TCB15 ([info]trenton22) wrote in [info]tucson,
2009-01-04 22:53:00
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TV & the digital converter racket

Oh, what do you know! There will be a slight rise in home electronics sales and cable and satellite subscriptions in January and February, 2009. Oh Yay, look at the positive blip in the economy! Whatever could be causing it?

I knew I was being jacked from the moment this digital conversion was announced. Even with the "rebate." The letter below is by a New Yorker in Upstate N.Y., I can only imagine how few stations will show up on the converter here in Tucson. No more Fox shows, which depend on which way the wind is blowing, to come in to my set. What a racket.

This is a Letter to the Editor from Jan. 3rd in the New York Times.

On Feb. 18, Free TV Won’t Be So Free

Published: January 3, 2009
To the Editor:

“In Move to Digital TV, Confusion Is in the Air” (Business Day, Dec. 22) doesn’t discuss the economics of the transition.

My family enjoyed 20 channels of (free) antenna TV since buying our Ulster County home in 1989. We objected to a converter for the conversion to digital TV scheduled for Feb. 18, but we used the rebate.

A seemingly obvious problem resulted. While we could watch an analog broadcast with a little “snow,” in digital format there is either a signal or nothing. Too many channels became nothing, so we had to buy satellite.

Did the Federal Communications Commission consider the economics of a forced switch, where many households must now buy a new TV, subscribe to cable or satellite, or go without?

Although we are firm advocates of going without, we do enjoy an occasional sports match or PBS show, so we knuckled under.

Did the F.C.C. legislate this digital switch knowing that more households would need to buy subscriptions? Did broadcasting corporations deceptively sell the F.C.C. on the “benefits” and the need to switch?

Jeff Akins
Highland, N.Y., Dec. 22, 2008

link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/l04tv.html


Are you using the converter now? What has your experience been compared to analog?

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  • 23 comments

[info]curbbrat

January 5 2009, 07:02:10 UTC 3 years ago

the thing is the ad campaign about the 'big switch' is completely misleading. you will still need an antenna to get reception of the digital broadcast, because, surprise, it is still broadcast.

this should have been obvious to me, the child of a former television repair man, but even i had to ask and then read the governments website on the matter for concrete confirmation.

what happened to these folks is undoubtedly going to happen to thousands of homes, if not millions, across the nation, people will plug in their converter box, disconnect the antenna, and get nothing.

i blame the dumb ads repeatedly telling people that after feb. 17th 2009 their rabbits ears will be obsolete. this is a deliberate simplified version that i suspect some ad agent thought up. what should have been advertised all year is as of that date you will need a t.v. that has a built in digital receiver or a converter box AND your antenna, one that receives uhf broadcast.

hope this helps.

[info]skincage

January 5 2009, 13:42:04 UTC 3 years ago

I work in an electronics department and for months I have seen a steady stream of people come in who haven't bought an appliance since I was born, and they are understandably lost. I try to explain as much as I can, but people are really in the dark. As usual, consumers are only told how to buy things, and not how to use them.

[info]trenton22

January 5 2009, 17:12:35 UTC 3 years ago

That's helpful. Thanks, I appreciate the detail re: UHF.

[info]romandruid

January 5 2009, 13:16:12 UTC 3 years ago

First, they're not "rebates"; they're $40 coupons much like gift cards. They took about six weeks to arrive from the time I requested them here. I sent for my two coupons back in early October, received them in mid-November, then watched for sales on the converter boxes. When converter boxes went on sale at Target, they quickly ran out, but I got a raincheck. A few weeks later, I wound up spending less than $10 for two converter boxes, which then sat in a closet for another month.

At the beginning of winter break, I finally opened the boxes and connected them to the TV and antennae. Boy, what a difference! Before, I had about five stations, all with varying degrees of snow, sometimes making them all but unviewable. Now I have about 15-20 stations (I didn't count them all), including a weather station and "World," which makes me feel almost like I have basic cable. The picture quality is *amazing*. True, if the antenna isn't pointed in the right direction, the signal breaks up and might even disappear, but that's really no different from what I had before with the antennae -- the difference now is a poor signal results in a blank screen with no sound instead of a very snowy screen with no sound.

