How does everybody feel about the switch from analog to digital tv? I have had a converter box for about 6 months. Up until last month I was receiving all my local channels 2, 4, 11, 22, 53 and a few other channels. But then i moved about 4 blocks away and now I'm only getting one station. I just bought another antenna which was supposed to be better than my old one and cost me $39.95 . Still only getting one station. Up until the cut off date I would shut the converter box off if I wanted to watch another station besides the one the digital picked up, but now after the cut off date I can't do that. Sure the picture is better than analog but at least with the analog if I had a weak signal it would still pick up through the static. With a weak signal from the digital I don't get any picture at all. This in one case where I feel the analog is better than the digital. What are your thoughts?
Digital TV?
- Thread starter TheKingOfKool
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I'm a mile from major freeway just north of Seattle -
invested in a HDTV with internal tuner and an antenna. Before the switch I got
5 local channels and 4 all digital
as of today - when/if really lucky
I get 2 channels in a foreign language
a religious channel
a kids channel
a semi local affiliate with as much static as before the switchover
and one that alternates between basic and 'old' sitcoms and infomercials with an occasional movie thrown in.
Called the FCC - nice lady had me rescan and came up with 10 channels - that was the only time and within a couple hours was back down to '4'.
Still haven't received my snail mail form to fill out giving them my 'feedback'
invested in a HDTV with internal tuner and an antenna. Before the switch I got
5 local channels and 4 all digital
as of today - when/if really lucky
I get 2 channels in a foreign language
a religious channel
a kids channel
a semi local affiliate with as much static as before the switchover
and one that alternates between basic and 'old' sitcoms and infomercials with an occasional movie thrown in.
Called the FCC - nice lady had me rescan and came up with 10 channels - that was the only time and within a couple hours was back down to '4'.
Still haven't received my snail mail form to fill out giving them my 'feedback'
Pictures quality is great. The only drawback is not having a battery-operated TV if the power goes out during a hurricane. I understand there will be digital portables very soon.
yeah go with a cable box, the quality is really nice and you will get a lot more channels. We have time warner out here, not sure what you have available?
I get 30 digital channels including subchannels. I'm 60 miles south of st louis and 30 miles north of cape girardeau mo. I've got a huge winegard antenna with a pre amp and amp. For best reception you need an antenna mounted on a mast preferably with a rotor. Indoor antennas at best receive from 30 miles away. Any metal buildings nearby, trees, or buildings 2 stories tall or more will give you trouble. If your within about 35 miles from your broadcast tower you should not use an amp or preamp. The noise from the signal amplified will make it almost impossible to view those channels. Also after the switch alot of channels switched their broadcast frequencies. For exable my local cbs switched from 43 to 12. Also if you have a uhf antenna you cannot receive vhf or vice versa. You need a combined uhf/vhf antenna. antennaweb.org has a great tool to find your location, tell you what channels you can get, and what strength antenna you need. Sorry for the long post but i wasted a lot of money and time before i got the hang of everything. Also got pretty good at dropping my 35 ft antenna tower by myself after some poor choices of antennas. Any questions i can always be pm'd
Better HD quality than cable or satellite. Looks good in 1080i on my 40 inch samsung.
Better HD quality than cable or satellite. Looks good in 1080i on my 40 inch samsung.
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According to DH and the kids it sucks. DH's raised the antenna over 30 ft, put in new everything, re-scans daily and still can't get the locals most of the time on 1 TV. No chance for any others. The really weird thing is when I bought the boxes last year and was just checking to see if they worked, I was able to pick up several stations for a couple days on an old crappy indoor antenna. Nothing since.
I feel the same way about cellphone service. I spend a lot of time out in the boonies where analog is the only available/usable service. Makes my phone choices extremely limited as most newer phones don't have it on them anymore. Much like with the digital TV, in a bind, a call with a lot of static is still better than no service.
