TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
|  Maybe Walmart didn't get the memo on the cutover
From the story:
quote:
At a Wal-Mart Supercenter the night before the changeover, in the electronics department, a clock counted down the hours until the changeover. Beside it hung this sign: "Attention customers. We are out of converter boxes at this time until further notice. Sorry for the inconvenience."
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My BLOG .. .. Internet News .. .. My Web Page
Ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya punk? |
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R4M0N
Brazilian Soccer Ownz Joo
join:2000-10-04
Glen Allen, VA | Honey, look!
They have this newfangled program on TV that rains all the time. It's kinda soothing actually. Must be really good cause it's on all channels. |
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Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02
Host:
Road Runner
PC gaming GAMES
PC gaming Tech
| I feel like they won't be missing much.
»www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-VS_x6fuNA |
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XBL2009
------
join:2001-01-03
Chicago, IL | Last Minute
Still need to get one... |
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jgantert
join:2004-06-02
Columbia, MD
| Still all UHF?
So does this DMA have any stations that are changing from UHF to VHF-hi? Our DMA (Baltimore/Washington) has four channels that are! Channels 7, 9, 11 and 13 are going back from their current UHF digital frequency to their current analog VHF frequency on Feb 2009.
It's going to require those of us with UHF-only antennas to get UHF/VHF antennas as well as the digital boxes.
Any idea if Wilmington did this switchover as well?
-John |
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r81984
Fair and Balanced
Premium
join:2001-11-14
St John'S, NL | How can you not know?
They run those commercials all the time. Unless some people watch tv only once every 2 years they have no excuse to not know about the change.
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»www.ryanoneill.us |
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corinthos
join:2007-10-09
| ughh
I'll be glad when this is over and I won't have to hear about it anymore. I'm glad they finally updated some of the commercials to say over the air will need it and not cable. So many people I know bought them and don't haven't used an attenna in years. |
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Fox McCloud
Crazy like a fox.
join:2006-07-23
 ·Embarq
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Perfect Example of Government Intervention...
This program is going to cost taxpayers (or already has) millions, if not billions...simply because Congress thought it was "better" to force everyone to switch over to 100% digital.
They should have let the market-place work; you'd likely have analogue and digital broadcasts running parallel for years...and by the time things were 100% digital, there would only be a few percentage points of the population that would be effected, and have to get converter boxes.
But no...government always knows best.... 
also, this is an example example of what happens when you subsidize something; when you make something really cheap/free via government money, you only get more of it...and low and behold, it also causes shortages and other problems...big surprise.
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"True Patriotism is more closely linked with dissent than it is to conformity and a blind desire for safety and security...I accept the definition of patriotism as that effort to resist abusive state power." -Ron Paul |
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Morac
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ
1 edit | .
never mind |
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Morac
join:2001-08-30
Riverside, NJ
·Comcast
1 edit | reply to Fox McCloud
Re: Perfect Example of Government Intervention...
The Government gave the broadcasters free radio frequencies to implement digital TV. In exchange the networks were supposed to turn in their old frequencies for use in things like emergency services communication and licensing out to wireless communication.
It's not the Government's fault that the broadcasters dragged their heels in getting things working. The Government got sick of waiting and gave them a deadline, postponed it a few times and finally said enough is enough.
If anyone is to blame it's the broadcasters and TV manufacturers for not getting their act together. You might as well throw in retail chains as well for trying to sell TV's that they knew wouldn't work in a year or two to customers.
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The Comcast Disney Avatar has been retired. |
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afiggatt
join:2007-07-12
Sterling, VA
1 edit | reply to jgantert
Re: Still all UHF?
said by jgantert  :So does this DMA have any stations that are changing from UHF to VHF-hi? Our DMA (Baltimore/Washington) has four channels that are! Channels 7, 9, 11 and 13 are going back from their current UHF digital frequency to their current analog VHF frequency on Feb 2009. Wilmington, NC market is going to be all UHF for the four full power stations and the low power CBS station. They have two low VHF analog stations - WWAY-DT ABC 3 and WECT-DT NBC 6 - that are and will stay on UHF 46 and 44 respectively. The low power CBS station, WILM-LP, was on VHF 10 at very low power analog (75 Watts), but is now on UHF 40 digital with much improved coverage.
