Phasing out analog TV broadcasting

[ampersat]

On February 17, 2009 analog TV will go the way of the dinosaur and only digital TV signal will be broadcast. This is just over a year away. A friend at work told me about a website where you can get two $40 coupons toward the purchase of digital converter boxes as they become available.

TV Converter Box Coupon Program

I had been planning to build a DVR system to go along with the HD compatible 51" wide screen in the living room so I wasn't all that worried (it was purchased just prior to when HD conversion became a built-in item on TVs). But then I realized that I had no plan for the 19" TV in the office where I wake up with the news and my coffee every morning.

For all you folks on cable and various dish providers, you don't have to worry about this at all. It's just those of us who get our TV the old fashioned way.

[lor]

Originally Posted by ampersat

For all you folks on cable and various dish providers, you don't have to worry about this at all. It's just those of us who get our TV the old fashioned way.

Yea but I have two TV which are just connected to the cable without a box. Now I will have to give someone more money.

[Jeremy]

Did you build that DVR system yet? just curious what DVR you are using i have the panasonic, but it doest have HD input only coax, so all my HD shows get recorded in non-hd, not a big deal but definately something i will look at more closely when i go to buy another DVR.

[ampersat]

I'm building a PVR system based on a PC when I finally get around to it. I could buy a set-top box for a few hundred bucks cheaper but some of the other things I want to do with the system are to play my music library through my stereo and upconverting DVDs. An HDTV card with remote will run me $100, video card for dual output (I'll be using an LCD display for non-TV stuff that will double as a digital picture frame) will be under $60 and I've got most of the other parts laying around already. Most of the software for running it all will be open source stuff. Should be a fun project.

[letsfish]

The other day I was thinking about the folks that hit the road or boat with mini-TV. Sounds they are going to be out of luck. Going to be some ticked off folks when there leisure is suddenly blacked out.

[JustCallMeDave]

They/I can still watch movies on them, and watch TV shows online. Rather not dump a perfectly good television just because someone wants to buy the frequencies currently occupied by analog television signals.

I'll bet money that the drop dead date gets moved out as they realize (again) that removing analog service would still negatively affect far too many people.

[crobarr]

as i recall......... that coupon is only good for 90 days after you get it. so don't hold onto it waiting for a "good deal".

[Nomad_Greg]

The other catch is the coupon is only good for tuners that are ATSC tuners and do not decode QAM signals. QAM is what is used by cable and fios while ATSC is the digital signal you get over an antenna.

What does this mean? Simple, these tuners will only work with an antenna and not work with cable!

The other thing to know is that they only have composite and maybe s-video outputs that will output standard definition, they will not output high def.

[ampersat]

Simple, these tuners will only work with an antenna and not work with cable!
The other thing to know is that they only have composite and maybe s-video outputs that will output standard definition, they will not output high def.

If you have cable, then you're service is already being decoded by the cable box. Therefore, you wouldn't need one of these devices.

As for HD decoding, I'm hoping that I can catch a break on a device that will output in HD of some kind. My TV will do 1080i, but alas has no internal tuner built in to decode the signal on its own.

[Joe C]

Originally Posted by JustCallMeDave

I'll bet money that the drop dead date gets moved out as they realize (again) that removing analog service would still negatively affect far too many people.

It won't. This is the second time it's been postponed. It'll be a little ugly, but since we don't have any "right" to analog signals, people with old tvs are outta luck.

[drhall99]

I think they will move out the date again. If not, I didn't need to watch tv anyway.

[SHLEPROCK]

Has anyone hooked up a digital box and had poor results?
I set one up this weekend for someone about 30 miles from Portland and the signal strength tester showed a weak reading. It was so bad I had to disconnect the box. Without the box they have a good picture.
Is there some super dooper antenna they need to buy?

[StickFish]

Just go to dish network and get a DVR that handles two TV's and call it good.

[Dave G]

[ampersat]

Originally Posted by StickFish

Just go to dish network and get a DVR that handles two TV's and call it good.

What are you paying for that? I got rid of Comcast when I got the motorcycle (the former cable bill nicely covered the payments for the bike back into my 401k, which is actually a good investment considering all of our funds are in the red pretty consistently these days).

I went into an electronics store a month or so ago thinking that just maybe they'd have a converter box that is on the coupon plan. The kid tried to tell me that I needed a new antenna in order to get HD signals. I didn't waste any time setting him straight on that. If you're getting decent analog signal, you should be getting good HD signal with no change on the antenna. Be aware, however, that not all converter boxes are equal.

[happybrew]

I look forward to not being able to get TV into my home. It is a wasteland. But there is some good stuff out there that we can get on video. That, I will do.

[wthr4d]

Originally Posted by ampersat

What are you paying for that? I got rid of Comcast when I got the motorcycle (the former cable bill nicely covered the payments for the bike back into my 401k, which is actually a good investment considering all of our funds are in the red pretty consistently these days).

I went into an electronics store a month or so ago thinking that just maybe they'd have a converter box that is on the coupon plan. The kid tried to tell me that I needed a new antenna in order to get HD signals. I didn't waste any time setting him straight on that. If you're getting decent analog signal, you should be getting good HD signal with no change on the antenna. Be aware, however, that not all converter boxes are equal.

