Like many of you Locast customers, I was also pretty upset to learn the news last week that Locast is forced to shutdown their operations.

These big guys - ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC are given free spectrum, have a wide reach of audience but also very greedy at the same time. I personally like to watch sports and between these four they split up the sports forcing you pay extra to cable/dish. They are OK with Cable charging me $15+ just for these four networks but upset when Locast was forcing users to pay $5 in monthly donations. Come on, it cost to own server space and network bandwidth. And to be honest, Locast was not doing Charity. They had a great product just begining to roll and sadly they were forced to stop.

Anyway, this forced to come out of comfort zone and do something about it. I have tried it before so some extent but it was quiet complicated and bulky setup. Over the years the vendors have comeup with great tools for us to consume. I am not kidding here - Other than Antenna - other components will fit into your Jacket pockets.

Below is a description of items in case you want to give it a try. The only time it will take is the prime shipping time. Assembly is piece of cake. The whole thing will take less than 45 minutes including online ordering.

So here we are. These are the four things you need to buy ( I am not getting paid by any of these vendors ).

• Antenna. I live 40 miles from broadcast stations. I recommend you to purchase an outdoor directional antenna. If you live closer, you may try many of the indoor ones too. I live in development with HOA with some rules. I hate rules. I end up deploying the antenna in my garage on first floor but you can use attic or roof top. The key is that you should get a good signal. I bought this RCA from Amazon.

• Coax RG6 cable. You can pick appropriate cable length depending upon antenna location and where you want to keep the Tuner. I picked a 3 ft. cable because I mounted the antenna in garage next to a 110V outlet.

• OTA Tuner/DVR. The next thing you need is any over-the-air (OTA) DVR. There are many available and you can do your research. I picked the one from TABLO Wifi because it saves me from wiring. No holes to dril or wires to run. All I need is a power outlet. This product comes with great features and very easy to install.
  http:https://my.tablotv.com is all you need to know. TABLO comes with USB connection to connect any USB hard drive for storing your favourite recordings.
  You can schedule recordings, pick new reordings only, auto delete recordings, etc. It has two Tuners - I thought with 4 public channels, two tuners should be enough but the company also makes four Tuner version.
  The use interface blinks the live channels being watched in RED. The device connects to my router over Wifi. My TVs connect to router over Ethernet cables. My Smart TV that supports ROKU let me install Tablo App.
  You can watch live TV, watch recordings, skip commercials, and if you know how to configure router then you can watch stuff outside your home when you are travelling. (I haven't tried this option.)

• Hard Drive. They are available from various vendors. Hard drive is not required but you must. Who wants to waste time on commercials. The fact that this drive is dedicated to DVR you can afford to put a cheap one. I bought this SEAGATE 2 TB drive. If I use all the space on the drive then I should start looking for some better things to do with my life.