This is the opposite problem for long time analog OTA viewers who may not have bothered if they had lousy UHF reception because ABC, NBC, and CBS were all on VHF. Don't know how well the local stations are explaining that people may need to get a better UHF antenna because the general approach has been to ignore technical stuff like the VHF vs UHF broadcast bands and channel mapping. |
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roveer
join:2004-01-18
Mendham, NJ
| Some will die...
I'm sure there will be at least one case where an elderly person loses TV because they couldn't understand what "transition to Ditial TV" meant (were weren't all born in the 60's, and as a result will deteriorate to a point and succumb. Happens all the time in heat waves where older people don't know what to do when it gets over 100 degrees in their apartments and they die. Not much anyone can do about it. Can't blame it on marketing campaign after all, how many bought decoder boxes and have cable. I know my parents would have if I didn't advise them. |
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tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO
clubs: | reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Maybe Walmart didn't get the memo on the cutover
does it come as any surprise that people wait until the last second to get what they need, and then complain that stores run out of inventory? |
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tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO
clubs:
·T-Mobile US
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to r81984
Re: How can you not know?
said by r81984 :They run those commercials all the time. Unless some people watch tv only once every 2 years they have no excuse to not know about the change. stupidity and laziness play big roles...
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"What makes us omniscient? Have we a record of omniscience? ...If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we'd better reexamine our reasoning."
-United States Secretary of Defense (1961-1968) Robert S. McNamara |
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timcuth
Braves Fan
Premium
join:2000-09-18
Pelham, AL
clubs:
·AT&T Southeast
| The switch will be a pain, even with digital receivers in pl
Here is what is going to be a pain in the ass, for me. All of my sets are either digital (two) or have a digital converter attached (one). However, not a one of them can receive all of the channels in digital. Different sets cannot receive different subsets of the channels. Our overall favorite channel (13 / NBC) cannot be received by any of our sets in digital. We will no longer be able to watch it after the "switch" is thrown in our area. 
Tim
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"Life is like this long line, except at the end there ain't no merry-go-round." - Arthur on The King of Queens
~ Project Hope ~ |
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tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO
clubs:
·T-Mobile US
·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to Fox McCloud
Re: Perfect Example of Government Intervention...
unfortunately it's not that simple. First of all, the government owns and manages the spectrum. So, if, as in this case, the government wants to better manage our frequencies by forcing broadcasts from analog to digital, and to a smaller broadcast spectrum, then that is the government's job to work out.
In this case, the government wants to open up spectrum to sell. The cost of implementation is expected to be less than the profits from selling the unused broadcast bandwidth.
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"What makes us omniscient? Have we a record of omniscience? ...If we can't persuade nations with comparable values of the merit of our cause, we'd better reexamine our reasoning."
-United States Secretary of Defense (1961-1968) Robert S. McNamara |
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mr weather
Premium
join:2002-02-27
Mississauga, ON | reply to timcuth
Re: The switch will be a pain, even with digital receivers in pl
I don't understand your dilemma. None of your sets will receive channel 13 whether digital or analog?
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"It's all coming down!!" - Mike Holmes |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Has Wilmington imploded yet?
I thought not.
I suspect that 99% of the people have not noticed a thing. |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| reply to Fox McCloud
Re: Perfect Example of Government Intervention...
said by Fox McCloud :This program is going to cost taxpayers (or already has) millions, if not billions...simply because Congress thought it was "better" to force everyone to switch over to 100% digital. They should have let the market-place work; you'd likely have analogue and digital broadcasts running parallel for years...and by the time things were 100% digital, there would only be a few percentage points of the population that would be effected, and have to get converter boxes. But no...government always knows best.... also, this is an example example of what happens when you subsidize something; when you make something really cheap/free via government money, you only get more of it...and low and behold, it also causes shortages and other problems...big surprise. Show me where taxpayer $$$ are being used for this? Boy you are ignorant of how this switchover works. |
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Unit649
I B U, Who U B?
Premium
join:2000-01-22
Stockton, CA | Books
Heck, maybe people will go back to books instead. Lord knows the newspaper industry wishes people still liked "paper" news. |
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