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Any plan to ditch cable should begin with a trip to Antenna Web. After plugging in your location information, Antenna Web will identify the TV signals you have the potential to pickup with an antenna. If you are in an area where an antenna will not pick up any/few stations, the decision to cut the cord is much more difficult. For me, I live in an urban area within range of all the local TV station signals. I only tried one antenna in my cable free setup and have been happy with that choice.

My journey to cable freedom began with purchasing the Mohu Leaf antenna. Since I was unsure if it would work, I bought the antenna while I still had my cable subscription. I wanted to be sure I had a workable solution before cutting the cord.

The Mohu Leaf looks like a laminated sheet of paper with a cord hanging out one side. When you first open the box, you can’t help but wonder if this antenna is actually going to pick up broadcast signals. I’m here to tell you it will. After attaching the antenna to my TV and positioning it, I received over 30 channels including all my local stations. I watched a beautiful HD picture on my TV for a few minutes and turned off my TV thinking my work was done. I was partially correct.

My wife likes to watch the news in the morning before she goes to work. When I came home the day after installing the antenna, she said the picture kept breaking up so she switched back to cable. I turned on the TV and watched it for a few minutes. Sure enough, the picture was clear for some period of time, then it began to pixelate and sometimes drop completely. My plan to ditch cable hit the first snag only a day after it began.

As it turned out, my iPhone helped me solve this issue. One piece of information Antenna Web gives you is the location of the station signal relative to your home, in the form of degrees. I took out my iPhone and opened the compass app. I found nearly every station was being transmitted from a location facing the rear of my home, not the front where the antenna was located. After testing the antenna with my Macbook Pro (more on that later), I was able to receive crystal clear HD signals that did not drop out. After I found a location suitable to hang the antenna in the rear of my home and ran the coaxial cable from the antenna to my TV, my plan to ditch cable really began to take shape.

DVR
Elgato makes great hardware and software and I use the EyeTV Hybrid as a replacement for my cable DVR. I purchased a second Mohu Leaf antenna and hung it on my office window facing my backyard. I’m able to pick up all the same channels as my living room TV and I use the EyeTV software to record them on my Mac. After encoding them into an iTunes compatible format, I’m able to play them back on a variety of Apple devices.

Apple TV
In all honesty, the Apple TV is probably the single most important piece in our cable free setup. Between my wife and I, we use the Apple TV at least a few hours per day. We subscribe to Netflix to get additional content like TV shows and movies. We use it to stream audio and video content from iTunes on my Mac. We also subscribe to iTunes Match so my wife can play music if my laptop is turned off. With the MLB.TV application on the Apple TV, I’m able to watch my Atlanta Braves battle for the NL East crown.

iPad/iPhone
I use my iOS devices with AirPlay to stream a lot of additional content to the Apple TV connected to our living room TV. In addition to streaming local content from your iPad to the Apple TV, the App Store has a lot of apps that provide additional content to stream or watch on the iPad itself. Apps like ABC Player, PBS, VEVO HD, TED, Vimeo, YouTube, and NPR Music provide a lot of quality content for free. I’m also able to watch the Braves play on the MLB At Bat app on my iPad.

Additional TVs
Due to the placement of my antenna, I was able to split the signal and run it to both the living room TV and the TV in my home bar. If your setup does not allow you to split the signal, you can replace additional cable boxes with another antenna or a set-top box like the Apple TV, Roku, or other device. You can also use the Apple Digital AV Adapter to hook up your iPad or select other iOS devices to most any TV in your home.

What’s Missing
There are only a few things I have not been able to replace in my cable free setup. The first and most missed are cooking shows. My Saturday mornings used to be filled with a relaxing breakfast and a few cooking shows on either Food Network or the Cooking Channel. I haven’t found an alternative method to obtain cooking shows. To a lesser extent I also haven’t replaced home improvement type shows (HGTV or DIY Network), though they were not something I watched all the time. I stopped frequently watching ESPN several years ago so I don’t really miss that in my cable free setup.

