did I screw up this time ?

[itsb]

mail came last nite, there it was, the dreaded update from dishnetwork sayin they had to raise my bill $5.00 a mo.Im payin $65. bucks (normaly $75. befor gripin)call to gripe again so they tell me they will extend my $10.discount for 6 more mounts bringin my bill to $71. so I say unhook me,lady says OK your unhooked and in just seconds BAM batman it hapned,I got that down deep sick feeling, thinkin MAN DID I JUST SCREW UP,wife in the kitchen looked around the corner and said they did it this time didn't they haha, Im well known as a smoth talker when it comes to getin my bill reduced,SHE just went back in kitchen snickern so I now sit here,no tv, snickern wife,fellin sick in my belly,wandern what will become of me,no sleepin tonite watin for sunup to go out and dig old antana out of the brush and set it up,maybe I can get a chanel or two. does anty one feel sorrie for me

[homstdr74]

You're better off. Who needs that lying, anyway? Those crooks are like the cell phone crooks, they just lie---they tell you it's going to cost one thing, then they change that and it's really another. I have never hooked up to DISH or any other "satellite provider". For a while we had our own BUD (Big Ugly Dish) and purchased a few channels for that, but decided to go with OTA (Over the Air), and have an antenna now. No monthly bills for that, and I'm glad---if I want to watch something like "House of Cards", I order it from Netflix.

[Darren]

Did they shut down the infomercials and RT TV too? They cut their own throat doing that.

[wwubben]

I can get nineteen channels with my antennas.

[JoePa]

Try living with just the antenna - you'll some find out that you don't need all the crap that is on most of the stations - they give you a hundred channels and 95 of them are just plain carp that I never watch anyway - stop watching so much TV and do better things with your time - want the news - turn on the radio -

[Bubbas Boys]

We just got rid of our direct tv. The kids were less than thrilled but are doing just fine without it. We were known for how much TV we use to watch by family so when we built our house we said.we were done. We miss a few things but not much really. I would love some opinions on antennas. Is there one u can just put in house and not on the house?

[Dixie Bee Acres]

I have just an antenna, depending on the weather, we get between 5 and 12 channels. More than enough.

BubbasBoys, look up Clear Tv. Don't have it, but I have seen it advertised.

[wy_white_wolf]

Hook your computer up to the TV and sign up for netflicks. $8 a month steaming video. Watch what you want when you want.

WWW

[Shrek]

Originally Posted by itsb

mail came last nite, there it was, the dreaded update from dishnetwork sayin they had to raise my bill $5.00 a mo.Im payin $65. bucks (normaly $75. befor gripin)call to gripe again so they tell me they will extend my $10.discount for 6 more mounts bringin my bill to $71. so I say unhook me,lady says OK your unhooked and in just seconds BAM batman it hapned,I got that down deep sick feeling, thinkin MAN DID I JUST SCREW UP,wife in the kitchen looked around the corner and said they did it this time didn't they haha, Im well known as a smoth talker when it comes to getin my bill reduced,SHE just went back in kitchen snickern so I now sit here,no tv, snickern wife,fellin sick in my belly,wandern what will become of me,no sleepin tonite watin for sunup to go out and dig old antana out of the brush and set it up,maybe I can get a chanel or two. does anty one feel sorrie for me

No I do not feel sorry for you because you made the right choice and are only going through the first stages of streaming (except in bad weather) over priced and over hyped digital TV reception withdrawal.

Hopefully you have enough DVDs to help get you through the initial withdrawal as you get your over the air reception options in place and can use that $65 or more per month to add 10 discount bin DVDs or 4 or 5 blue rays to your collection each month while still putting $10-$20 a month back in your pocket.

I have always relied on OTA reception except when I lived in an apartment that offered free cable simply because I am too cheap to spring for satellite or cable (or anything more than $10 month dial up internet).

When OTA went digital thanks to my 40 foot creosote utility pole I have set with my TV , CB and scanner antennas on it with a one time investment in a $190 digital antenna, rotor and coax to replace my 20 year old 300 ohm ribbon lead in set up , I can now pull in one to three sometimes four broadcast areas and with sub channels that can range from 18 to 60 channels and I have almost 1000 DVDS and VHS cassettes as part of my private in home cable network that I have using rabbit receivers on the TVs in my house picking up the rabbit transmissions from the VCR/DVRs I have set up in my video storage closet that I put together 20 years ago and still works.

I did laugh when you reminded me of how fast those Dish Desperados can cut your feed. Whenever I hear folks say how fast their dish feed died I think of Fred Sanford telling Pac Bell "Your going to cut my phone off? Your going to cut my......Hello? ".

