6 MILLION MAY LOSE HDTV RECEPTION

[alg2468]

Read these stories before converting to HDTV:

http://www.electronichouse.com/article/digital_tv_switch_may_cut_off_6_million_sets/C58

and

http://www.boston.com/business/tech...2/11/6_million_may_lose_digital_tv_reception/

 

[JayR]

HDTV RECEPTION??

Once again, someone is misinformed about "HDTV."

First, it's DTV, which includes SDTV and HDTV.

Second, most people in the country either subscribe to cable, DBS, or both.

Most OTA viewers simply refuse to subscribe to a service. Only a minor portion are too poor to subscribe.

 

[FightingIrish]

It's not a question of people 'converting.' Rather, there will be a conversion, and without a digital compatible TV, cable, satellite, converter box, etc., there won't be anything to watch come next year.

If there are problems with reception, translators can fill in gaps, particularly in rural areas, as they do now.

 

[dave73]

I already have a ATSC tuner for my PC, and it doesn't pickup all of the Chicago stations. I only get channels 17 (WYIN) 19 (WGN) 21 (WYCC) 27 (WCIU) 45 (WSNS) 53 (WGBO). I don't get digital channels 3 (WBBM) 29 (WMAQ) 31 (WFLD) 43 (WCPX) 47 (WTTW) 51 (WPWR) 52 (WLS) or 59 (WFXT). Ch 36 (WJYS) has crappy reception for being on the Sears Tower going in and out. I know anything past channel 51 will be eliminated next year, but still, that shows that I don't get everything. I have a newer outdoor antenna and brand new cable line, and don't get everything. So I believe that this story is very well true. I would think that most of these Chicago stations being on top of the Sears Tower and John Hancock would have good reception for someone in Gary Indiana, but I don't find that to be the case for me. Cable TV is just as bad as outdoor reception in my area, as it likes to go in and out, and even more so on digital cable. So I refuse to get cable as it's Comcast, and they have the worst service in my area. It's always been terrible, even under TCI & AT&T.

 

[jegrant]

What I like is the potential for translator multicasting. Yes, this would only provide SDTV, but one translator could serve an entire area with 6 networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, PBS), and there would be only one channel to receive and one direction to aim an antenna. This seems like it would be much more economical than existing analog translator networks.

 

[gumbyandpokie999]

HDTV over the air with a samsung TV is next to impossible to get USABLE reception with rabbiit ears here in
Northern NJ about 10 miles from NYC .Where I can pick up perfect ANALOG tv with no drop outs of any kind with the same exact antenna.Whats that tell ya?
I would also like to say if the reception with digital is not perfect,or if youre near WIFI ,you are BEAT!
Digital looks better of course ,but receiving it is another story.....

 

[titoisradio]

HDTV over the air with a samsung TV is next to impossible to get USABLE reception with rabbiit ears here in
Northern NJ about 10 miles from NYC .Where I can pick up perfect ANALOG tv with no drop outs of any kind with the same exact antenna.Whats that tell ya?
I would also like to say if the reception with digital is not perfect,or if youre near WIFI ,you are BEAT!
Digital looks better of course ,but receiving it is another story.....

I have an indoor HDTV antenna and have no problem receiving HDTV locals. However, I'm only a few miles from most of the towers. It will be interesting to see what it is like when me and my wife move out a bit further (about 10-15 miles line of sight) in hopefully weeks not months(if our house will sell). Though I plan on putting up an outdoor HDTV antenna that claims to have a 150 mile range, if so I should be able to pick up Cincinnati, Louisville, & Lexington, KY HD stations.

 

[FM AM]

This is the whole sale destruction of a well tested 60 year old technology. Follow the money to see who's profiting...

 

[FrankB-town]

well, your cell phone may 'profit' from this---this conversion is to free up some of the spectrum, to make it easier to watch television and have your wireless devices have greater bandwidth

 

[FloydB]

HDTV over the air with a samsung TV is next to impossible to get USABLE reception with rabbiit ears here in
Northern NJ about 10 miles from NYC .Where I can pick up perfect ANALOG tv with no drop outs of any kind with the same exact antenna.Whats that tell ya?
I would also like to say if the reception with digital is not perfect,or if youre near WIFI ,you are BEAT!
Digital looks better of course ,but receiving it is another story.....

That tells me that the digital transmitters are running on low power as they're supposed to do until the conversion to prevent interruption of the analog (there has proven to be some interference with DTV transmitters on the same channel allocation as their analog). Guys, there's no reason to start building your fall out shelters, so stop storing up provisions. The DTV transmitters are not fully powered up yet. Now, I'm not saying that there won't be outages or glitches, but they won't be as bad as many are predicting. And, it's pretty much a "wait and see" type of deal. It's semi-unchartered waters, so there will be growing pains. But, just like giving up our cassette tapes for CDs and our VHS decks for DVDs and DVRs, it'll pretty much be the same. Don't freak out just yet.

 

[Yeziknoradio]

It's not a question of people 'converting.' Rather, there will be a conversion, and without a digital compatible TV, cable, satellite, converter box, etc., there won't be anything to watch come next year.

To make a moot point, Americans in border towns (on the American side) will still have Canadian stations to watch until 2011. Canada makes the switch two years later.

