Cancel Your Cable and Get Free TV
The Toronto area is one of the best places to be in North America for getting OTA (over the air) TV signals. You just have to know how to harness these signals, and over 18 high definition channels can be yours free.
Of course, nothing is ever completely free as you do have some prerequisites. What you need is a newer HDTV that has a built-in ATSC tuner, or you can invest in getting a separate receiver unit. If the built-in receiver is not getting you enough of a signal there are a few inexpensive options available. A small indoor UHF antenna should dramatically increase signal strength. These are not so easy to find these days, but a few calls to a good television retailer should get you one.
A big plus for receiving these signals in the GTA is having a south-facing window or deck. Most Canadian signals are broadcast from the CN tower, so line of sight will help a lot. Additionally, almost all of the available US signals are coming from the Buffalo area, so point your antenna there.
With the impending death of analog Television, the networks are being forced, by the CRTC, to start broadcasting in high definition digital signals. The take home message is this - if you are receiving television from a set of rabbit ears or similar VHF antenna you will no longer get free analog TV in Canada after August 31st, 2011, which is the planned date for the analog signal shutdown. The United States has marked February 17th, 2009 for their switchover.
So in the near future you may want to consider cancelling your subscription to your cable TV provider, because you can get most of the big broadcasters in better quality for free. I personally have not paid for cable in over a year, and love not giving Bell or Rogers more of my money.
If you would like more info about OTA television or advice on receiving these signals, you can check out this great resource. If you have any personal experiences in OTA television feel free to leave some advice in the comments.
Comments (37)
I've been doing this for years, you get better HD for broadcast shows like Lost and the Office than Cable & Satellite can provide. And now with download caps by the ISPs its a great time to get Mythbuntu on a machine and record your own shows. Also, try pointing the antenna south to the States for all their channels!
I tried this in the Beaches. Got fuck all. I believe one broadcast I got was definitely in HD, but there was so much white noise that the extra lines of resolution made shit of a difference, both with the internal TV antenna and an external one I bought just in case. Line of site probably made a difference as I'm in the first floor of an apartment where my living room can't see the tower.
Incidentally, when it works you can use a $5 coathanger antenna. Same thing as the "HD Ready" antennas you'll see in Future Shop. You can get'em cheap at Active Surplus and most other electronics stores (dunno why you had such a hard time finding them). If you spend more than $10 on it you're being ripped off.
More power to ya if it works, but don't be surprised if it doesn't.
...how much better in HD does the garbage that they broadcast actually look? Other than the T & A...
I build TV antenna from a beer can recently and got all HDTV chanells from CN tower from as far as Newmarket.
http://diyfreetv.blogspot.com/2008/01/how-to-build-tv-antenna-from-beer-can.html
hang on a second. why would "consider cancelling your subscription to your cable TV provider," if "you will no longer get free TV in Canada after August 31st, 2011" ?
how does this make sense? Am i missing somehting?
jt: The author means that ANALOG signals are being decommissioned. Stations will be required to broadcast digital only.
BTW, STB's (set-top boxes, the first thing you require if you have an HD-Ready tv without the tuner) aren't always so easy to find in the GTA -- a lot of the television retailers will still push Rogers/Bell because they get a cut! But they are easily purchased across the border or on eBay.
"you will no longer get free TV in Canada after August 31st, 2011" - it's just a mistake. Starting 2011 you'll be able to get only Digital signal in Canada. But it still should be free of charge etc. Right now in toronto area you can get 5 digital and about 15 analog channels.
I've been using an antenna from day one at my apartment and have been getting decent analog signals, but CBC and CTV were always rather crappy. My LCD TV didn't have a built in tuner, but then I finally won one of the eBay auctions on a tuner box (Samsung H-260F) last week and hooked it up and wow... it's amazing. Crystal clear picture from all the local channels (minus the OMNIs - which incidentally begin broadcasting in HD/digital on June 8th) and all of the Buffalo stations. Channel 7 DTV even comes with 3 broadcasts: 1 being ABC, 1 being a 'dejaVu' channel, and 1 being a TSN-like channel which has been broadcasting live world championship hockey, cycling, skiing, everything. It's also nice getting 3 different PBS feeds.
