A vote coming on the DTV transition date?
January 23rd, 2009 at 3:31 pm by Dennis Majewicz under TV Tech Talk
Word is out today that a Senate bill on the DTV delay could be voted on next week. There’s an interesting twist, however. It would allow stations to cease analog transmission before the proposed June 12th deadline on a voluntary basis. Click here to see the whole story.
What do you think? Please leave your comments here.
Tags: DTV Transition
i think that many people are getting the discount cards but waiting for the stores to offer them at $40.00 so they are free, seems like people held on til the last minute while others are on a first come first served basis now and things are getting all bottlenecked, with the 3 local buffalo tv stations trying to help everyone in how to install them and who needs them, not one of the stations mentioned the choices in converter boxes and the different options those boxes have from the 5mm sized buttons up to 9mm sized buttons for elderly persons, not too much talk about analog pass-through boxes that allow us locals to continue to watch canadian stations without an a/b switch or splitter,, i haven’t seen any local tv site really sharing info what each companies converter box offers and people are going out buying blindedly, no one has talked about programming in new stations as they immerge with scan or direct or basic 608 captions or the advanced 708 captions, or the boxes that show what is playing at that moment only compared to the boxes that will show what is playing 7 days from now, the boxes that come with standard remotes or universal remotes, the remotes that have sap on it and the ones that don’t, never any talk about the picture quality that different boxes offer either, although all that info is out there and available, i think it’s ok to extend it, but i also think if people are looking for a free box to do their homework and not hold on to their 90 day good for cards and rush in at that last moment to buy one, alot of people still don’t realize that the sooner they convert or as soon as they convert they will be enjoying the dtv ota broadcasts offered in our area, i personally feel that some of the free after card boxes are ok,, but people like us living on the canadian border as they go from analog to digital in 2011 as will as mexican border viewers that pick up mexican analog should be better informed about what equipment to buy or get for free, i truly feel sorry for all the people that was told by our tv stations not only here but across the country, that you will need to go out and buy a dtv converter box and here is how you do it, for some folks a dinky 5mm button on a say sunkey sk-801atsc remote control might be near useless, and the 9mm buttons on a rca dta800b1 might be an important issue, one of my biggest questions now is how many people that got the cards let them expire holding up the release of cards to others, “what we have here is a lack of communication”!!!
Mike,
I’ll just comment on one thing here. We are not in a position to test or even research all the different converters that are out there. Our understanding is that they all perform the same function (by law) and that differences should only be in features. They should all be capable of the same picture quality. The issues you cite really fall under the consumer advocate heading. We do not provide that type of help. All the information we have on different converters is anecdotal, based on comments from viewers like yourself. We have on many occasions stressed the need for analog pass through converters here in the blog and on the air. I was also cited in the Buffalo News regarding this feature a couple of weeks ago.
-dm
Well, as expected the delay bill passed the Senate vote yesterday but surprisingly failed in the House of Representatives. Is is a dead issue? We’ll find out in the coming days.
-dm
I want to know who’s bright idea this was any way!!! Maybe people didn’t convert because they can’t AFFORD to. Not everybody in this country is rich or in the habit of living beyond their means. So now the only free thing that you could enjoy is going to be messed up and taken away. Maybe some of that money that those money grubbers on Wallstreet got should be retrieved, before it’s all squandered, to help people that really need it!!pr
Why is everyone making such a big deal over something that affects less than 6% of the population???
http://tech.yahoo.com/blog/patterson/34569
“The bottom line, though, is that 94.3 percent of U.S. households are, as of today, ready for the DTV switch.”
They should just do it. People will catch up.
FYI, I heard today that in the Buffalo market, just over 4% of viewers are completely unready for the switch. Surprisingly (to me, anyway), New York City is even lower at about 2.5%.
dm
“Why is everyone making such a big deal over something that affects less than 6% of the population???”, I will tell you why – because that is over 18 million people that are having difficulty with the main way that we keep up with the news, weather, politics and entertainment! I live in a rural area with no cable and chose not to spend $50-$100 a month on satellite TV. I know of other rural people that are having difficulties receiving digital signals because they live outside of the range. I have my converter boxes, but hooking them up to my VCR & TV so that I can record and watch TV involves a splitter, a/b switch and more coaxial cables and has been a big headache. I feel sorry for people that do not have the money or the ablility to get on the internet to educate themselves about how to figure this out and it is particularly a problem for the elderly that may not have anyone to help them with the set-up.
I have purchased a converter box and installed it on my TV tonight the way it says in the instructions. I have found out that if you have a VCR and want to tape a program the converter box has to be on the station you are taping. So if you go to work and have the box on one station but want to tape something on another station while you are at work you CAN NOT DO IT. I have spoken to the maker of the converter box and there is no box that is made to do that situation. I think this is stupid and something should be done.
Darlene,
Unfortunately that’s true. The only way around it is to buy a new VCR with a digital tuner.
dm
Does anyone actually know when or if any individual local stations will be shutting off analog on February 17th ?
This transition date ‘delay’ nonsense seems to have added even more confusion and quesswork into any structured planning of the analog to digital transition. Do all stations have to provide analog until June 12th ? or is it now an optional choice to shut down anytime between Feb 17th and June 12th ?
Even though I am not an official coupon retailer I have been helping my local customers and friends get their boxes. I have found sources that are reasonable and passed the savings on. I have even collected extra coupons that I have redeemed for boxes for a number of the elderly and low income in my area. When the coupon program ran out of money some of my contacts were caught short. I have personally helping a number of people fill out the form for them on line so they can get the coupons when they become available again. I personally think the 90 day expiration is a big pain. I have run into more than 1 person with expired cards just because of the weather or forgot to redeem them on time.
Now with the supposed delay, and the confusion that has called, are the local channels in Buffalo and Erie Pa switching on Feb 17th or June 12th
We are having trouble with the converter box, it seems we are “out of range” and are having trouble getting on top of the roof to turn the antenna, and don’t know for sure if this is even the trouble. Does anyone have any info that may help.
charmaine,
The box is not likely your problem at all!
It is your antenna’s job to locate, pin-point and recieve the digital stream of information and then provide a sufficiently strong signal through the coaxial cable to the converter box before the box can do what it is designed to do. The box does not make channels happen, it’s only designed to convert the digital information into an analog signal.
To get started you will likely need to invest in a good quality rotor for your current antenna. Your current antenna may, or may not be good enough for reliable digital reception. I have found that in most cases, optimal reception can be only achieved by upgrading your antenna gear.
1] get antennas that are designed for channel 7 to 69,
2] upgrade to RG6 coax cable,
3] adding a preamp may be helpful,
4] antenna height and precise antenna aiming are critical
To be able to find the digital signal for each broadcast tower, you must do some research and find out where each tower is and aim your antenna with a rotor or else invest in an array of multiple antennas and aim them accurately toward each broadcast area,
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but unfortunately, for most of us, this change from the old ‘broadwave analog signals’ to the new ’streaming digital signals’ TV broadcast transmitting is becoming much more difficult than we’ve been told about.
The change to digital will work for those in or near the station tower. when you get down into Chatatuqua/Cattaraugus county you will get 1/2 to no (0)stations compared to what you did before the box.
Just remember that most of the voting populous will be covered. That’s all the politians care about.
Brought to you by the same group that is bankrupting our government and putting our children in debt for a couple of trillion dollars.