Brian Shim

What’s Inside a Mohu Leaf Antenna?

What’s Inside a Mohu Leaf Antenna?

If you follow  my site, you know that I'm a big fan of the Mohu Leaf flat indoor antenna. It gives me over one hundred channels here in Los Angeles. One day, reader Philip asked me what was inside the Mohu Leaf antenna. Hmmm, good question! From all of my antenna...

How to Fix Your Sony Bravia TV When It’s Stuck on a Channel or Frozen

How to Fix Your Sony Bravia TV When It’s Stuck on a Channel or Frozen

Last night I was surfing through channels on my TV and encountered a bizarre problem. My trusty 26-inch Sony flat-screen Bravia KDL-46V4100 TV froze and would not respond to any controls. The picture and sound still worked, but the controls were frozen. I tried both...

How I Watch TV for About Zero Dollars Per Month

How I Watch TV for About Zero Dollars Per Month

When it comes to watching TV, I'm a cheapskate. I remember when TV was totally free and I don't want to pay for it now, especially if I'm watching commercials! So, I usually pay zero dollars per month for TV. Occasionally I'll splurge and get a streaming service like...

Video: Ten Tips to Get More Channels with Your TV Antenna

One of the most frequent questions I get on this site is, "how can I get more channels with my TV antenna?" I have a blog post with my most effective tips, and now I have a video with my top ten tips to get more channels:...

Tablo Dual Lite Broadcast TV DVR Review

Tablo Dual Lite Broadcast TV DVR Review

UPDATE: See this article for a review of the latest Tablo Generation 4 DVR. I'm keeping this older article up for those who have the previous generation Tablo. Original Article The Tablo records broadcast TV from your TV antenna; it won't record cable TV or streaming...

Proof That Broadcast TV Picture Quality is Better Than Satellite

Proof That Broadcast TV Picture Quality is Better Than Satellite

I was at my parents' home with the TV on in the background when I noticed something interesting: their "HD" picture quality was terrible compared to my own TV with a broadcast TV antenna. They had satellite TV from DISH Network. I have always said on my site that...

Why Did My Broadcast TV Channels Disappear?

Why Did My Broadcast TV Channels Disappear?

A very common question I get on DisableMyCable.com is "why did some of my broadcast TV channels disappear?" Usually, people think something is wrong with their antenna, but TV antennas are pretty simple devices, just a piece of metal basically (unless it is...

My Free Broadcast TV Channels in Santa Monica, CA

My Free Broadcast TV Channels in Santa Monica, CA

These are the free broadcast channels that I receive and watch in Santa Monica, CA using my indoor antenna.  I'm not including foreign language channels, duplicate channels, home shopping channels, and other stations I'm not interested in. ChannelCall...

My Personal TV Antenna Setup

My Personal TV Antenna Setup

I wanted to share with you the details of my personal living room antenna setup. Over the years, I've tried many different indoor antennas, amplifiers, splitters, and configurations to squeeze out as many free TV channels as possible. I've finally gotten it to where...

The Best Indoor TV Antenna – The Great Antenna Shootout

The Best Indoor TV Antenna – The Great Antenna Shootout

I started using indoor TV antennas in 2010 when I first canceled my cable service in Providence, RI. Since then, I've moved to Los Angeles and have amassed a collection of different types of indoor antennas. I figured it was time to re-test my TV antennas to make sure...

The Number One Mistake to Avoid When Buying a New TV

The Number One Mistake to Avoid When Buying a New TV

Since 2006, the Federal government has mandated that all TVs include a digital tuner to allow you to receive free broadcast TV using a cheap antenna. This is one of the main ways that I promote on DisableMyCable.com to save money! But recently, I've been getting...

Parental Controls on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Chromecast

Parental Controls on Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV, and Chromecast

A reader recently asked me what type of parental controls the major set-top boxes have. So I decided to do some research and write an article about it. The bottom line is that all of the major set-top streaming boxes have some degree of parental controls, but some are...

How To Get More Channels with Your Indoor Antenna

How To Get More Channels with Your Indoor Antenna

Getting the ideal reception using your indoor digital TV antenna can be a challenging task. It can be like playing "whack-a-mole": when you have the antenna in one position, you get certain channels; move it to another position and different channels come in and the...

Google Chromecast: Stream Video from Your Computer Browser to Your TV

Google Chromecast: Stream Video from Your Computer Browser to Your TV

Google Chromecast allows you to mirror your Chrome browser on a computer to your TV. It doesn’t work for showing Power Point presentations or watching video stored on your computer's hard drive on your TV though (without special workarounds). It works with the...

How to Transfer Your Videotapes to Your Computer

How to Transfer Your Videotapes to Your Computer

Do you have a pile of videotapes taking up space in your home? Or, do you want to archive your VHS/Beta videos for posterity or easier viewing on a computer or tablet? There are many reasons why you might want to convert your videotapes to a digital format. Here's how...