I watch very little TV, considering it a colossal waste of my time; I watch only the morning news and the occasional PBS program or football game, but with the new stations, I might tune in a bit more frequently.

[info]skincage

January 5 2009, 13:38:53 UTC 3 years ago

Thank you for sharing your experience. I have to sell these infernal machines as part of my job but I haven't watched TV since my antenna finally crapped out quite the while ago. I therefore feel ill-informed when people ask me questions about them, so it's good to know they aren't necessarily crap. Sounds like a lot of problems people report are due to human error and luck of the draw in terms of local interference.

[info]trenton22

January 5 2009, 17:17:54 UTC 3 years ago

That's the first I've heard of a World station and Weather station on broadcast. Entire days go by that I don't turn on the TV, so there's no way that I can justify paying for cable, but I do need to tune in to KUAT and local news from time to time, so I need a TV. Thanks for your converter box info.

re: the coupons, this is the message I got today:
We have determined that you are eligible to participate in this program and your coupon application has been approved. However, because program funding is not currently available, you will not receive coupons unless more funding becomes available. If program funding becomes available you should receive your coupons in the mail.

I dropped a note to Giffords. I hope the gov can find a way to replenish the funds so that everyday people trying to make ends meet can get a break.

[info]wyldemusick

January 5 2009, 17:38:41 UTC 3 years ago

One of the things about the digital switch is that stations can tuck additional sub-channels into their signal. Most of the stations aren't doing that as yet, but channel 13 carries a weather/news subchannel (and originally had one devoted to The Tube, but their deal expired and no new deal was forthcoming, so it's a dead subchannel now) Channel 6 and channel carry PBS Kids, a Spanish channel, a creativity channel, and a world channel between them.

[info]wyldemusick

January 5 2009, 17:26:47 UTC 3 years ago

You're actually one of the success stories, then, as the general story is pretty much the same as mine -- I can get some stations consistently, including the 6 and 27 three-packs, the major network stations are subject to arcane rules as to whether or not I'll get them, and Fox is impossible. Channel 18 might come in once in a while.

This is with a Philips high-gain antenna. I'd probably do better with a Yagi on the roof, but I'm guessing that even then I'd need a rotator to get some stations in.

[info]frprtgirl

January 5 2009, 14:46:45 UTC 3 years ago

I think we should all just go without. That would show them.

[info]trenton22

January 5 2009, 17:22:28 UTC 3 years ago

as far as entertainment goes, I can get plenty online, but when it comes to live local news, TV is the best thing around here. Sometimes I wonder if a radio station like 1010-WINS (www.1010wins.com) in NY, with non-stop local news could succeed here. I would appreciate that option.

[info]wyldemusick

January 5 2009, 17:28:30 UTC 3 years ago

One option if you want an all-news station would be to check the stations available on the Internet. Mind you, my usual choice for all-news is to fire up the BBC....

[info]trenton22

January 5 2009, 17:43:49 UTC 3 years ago

I like BBC news too, the thing is what I miss here in Tucson is all day local news on the radio. The talk stations here switch over to "talk radio" non-news :) for a lot of the day. If someone is covering Tucson news with an internet station, I'd sure like to know. That could be a cool project and might not take that much to start up.

[info]frprtgirl

January 6 2009, 00:30:21 UTC 3 years ago

Yeah...honestly, I don't know, because I just relocated from New York...without a t.v. I get local news on NPR once in awhile, AM 1550. There's also the local paper.

[info]wyldemusick

January 5 2009, 17:34:16 UTC 3 years ago

I think this switchover will dent the major broadcast networks ratings even further. Especially when it comes to more rural areas where signal throw is more questionable.

[info]trenton22

January 5 2009, 17:40:19 UTC 3 years ago

Giffords is looking out for the folks on the border

when I was on Rep Giffords' site, I was surprised to see this:
"The DTV Transition poses a unique problem for families close to the U.S.-Mexico border. While residents will continue to receive multiple channels over the air of Spanish-language analog television originating from Mexico, they will no longer receive important public safety information from the U.S. without a DTV converter box.

