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Can I watch the Olympics on my phone?

Help Me Watch the Olympics

  • I really want to watch the olympics. Here's why I can't: 1. My tv's digital, so can't pick up broadcast...and I don't have cable. I tried a digital antenna, to pick up digital broadcasts, but the signals are faint and there are no NBC affiliates broadcasting digital near me anyway. 2. I can't watch online because I have a PPC mac, and NBC's online video requires an Intel Mac (i tried spoofing the user agent, but the hangup is that they require silverlight 2.0, which only runs on Intel). 3. I can't watch in a bar because the sound's down, and I'm too dumb about sports to really understand everything without the commentary. 4. I can't watch in a friend's house, because I don't have any friends close enough to spend 4 hours on their couch every night for the next week. So.......I thought of buying an intel mac and returning it in two weeks, but that's sleazy (plus there'd be restocking fees). I thought of buying cable for a week and then returning it, but it'd take 2 weeks for the cable guy to come hook me up. So the only solution I can think of is to buy a cheap non-digital tv and antenna and watch broadcast NBC. It's still not SO cheap, unfortunately...unless I buy one in, like, a pawnshop. OTOH I'm not sure you can buy one in a store at this point anyway. Any other ideas?

  • Answer:

    your TV's digital so you can't pick up broadcast? are you sure? most every recent TV I've seen (even the cheap ones) tune "NTSC" (which is the old, analog standard) as well as ATSC. you may need to change some settings on your TV - mine defaults to digital, but if I set it to analog, it'll tune that too. (it won't do both, and analog sucks, but then it sucked anyway. I have a cheap ViewSonic.) alternatively, the DTV tuners you can get typically can tune NTSC TV as well - those things run about $75 and you can typically return them w/out restocking fees. or, a TV tuner for your Mac (as someone else suggested) - the http://store.apple.com/us/product/TR374LL/A is readily available, about $100, and probably won't have any restocking fees if you open it. you won't get ATSC or ClearQAM (digital broadcast and digital cable) on a PPC Mac, unless it's a really fast G5-based one, but it'll tune the analog fine. i'd first recommend looking through your TV's manual a bit more, though.

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nearest NBC is in NYC, 65 miles away. argh. back to the drawing board. Guess I'll buy a tv-band portable audio thingee and watch in bars.

jimmyjimjim

So the only solution I can think of is to buy a cheap non-digital tv and antenna and watch broadcast NBC. It's still not SO cheap, unfortunately...unless I buy one in, like, a pawnshop. OTOH I'm not sure you can buy one in a store at this point anyway. Of course you can buy an antenna in a store. Antennas aren't digital or non-digital. I bought an antenna at Big Lots for $5. As for the television, try a thrift store--you should be able to find something in the $5-$10 range. All in all, this is what you'd spend on drinks at a bar, anyway.

PhoBWanKenobi

So the only solution I can think of is to buy a cheap non-digital tv and antenna and watch broadcast NBC. That's really the simplest solution. Go to a thrift store. They'll have tons, for cheap.

Sys Rq

sopcast.org Great for the football matches the three cable channels are not carrying. I have no interest in the Olympics but I always see two or three channels dedicated to the Olympics - one or two from from HK (CCTV) and Singapore.

Zambrano

Seconding wfrgms, you can use a VCR to receive analog broadcasts if your tv really doesn't have an analog tuner.

Authorized User

Ok, you're all correct. My state of the art fancy digital HDTV does indeed get analog. Didn't know that was possible! the issue is why my Terk HDTVa picks up NOTHING. I'm not in a major metro area, but I'm not in Utah, either. People do pick up broadcast hereabouts. Maybe I need to buy an extender for the antenna so I can put it outside (I'm in bottom floor of a three story house).

jimmyjimjim

Hmm....did I screw up by not saying it's a HDTV set? Will analog broadcast be reasonably watchable? I searched my user manual's pdf for "ntsc" and found no mentions, though it definitely plays analog tv.

jimmyjimjim

It could be your antenna, although I've heard good things about the Terk. It also could be your location. Check http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx to see if NBC is broadcasting analog in your area.

PhoBWanKenobi

Oh, my bad. I just re-read your question. 2 weeks? That's ridiculous. They must really want your money where I live because they were in and out the very next day after I called.

sian

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