I’m in the DC market as well, and I had a heck of a time picking up ABC and CBS, too. I ended up getting the top of the line antenna from Antennas Direct and sticking it on a crawl space upstairs (the whole upstairs is a converted attic). Even then I was having some issues, until I read that the bar that came with the antenna to pick up VHF channels should be facing the broadcasting towers and be perpendicular to the towers (so, completely parallel to the ground). Problem solved, even though the signals have to travel through my house to get to my antenna.
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I agree with your approach. In my condo, I have no attic, nor access to anything other than my balcony which is on the opposite side of the 7 (ABC) and 9 (CBS) towers. I have done about everything including a hi-gain VHF antenna with amplifier - no luck.
I responded to another person on this thread that this weekend I am going to try to hit the Hearst candelabra in Baltimore. It's 30 miles as the crow flies. I am not optimistic, although a friend who lives nearby has a rooftop antenna, plus he's on a hill. He can pickup the Baltimore affiliates.
Thanks for the comment!
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Would your friend let you set up your Channels DVR at their house? 
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Actually, that is being discussed. He is interested in setting up ChannelsDVR for himself.
The remote access is not a bad idea. It will burn up a lot of internet usage but it could be done. I'd prefer to resolve the problem locally as I would have more control over the server, the NAS, and so on. Really, when Locast was operational, my system was ideal for me. It is a shame a perfectly good system that served the needs of many people who otherwise have difficulty getting access to OTA signal, had to die because of the greed of the networks. Locast was minuscule in the revenue scale but the networks have to have it all, I suppose.
You might see if your local ABC and CBS stations have publicly available m3u streams you could use.
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Theoretically, VHF should be easier to recieve, from a propagation standpoint. VHF signal waveforms are more apt to follow the curvature of the earth versus UHF which are line of sight and shoot off into space at the horizon (as determined by antenna height). Most people trying to recv VHF are much more likely to be victims of the combination of expense involved in a decent antenna and antenna manufacturers catering to the majority of the stations which are UHF. One of the key factors to recieving decent VHF stations is going to be a quality VHF antenna, not just a single element slapped on a UHF antenna. There are some locations a hundred foot tower wouldn't even help but, if you have more than one VHF station that is important to you, don't skimp on the antenna or "hope" the UHF antenna will work. This is science, not voodoo.
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I live in the Chicago area - when we lost Locast, I selected Local Networks via TV Everywhere in the list of "experimental" in Channel Selections. We have all the local networks as well as both Chicago-land PBS stations. I love it!
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Thanks. Good idea. I have that box checked but nothing new shows up on the channel guide that is not already coming off my DirecTV and HDHomeRun "sources." Maybe it does not exist in the DC Metro market(?).
Does it work on https://abc.com/watch-live or https://www.cbs.com/live-tv/stream/tveverywhere/
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I'm in Northeast DC and get 2 (ABC), 45 (FOX) and 54(CW) out of Baltimore with no issues, plus 22 (PBS) out of Annapolis. The signal is usually too weak for 11 (NBC), while 13 (CBS) is hit-or-miss. I'm using an unamplified flap antenna hanging in a second-floor, east-facing window.
I'm guessing that if you're on a higher floor, and have some northeastern exposure on your balcony, you could get all of the above with a halfway-decent amplified outdoor antenna. ABC should be easy, but CBS may still give you some headaches.
EDIT: I should mention that I now get ALL the major networks plus PBS stations through TVE, so if you're in the same region, you probably should be able to access them as well.
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Fixed in prerelease
Thanks! Yes, that is my hope as I have a friend nearby who is able to pull the Baltimore channels some 30 miles away off the Hearst candelabra array. I have a similar view. He has the advantage of being higher, terrain-wise, and also outdoors. That said, my balcony is open-air. I will test this, hopefully on Sunday when I have some time. I am booked solid thru until Sunday with other tasks.
I gather you cannot pick up 7 (ABC) and 9 (CBS) locally in DC, either? I can pick up all the UHF stuff using a really basic UHF Yagi which is maybe 15" long and 9" wide. It works great. But, getting VHF 7 & 9 using a VHF element - forget it. I even get WHUT (Howard University) on 32.
You are on TVE? What "provider" are you using? I also get content from TVE using DirecTV off my 2nd home's account in Maine. That works. But, I don't get CBS nor ABC off DirecTV's TVE.
Thanks for your comment!
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Hi, Aman,
I tried both of those links with my current Chrome browser. Both said - "not available at current location" or "not with this browser." That's referring to live TV.
You said this was fixed in a pre-release. I will check that as I am on that Beta Test program thing.
Thanks,
Chuck
If it doesn't work on those sites, it is not possible for it to work in the DVR. All our DVR does it go to that site and redirect the video stream shown.
The fixes refer to issues where it does work on the site but wasn't coming through on Channels for whatever reason.
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Yes, in both cases, CBS and ABC, the browser comes back and says "not in my area" with my current provider. Interestingly, CBS's screen referred me to Paramount+ (to which I subscribe). There, I can click on LIVE TV and see the current WUSA9 (DC) live stream.
I suspect this is of little help as I don't see a method to shoe-horn in that connection to CDVR as a "Source."
Can we get support for https://www.localbtv.com/? i’ve been using that since locast went offline.
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Other threads already discussing that:
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@TroyFarm have you tried calling DirecTV and changing your service address to your current local address?
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It's an idea but we get the locals in Maine which is useful for Maine when we are there. I am surprised that those Maine locals do not appear on the TVE stream here, or the CBS / ABC locals where I am, either. I get NBC, Fox, and PBS - local to DC via DirecTV TVE. I do not understand how DirecTV decides what to stream, or not, on TVE.
We live full-time in our RV and used to have DirecTV. DirecTV via satellite will only provide local channels if you are located in the area allowed for those local channels, so we would call DirecTV and change our service address to our new location whenever we moved.
I suspect they would do the same thing with TVE and only allow the locals if you are in the service area.
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