That’s why I am cosponsoring H.R. 5435, the DTV Border Fix Act. This legislation will allow broadcasters within 50 miles of the U.S. Border to continue analog broadcasts for 5 years after the DTV transition. By doing so, we can ensure that residents along the U.S.-Mexico Border continue to receive emergency information and news over the U.S. television broadcast system and ensure that the transition is completed smoothly. "

It looks like Cochise and Santa Cruz (and whichever other counties are on the border) could get a 5-yr delay to the switchover. I think that emergency information part is important and I hope that helps the gov't find more $$$ for the coupons.

[info]selftitledalbum

January 5 2009, 15:41:21 UTC 3 years ago

i had cox basic cable back when it was still free. when they wanted me to start paying $20/month for it, i canceled and bought myself an antenna. i pretty much couldn't get squat with it. some things came in fuzzy but not really up to my standards.

i then bought a digital converter box (with coupon) and only got about six stations... maybe eight if i hooked up an antenna. but i only got one of the basic network stations crystal clear. i think it was cbs or fox, and i don't watch anything on either of those.

a few weeks ago i treated myself to an hdtv with its own tuner and i can count on one hand the number of channels that come in clearly. again, only one basic network (this time the local pbs stations). i live on 1st/river.

i'm kinda pissed and i'm not really sure what to do. do hd antennas really work better?

[info]trenton22

January 5 2009, 17:27:10 UTC 3 years ago

That sucks that you're getting fewer channels with the new TV! I hope someone reports in on if the HD antennas are significantly better on those TVs.

[info]selftitledalbum

January 5 2009, 17:45:27 UTC 3 years ago

i'm thinking of picking one up at best buy and trying it out acutally (one of those silver sensor models). i'll report back when i do...

[info]wyldemusick

January 5 2009, 17:33:19 UTC 3 years ago

"HD antenna" is just a marketing term. My Philips powered antenna is marketed as a HD antenna when it's basically just a standard Philips powered antenna with a signal booster on it. It doesn't provide that much help, though it's better than the bog-standard rabbit ears. It still needs to be tweaked per channel -- the VHF dipoles, the UHF plate, and the boost/tune settings.

I gather the best options are either a Yagi on the roof, with a rotator unit on the support pole, or a Zenith/Philips Silver Sensor, which is essentially a midget Yagi for indoors use.

[info]selftitledalbum

January 5 2009, 17:57:15 UTC 3 years ago

the silver sensor type was the kind i was thinking about. i have a rabbit ear antenna that only helps a little bit.

[info]curbbrat

January 5 2009, 20:13:20 UTC 3 years ago

yagi is definitely the way to go. depending on where you live you could get all channels without necessitating a rotating pole. check with neighbors perhaps?

my father instructed me that indoor antennas, even the little mini yagi's, aren't as good as the roof top.

this does create problems for renters for obvious reasons. we just redid our roof and need to reinstall our roof top beast. this is not a simple task and will involve my fathers know how and some building materials. i wonder how folks aiming to do this will succeed on their own without a professionals assistance, are there people out there who do this?

[info]alsoname

January 6 2009, 02:09:48 UTC 3 years ago

We've used antennae ever since moving to Tucson. When we bought a new DVD player last year we were surprised to find that it already included converter-box functions. Even though we were able to get everything with rabbit ears (although reception wasn't always great), the digital signal worked so much better. The big issue was that the CW (which we rarely watch) wouldn't come in. We got a better antenna at Radio Shack, and now there are very few problems at all -- sometimes there'll be a disturbance when someone walks in a certain area of the room. Weird.

So, all in all, we did have to put down some money for the new antenna, but the reception is way better now. We could survive without the antenna, though, and without having spent any money (since we would have bought the DVD player regardless).

Wow, what a boring comment! Sorry. But I too am somewhat skeptical of this whole thing, and think I might smell a racket here.

[info]seanymike

January 6 2009, 03:01:13 UTC 3 years ago

We have had basic cable and wont be changing. We would need to buy a new TV if we didn't have cable
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