Locast vs Antenna

I have had a huge 90+ mile antenna in my attic for 29 years. Because of my location I have to amplify it. I still pay for locate as a backup because there are times the local stations lower their power and I lose them for whatever reason. My antenna runs into a 4 tuner HDHR and then I run a VM for Channels that has a 2TB drive attached to it dedicated as DVR. Locast at times has audio sync issues and just like Dish ormDire TCS is rather obvious down-Rez. One thing that is cool about OTA is all the sub-channels available. Also I have been paying for locast and Channels since February 2020.

And the rate times Internet is down you can still watch TV and things you have DVRed

After reading all the comments I am interested in trying OTA. I checked AntennaWeb, ChannelMaster, and the FCC website. They all say that my area has excellent reception and that an indoor antenna would be more than enough (My city also offers NextGen TV). Of course, I'd want to test this to make sure.
But, my only concern after reading all the responses to my post is the cost. It seems some of the folks on here are spending a lot of money just on equipment. I thought the objective for cord-cutting was to save money? Locast for 2 years is $121 versus for me to get an antenna and a 4 tuner HDHR it's about $250 after taxes. And, that's provided I only need an indoor antenna. So that's the equivalent of 3 years of Locast.

Compare it to a DVR and cable subscription at ~$100/mo (which is close to the average), and you're looking at $4800 over 2 years. $250 for equipment you own versus $4800 for equipment you rent ...

Not sure why you have to spend $250 plus. If you have good reception you can get a flat Antenna for around $30 and an HDHOMERUN off eBay like this https://www.ebay.com/itm/274871274048?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28

I get what you're saying. However, you're comparing OTA to cable. That isn't what I'm comparing here at all. I'm comparing the price between an antenna/HDHR vs Locast. I completely get why someone wouldn't want a cable subscription.

That's still not a fair comparison, as the quality of Locast is far inferior to OTA. It's a bit like comparing a Toyota Camry to a BMW 5 Series.

@Richard_smith I suppose I don't need to get one off Amazon or from Silicon Dust directly. But, in my experience getting used stuff that works as it should can be hit or miss.

HDHomeRun tuners are pretty resilient. The most common part that fails is the power supply, and that is easily replaced.

Also, you can often find refurbished units for less than new, too.

I think I'll pick up an antenna and see what channels I do get before I buy the HDHR. I'm hoping I wouldn't have to do what a previous poster said about getting things professionally installed.

Indeed, in addition to the PQ difference and the availability of 5.1 audio, OTA also provides access to local channels even if/when the internet is down, whereas Locast does not. Those advantages are worth factoring in when comparing overall cost/value.

Hey all,
So to follow up I got an antenna and connected it to my TV and I got a ton of channels including NextGen channels. So I was going to get an HDHR. However, the antenna I have is amplified with the amplifier connected at the TV end. So, would I plug the amplifier end into the HDHR like the TV?

Yes and no. First, try it without the amplifier. HDHR tuners are notorious for being overloaded by a powerful antenna signal; using an amplifier could exacerbate this.

I would recommend this:

  1. Connect the antenna to the HDHR without the amplifier, and run a channel scan on the tuner. Try tuning a few of your more frequently used channels, and take note of the quality.
  2. Connect the antenna with the amplifier—installed between the antenna and the HDHR—and run a channel scan again. Do you have more channels? Less? Try watching some, and see how the quality compares.

TVs have much better handling of broadcast signals that are too strong, or too weak. HDHomeRun tuners have historically done poorly with too weak signals, and very poorly with too strong signals. The situation improves with each new generation of hardware they release, but it is still inferior to the tuning hardware in your off-the-shelf TV.

@racameron I plugged the trigger and got the HDHR. The other question I had was about using the tuners. I just watched a video on YT of a guy setting up the HDHR with Channels. He said that if you're mixing TVE and OTA channels that you can record as many TVE channels as you want and the tuners only amply to the OTA channels, is that correct? It makes sense to me since it's 2 difference feeds but I thought I'd ask.

Also, I took the amplifier off my antenna and plugged it in to the TV that way and my channels went from 76 to 69. But, I got all the major networks and what I'd actually watch. All the NextGen channels are still working. Hopefully that means the HDHR will pick all those up without the amplifier on.

There is no set limit on the number of TVE streams that can be recorded. I'm not sure what you mean by "the tuners only amply to the OTA channels". Channels can only view/record as many concurrent streams from your HDHR as you have tuners; so if you have a 4 tuner model, you can view/record up to 4 separate OTA channels.

How you set up your source priorities will determine how/when your OTA tuners are used. Remember the DVR priorities are for recording only, and that they are separate from the source priorities you set in your client app, which are used for live viewing.

$125...

I bought mine used. Zero issues. And honestly, Locast sucks. Quality is garbage. Like comparing a VHS tape to a blu-ray. And people harp on money so much. For as much tv as you watch, don't you want it to be enjoyable and not just acceptable? You don't drive a crap car with roll up windows, no AC and just an AM tuner. The overall cost is peanuts in the long run for something you use every day.

And I think silicon dust is really pushing the 3.0 4k box. You can't even get the regular connect quatro on Amazon, the listing I put above is one of TWO on eBay. So $200 is for the 3.0 box. And if you want to take advantage of the 3.0 aspect, you're pretty much a beta tester for Channels which is how that thread reads. I'd roll the dice on the regular one for $75 less. Most likely you'd be able to get your money back if you want to upgrade to the 4k one. And by then you'll probably have refurb options for hopefully close to $150.

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I'm all in now. I got my antenna and HDHomeRun connected and the channels look great. I tried to add the NextGen station to Channels but I ended up removing them and just using the HD channels. The NextGen channels would stutter pretty bad and there was no guide data. I'm guessing it's my equipment that is having the issue. I'm using an HD Apple TV 4th gen and this is all so new. But, I'm set and the HD channels look better than Locast anyway.

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I’ve been using Locast for over a year with Channels DVR and thought it was… fine. My internet is pretty stable. Didn’t really see the need for the antenna setup just to get my local channels. Locast “just worked” and was a clean setup with no additional hardware or wires required. I knew the advantages available with OTA, I just didn’t think they would be worth the hassle.

But with this HDHomeRun Flex 4K I was gifted from a friend and this antenna I just installed, holy wow. I’m lucky to be in an area that has good reception for all the major channels. The OTA picture quality is quite noticeably better. Channel surfing between them is faster, too. Moreover, the addition of 5.1 audio, especially in my living room, makes a huge difference! Even if I had to pay for the box, I’d say it was worth the upgrade for the audio improvement alone. I’m stoked!

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That's the beauty of NextGen TV. All of the problems of ATSC 1.0 with mutli-path interference are eliminated and signal is many, many, many times better and more stable--even at low power. I don't care one bit about any other feature of 3.0 except that and cannot wait until it rolls out in my market!

I’m so glad I moved to a antenna after today. I’m wondering if this is the beginning of the end for Locast?

See the ruling itself:

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