ATSC tuner?

[Monty205]

Sorry this was a repeat of the above message.

[da-anda]

here in germany we have over the air TV for centuries (via sattelite dishes) and it's entirely free (besides of a little fee for the channels payed by the government). All you need is to buy the dish and a receiver/tuner. In my case I replaced the receiver with a WETEK box which has 2 DVB tuners (available for sattelite, terrestrial and cable). I'm running OpenElec on it, so the box is a) a dedicated Kodi box and b) acts as TV server for the rest of my house - which allows me to watch live TV on any Kodi installation on the house. But you don't need a WETEK box to do this, basically any box that can run linux/windows can easily be transformed into a TV server if you plug a USB tuner. Some even use a RaspberryPi2 for it (and use the PI as media center in addition).

Also, at least in europe, a whole lot of the tv channels are free to watch via internet streams (up to 720p IIRC). Maybe something like that is also available for you.

[Monty205]

Maybe something like that is also available for you.

Everything changed a few years ago.
- Prior to cable TV all there was OTA - an antenna and a TV set,
- Cable came along offering a wider selection along with the local stations. Great for people with poor reception or in apartments,
- Over many years most people switched over to cable or satellite,
- TV manufacturers switched to ATSC tuners,
- Then local TV stations stopped their analog OTA transmission and replaced it with digital OTA transmission (so we've been told),
{EDIT - this meant if you had a TV with the older type of tuner it wouldn't work.}
- This last change basically got virtually everyone switched over to either cable or satellite so everyone was paying a provider.
- At present absolutely everyone from any and all income brackets pays a cable or satellite provider for TV.
- The cable companies have been very successful in convincing everyone that analog cable will disappear completely and you have to subscribe and get a digital set-top box,
- And of course we now have HD and DVR/PVRs.

So nobody in Atlantic Canada that I am aware of gets free local TV of any sort! (Except through a channel's own website on a PC. I find these sites to be terrible and hopelessly time consuming trying to get what you want.)

[doug]

You mention "USB ATSC" receiver. Is this a box in addition to a regular panel TV's ATSC tuner?

Many (most?) modern HDTVs have tuners built into them. You would just need an antenna to pick up the signal. Line of Sight helps, but isn't necessary. You wouldn't be able to record programs (unless that is built into your TV).

Type your address or postal code into TVFool.com and it will show you a plot which will show you where to point your antenna and what channel(s) you can get.

Digital broadcasts today are better than the analog broadcasts of old. But a "good" antenna still helps. Depending on your signal received and your location, you may get away with a cheap ($15) indoor antenna. I decided to build a very ugly, quad bay bowtie antenna out of spare parts (wood, hangers, nuts and bolts) I had lying around. It cost me $1 for the coax connection I needed to buy from the dollar store. The antenna is hidden in my attic pointing towards the broadcasting antennas.

If you want PVR functionality to record OTA programs, then you'll need a USB ATSC tuner (examples), computer (like an RPi2), and a hard drive. You'll want to research which ones work with the RPi2, if that is what you are getting. I got a cheap Hauppauge 950q for about $20. It works great. Be forewarned that setting this up can be a pain and requires either perseverance, technical ability, or both. The Wetek box mentioned above may be worth pursuing if it has an ATSC tuner built in.

If you want to pursue this further...rather than clogging up this RPi forum with PVR talk, your next search or post would be best in the PVR & Live TV section of the forum.

P.S. Aliant Internet customers used to be able to attach a coax cable from their router to their TV and be able to tune a bunch of TV channels. Give it a try.

[Monty205]

Getting the local TV would be great. There is still hope for keeping the RPI2 I ordered. For more on OTA I'll see you in PVR & Live TV.

[katsup]

Follow doug's advise and look up your address on TVFool.com. It will show you how far you are from the towers and what type of antenna you would need.

[jaspreet]

Ustvnow is a great service and works outside US giving recording and lots of channels. It's a legitimate service and has a add-on too
https://ustvnow.com

[Monty205]

Follow doug's advise and look up your address on TVFool.com. It will show you how far you are from the towers and what type of antenna you would need.

Answered in PVR & Live TV forum.

Ustvnow is a great service and works outside US giving recording and lots of channels. It's a legitimate service and has a add-on too
https://ustvnow.com

Great - I'll check this out.