Why I Don’t Use Illegal TV Streaming Services

Why I Don’t Use Illegal TV Streaming Services

Do you use a streaming service that allows you to get tons of newly-released movies and TV shows for an amazingly low price? If you're using a streaming service on your computer, Android-based set-top box, tablet, or another Internet-connected device that seems too...

Drastically Improve Your TV Reception with a Small Patio Antenna

Drastically Improve Your TV Reception with a Small Patio Antenna

People ask me all of the time how they can improve their indoor antenna reception. The first thing I do is refer them to my Tips for Better TV Reception with Your Indoor Antenna. But, there are cases when even after following these tips, an indoor antenna just can't...

How to Estimate TV Reception in Your Area

How to Estimate TV Reception in Your Area

Readers often ask me are “how many channels will I be able to receive?”, and “what kind of antenna should I get?” I wanted to take a moment to explain some of the factors affecting your TV reception so you can make some better estimates of how many channels you’ll be...

How to Watch Live Sports Without Cable TV

How to Watch Live Sports Without Cable TV

If you love watching sports but don't want to pay the exorbitant cost of cable TV, there are some great solutions now for watching ESPN, major league baseball, basketball, hockey, soccer, and other sports for less than the cost of cable. Scaled-down TV subscription...

How I Designed the New Logo for DisableMyCable.com

How I Designed the New Logo for DisableMyCable.com

I don't usually design logos; I'm a web developer and not so much a graphic designer.  But, I had so much fun designing a new logo for DisableMyCable.com that I wanted to share my thought process and experience with you. I started DisableMyCable.com to...

Do I Need a Separate Antenna For Each TV?

Do I Need a Separate Antenna For Each TV?

I get a lot of questions from folks who want to get free broadcast TV using an antenna, but who have multiple TVs. There are several ways I know of to get an antenna signal to all of the TVs in your home.  I cover them below. Method #1: A Separate...

What to do When You Can’t Get Free Broadcast TV

What to do When You Can’t Get Free Broadcast TV

There are still a lot of people who live too far from the TV transmitters to get free broadcast TV using an antenna. If you are one of them, here are some ideas. Note, many of these require Internet access. Free Options The options below are free, though some have...

Why YouTube is My Favorite Free Streaming Service

Why YouTube is My Favorite Free Streaming Service

You can find certain types of really good mainstream commercial content on plain old free YouTube if you know what to look for.  I'm talking professional, full-length, unedited, and free from commercial interruptions. There is a YouTube app for all of...

How to Lower Your Cable or Satellite TV Bill

How to Lower Your Cable or Satellite TV Bill

DisableMyCable.com is mainly devoted to alternatives to cable TV and satellite.  However, even I have to admit that for some people, cable and satellite are the only options.  You might live far from TV transmitters.  Or, you might be a sports fan who...

30 Amazing Things to Do Instead of Watching TV

30 Amazing Things to Do Instead of Watching TV

At DisableMyCable.com, I try to provide lots of alternative sources of free and cheap TV, so that you are not forced to pay the high cost of cable and satellite TV. But in this article, I'm going to talk about some free and cheap activities to do instead of...

A Beginner’s Guide to Getting Free Broadcast TV (Video)

A Beginner’s Guide to Getting Free Broadcast TV (Video)

Some years ago, I put together a video for beginners explaining how to get free broadcast TV.  Despite the primitive production, it quickly went viral and got over 5 million views! The crazy part is, the concepts that I talk about in the video haven't changed!...

I’ve Got an Old Tube TV: What Are My Options Besides Cable?

I’ve Got an Old Tube TV: What Are My Options Besides Cable?

While most people have modern flat-screen LCD or LED TVs these days, I still get a large number of questions from people who own older tube-type TV’s like the one pictured here. If you are one of those people, I’ll describe your options for free and cheap TV in this...

Should You Use an Amplified Indoor TV Antenna?

Should You Use an Amplified Indoor TV Antenna?

The idea of amplifying a TV signal seems to make perfect sense: if your TV signals are weak, the amplifier will increase the signal levels so you can get more channels more reliably. A no-brainer, right? I've been testing both passive and amplifiers and...

How to Mirror Your iPhone or iPad to Your TV Screen Using Apple TV

How to Mirror Your iPhone or iPad to Your TV Screen Using Apple TV

One of the coolest features of Apple TV is the ability to "mirror" the display from your iPad or iPhone onto your TV screen.  This enables you to watch almost anything that you can watch on your iPad or iPhone on your TV, including video from an iOS app or a live...

You Might Already Own What You Need for Free TV

You Might Already Own What You Need for Free TV

What if I were to say that you might already have everything you need to get free and cheap TV in your home, condo, or apartment? Why buy anything when you might have what you need? Take this inventory and find out! Your Current TV If you have a modern Hi-Def...

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