 

[FM AM]

well, your cell phone may 'profit' from this---this conversion is to free up some of the spectrum, to make it easier to watch television and have your wireless devices have greater bandwidth

I avoid using cell phones...I take some of the Scandinavian and European health research on that subject very seriously.
Something we don't hear about much here...

 

[fybush]

That tells me that the digital transmitters are running on low power as they're supposed to do until the conversion to prevent interruption of the analog (there has proven to be some interference with DTV transmitters on the same channel allocation as their analog). Guys, there's no reason to start building your fall out shelters, so stop storing up provisions. The DTV transmitters are not fully powered up yet. Now, I'm not saying that there won't be outages or glitches, but they won't be as bad as many are predicting. And, it's pretty much a "wait and see" type of deal. It's semi-unchartered waters, so there will be growing pains. But, just like giving up our cassette tapes for CDs and our VHS decks for DVDs and DVRs, it'll pretty much be the same. Don't freak out just yet.

I agree with Floyd that much of the panic is overblown - but the facts here aren't quite right, either. Many DTV signals are now operating at full power, and some have been at full power for quite a few years now. Most stations were required to maximize their signals to full power by various rolling deadlines over the last year or two, or risk permanently losing their protected coverage areas.

But - and this is a very big BUT - there's "maximized" and there's "maximized." A lot of these "full-power" operations are running into side-mounted antennas that create shadowing and unintended directional nulls. Many of these stations will move to superior top-mounted or panel antennas once space on towers becomes available as analog goes away. Others are forced to use undesirable directional patterns to protect analog stations, and will be able to lose the directionality after 2009.

In the meantime, the state of the art is constantly improving at the receiver end. Tuners being made today are far more sensitive than the ones available even a year or two ago.

All of which to say that this is a moving target, and anyone who'd attempt to draw conclusions about DTV reception in 2009 based on the state of DTV reception (and transmission) in early 2008 isn't getting the full picture.

 

[FloydB]

From my understanding, Scott, many of the Atlanta DTV stations are not running at full capacity because their digital allocations are the same as the analog, and they interfere with each other. On the other hand, if they are, like you said, then they probably are side-mounted or running a single transmitter at full power (I know of some setups that have two or more). Either way, they'll work on getting better reception once the analogs are out of the way.

 

[imhomerjay]

But, just like giving up our cassette tapes for CDs and our VHS decks for DVDs and DVRs, it'll pretty much be the same. Don't freak out just yet.

That's not really an equal comparison, as cassette tapes and VHS (which is still being sold in many combo DVD players) died out naturally as a result of the market moving on, not government fiat. Moreover, the technology wasn't suddenly rendered obsolete for what amounts to a transparent federal money grab.

Cassette tapes still work. VHS tapes still work. Records still work. Yes, it may be harder to find the technology to play them, but politicians didn't suddenly render them glorified doorstops unless you coughed up money to buy some gizmo that may or may not even work if the signals don't reach your house.

 

[w9wi]

From my understanding, Scott, many of the Atlanta DTV stations are not running at full capacity because their digital allocations are the same as the analog, and they interfere with each other. On the other hand, if they are, like you said, then they probably are side-mounted or running a single transmitter at full power (I know of some setups that have two or more). Either way, they'll work on getting better reception once the analogs are out of the way.

Most Atlanta DTV stations have licenses-to-cover at full permanent facilities. The exceptions:

WGCL: licensed at 49kw on channel 19. Has permit for 1000kw which is permanent facility. It's possible the 1000kw rig is actually on the air; maybe the paperwork just hasn't gotten through yet? (I should know, but I don't...)
WGTV: has CP for 15kw on channel 12. Probably won't build as permanent DTV channel is 8 - will probably flash-cut to digital on channel 8.
WPBA: licensed at 55kw/266m; FCC table facilities are 50kw/334m. Presumably can increase power somewhat.

Looks to me like WGTV is the only Atlanta station changing DTV channels on Transition Day - and even they probably won't change as I don't think the channel 12 facility will ever be built.

In some other markets permanent DTV facilities are on the same channels as the existing analogs. For example, Savannah, where channels 9, 11, and 22 will be using channels 9, 11, and 22 for their permanent DTV facilities. However, their current DTV facilities are operating on different channels (46, 15, and 23 respectively) so as to not interfere with existing analog service. (and because interference from the analogs would make digital reception impossible!)

 

[SportsRadioDoc]

I avoid using cell phones...I take some of the Scandinavian and European health research on that subject very seriously.
Something we don't hear about much here...
[/quote]Yeah, I know a guy who talked so much $h!t on his cell phone he now has a colostomy bag. He's not even Scandinavian.

 

[TexasTom]

I agree with Floyd that much of the panic is overblown

Agreed as well, albeit for different reasons. From what I've read, the study itself is flawed -- it assumes that the 2/3 of OTA viewers currently using indoor antennas are located throughout the existing analog coverage area of broadcast stations, which is a questionable assertion at best. Let's face it: while rabbit ear reception of an ATSC digital station at the edge of it's coverage area isn't going to work, rabbit ear reception at that distance rarely works for *analog* broadcasts, either. So OTA-only viewers in fringe reception areas should already have outdoor antennas that are much more likely to pick up those ATSC broadcasts.

And with newer tuners, ATSC digital reception can work very well with indoor antennas in strong signal areas.