Bye bye analog TV

[Boilers]

Finally.

But, channel FOUR is still broadcasting. It's just the info on DTV, mind you.

But static on all the other channels.

Reminds me of the days after September 11th. No planes in the sky. Now, no channels on TV.

 

[aclark]

I was thinking I would lose all the normal channels, and just pick up the DTV ones, but they all seem to be pretty much the same here. And the quality doesn't seem to be any different on the channels that didn't/don't have a -1 with them. I don't know, just kind of disappointed with the outcome here, doesn't seem to have much if any of a benefit to the end consumer.

 

[paddling_man]

Finally.

But, channel FOUR is still broadcasting. It's just the info on DTV, mind you.

But static on all the other channels.

Reminds me of the days after September 11th. No planes in the sky. Now, no channels on TV.

So is WISH. "Nightlight" stations. We stop in two weeks.

I was thinking I would lose all the normal channels, and just pick up the DTV ones, but they all seem to be pretty much the same here. And the quality doesn't seem to be any different on the channels that didn't/don't have a -1 with them. I don't know, just kind of disappointed with the outcome here, doesn't seem to have much if any of a benefit to the end consumer.

Off-air and not cable/satellite? The off-air, especially with a real HD (1080i/720p) monitor should look much better. CATV/Satellite will look no different - worse, actually, on HD due to their compression.

Benefit to end consumer? HD (on an HD monitor) looks much better. Real driving force? The government wants the frequencies cleared so they can auction them off for bucko bucks. Trust me on the last one.

 

[2ADMNLOVER]

I'm on old cable so I don't know what difference it makes . Same channels , same picture .

 

[Crystalship1]

Can you believe that there's are still folks saying they didn't have enough time to get ready!?!?

 

[Scutter01]

It wasn't changed for the picture quality. It was changed to free up horribly-wasted spectrum for repurposing (and by "repurposing", I mean selling public airwaves to the highest bidder *sigh*)

 

[paddling_man]

I can't begin to describe some of the calls I've gotten... I get most of the calls for 3 of the stations in Indiana. I'm better off if I view the calls with a sense of humor. Some people will NEVER react, regardless of warnings, until they feel the pain of experience.

OT - I just saw a promo for "The International" dvd release. Holy cow, Naomi Watts is beautiful!

 

[Panama]

What really is amazing to me is, some of the channels I was getting in analog, I no longer pick up, it is a weaker signal and I am just too far from the transmitter.

However, the ones that are in range that broadcast in HD are EXCELLENT! Now for the amazing part, I'm picking up the Digital HD signal with a 20+ year old tower and antenna!

I have had either Dish or Direct satellite for the last 10 years, but the 20+ year old tower works unbelievably good for a back up when rain knocks out the satellite signal.

 

[paddling_man]

Yep. The marketing crap about a digital antenna was only that... marketing crap. The antenna is all about rF gain, whether UHF or VHF. A GOOD analog antenna is a GOOD digital antenna. Elevation and gain are your friend unless, of course, you are too close to the transmitter.

 

[xamsx]

It wasn't changed for the picture quality. It was changed to free up horribly-wasted spectrum for repurposing (and by "repurposing", I mean selling public airwaves to the highest bidder *sigh*)

Right on that..

 

[Boilers]

Here is my antenna. Had it for years. (decade+)
It's like 10 feet long or more. I can stand on the precipice of the roof, upright and not hit the antenna with my head. So, it's higher than 6'. You can 'site' in how long it is.

 

[paddling_man]

Good night, Mrs. Calabash. Wherever you are. J. Durante

 

[Bubbajms]

I was able to get ABC, NBC, CBS and usually CW from Indianapolis in Analog, but zip (well, except for about midnight last night when the conditions must have been just right) in digital. Dr. Digital says it's my antenna..

Of course, to "really" beat the tree cover around here, I need about a 100' antenna tower. And those are pretty spendy..

Can you mount an antenna in the top of a tree?? And if so, anybody got a cherrypicker they'd like to come over and let me use??

 

[Boilers]

Good luck with that.

 

[Bubbajms]

Yeah, well, thanks

Reception is the tradeoff of rural living, I guess! Cellphone, TV, Radio, not much of any of the three..

 

[bwframe]

I was able to get ABC, NBC, CBS and usually CW from Indianapolis in Analog, but zip (well, except for about midnight last night when the conditions must have been just right) in digital. Dr. Digital says it's my antenna..

Of course, to "really" beat the tree cover around here, I need about a 100' antenna tower. And those are pretty spendy..

Can you mount an antenna in the top of a tree?? And if so, anybody got a cherrypicker they'd like to come over and let me use??

I've found some of those antenna websites to be pretty conservative on what you can pick up. Go with a good amplified antenna first, then worry about the huge tower if you need to. I didn't. I have a dozen year old Radio Shack antenna 10 foot above the house and a Winegard disk 5 foot above the pole barn. I get my signal through the trees. I also pick up stations the websites say I shouln't be getting.

 

[Scutter01]

I was able to get ABC, NBC, CBS and usually CW from Indianapolis in Analog, but zip (well, except for about midnight last night when the conditions must have been just right) in digital. Dr. Digital says it's my antenna..

Of course, to "really" beat the tree cover around here, I need about a 100' antenna tower. And those are pretty spendy..

Can you mount an antenna in the top of a tree?? And if so, anybody got a cherrypicker they'd like to come over and let me use??

You know you can get TV from space, now, right?

 

[smokingman]

It wasn't changed for the picture quality. It was changed to free up horribly-wasted spectrum for repurposing (and by "repurposing", I mean selling public airwaves to the highest bidder *sigh*)

How right you are.
2- The U.S. treasury made a killing off the digital switchover

The digital switchover is being made in part because digital is more efficient -- it needs less bandwidth than analog to achieve the same things. As a consequence, a whole bunch of wavelength spectrum was freed up, which governments the world over have auctioned off to private (mostly wireless) companies. In the case of the U.S. government, it auctioned off 700MHz worth of bandwidth and made an absolute killing (almost $20 billion, which is double the reserve price).
Source.5 Things You Didn't Know: Digital Switchover - AskMen.com

 

[SavageEagle]

Yeah, well, thanks

Reception is the tradeoff of rural living, I guess! Cellphone, TV, Radio, not much of any of the three..

If you live in the Country, what do you need a cellphone, tv and a radio for? No need for a cellphone, get a handheld CB for times when you need help. TV? Why would you watch TV living in the Country when there's plenty to do outside? Radio? Meh, get you an MP3 Player and an Emergency Brodcast radio. All taken care of!

 

[Al B]

Another adventure with radio

I started listening to shortwave when I was a kid living in rural MO. Got me interested in how radio worked and led to me getting my Amateur Radio license(another great money absorber). After a while I built a big antenna system for our TV. I used big antennas, good cable and an amplifier. Used to watch the TV stations out of St. Louis over 100 miles away. All the new DTV stuff going on makes me wonder if anyone will be building a similar antenna system for it. It would be fun to see what stations could be picked up.