In my previous post about the Folded Dipole Antenna I talk about watching over the air (OTA) TV. Cutting the cord and setting up your own OTA streaming solution is easy. I have been running this similar setup for 15+ years now, including the ability to digital video recorder (DVR) TV shows onto a computer.
Walking through what you need
Step 1: TV Antenna – Make sure you choose the correct TV Antenna for your application. There is indoor and outdoor antennas, then need to decide on where to mount it.
Step 2: OTA to Digital Convertor – Here I will talk about HD Homerun, I believe they are the gold standard when it comes to devices to integrate into your media setup or homelab.
Step 3: Computer or HTPC that can pickup and record TV shows. A few popular software options that you could run on your computer are:
Step 4: A device that can playback the video (Smart TV, smartphone, Roku, Apple TV, Gaming Console (Xbox or PlayStation), etc)
Here is my setup, some of the items are unique but the overall setup is pretty standard.
- My homemade TV Antenna, its located indoors but in my attic. You can easily purchase an antenna from Amazon or your local retail store.
- HD Homerun Extend (this is an older device, as I bought it 7+ years ago now/
- Network Switch just shown for context
- Dell r530 as my computer to run Plex and record shows. A Dell r530 is overkill here, you could use an old computer, mini computer, or buy a refurbished computer off Amazon for like ~150 to accomplish the same thing.
By combining an TV antenna, HDHomeRun tuner, and Plex, you create a powerful, cost-effective alternative to cable TV. Hope that explains my setup. Do you have you set up a similar system? Let me know about your experience in the comments!