Wishing you a short pay TV withdrawal as you navigate the one time overhead expense of getting free of the video feed vampires.

[WriterontheHill]

LOL!

I laughed until tears were in my eyes reading this. Why? Because this is exactly what would happen here.

[MichaelZ]

Netflix stream-only option is only about $9 a month. No commercials! Lots of oldies and old tv series, if you like them and a lot of older very good movies are available. For the money they are charging, you could buy DVDs and have a giant library of them in no time. And, as old age sets in, you will find you can enjoy those same movies and TV series over and over (and over)

[itsb]

thanks for all the support,I do rember fred Sanford,I been tellin myself I wasn't goin to spend no more for tv,been holdin them off for a couple years now by tryin to bluff them,well they called mine! Don't know if the Netflix thing will work for me with hughsnet and bein it the lowest package, however the old OTA is goin up here shortly,I don't expect to much as 100 miles by way of crow to closest station.Wife got up this morning and ask whats the weather,then said O-THATS RITE NO TV

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by itsb

mail came last nite, there it was, the dreaded update from dishnetwork sayin they had to raise my bill $5.00 a mo.Im payin $65. bucks (normaly $75. befor gripin)call to gripe again so they tell me they will extend my $10.discount for 6 more mounts bringin my bill to $71. so I say unhook me,lady says OK your unhooked and in just seconds BAM batman it hapned,I got that down deep sick feeling, thinkin MAN DID I JUST SCREW UP,wife in the kitchen looked around the corner and said they did it this time didn't they haha, Im well known as a smoth talker when it comes to getin my bill reduced,SHE just went back in kitchen snickern so I now sit here,no tv, snickern wife,fellin sick in my belly,wandern what will become of me,no sleepin tonite watin for sunup to go out and dig old antana out of the brush and set it up,maybe I can get a chanel or two. does anty one feel sorrie for me

More and more people are switching back and forth between Dish and Directv. They run the special out and pay the full price till the 'contract' is up, then they switch companies so they get their "Deal" for a year or 18 months, run that contract up then switch back. I haves done this like 5 times over the past years, just now Switched back to Directv, so I get their special deal for a year, the first 3 months all movie channels are open, I got a $150 dollar Credit Card to use as I wish. And in two or so switch back to another srouce. LOL

[TnAndy]

Originally Posted by wwubben

I can get nineteen channels with my antennas.

I can get 1.5

[itsb]

Originally Posted by MichaelZ

Netflix stream-only option is only about $9 a month. No commercials! Lots of oldies and old tv series, if you like them and a lot of older very good movies are available. For the money they are charging, you could buy DVDs and have a giant library of them in no time. And, as old age sets in, you will find you can enjoy those same movies and TV series over and over (and over)

O-ya the old age is already here,only movies I care much about is the old westerns and same with sitcoms,did like them reality (if ya call m that )shows on histry-discovery and the such,worst part bout dish or others is to get the good stations ya had to buy the more channels (wander why haha)

[itsb]

Originally Posted by TnAndy

I can get 1.5

how do ya get a .5 chanel, just hear every other word

[WriterontheHill]

Oh lord, Hugesnet. Don't even TRY to get Netflix. You'll use all your data. We had them, switched to Excede (which was better, but still not perfect), and finally said NO. We use Verizon wireless now.Netflix looks horrible on HughesNet, too.

We have DirecTV. We're paying about $70 a month, but like you, we can't bring in any channels. Roof mount antenna was taken down in October after we gave up trying. I like my educational programs and for now we can afford it. When we can't, it's going bye-bye again.

[Allen W]

Originally Posted by TnAndy

I can get 1.5

I could barely get any thing before they changed to digital, doubt I could get any thing now.

[Awnry Abe]

True freedom comes when you take a ball bat to the TV. Sadly, I put the shackles back on a couple of months ago to watch my beloved sports team once a week. I had been TV-less for a little less than 2 years prior. Now it's Gillligans Island and Create TV almost every week night. Sigh. I am amazed at the picture quality and selection of OTA channels. It's not like when I was a kid.

[TnAndy]

Originally Posted by itsb

how do ya get a .5 chanel, just hear every other word

Yeah, that, and the picture is so snowy it pains you to watch it.

Point is, outside antennae are not for everyplace. Great if you get line-of-sight.....not so much if you tucked back below the mountain.

We've been with DISH 17 years now. I called the other day, threatened to start the Direct/Dish flipping as mentioned above, and they gave me $50/mo off for 10 months. Mid 60's was our previous bill.....so we should be paying about 15/mo now....about what TV is worth, or maybe slightly over.