Overall
My wife and I have been pretty happy with our cable free setup. Between the antenna, the Apple TV (Netflix), and iTunes, we can get the vast majority of content we received via cable for a much lower cost. Our cable plus internet bill was $135. Our internet only bill is now $45. The savings in our monthly cable bill allowed us to spend a little extra money to purchase seasons 1-3 of Chuck on DVD. We started our re-watch of the series in February.

Besides the cost, one of the reasons behind ditching cable was to take back some of the leisure time in our lives. I’ve found myself watching less TV and I’ve replaced that viewing time with other hobbies like reading, woodworking, learning to code, and more. I’ve also been playing a number of iPad games and catching up on my Instapaper queue. If you can find a hobby you enjoy, you’ll miss cable even less.

So that’s how I cut the cord. Have you cut the cord? Share your success story, or lack there of, in the comments below. I’d like to hear what products or services you are using in your cable free setup!

This Friday at 8PM Eastern, perhaps my favorite TV show of all time will begin for the last time. Chuck, on NBC, ends its five season run Friday. I’ve talked about Chuck quite a few times on this website.

Why has a show with mediocre ratings become one of my favorite TV shows ever? Simply put, the show is a joy to watch. Action, comedy, drama, romance, geek references (some of which even go over my head), and heart. The two main characters, Chuck and Sarah, are the heart and soul of the show. Whoever cast Zachary Levi and Yvonne Strahovski in the lead roles should have definitely received a raise. The Chuck/Sarah relationship, while at times complicated, became the heartbeat of the series.

While Chuck has little to do with Apple, many Apple products have made it into the show through the years. Chuck was the first show I saw the iPhone make an appearance. An Apple Cinema Display and Mac Pro played a vital role in the Pilot. The iPad has shown up in several episodes of season 5.

Chuck will be the first show I’ve watched from Pilot all the way to final episode during the original airing. I still remember sitting down on my couch the first Monday night it aired and having one hell of a good time. Watching Chuck is easy, and that’s one of its greatest strengths. I’m going to be extremely sad this weekend as the show ends, but I’m thankful it got to go out on its own terms. Not many shows get that chance.

Despite being on the chopping block nearly every season, it survived to reach season 5. The show was beloved by critics and fans alike. Chuck even has its very own podcast. Here’s to Chuck, the little show that could for five seasons. If you haven’t watched it, what are you waiting for?

When you first launch the app, you’re asked to sign in with your Netflix login. Once you sign in and allow QueueUp to access your account, you are taken to a simple search box after the app syncs your current queue information. Begin typing any movie or TV show into the box and click the search button. You’ll be presented with a beautiful list of results.

From there you can add to your queue or see additional information about your selection. If your content is available to stream, you’ll be shown two buttons to add to the queue of your choice. The red button adds the selection to your disc queue, while the blue button adds it to your instant queue. On the additional information view, you have the choice to add the selection to the top or bottom of your disc queue. After adding something to your queue, the app refreshes to show the remove button instead of the add button.

Essentially, that’s the extent of QueueUp. If you’re thinking that QueueUp sounds simple, you’re right. But that’s also the beauty of the app. QueueUp is a relatively simple app, but it performs that job incredibly well while looking great. Like a Brazilian super model walking down the runway, QueueUp makes something look simple and beautiful.

I’ve found myself using QueueUp quite frequently as movies or TV shows pop into my thoughts. Since Netflix removed the ability to add items to your disc queue from their iOS app, QueueUp has become my go to app for adding items into my Netflix queues.

If I could make one improvement to the app, I’d like to see a proper queue management feature. While you can add and remove items from your Netflix queue, your can’t reorder them or see them all in a list form. The app does exactly what it says it does, so this is a feature request and not a criticism of the app in its current form. The developer, Patrick Burleson, told me he has plans for additional features, but he’s keeping them a closely guarded secret for now.

QueueUp is developed by BitBQ and is available from the iOS App Store for $1.99. If you are a Netflix subscriber and frequently add items to either your disc or instant queue, I recommend giving QueueUp (iTunes link) a try.