Rogers and Bell have done a really good job at brainwashing the public into thinking the only way to get HD is through cable and satellite and paying them exorbitant monthly costs. I paid $80 + shipping for the HD box, $39.99 from Tiger Direct for a HD indoor antenna, and that's all I'll have to pay ever. That's literally 2 months of Rogers cable service.
And one key point that you missed in your article: if you have a good line of sight and a strong signal (which most people should get with the appropriate antenna and oriented correctly), the HD signals you get OTA are in fact BETTER than through cable. Rogers has to compress its HD signals in order to fit all the crap they have through that coaxial cable. Over the air offers uncompressed, full blown HD.
i can attest to the fact that you need to have a south-facing apartment or window to make this really work. about a year ago, i was craving TV again, and decided to get a cheap powered antenna at radio shack. i set it up and got bupkis, fiddled with it for hours, and still nothing, probably because of my north-facing apartment.
I'm the same way about giving my money to Crime-Warner down here. Thanks for the tip. I've been putting off getting an HDTV. A guy here at work, the HDTV was $2,500...after all was said and done and accessoires, he walked out $4,000 poorer. I saw him a couple weeks later and asked about the TV....He said he's hardly watched it. D'oh!
A couple of years ago I tried catching some channels with an antenna from an apartment with a view of the CN Tower. Should have been as great a signal as you could get, right? Wrong! Tons of snow and ghosting. Maybe the signal in fact was TOO strong - I was surrounded by taller apartment buildings, and it's possible the signal bounced off them and was still strong enough to show up on my screen, hence the ghosting.
My father has an old analog television and an antenna on his roof. He does not want to buy a new television, nor does he want cable. I have been looking and looking for a digital converter box for him, but cannot find a retailer in Canada that sells them.
While the U.S. has coupons for a discount for their boxes, Canad doesn't seem it wants to do the same.
Where can I get my father a digital converter box here in Canada? He'll forgo any coupon program like what the States has.
it should be noted that this works for people with a southview. I have a nice north view that gets SFA.
One thing I forgot to mention in the post is about the difference between the analog and digital frequencies. Analog uses the VHF range, which is from channel 2-13. Digital uses the UHF range, which is 14-69. The old rabbit ears style antenna is not very good at picking up UHF. A true UHF antenna is not so easy to find, especially a small indoor one of good quality.
An antenna hidden in an attic is reported to work great. Depending on where you live, two antennas on a switch might work well instead of a rotor. Antennas are dirt cheap: ~$48 (or a bit over one month cable bill). Here is another good map: http://freetoronto.tv/map1.htm
There once was a time when every house had a TV antenna and no one had cable. Now, the the guy at my local TV shop told me he tries to convince people not to pay him to take them down.
What is kind of scary is that my girlfriend, a new Canadian, actually thought antennas were illegal and it was somehow stealing. She's reasonably technically savvy but never heard of the things. No wonder Rogers and Bell don't have to try very hard if they have everyone brainwashed with their constant advertising.
Note to celphy above - ghosting is caused by reflections off stuff: the signal is so strong it is bouncing off everything around you. A high gain & highly directional antenna should take care of that because it only works in a narrow angle.
I got rid of my TV years ago due to the overwhelming crap that's being broadcast. I also developed a severe allergy to commercial television (I always broke out in disgust). I just can't believe that there are still people watching it. If the quality of the programing improved with the quality of the picture then it might be time to reconsider. For now I'll stick to to downloading my entertainment.
Is there any way I can get CP24 without ordering cable? Not for the garbage that fills up 23 viewing hours per day...but for that golden block of time between 2 and 3 am that is old episodes of CityPulse on Rewind. I will do whatever it takes (save ordering cable) to get my hands on that every night.
Sorry, Jordan. CP24 is "Cable Pulse 24." Cable only.
