[mythtv-users] Obama Recommends Delay in Digital TV Switch

Mark Jenks mjenks1968 at gmail.com
Fri Jan 9 17:59:15 UTC 2009


On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 11:20 AM, Brad DerManouelian
<myth at dermanouelian.com> wrote:
> On Jan 9, 2009, at 7:54 AM, Brian Wood wrote:
>
>> Allen Edwards wrote:
>>> I have several large antennas and a preamp and RG-6U cable.  For
>>> years I
>>> had great reception on all except channel 2.  Since this digital
>>> transition started we have been watching DTV.   The picture is great.
>>> Switching back to analog I now find the signals have so much noise
>>> they
>>> are basically unwatchable.  I don't know what changed but if this
>>> turns
>>> out to be like the metric conversion I am going to be really pissed.
>>>
>>> Analog TV is terrible and very wastful of the airways.  We need to
>>> switch and now is as good a time as any.  I am writing my
>>> congrersswomen
>>> right now.
>>
>> So in your particular case things got better. This will not be the
>> case
>> for everyone. I can receive watchable signals from the Denver NTSC
>> stations, I can't receive anything from the digital transmitters at
>> all.
>
> My local NPR affiliate had a representative of the FCC on the air to
> answer questions about the switch. Some very knswledgable person
> called in to complain that he and his friends had all compared digital
> conversion boxes and some very useless and others got great signal
> using the same antenna. He also mentions tests they had done with
> locations and people who were a mere 10 miles away from Sutro tower
> (the big transmitter here in San Francisco) could not get some of the
> channels.
>
> The FCC rep explained that the analog transmitters all currently take
> precedence over the digital. They are on top and the digital are on
> the bottom of the tower and in February when the change-over happens,
> the digital will replace the analog transmitters which are larger and
> will be placed at the optimal position for transmission. I believe his
> quote was, "Don't worry. It will be much better in February when we
> don't have to accommodate the analog transmitters any more."
>
> While I don't fully believe him, there is hope that what he says it
> true and digital transmissions will be better when they take down the
> analog transmitters and move the digital ones in their place. I guess
> the message is that what you're getting now isn't necessarily as good
> as it will get. You should check with your local broadcasters to see
> if this is their plan. They are usually surprisingly happy to talk to
> their customers.
>
>> Also, you do not seem to mind spending the money to convert your home.
>> Now that the coupon program has apparently run out of money, people
>> will
>> be forced to spend their own cash to continue watching TV. In a lot of
>> cases, the people using antennas are the ones who can least afford
>> additional expenditures.
>
> We all mind spending extra money but most of us have because we've
> been told over and over to prepare for this.
>
>> It's a huge additional expense to TV stations as well. Themajor market
>> stations can handle it, but a lot of small stations are being
>> squeezed,
>> and will thus have less money available to purchase quality
>> programming
>> (not that they do that now).
>
> They've already spent the money. No one is sitting there at this late
> hour wondering how they will afford to make the transition to digital.
>


I sent an email to one of my local stations about the issues I was
having receiving their channels on my converter box.   This is what he
said:

----------------------------
I'm not an engineer so I'll try not to get to much tech speak yet give
you enough info to understand why your picture is being interrupted on
a regular basis.

1.  The FCC assigned WLUK to Channel 51.  Simply put, the higher the
channel number the more difficult it is to send a strong signal.  We
are at full power but not reaching you as easily as the other
channels.  In the analog world you may get a fuzzy picture that is
acceptable.  In the digital world there is no fuzzy picture.  It's
either a great picture or no picture.

2.  We are currently broadcasting from a leased tower that is a few
miles from the other towers located on Scrays Hill near DePere.

3. To get good digital reception over the air you may need an antenna
on your roof that is VHF/UHF compatible.  Check with a local antenna
expert for advice.

Now the the good news!.  On February 17 FOX 11 will be moving our
transmitter from the leased tower to the current analog tower.  At the
same time we will be moving from channel 51 back to channel 11.  That
should give us the strongest digital signal in the Green Bay
Television market and eliminate the picture interruptions you are
currently experiencing.

I assure you This frustrates us as much as it does our viewers.  We
apologize for the inconvenience.

Don't hesitate to call if you have further questions.
----------------------------

So, from the sounds of it, it sounds like it's standard practice to
have things slapped together now, and they will fix it all when the
switch happens.  And we aren't talking about a big market here.  It's
Green Bay, Wi.

-Mark


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