-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Well another one of Martin's mistakes... Hawaii shuts off transmitters today
- Thread starter eskipper411
- Start date
K
kenglish
Guest
Well, with the Broadcasters themselves declaring the Digital Transition a failure, and encouraging people to "jis' git Cable, you'll be fine", you can't expect the poor and uneducated to try OTA TV.
As a person that lives in the south and travels all around the boonies, I'm missing the old analog cell phones more than I'll miss analog TV. Those analog cell phones had about 5 times the reception range of the new digital cell phones, even if they did have some static in the calls. Static is better than nothing at all and when they introduced satellite phones, NO ONE could afford one. Anything that the FCC can do to fix the newer digital cell phone services will be welcomed down here. I've been meaning to ask the farmers that I lease land to how they are communicating now that analog cell service has been cut off, but they've been avoiding me since it's time to renegotiate the leases... smart guys 
Since you pull that out of your arse, there haven't have any problems with the switchover in Hawaii. I don't consider 20 phone calls to be a significant number.
OTA DTV is a lot better than the compress signal that cable provides plus most Television shows get posted on the web anyway. I'm glad that my Mac Mini is connect to my LCD HDTV. so I can catch up on The Closer in a higher resolution that what Time Warner provides. Same with movies I have Netflix so I can stream movies as well. No need for HBO.
Please you don't deserve any type of electronics. Sell them and join a Luddite group.
K
kenglish
Guest
I say what I said, because of so many stations that are avoiding giving out any technical information at all, fearing they'll "scare" the public.
I've seen ads that feature stations' news anchors standing in front of Comcast logos (on set, no less), telling the viewers that they should just subscribe to Cable, "to avoid the hassles".
My own station's promotions people give me the "evil eye" every time I start to set up a small UHF antenna (just a little ol' DB2). They still rarely use the nice mast and rotator that I built on to their trailer. Instead, they try to hide an antenna inside the metal trailer, or put the mast off to the side someplace.
It's almost like the industry doesn't want to fool with OTA anymore. But, it's going to bite us when we have to ask permission from the Cable companies before we light up a sub-channel that many viewers can see. We could have given Cable a run for their money, with new and drastically improved technology. We have plenty of features, besides just multicasting....Electronic Program Guides (that WE can keep updated), multiple audio languages, much better Captioning options, etc. But, how do we get that message to the average viewer, if he's never seen a Digital TV work? The retailers just put a sat feed on the set, and demo it as a monitor. No way to see how the guides look, no way to tell how the set scans in new channels, no trying out the remote's channel change or audio selection functions. It's like buying a whole audio system based on how the speakers sound.
Where are the PVR-style Digital recorders for OTA channels? I guess there's too little demand for them, since "everybody will just get Cable".
Why have so few building owners invested in upgraded MATV systems? And, why do many of the ones that do anything at all, just put an NTSC video and mono sound back on-channel, and call it "good"? I don't think very many people have seen the concept of all this. It's one of those, "The FCC gave us another one of their unfunded mandates. How do we get it done THIS TIME?"
Engineers looked at the DTV Transition as a great opportunity. Too bad we couldn't get many others hyped-up about it.
I've seen ads that feature stations' news anchors standing in front of Comcast logos (on set, no less), telling the viewers that they should just subscribe to Cable, "to avoid the hassles".
My own station's promotions people give me the "evil eye" every time I start to set up a small UHF antenna (just a little ol' DB2). They still rarely use the nice mast and rotator that I built on to their trailer. Instead, they try to hide an antenna inside the metal trailer, or put the mast off to the side someplace.
It's almost like the industry doesn't want to fool with OTA anymore. But, it's going to bite us when we have to ask permission from the Cable companies before we light up a sub-channel that many viewers can see. We could have given Cable a run for their money, with new and drastically improved technology. We have plenty of features, besides just multicasting....Electronic Program Guides (that WE can keep updated), multiple audio languages, much better Captioning options, etc. But, how do we get that message to the average viewer, if he's never seen a Digital TV work? The retailers just put a sat feed on the set, and demo it as a monitor. No way to see how the guides look, no way to tell how the set scans in new channels, no trying out the remote's channel change or audio selection functions. It's like buying a whole audio system based on how the speakers sound.
Where are the PVR-style Digital recorders for OTA channels? I guess there's too little demand for them, since "everybody will just get Cable".
Why have so few building owners invested in upgraded MATV systems? And, why do many of the ones that do anything at all, just put an NTSC video and mono sound back on-channel, and call it "good"? I don't think very many people have seen the concept of all this. It's one of those, "The FCC gave us another one of their unfunded mandates. How do we get it done THIS TIME?"
Engineers looked at the DTV Transition as a great opportunity. Too bad we couldn't get many others hyped-up about it.
kenglish said:
Where are the antenna rotors with built in digital converters? If you live more than 30 miles from town and aren't lucky enough to be in a market with a single tower farm, you probably need an antenna rotor. Seems like a no-brainer invention to me, but I've never seen one.
kenglish said:
I don't know how things are going out there on the Wasatch Front, but here in upstate New York, we're making a big deal about OTA reception. The PBS station where I work will be doing its second live hour-long special in as many months Thursday night about the conversion, and the vast majority of the content will be about choosing and connecting antennas. (We're even one of a dozen or so agencies around the country to get federal grant money that will include some $$ to make home visits to needy viewers who are housebound and can't do the installation themselves.)
