USA Today Wants Opinion on Digital Portable TV

[landtuna]

I was contacted by a reporter for USA Today who is doing a story on the effects of the digital TV conversion on portable TV's (as it relates to use during emergencies). Since I live in "boring weather" Arizona I don't depend on a portable for emergency information like some of you might who live in hurricane or tornado country. The reporter is asking to talk with a few of you who do and promises it will be a short phone call.

Anyone interested can email the reporter, David Lieberman at: [email protected] .

In our short conversation this morning I mentioned the Radio Shack unit and he said he had already talked with them and found that they are planning to come out with an improved unit shortly. It seems the first one has problems with distance reception and from a moving vehicle so if you are thinking of buying the first gen unit you might want to wait a bit.

 

[JeeperOne]

Hi everyone:

I'd look for collapsable DTV antennas to come out and small screen HDTV iPods to roll out with sockets for those antennas before I count on another analog portable TV set to roll out. It just wouldn't pay Tandy Corp. to invest so much into technology which will become outdated so quickly.

I have no information on that either way though.

Just my opinion....

Cheers

 

[KeithE4]

Hi everyone:

I'd look for collapsable DTV antennas to come out and small screen HDTV iPods to roll out with sockets for those antennas before I count on another analog portable TV set to roll out.

What's a DTV antenna? An antenna is an antenna is an antenna as long as it of the proper length for the channel being viewed.

Since most DTV is UHF, a 4-6 inch monopole would probably be adequate. For the lower channels, a matching network and broadband preamp would probably be required for an antenna that short. A 1/4 wavelength monopole cut for 195 MHz (the center of the VHF high band) is about 14 inches. 6 inches is too short for that band without additional help.

 

[Markxxx]

I will miss my cheapo cassette player which has am/fm/tv(VHF)/weather on it. I like to listen to books on tape from the library and the radio is a bonus. I guess eventually they'll come out with something like that for DTV but, with my luck, it'll be expensive or take a long time in coming

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

In our short conversation this morning I mentioned the Radio Shack unit and he said he had already talked with them and found that they are planning to come out with an improved unit shortly. It seems the first one has problems with distance reception and from a moving vehicle so if you are thinking of buying the first gen unit you might want to wait a bit.

The second one will have the same problems re: using in a moving vehicle. The ATSC standard is not very robust when it comes to mobile reception.

It won't be solved completely until they get the ATSC-M/H standard implemented, which will apparently overlay on top of the current system.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/16104

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATSC-M/H

http://www.atsc.org/communications/press/2008-05-15-idov-report-response.php

 

[OhioMediaWatch]

And MUCH more from Broadcasting & Cable here:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6587551.html

 

[TexasTom]

Since most DTV is UHF, a 4-6 inch monopole would probably be adequate. For the lower channels, a matching network and broadband preamp would probably be required for an antenna that short. A 1/4 wavelength monopole cut for 195 MHz (the center of the VHF high band) is about 14 inches. 6 inches is too short for that band without additional help.

A 4 to 6 inch monopole isn't likely to be adequate -- even at UHF frequencies -- unless you're practically sitting under the transmitter. It just won't have the sensitivity to work very well for broadcast television reception in most locations.

 

[KeithE4]

Since most DTV is UHF, a 4-6 inch monopole would probably be adequate. For the lower channels, a matching network and broadband preamp would probably be required for an antenna that short. A 1/4 wavelength monopole cut for 195 MHz (the center of the VHF high band) is about 14 inches. 6 inches is too short for that band without additional help.

A 4 to 6 inch monopole isn't likely to be adequate -- even at UHF frequencies -- unless you're practically sitting under the transmitter. It just won't have the sensitivity to work very well for broadcast television reception in most locations.

But anything longer would be impractical on an iPod or other similar-sized unit.

But if we're talking about a "traditional style" portable TV, a 14-inch monopole would be about 3/4 wavelength at UHF, giving some gain as well as being usable on Channels 7-13 as a 1/4-wave stick. The few remaining stations on 2 thru 6 would need a longer antenna, of course, but isn't that what pieces of aluminum foil are for? ;D

 

[Tom Wells]

On the north side of Chicago, 7 miles from downtown, I am using an old 4-wire "electrically rotated" phase-nulling 12-position switch-
knob directional antenna in the attic. There are, besides the downtown channels, an equal number in suburbia that all come in acceptably
in analog, which can be watched for "picture" while selecting different steps on the phaser-dial to select direction.

This is not going to cut it for digital. I'll have to try, tune away, select a different phase, tune back and wait, then repeat until
I get a decode. Worse than fishing for a live spot on a galena crystal.

I know this antenna was optimized for vhf, so while keeping in mind that I need to go with a uhf length antenna,
AND I need it to be omni directional I am considering a uhf monople for the roof.

I also have an idea to use the vert monpole with a reflector that would swivel around through 360 degrees.
Anyone ever tried this?

 

[TexasTom]

But anything longer would be impractical on an iPod or other similar-sized unit.

But if we're talking about a "traditional style" portable TV, a 14-inch monopole would be about 3/4 wavelength at UHF, giving some gain as well as being usable on Channels 7-13 as a 1/4-wave stick. The few remaining stations on 2 thru 6 would need a longer antenna, of course, but isn't that what pieces of aluminum foil are for? ;D

I suspect that the market for iPod sized portable TVs is going to turn out to be very small -- partly because reception on small sets with small antennas is going to be awful, but also because watching TV on those ultra-small screens isn't a very enjoyable experience.

Note that the handheld TVs with the 2 to 2.5" screens weren't exactly hot sellers before the digital transition, either.

However, if the manufacturers can come up with portable TVs in the 7" range with decent digital reception, that could turn out to be the sweet spot in the market for portable video, especially if combined with the ability to play video from other sources (either DVDs, or perhaps from USB sticks).