I feel the same way about cellphone service. I spend a lot of time out in the boonies where analog is the only available/usable service. Makes my phone choices extremely limited as most newer phones don't have it on them anymore. Much like with the digital TV, in a bind, a call with a lot of static is still better than no service.
i'm on the 4th floor in an apartment building surrounded by trees. it's in my lease no to attach antennas outside or to the roof so i'm out of luck i guess. funny after i posted this though i check my mail and i received a cable letter offering a discount since the change from analog to digital. only $10 a month for limited basic
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Yep, this is my biggest beef with the switch. During Hurricane Ivan my battery powered tv helped keep us to date on where it was ( sorry radio just doesn't compare) and somewhat sane for the next 6 weeks after of no electricity.
There are some digital battery tv's out now ( check Radio shack) But they are ridiculously high.
They truly didn't think about/care about battery TV's for emergencies before doing the switch. No battery powered converter boxes either.
There are some digital battery tv's out now ( check Radio shack) But they are ridiculously high.
They truly didn't think about/care about battery TV's for emergencies before doing the switch. No battery powered converter boxes either.
If you have a lcd tv made after 2005 that has a QAM tuner built in and have cable provider that provides tv and internet. You can take your cable plug it right into your tv and receive all your local channels in hd. I only have cable internet service and with my samsung with QAM tuner I get about 15 channels and 30 music channels for free. Its FCC law that any channel you can receive free with antenna they cannot scramble and comes through your cable. Plus you get smooth hd with no skips hehe. You have to have internet service atleast or basic cable for this to work, and its not available in all places I'm sure.
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Yep, this is my biggest beef with the switch. During Hurricane Ivan my battery powered tv helped keep us to date on where it was ( sorry radio just doesn't compare) and somewhat sane for the next 6 weeks after of no electricity.
There are some digital battery tv's out now ( check Radio shack) But they are ridiculously high.
They truly didn't think about/care about battery TV's for emergencies before doing the switch. No battery powered converter boxes either.
damn 6 weeks without power. what are you going to do next time and you need to recharge your e-cigs?
We bought a new generator and I found this gadget called a Solio.
Slap it in the sun and it will charge darn near anything small device wise.
Has adapter's for usb, my PSP, Nintendo DS Lite, Cell phones and my eciggies.
I'm ready this round lol
http://www.solio.com/charger/ - Great for emergency smokes and entertainment
Slap it in the sun and it will charge darn near anything small device wise.
Has adapter's for usb, my PSP, Nintendo DS Lite, Cell phones and my eciggies.
I'm ready this round lol
http://www.solio.com/charger/ - Great for emergency smokes and entertainment
I bought a little battery powered converter box for mine. It came with a battery pack that I can also use for lots of other things, too, like keeping my e-cig batteries charged!
Here's a link... no affiliation, but I like it!
You'll have to google it... Battery Powered Digital TV Converter Quickly Powers and Converts Battery TV into a Digital TV
No connection to them, but I do like it.
Here's a link... no affiliation, but I like it!
You'll have to google it... Battery Powered Digital TV Converter Quickly Powers and Converts Battery TV into a Digital TV
No connection to them, but I do like it.
Already tried that route and I can only get the PPV channels. If anyone around orders a movie it'll come in, but not the local stuff. Local here is actually from about 80-100 miles away, so that might make a difference. We had been with satellite for many years (cable wasn't an option) but after doing the Nielson thing I started to wonder why I was paying $100 a month when we only watched 3 channels. PBS, CBS and Discovery. Two of which we watched on the antenna. So I pulled the plug and nobody even noticed for 2 months. When we moved and cable was available, I went for the internet and said forget it to the rest. $80/mnth for basic.
It's not just us that lost the locals, but a big portion of town, so maybe it'll get better. Until then, I hooked a slingbox up at a relatives house in another bigger town and all our PCs also display on the TVs. So the kids and DH can still get their PBS fix.
Most we've gone without power was 2.5 wks. I could've easily seen DH deciding the TV was more important on the generator before the DTV switch. Now, not so much. So I guess that's +1 for the switch.
Myself, with kids' homework, activities, etc. I could never watch anything when it originally airs anyways, so if I want to watch something I just go to the respective site after the kids are in bed and watch it.
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