A year+ ago I wanted to try and setup OTA TV. I’m not exactly a cord cutter as I actually have never subscribed to Cable TV in my life.

However, some people in my household wanted access to local news… so my quest began.

Vernon BC – Broadcasters

I will focus this article specifically to Vernon BC as that is where my antenna is located.

The entire city has coverage from rebroadcast tower located on Turtle Mountain (I think that is what it is called), North of Davison Orchards at about 800m. The distance is about 3km to the center of Vernon. Plenty close enough for most any antenna to pickup the signal, there are technically two channels:

• Channel 20 – CHBC-DT-2
• Channel 22 – CHKL-DT-2

Unfortunately, they both broadcast Global Okanagan or Global BC. With an exception of what time the news comes on there is no difference between the two channels.

Having the two channels does not give you extra TV shows. 🙁

The TV Antenna

I purchased a fairly large TV antenna with the plan to mount it not directly to the TV but rather put it in a storage room connected to a DVR that could record TV shows. These days no one wants to tune in at 6:30 and watch the news (and commercials) so a recording system is a must.

There is no such thing as a HD antenna and no such thing as an antenna that can pickup a signal for hundreds of miles away. That is just marketing. Browse over to Antanna Man on YouTube to learn about antennas. I think I paid about $100USD for my antenna and it works just fine.

Since the broadcast tower is quite close, you should not require a massive antenna.

DVR #1 – Tablo

For my DVR / tuner device I initially went for a Tablo, which is produced by a company in Canada. I was interested in this device because there was no ongoing subscription cost, if you are trying to cut the cord why do you want to pay any ongoing monthly fee.

I was also attracted to the fact that you could watch TV from any tablet or smart phone or smart TV in your house. It also allowed access from a remote site over the Internet.

Sounds great, watch TV from YOUR own antenna anywhere in the world – very convenient!

The device works great for viewing in your own home. However, the way they have implemented security for remote access really SUCKS! If you have a 2nd home or cabin at the lake you must physically take the device you want to watch TV on to your primary house. You must authenticate a viewing device (phone, tablet or TV) by putting it on the same network as your Tablo device you authenticate. Then you can watch from a remote site.

It totally sucks if you have a 65 inch TV located in a remote location, it means you would have to physically take your 65 inch TV to the location of the Tablo, authenticate and then take it back.

Imagine having to take your TV from your house in Florida up to Canada to authenticate and then take it back.

That was a deal breaker for me. I dumped the device and tried something else.

DVR #2 – PLEX

At that point I learned about some software named Plex, it is designed for watching TV & movies. Many people watch movies they have downloaded from the Internet using this software (not something I will get into here).

It also has the ability to connect to a TV tuner and record shows directly from your TV antenna. It then integrates all your movies / tv into a large multi-media collection. Watch live TV from your antenna or anything you have chosen to record. It has a TV guide system built in, you can select to record any TV show or series automatically.

Oh, best of all, you can connect remotely from any device with no crazy authentication system like Tablo.

I paired the Plex Media Server with tuner called HD HomeRun, I believe they have models that can tune from 1 – 4 channels at a time.

The Result

I am quite happy with my current setup I can have 10+ users connected and watching TV with no issues at all.

I will not be going back to Tablo anytime soon.