And isn't Utah pretty much leading the way when it comes to converting translators to DTV? That seems pretty OTA-savvy, no?
Scott Fybush said:
As an aside, sadly Scott the station you're speaking of is being yanked from cable in at least one Ontario city as a result of the DTV conversion, being replaced with another PBS station. Wonder how the local members feel...
M.J. said:
MJ, could you drop me a line off-list about this? My understanding is that our engineers have been in touch with the few Canadian cable systems that still carried the signal, and that they were provided (at our expense, I think) with receivers for the DTV signal...so this is something I'd like to follow up on.
And that said - every US TV station that has cable/satellite viewership in Canada knows (or should know) that it's essentially a "bonus" audience that can go away at the whim of Rogers or Shaw or ExpressVu or Star Choice, so long as Canadian regulators are more interested in what networks are carried than in which particular individual stations. Just ask the Rochester commercial stations that used to have regular viewers in Ottawa...
kenglish said:
Well said. We're already seeing the industry and the public at large bitten by cable's near monopoly. LAT TV seemed to be a good family-friendly alternative to the typical telenovelas seen elsewhere on Spanish-language TV, and had secured agreements to expand nationwide, mostly through digital subchannels of stations owned by Equity. Despite Equity's financial troubles, the nail in the coffin was their inability to secure cable coverage. In Phoenix, one of the five charter markets, the smaller Qwest cable carried the station, but Cox did not. Also in Phoenix, AZTV announced in November or December 2007 that they would added Retro TV Network on channel 7.2. It finally came in October 2008. The hold-up? Lack of cable coverage. I'm not even sure they have it yet.
To date, DTV has been a colossal waste of an opportunity, IMO.
K
kenglish
Guest
poledo said:
The Smart Antenna is available, most notably from DX Antenna Co.
I've used them in tests, and they seem to work pretty well. I'd like to know why they don't build a multi-user model, though. Having about 4 outputs, all working independently, would be great for most folks. One "antenna", feeding two or three TVs and DVRs. They ought to be able to create an interface for "HD Radio" tuners, too. It'd look fine on a condo or apartment.
(Note to any country that does this in the future: Require co-located transmission facilities in each market. Learn from the USA.)
K
kenglish
Guest
The Translator issue (in Utah) is something we should consider a "Crown Jewel". Guys like Kent Parsons and his cohorts have busted their butts for years, getting the entire translator system ready for the switch. Major relay sites have been running Digital for many years. Larger communities have had nine of the ten SLC DTVs (ION opted out) simulcast for several years, too.
More of the smaller communities are coming on line every day. Kent even takes time from his own needs, to personally give seminars in local County halls and libraries.
While we read "news stories" about how "many Americans will LOSE TV reception", no one acknowledges what those guys have done. Viewers who call our Engineering Department are pleasantly surprised when we answer the "will my town ever get Digital" question with "buy a UHF antenna and scan your set...it's there now!"
You'd think we could get a story in the papers or on the news, but it doesn't seem "glitzy" or "newsworthy" like a slick press-release from Microsoft, Apple, or Motorola.
More of the smaller communities are coming on line every day. Kent even takes time from his own needs, to personally give seminars in local County halls and libraries.
While we read "news stories" about how "many Americans will LOSE TV reception", no one acknowledges what those guys have done. Viewers who call our Engineering Department are pleasantly surprised when we answer the "will my town ever get Digital" question with "buy a UHF antenna and scan your set...it's there now!"
You'd think we could get a story in the papers or on the news, but it doesn't seem "glitzy" or "newsworthy" like a slick press-release from Microsoft, Apple, or Motorola.
There is the Echostar TR-50. http://www.dtvpal.com/ $249.99 or less. It does have one Ethernet and one USB port. as well as support for progressive scan and HDMI ports for HD ready sets.
I'm getting one for my LCD EDTV to replace my Magnavox STB.
kenglish said:
I'm convinced that I'll need a good UHF yagi to watch OTA TV next month. A converter box with a good old fashion rotor control and channel memory feature for the rotor built in would make life so easy. It's just another "why fix something that ain't broke" idea stuck in my head. My other easy option is to get Dish, but since I'm between 4 different TV markets, I couldn't get most of the TV channels I've grown up watching for over 30 years from Dish. If I can get grade B OTA signals from 5 different markets, the gov'ment should allow Dish to sell me access to them. I'm sorry for preaching to the choir.
K
kenglish
Guest
Well, if the gain of the Smart Antenna isn't enough, you'll probably need a regular antenna.
I don't think anyone is directly interfacing to the boxes, but there are antenna rotators that have IR control, and memory positions. The Channel Master 9521A is one:
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=MTRTR200
The SmartAntenna interface is a bit overkill without the antenna itself, since it handles azimuth (16 possible angles), band selection, and preamp gain, all working off the error signals from the demodulator chip.
I don't think anyone is directly interfacing to the boxes, but there are antenna rotators that have IR control, and memory positions. The Channel Master 9521A is one:
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=MTRTR200
The SmartAntenna interface is a bit overkill without the antenna itself, since it handles azimuth (16 possible angles), band selection, and preamp gain, all working off the error signals from the demodulator chip.
- Status