Also, Victor: http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28694
Ah, I've been teasing friends in Toronto for a long time about this. The situation is great in NYC - though the cable companies are doing their best to completely hide the fact that there is amazing OTA HD digital reception and most people assume you need "digital cable" or cable boxes or whatever to get HD. I've been using a UHF antenna (plug-in type, with boost) since 2005 and get about 20 digital channels. Unlike Toronto, everything is blasted at very high power, making reception a snap no matter where you are. All networks here broadcast their primetime lineup in HD (that's 5 nets plus the two Spanish channels) in addition to public television, weird local stuff and all the secondary channels that are used for weather and local repeats. (For example, 4.1 is WNBC, 4.2 is NBC's weather service, and 4.3 is WNBC's locally produced stuff). It's truly awesome to never get a cable bill. And because it is digital, if you get the signal you get it 100%, no static - when I lived 300 ft from the Empire State Building it came in fine, and now that I live 10 miles from the ESB it still comes in the same: perfect.
For Toronto, I think this discussion may be a bit premature because the local stations are still not broadcasting at full power. In theory, with the CN Tower ready for a second life as an OTA digital broadcaster, you guys should be able to boot Rogers once all Canadian channels are broadcasting digital at full strength. What you need to do to test your location is get an HDTV with tuner, borrow a UHF antenna, and set the thing to auto-scan. You will find that the digital channels are way up on the dial, like where channel 68 would be for analog UHF. The TV will recognize this and convert them back to their "normal" channels (so that channel 4 analog broadcasts digitally on channel 68 which then becomes 4.1 on your TV)
Free your TV and use hulu.com or other streaming sites for the cable shows you miss. With the internet as your TiVo and OTA as your live theatre (especially for sports) you will not regret it!
"I tried this in the Beaches. Got fuck all. I believe one broadcast I got was definitely in HD, but there was so much white noise that the extra lines of resolution made shit of a difference,"
Jay-tron: it just doesn't work that way. HD broadcasts are digital. You either get a signal or you don't (or you get an intermittent signal). If you're seeing white noise or ghosting, you're watching an analog broadcast.
Ok. I am posting my story and hope it will be helpful for somebody.
Location: Canada, Ontario, Newmarket (Yong & Mulock)
Distances to transmitters (http://www.remotecentral.com/hdtv/distances.htm):
Toronto CN Tower - 29.1mi (46.8km)
Buffalo Grand Island - 76.3mi (122.8km)
Buffalo South (ABC) - 107.0mi (172.2km)
First: tried "rabbit ears" and "beer" antennas and got nothing on first and second floors of my house and almost give up?..
Second: find the instructions (http://uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com/) and build DB4 (2 hours project) ? have got 1 HD channel only (CBC) and almost give up? but decided move the antenna to the attic ? have got 5 HD channels instantly which confirm basic statement ?The higher, the better?.
Third: Unfortunately unable to put antenna on the roof due to by-law but fortunately my house faced to CN Tower which allows me to build DB8 (combine 2 DB4) using house structure in the attic ? have got 12 HD channels instantly (even more HD channels than I had with Rogers cable).
Going extend it to DB16 (combine 2 DB8) ???. because there is no limit for perfection ;-).
As yet have no idea why folks are still paying to the cable companies for what they can have free and sometimes in a better quality due to no compression of the signal!!!
Cheers!
Ok, I know this thread is about OTA HDTV, but unlike most of you, I still have an old tobe TV. I apologize in advance for crashing your thread ;)
I too, cancelled my cable years ago. I was sick of PAYING for commercials. You shouldn't have to PAY to watch PAID FOR advertising.
Anyhow, I live in a high-rise, and with the cable still plugged in, I get TVO, Global, CFMT, the TV GUIDE channel (interesting), CBC and APTV in good quality.
Shouldn't people without cable still be receiving CITY and CTV? Any input?
Also, any suggestions on a small antenna to use? I am on the 30th floor in Mississauga City Centre, and have a straight-on view of the CN Tower.
Thanks!
I have the same and CTV is the ONLY channel I can get a clear picture of.
Trying bunny ear antenna in hopes of getting at least CITY and Global too.
I literally live across from the CN Tower (Blue Jays Way and Front). I know nothing about OTA but am not interested in giving my money to Rogers or Bell. I am looking to purchase a new tv and am hoping for any advice on which brand, etc. works best for OTA. Any advice would be appreciated. Also, I am on the third floor...should that matter considering I am so close to the tower? I face East/South. Thanks!
Would anyone have any experience about doing it farther to the west, like in Oakville, and from a house not apartment? I'm pissed of with Cogeco for paying for all that crap they give you in those "pacgages".
or,
You could use the internet.
