Saturday, February 28, 2015
Sit back and relax
Due to some physical problems, it has been more difficult for me to sit back and relax. In June 2013 I suffered a near fatal heart attack. After surviving this and changing diet and everyday routines, like regular exercise and eating habits, I was confronted with other physical problems. I should have stayed with a broadcasting career early on, (about 14 years at that) because after a lifetime of hard and heavy work in carpentry and construction, my back, neck and knees make life somewhat more difficult. For instance, to sit in a Lazy Boy chair and to just adjust it back to a comfortable position, it will be great for about an hour and then I start to experience a great deal of back pain under my lower left rib. Everyone has an idea of what it might be, but no MRI, Exray or examination has turned up any diagnosis. I also have a case of coccydynia which also makes it difficult to sit. So through it all, I have to keep on the move. I can sit for a while, sit back for a while, stand for a while and just keep moving for a while. I like Romans 8:28, in that all things work together for good. The pain keeps me moving.
Anyway through it all, I have been watching so little TV and I decided that that extra $80+ dollars a month was not smart. I do everything now through the internet. That cost is currently $30 per month. I purchased an OTA(over the air antenna) Tivo unit for $50, and tivo service at $15 per month. My telephone is Magic Jack, which is paid up for the next four years at $20 per year. So rather than a telephone, cable tv and internet bundle of $150 per month or $1800 per year, it whittles down to roughly $45-$50 per month or $450 to $500 per year. The Tivo OTA-DVR is far better than I had even hoped. That of course has a great deal to do with the OTA antenna. The capacity of recorded content is easy to add by plugging in a usb hard drive. I think the hardest part is getting use to the difference and knowing the numbers of your OTA channels, i.e., 5.1 instead of channel 5 or channel 200 etc.
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With the current set up, which I just completed this week, I am receiving a very good digital signal on 70+ channels. Some of these are foreign speaking such as Polish, Spanish, Chinese and Russian. With a Roku3, the antenna signal and the OTA Tivo box, the set up is complete. The Tivo gives me a number of options for channel set up. I am not a movie renter but that option is readily available. There are also many other options available through Tivo, i.e. YouTube, Netflix, Hulu plus, Vudu and other subscribe or pay as you go connections.
ReplyDeleteThink if anything, I would like a remote that could control all devices, maybe a Logitech Harmony. Otherwise, I am content with the set up. I am only using 2 TVs. One upstairs and one down. Could purchase a Tivo mini, to watch and work the set up from another area, but I don't need the added expense. Can only watch one tv at a time. The antenna pictured is the one I am using. RCA ANT3038XR. Have a signal amplifier TVPRAMP1R, currently turned off. The amplifier is used mainly as a splitter to operate the second tv. Tied together in line with 75 feet of RG6 quad shielded coaxial cable. The antenna is pointed directly at Chicago at about a 115° angle from true North (East South East). Several sites and applications available to give the best direction finder.
I want to thank my Son-In-Law for his help setting up the antenna. Could not have done it without a help. A lot of up and down and direction finding. So good to have family.
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