Digital Switch Creating Broadcast Coverage Gaps

said by dirtwarrior:

A nightmare. rural places lol

At a hearing on the impending DTV transition Tuesday, Senator Daniel Inouye, chairman of the Commerce Committee, warned that the loss of analog over-the-air TV reception, occurring just 29 days into a new presidential administration, might spell trouble for a country already beset by the financial crisis.

"While federal agencies and industry have stepped up their efforts, I continue to be concerned that they are not fully prepared for the flood of coupon requests and calls that we can expect just before and after the transition," said the senator, a Democrat from Hawaii. "As the current administration winds down, both agencies must remain vigilant so that the next administration does not inherit a communications crisis."

Referring to test of the DTV switchover conducted two weeks ago, Inouye wasn't encouraged. "As the recent test in Wilmington, North Carolina, demonstrated, even with a Herculean investment of time and resources that will be impossible to replicate throughout the rest of the country, consumers made thousands of phone calls seeking help with various aspects of the transition. On a national level, this may translate to millions of calls. Unless more is done, February 17, and 18, and 19, will be very long days indeed."

FCC Chairman Dennis Martin, conversely, found some encouraging signs in the recent Wilmington test but agreed with Inouye that additional funding for education about the transition was still needed, calling for another $20 million.

said by SilverSurfer1:

I don't know which is worse in rural areas...the fact that the phone lines are and have always been for shit, or, the fact that you can't even use good ol' rabbit ears to pick up any TV signals anymore.

said by jmn1207:

Why can't you use rabbit ears? I can pick up digital stations using a wire coat hanger with no degradation in quality. It's digital, so you either get it or you don't. It's not like the analog signals that would vary in quality depending on the strength. Rabbit ears will work just fine.

said by jmn1207:

And here I thought the FCC had conducted tests to ensure that the coverage would not be diminished when the switch to digital was made.

said by fAcEtIOUs:

And I wouldn't be surprised if the FCC also allowed adjustments in transmitted power so that the digital stations get a further reach(similar to the analog coverage) in order to cover areas like those on the map in orange.

said by fAcEtIOUs:

And I wouldn't be surprised if the FCC also allowed adjustments in transmitted power so that the digital stations get a further reach(similar to the analog coverage) in order to cover areas like those on the map in orange.

said by Morac:

Many of those stations are currently broadcasting in the UHF frequency range, but will switch to VHF after Feb 17, 2009.

For example Philadelphia's KWY-DT (CBS) is currently broadcasting on a UHF frequency (don't have it in front of me at the moment), but will switch to channel 3 after the switchover. That means people who can receive the channel now, might not be able to get it after the transition.

See »www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre···t=823166

said by StudioTech:

Actually, in Philly, it's WPVI-DT (the ABC station) that's moving their digital signal back to VHF-Lo, not KYW-DT.

said by fAcEtIOUs:

And I wouldn't be surprised if the FCC also allowed adjustments in transmitted power so that the digital stations get a further reach

said by fAcEtIOUs:

The issue is that the digital signal has a sharp cutoff where you either get the signal or not. The analog signal would degrade over distance but still provide a viewable channel, even if the quality sucked.

said by jay_rm:

In the little testing I've done, the analog quality would have extra-high suckage. I've seen perfect DTV picture quality with no drop-outs when the equivalent analog channel was so snowy it was no more then a ghosted black & white eye-hurting remnant of itself. Looks to me that the DTV signals need very low S/N to work just great.

said by Oleg:

This days everyone has digital cable or satellite anyway.

said by DrModem:

That's the same percentage of people who (supposedly) still have dialup, but no one caters to that class.

Why should this be any different just because it's TV?

said by DrModem:

That's the same percentage of people... ...but no one caters to that class.

Hasn't stopped Apple.

said by DrModem:

That's the same percentage of people who ... have dialup, but no one caters to that class.

said by Oleg:

everyone has digital cable or satellite anyway.

said by tschmidt:

OTA typically has better picture quality then Cable or sat because it is not recompressed to reduce bandwidth usage.

said by fAcEtIOUs:

That is not always true as these 2 Philadelphia, PA channels indicate.

said by djrobx:

I cringe when people say OTA is superior because it's "uncompressed".

said by tschmidt:

Conversion to DTV is actually increasing number of people using over the air antennas. OTA typically has better picture quality then Cable or sat because it is not recompressed to reduce bandwidth usage. In addition in these poor economic times I'd be willing to bet some folk are going back to OTA to save money.

/tom

said by wcnghj:

I wonder if we could get a big enough antenna to get signal 70 miles away.

said by Oleg:

This days everyone has digital cable or satellite anyway.

said by Oleg:

This days everyone has digital cable or satellite anyway.

said by jmn1207:

It's digital, so you either get it or you don't. It's not like the analog signals that would vary in quality depending on the strength. Rabbit ears will work just fine.

said by grydlok:

Reston isn't even close to being Rural.
Try that in Culpepper Va.

said by Matt:

The Wilmington area is relatively flat too, as it's a coastal city. So if they are experiencing issues, throw in a few hills and/or mountains and you may have a bigger problem.

said by qworster:

COFDM worked MUCH BETTER with indoor antennas.

said by Joe12345678:

channel 2 HD is hard to get in parts of Chicago as they have a weak single

Asks the group: "How did the FCC and NTIA spend over $1 billion dollars and counting on the DTV campaign without actually testing the converter box and antenna configurations, especially in rural fringe areas?"