[Monty205]

Everything changed a few years ago.
- Prior to cable TV all there was OTA - an antenna and a TV set,
- Cable came along offering a wider selection along with the local stations. Great for people with poor reception or in apartments,
- Over many years most people switched over to cable or satellite,
- TV manufacturers switched to ATSC tuners,
- Then local TV stations stopped their analog OTA transmission and replaced it with digital OTA transmission,
{EDIT - this meant if you had a TV with the older type of tuner it wouldn't work.}
- This last change basically got virtually everyone switched over to either cable or satellite so everyone was paying a provider.
- At present absolutely everyone from any and all income brackets pays a cable or satellite provider for TV.
- The cable companies have been very successful in convincing everyone that analog cable will disappear completely and you have to subscribe and get a digital set-top box,
- And of course we now have HD and DVR/PVRs.

So nobody in Atlantic Canada that I am aware of gets free local TV of any sort! (Except through a channel's own website on a PC. I find these sites to be terrible and hopelessly time consuming trying to get what you want.)

After help from members and some digging my opinion has changed somewhat. I read that only about 5% of Canadians use OTA, but you can see from my little history lesson that the broadcast and cable companies here in Canada definitely push you away from OTA.

[dukester]

Everything changed a few years ago.
- Prior to cable TV all there was OTA - an antenna and a TV set,
- Cable came along offering a wider selection along with the local stations. Great for people with poor reception or in apartments,
- Over many years most people switched over to cable or satellite,
- TV manufacturers switched to ATSC tuners,
- Then local TV stations stopped their analog OTA transmission and replaced it with digital OTA transmission,
{EDIT - this meant if you had a TV with the older type of tuner it wouldn't work.}
- This last change basically got virtually everyone switched over to either cable or satellite so everyone was paying a provider.
- At present absolutely everyone from any and all income brackets pays a cable or satellite provider for TV.
- The cable companies have been very successful in convincing everyone that analog cable will disappear completely and you have to subscribe and get a digital set-top box,
- And of course we now have HD and DVR/PVRs.

So nobody in Atlantic Canada that I am aware of gets free local TV of any sort! (Except through a channel's own website on a PC. I find these sites to be terrible and hopelessly time consuming trying to get what you want.)

After help from members and some digging my opinion has changed somewhat. I read that only about 5% of Canadians use OTA, but you can see from my little history lesson that the broadcast and cable companies here in Canada definitely push you away from OTA.

Dude, your giving Canadians a bad name.. and your also trying to say that ALL Canadians are what your describing which is totally not true..(your history lesson sounds like your personal experiences which do not reflect in the slightest what happened in Canada with Canadians) 5% of canadians only use ota? if you lived elsewhere (IE Toronto) you would have like 30 Digital HD OTA Channels to watch, i live in a small town and with a diy crappy antenna i can pick up 10 or so, including Detroit american channels.. Now since your in NS obviously you wont be getting American OTA stuff.. CBC has not switched to digital OTA broadcast yet (afaik) so you wont be getting CBC anytime soon, Global Halifax and at least CTV should be strong and easy to pick up with anything hooked up to your TV's input.. (ie, copper speaker wire even)



your biggest issue is you want Paid TV for free..which isnt going to happen unless your PAY for it, or steal it.

so, pay for netflix and ustvnow and you have a decent lineup for 30$ a month

[Monty205]

You are 100% correct in that I can only go by what I have experienced here in Atlantic Canada. The 5% is a figure I read when looking for OTA information so I can't back it up either. Having said that I do believe the points I outlined are reasonably accurate.

Because there is essentially only 2 players in supplying regular TV, Eastlink/Shaw and Bell Aliant, I didn't know that Kodi had any legitimate use. I have since learned the difference on this forum. And with the help from forum members have finally seen my way clear not only to being able to access but record our local channels OTA.

I have Netflix so when I have OTA reception for local news & weather set up (e.g. RPi2 & ATSC tuner) and working, I can actually dump my cable subscription.

BTW CBC is broadcasting digital OTA. There are no analog OTA broadcasts at all in the Halifax area.

[Monty205]

I seem to make duplicate posts. That's what this was, so I deleted it. (The actual delete post function doesn't appear to work for me.)