Record OTA

[baradanikto]

I'm going to be "cutting the cord". I bought an HD OTA antenna so I can get rid of the high cost of cable tv. Has anyone had any experience with recording OTA? Any problems? What is the setup like? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[KeithAbbott]

You didn't mention what you are currently using for tuners/encoders, if what you currently have is not usable for OTA, you will need to obtain something like a Hauppauge HVR-2250 or a SiliconDust HDHomeRun that can connect up to your antenna via coax connection. As far as setting it up within Sage, it's no more difficult than setting up a cable connection within Sage. And as far as problems, the main problem that I have run into is related to signal strength, especially during things like heavy snowstorms and the like. Assuming that you can get a strong, clear signal, I wouldn't expect that you will have many problems.

You will need to determine if you need to get an omnidirectional or unidirectional antenna, based on where the various television stations that you are looking to receive are relative to your location. In my case, the television stations that I am interested in are within 15 degrees or so from each other, so I am able to use a directional antenna.

[baradanikto]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have been using the same Hauppauge board (2250) for quite a while. And, the antenna is a Terk indoor HD pre-amplified. Right now, I get about 27 stations, but, I plan to add some of the online services (ie. Hulu Plus, Amazon, etc.).

[KeithAbbott]

An additional bonus is that your picture quality should be better with OTA. Cable providers typically compress their signal more than OTA.