Sites like:
http://www.freetv.tv - offering free worldwide TV (satellite)
http://www.cable-tv-online.info - offering free cable tv
Cheers,
Sandra
Hi I live Dundas and Neyagagua Oakville,
First tried amplified RCA Antenna i Floor I get 10 HD Channels and 8 analogo ,now I using the attic
Panasonic Plasma HD
Antenna Channel Master 4228 8 bay
Alberto
I cut the cable this week. $68/month is $816/year I'll put to retiring debt. Follow the instructions for the coat hanger antenna below. I paid $5.44 for the antenna parts, and $80.00 for the Digital TV converter - a Tivax STB T8 from The Source.
The antenna is not a decor enhancer, but the higher up in your dwelling it can go, the less you'll need to see it.
If you live in any location that has our faithful old CN Tower in sight, you will pick up HD signals for CBC, CFTO(CTV), CBLFT (SRC), CTS, CIII (Global), OMNI 1, CITY, OMNI 2, SUN TV, and from Hamilton CHCH. That's an indoor antenna set-up that obtained those results. You will need to move the antenna around, and have enough co-axial cable to connect it to the STB or TV.
The US signals are good from any second floor, and above. You may receive ABC, CBS, PBS (a huge feed comprising 3 discrete channels), CW, Fox, WNGS, and maybe the NBC signal. Again, you will need to move the antenna around, and rescan with the STB or HDTV to find these.
TVO is not broadcasting in HD yet, but has an assigned frequency.
If you are in any of the towers in Toronto, North York, Etobicoke, or southern Scarborough, and you face the tower, or lake, tell your cable provider to shove it, build one of these things, and connect it to a digital TV converter, or your very new television. Watch anything else you crave on the interweb.
This URL wraps, make sure to get it all.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/762088/coat_hanger_hdtv_antenna_better_than_store_bought_amazing/
Look up your address at this website:
with the arrows indicating >>start here
I did it for my old address on Hunt Club Rd, and all the Canadian signals are available.
However, being south of Uplands/McDondald Cartier Airport would help to bring in Watertown, or Ogdensburg. An external mast would assure it more so.
If you lived in Richmond, Kars, Manotick, Metcalfe or the town that used to assemble Sears televisions - Prescott, the signal from the U.S. is highly attainable. Those living on this section of the Seaway/St Lawrence, are likely to receive mostly US HD signals with ease.
If you live in other Ottawa suburbs you may need to move to another city to improve your over the air reception!
The VHF Band, Channels 1 - 13 use the same frequencies on cable as over the air. The UHF band channels 14 - 69 use different frequencies on cable and over the air - this is important.
So, If using an antenna, make sure your TV is set to "Antenna" or "Air" - especially if you find you're getting some analog signals OK (Ch 5, Ch 9) etc, but are having problems with other higher channels, this setting is usually in the menu of your TV.
- VHF stations will come in via antenna regardless of whether the TV is set to cable or antenna, but UHF channels will not.
Digital channels in the Toronto/Buffalo areas are currently ALL broadcast on UHF channels, although PSIP channel mapping can label a channel with it's traditional number, and most broadcasters have chosen to do so - for example CFTO/CTV broadcasts digitally on UHF ch40, however a digital set will display 9.1 or 9-1.
I wish your article was a bit clearer. Here are some points to remember:
1. DTV is much more finicky than good ole analog. In most cases, an analog antenna just won't cut it. This is why most ppl trying OTA DTV fail to get any picture at all.
2. The protocol for DTV has a spec for the set-top (or ATSC) to control antenna orientation, much like satellite, but so far no such box implements it.
3. A good antenna will set you back around $200 minimum. Look for directional rather than "universal" and adjust it well when installing b/c those that claim to "catchall" introduce noise in amplification.
4. Personally, I'm using a Linux MCE system. I get my DTV fix using a PC-HDTV Linux (PCI) card, which I strongly recommend.
You can also get a bunch of free tv on your computer. This is the most in depth guide to get started in free online tv. It compares the most popular types of Internet tv.
http://apainintheneck.wordpress.com/2009/04/21/the-guide-to-free-tv/
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