I don’t watch much TV during the week, except for during the baseball season (My Braves are stinking it up this year). In addition to baseball and cooking shows, I do sit down a watch a handful of network TV shows. My favorite, Chuck, is again on the chopping block bubble this year and needs your help.

So what does Chuck have to do with Apple products? I’ve written about Chuck a few times on this website before. The show has featured a number of Apple products during its three seasons. It was one of the first shows to feature an iPhone. In fact, the two main characters (Chuck and Sarah) use iPhones and they are shown on nearly every episode. The show has featured older Macs, Cinema Displays, and many more Apple products.

If you haven’t seen Chuck before, I very highly recommend it. The plot features an average geek who mistakenly has a CIA database transplanted in his brain. The US government finds out about the intelligence leak and sends two of its’ top agents to protect him. As the show has progressed, Chuck has become a spy in his own right. The show features references to video games, pop culture, comics, and many other things a geek would enjoy. If you like Mythbusters or Big Bang Theory, you’d probably like Chuck. You can read more about the show on Wikipedia.

So how can you help Chuck? Watch the show live! If you are a Nielsen household, your live viewing counts even more. Chuck has four more shows left this season and now is as good a time as any to start watching. The show features comedy, action, adventure, and is a ton of fun. The chemistry between the two main characters, Chuck and Sarah, is fantastic. I’ve heard from a number of people that Chuck is one of the only TV shows the whole family can watch. Please help this fantastic show get renewed for a fourth season!

Chuck is broadcast on NBC at 8PM Eastern on Mondays. If you are an international viewer, check your local listings for the channel and time Chuck is playing in your area. Let me know in the comments if you watch Chuck and what you like about it!

The video above is from one of my favorite TV shows, Chuck.

I enabled Auto-Lock on my iPhone as an extra precaution against random button pressing. To enable Auto-Lock, go to Settings | General | Auto-Lock.

My favorite gadget wielding super spy is back! Chuck returns to NBC tomorrow, Monday September 29th at 8PM EST. If you can’t wait, you can actually watch the first episode online now. I tried to watch the episode online, but the video was very choppy. The quality was good, but playback was unacceptable. Perhaps your luck may be better.

So why am I talking about Chuck on a Mac blog? Chuck and Sarah (the hot blond spy/love interest) were both sporting iPhones last season. In addition to iPhones, Chuck was sporting other Apple goodies in his room. Anyone else watching Chuck tomorrow?

Apple is everywhere you look these days. You see their products at the movies, at school, at work, at home, at the coffee shop, and of course on TV. One show that you see Apple products on often is Chuck, on NBC. You know, the same NBC that had a little airing of dirty laundry with Apple a few months ago about the price of TV shows on iTunes.

If you’ve never seen Chuck, it’s a pretty good show. Chuck is set in a fictional big box retailer called Buy More, think Best Buy. Chuck works at the technology help center called Nerd Herd, basically a parody of Geek Squad. One of Chuck’s former best friends sent him an email with government secrets just before he was killed. Those government secrets are now a part of Chuck’s memory and the US intelligent agencies are using Chuck to help them solve cases and catch the bad guys.

Two government agents, Sarah (CIA) and John (NSA), are sent to make sure the government has access to Chuck’s memory and to protect him. Sarah, played by the beautiful Yvonne Strahovski, is posing a Chuck’s girlfriend and works at a nearby fast food restaurant to keep a close eye on him. John, played by Adam Baldwin, works in the Buy More as a sales clerk where he has a keen ability to show up alongside Chuck in the flash of a moment.

So what Apple products are in the show? Sarah is sporting an iPhone along with her Macbook Pro. Chuck has an Apple Cinema Display in his bedroom along with what looked like a 5G iPod. Tonight as he was preparing for Sarah’s first sleep over, it even looked like he docked his iPod into an iPod Hi-Fi. I’m sure there have been more Apple products but those have definitely caught my eye.

The show lasts one hour and comes on NBC at 8:00PM EST on Mondays. I enjoy watching Chuck and if you are into comedy, gadgets, and espionage then you’ll probably enjoy Chuck too. Give it a shot, or if you already watch it, and let me know what you think in the comments below.