My life after cutting the cable....
May. 27th, 2020 10:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1It's been about 7 months since I made a blog post.
One of the topics of current discussion is television. What have people been watching? Game of Thrones, Star Trek: Picard, The Mandalorian, and the Tiger King. But not me.
It seems I've been missing out on these shows. Or have I?
In the past several years, there have been very few programs on TV I've wanted to watch. Back in 2010, I cut the cable because the only channels I was watching were sports channels and the Weather Channel, and could no longer justify (or afford) the cost.
I used to videotape a lot of programs for later watching. I amassed nearly 500 VHS tapes' worth of recorded content before my VCR died in 2006. At the 6-hour/SLP speed, that's about 3000 hours worth of programming. I'd record programs and specials, and never watch them. It wasn't until 2011 that I was able to purchase another VHS player, as I was having a bit of financial and employment trouble at the time.
Since then, I have been working on a long-term project to digitize my video tapes, with the help of the Vidbox Video Conversion for PC system. This system includes hardware (a box that accepts audio and video input cables, and outputs a USB signal to a computer) and software (capture software to take the incoming signal and create MPEG-4 files.) At the moment, I have about 40 tapes to go before the video tape collection is complete. I have about 30 Beta tapes to convert as well, but the Beta deck is broken and needs to be repaired or replaced.
How do I typically "watch" TV? Mostly, it's a source of background noise, when I'm on the computer, or reading, or just resting. I'll look up at the screen occasionally just to see what's happening.
What programs do I typically watch? The Voice, New Amsterdam, Chicago Fire. From my antenna, I seem to get the best signal from the local NBC affiliate (WDTN-TV, channel 2). And I like their local news program.
I also don't have a DVR. I think I have too much of a backlog to watch before I start adding to it. I have a TiVo that I never installed or took out of the box. The home theater PC I built didn't work at all with Spectrum's cable TV system. I would have had to get a PCMCIA card reader and their codecs on a PCMCIA card in order to do so. I also tried a Hauppauge TV tuner card to go with the home theater PC, but the reception was so spotty and choppy that the result was unwatchable.
Last month, with my stimulus money, I bought a Roku Express, and subscribed to Sling TV. Both came highly recommended. I don't get the Weather Channel (they had a 10-minute "preview"), but two similar channels: Weather Nation, and the Weather Network. I thought I would like Sling TV, but one of the programs I wanted to watch -- Schitt's Creek -- was pulled from the lineup. And there's no time-delay feature, unless I use their cloud-based DVR. I'm considering cancelling Sling since I'm not using the service. But I'll keep the Roku. I"m currently watching the first season of Barney Miller.
Part of being a science fiction fan is being a collector, either of books or of videos. Around the time of my divorce in 2007, I reached a point in my life where I could no longer afford to do this. If I want to watch a program, I can go to the local library and check out the programs on DVD. My internet connection is too sporadic for me to watch a lot of streaming TV, especially on bad-weather days. I think the wiring in my condo can use a replacement. I'm still using the same cables and connectors that were in the walls when I moved in 22 years ago.
One of the topics of current discussion is television. What have people been watching? Game of Thrones, Star Trek: Picard, The Mandalorian, and the Tiger King. But not me.
It seems I've been missing out on these shows. Or have I?
In the past several years, there have been very few programs on TV I've wanted to watch. Back in 2010, I cut the cable because the only channels I was watching were sports channels and the Weather Channel, and could no longer justify (or afford) the cost.
I used to videotape a lot of programs for later watching. I amassed nearly 500 VHS tapes' worth of recorded content before my VCR died in 2006. At the 6-hour/SLP speed, that's about 3000 hours worth of programming. I'd record programs and specials, and never watch them. It wasn't until 2011 that I was able to purchase another VHS player, as I was having a bit of financial and employment trouble at the time.
Since then, I have been working on a long-term project to digitize my video tapes, with the help of the Vidbox Video Conversion for PC system. This system includes hardware (a box that accepts audio and video input cables, and outputs a USB signal to a computer) and software (capture software to take the incoming signal and create MPEG-4 files.) At the moment, I have about 40 tapes to go before the video tape collection is complete. I have about 30 Beta tapes to convert as well, but the Beta deck is broken and needs to be repaired or replaced.
How do I typically "watch" TV? Mostly, it's a source of background noise, when I'm on the computer, or reading, or just resting. I'll look up at the screen occasionally just to see what's happening.
What programs do I typically watch? The Voice, New Amsterdam, Chicago Fire. From my antenna, I seem to get the best signal from the local NBC affiliate (WDTN-TV, channel 2). And I like their local news program.
I also don't have a DVR. I think I have too much of a backlog to watch before I start adding to it. I have a TiVo that I never installed or took out of the box. The home theater PC I built didn't work at all with Spectrum's cable TV system. I would have had to get a PCMCIA card reader and their codecs on a PCMCIA card in order to do so. I also tried a Hauppauge TV tuner card to go with the home theater PC, but the reception was so spotty and choppy that the result was unwatchable.
Last month, with my stimulus money, I bought a Roku Express, and subscribed to Sling TV. Both came highly recommended. I don't get the Weather Channel (they had a 10-minute "preview"), but two similar channels: Weather Nation, and the Weather Network. I thought I would like Sling TV, but one of the programs I wanted to watch -- Schitt's Creek -- was pulled from the lineup. And there's no time-delay feature, unless I use their cloud-based DVR. I'm considering cancelling Sling since I'm not using the service. But I'll keep the Roku. I"m currently watching the first season of Barney Miller.
Part of being a science fiction fan is being a collector, either of books or of videos. Around the time of my divorce in 2007, I reached a point in my life where I could no longer afford to do this. If I want to watch a program, I can go to the local library and check out the programs on DVD. My internet connection is too sporadic for me to watch a lot of streaming TV, especially on bad-weather days. I think the wiring in my condo can use a replacement. I'm still using the same cables and connectors that were in the walls when I moved in 22 years ago.
