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| Wait and see.. I think a wait & see approach is appropriate.. Turn analog off.. and see what happens... if there is this huge outpouring of rage about not having analog.. stations can apply for an immediate hardship extention (3mo renewable)to address coverage & access problems. Maybe the broadcast stations themselves should have lotteries & need based donations of free/subsidized converter boxes as well. We've not seen the likes of cbs, abc, fox, and upn stations filing for bankruptcy, which means they must be doing quite well with advertising dollars still rolling in on just about every single program they air.
Retailers should queeze wholesalers to bring the prices down as well. Why should it cost more than $40 for a box? DTV tuners have been available for at least 5 years, so patent royalties shouldn't be a cost factor.
Keep in mind, the issue may not only be about access to the tuners.. in some cases you need a good or better antenna than what you have to receive what you were getting previously with analog. Some may need their current rooftop antennas repositioned for digital, while others need a completely new antenna installed. So, to say it's a matter of a $40-90 box is only part of the picture about the DTV transition. Where a string wire once would do, now you may get a few seconds of digital tv, followed by drop outs while the signal rebuffers & clears again--where as before you go from a clear to snowy picture, but rare was there a complete dropout. Get used to it, that's our digital future. |
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 digiblurGot Sipura?Premium
join:2002-06-03
Louisiana | There are several stations that have already made the digital transition early. One of the engineers that I talked to of the Fox station said they only had a few calls about it. Far fewer than they expected. And that was from an early transition in December!
Get it over with... I'm ready to DVR my two other stations in my area. Digital OTA is a beautiful thing!
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Make your Sipura/PAP2 speak. »www.voipurize.com
SouthWest Louisiana PC Users Group »www.swlapcug.com |
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| reply to tmc8080
said by tmc8080:I think a wait & see approach is appropriate.. Turn analog off.. and see what happens... if there is this huge outpouring of rage about not having analog.. stations can apply for an immediate hardship extention (3mo renewable)to address coverage & access problems. For many stations, once they turn off the analog, that is it. There are over 500 stations doing a digital flash cut where they move their digital broadcast to their analog channel. Can't go back without starting up their old digital channel - if they had one - which in turn might interfere with another station. A number of stations will be doing a complicated shutdown and channel move dance in coordination with other stations.
What is being overlooked in most of the press coverage on the digital "transition" is that as of the end of 2007, 134 stations have already shut down their analog broadcast. Before February 17, at least 258 stations in total, are planning to shut down their analog broadcast so they can have their digital signal at full power on or before February 18. The reality is that the "transition" is well underway. I put the "transition" in quotes because stations started broadcasting a digital signal 10 years ago, so the process is more of a analog shutoff and digital channel move & start-up for some stations than a "transition" takes place at midnight, February 17.
I agree that for some, they will need to get a better antenna for digital reception. While there will be around 490 digital stations on VHF (physical RF channel, not the virtual) & 1333 on physical UHF, many low VHF analog big four network stations will stay on UHF. The key for many to get good digital reception will be to upgrade the antenna for better UHF reception - Silver Sensor for indoor; 2, 4 or 8 bay UHF bowties for attic & outdoor in combination with a upper VHF antenna or rabbit ears.
A last minute delay in the Feb. 17 analog shutdown will only result in a even bigger mess. Get it done and over with. |
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 tschmidtPremium,MVM
join:2000-11-12
Milford, NH
kudos:5
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| reply to tmc8080
said by tmc8080:I think a wait & see approach is appropriate.. Turn analog off.. and see what happens... It's not quite so simple.
After the transition some stations will move DTV transmission to a different channel. For those stations simply turning off analog does not completely address the issue. This is especially true if DTV moves from temporary UHF assignment to VHF.
Channels 52-69 have been auctioned off for new services and emergency responders. New use of that bandwidth cannot begin until it is vacated by TV stations.
/tom |
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