Amp- I just canceled the DirecTV and the price on the HDTV setup isnt any cheaper than comcast you just get more channels for your money.

The overall problem is that the digital signals aren't as strong as the analog ones. the analog signals needed to be a lot stronger to get the clear picture out to the masses, but the digital signal doesn't need to be as strong to get the signal to the receiving stations. the change will make it so that less people get tv service without paying for it.

they found a similar issue when they went from analog cell phones to digital ones...all of a sudden they needed a lot more towers on the outskirts.

we wont see the improvement here though because the tv stations wont be loosing any paying customers.

paul

[nakoa]

hey guys one thing, this hole digital thing is not from comcast or the dish company's this is a fed thing. both the cable and dish company's fought this for 2 years it even made it to the supreme court. so as a person that works in the bussiness please don't blame us.

[ET]

Originally Posted by SHLEPROCK

Has anyone hooked up a digital box and had poor results?
I set one up this weekend for someone about 30 miles from Portland and the signal strength tester showed a weak reading. It was so bad I had to disconnect the box. Without the box they have a good picture.
Is there some super dooper antenna they need to buy?

I had just the opposite experience. Changed to digital and the signal is much better than analog. ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, 4 PBS channels, and a bunch of junk channels. All perfect reception.


We dropped cable/Dish (first had Comcast then Dish) and we're banking the savings. It is surprising how little we miss Comcast/Dish. Certainly don't miss the monthly bill!

[Bucolic buffalo]

Simple fix, cut all of the trees down and level all of the hills between you and the broadcast tower and you will have a good clean signal. Here in God's country, Deschutes county, you can't get network channels if you don't get them over the air or by cable. The local network stations will not let you get them by sat. even if you are behind a mountain or at the other end of the county. Maybe the lack of television networks will be a good thing.

[StickFish]

How much do I pay Dish Network - can't remember. Looks like it is $49/month with a dual channel DVR that will work on two TV's - assuming they are all connected with a cable.

[Joe C]

Originally Posted by SHLEPROCK

Has anyone hooked up a digital box and had poor results?
I set one up this weekend for someone about 30 miles from Portland and the signal strength tester showed a weak reading. It was so bad I had to disconnect the box. Without the box they have a good picture.
Is there some super dooper antenna they need to buy?

start here:



http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

that'll tell you what rating antenna you need. You can get any number of antennas that should pick up digital signals from 30 miles out in the $40 price range on ebay or online.

The next cheapest bet, IMO is hitting fry's electronics. They've got some great antennas.

I'd would also check out www.avsforum.com and look into the over the air reception forum, there are probably quite a few topics related to the antenna towers you're receiving there.

[JustCallMeDave]

Originally Posted by ET

I had just the opposite experience. Changed to digital and the signal is much better than analog. ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, 4 PBS channels, and a bunch of junk channels. All perfect reception.

That's fine if you're in a suburban setting like VanWa. Those of us in the sticks won't likely see the same results.

[SHLEPROCK]

Joe C
The links you gave should put me on the right track.
The problem may be to long of cable to the antenna and to many hookups.

[txaggie]

Originally Posted by wthr4d

Amp- I just canceled the DirecTV and the price on the HDTV setup isnt any cheaper than comcast you just get more channels for your money.

The overall problem is that the digital signals aren't as strong as the analog ones. the analog signals needed to be a lot stronger to get the clear picture out to the masses, but the digital signal doesn't need to be as strong to get the signal to the receiving stations. the change will make it so that less people get tv service without paying for it.

they found a similar issue when they went from analog cell phones to digital ones...all of a sudden they needed a lot more towers on the outskirts.

we wont see the improvement here though because the tv stations wont be loosing any paying customers.

paul

One of the reasons any of these signals isn't as "strong" a lot of times is related the frequency bands themselves. The higher frequencies don't penetrate buildings as well and are more susceptible to ground clutter. It isn't just a digital problem per se. A lot of the newer digital phone networks were at 1900Mhz (PCS 1900--first "GSM" in USA) vs older say...900 or 800 Mhz so for some of the Analog ones. Many companies had to replan their networks for higher number of antenna sites as a result not just on the outskirts but throughout the network.

Many of the current OTA digital TV channels are UHF (freq between 300 MHz and 3 GHz) with some VHF (freq between 30 MHz and 300 MHz). The channels higher in the UHF spectrum could have some issues depending on structure in between transmission and your antenna...plus...the digital signal is essentially an "all or nothing" anyway--if you don't get a reasonably solid signal, you won't get a picture.

[SHLEPROCK]

I just replaced their VHF/UHF antenna with a HD quality UHF only antenna. They are receiving the UHF digital signals clearly now without any other changes.

[bo4elk]

I bought a TV tuner card for a pc. This computer has a big (nice) monitor, and based on its location in the house, it made sense to use it as a tv. Also due to its location, the simple wire antenna it came with only picked up 1 digital station.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw

This antenna looks ugly, but guys, it works! You only have to buy 1 part (connector) and you can get it for a couple of dollars anywhere.

If you're in need of a TV and have nice 22/24" monitor, consider picking up a TV card (they're around $100), and build this ugly antenna. The card I got even comes with a remote.

[SHLEPROCK]

bo4elk
That is the same basic design as the one I purchased.