Lost Signal

It's been nearly four years since having any TV signal at home. Sometime in 2009 we realized we were paying the cable company $50+ each month and watching precious little. We therefore did the rational thing and gave up the cable - and did not replace it with satellite as that would have had the same issue. The only 'free air' signal was one weak station from Mankato that barely came in, as analog. When the switch to digital happened, well, digital is all-or-nothing. We got nothing. For a little while I tried to see if I could get any translator re-broadcast signals (still analog, at least at the time. Not sure if that is still the case) without any real success.

And, overall, I find I really do not miss TV. Every great once in a while I go out to a place that has a TV. I find it generally annoys me more than anything. Curiously, it's not the commercials that are the most aggravating, but the (even more) vapid programming. When I travel, I find that if I'm at a hotel I don't turn the room TV on. I have a laptop, or at least the phone, and failing that, perhaps a book. I think the last time I tried to find something to watch, I tried to find news. Evidently CNN is not the place to look for that.

I am NOT claiming some superiority over those who do watch TV. I have no doubt that if I could get a decent, non-overpriced signal here I'd likely wind up watching something. There have been a couple times I've missed having a ready signal. I think one was some news event - but most of those are available over the net, sometimes even live streamed. It might be nice to see some shows that people mention. Doctor Who, and My Little Pony perhaps. Others, such as Jersey Shore and any 'talent' type show I am quite happy to not even be able see by accident.

We do have cable again, but not for TV. It's purely for network. DSL went down one time too many on a weekend when nothing would be done, even for the allegedly business class connection we were paying for. Result: No more DSL, and since DSL was the only reason we had the wired phone line, that went too. Voice-over-IP and cell is quite sufficient. The telling thing was that the cable folks did not press to get TV added to the package. That really says a lot, I think.

ADDENDUM: Since there seems to be a bit of confusion, I will clarify as I have in one reply:

Now, mind you, the post above is NOT a complaint, but an observation. If I really wanted to get TV signals, a good directional gain antenna with a pre-amp at the feedpoint would likely give me all the commercial networks & PBS with a one-time cost. But I don't miss them enough to to make that effort.