48 hours left!

[wa2ise]

Not in some eBay auction, but only 48 hours left in over-the-air NTSC.

[David Roper]

It's a very, very sad thing indeed.

[Hemingray]

The end of a fine era indeed. I grew up around this, and I'm only 25.

[Sandy G]

As I am basically a devious, evil bastard who enjoys to no end the sufferings of my fellow man, I sincerely wish this whole thing would blow up in the Fed's-and the Funny Cookie Company's faces, & the whole USA suddenly was without one of our REAL gods, television, for awhile... I read once that they introduced TV in deepest darkest Africa, & a year later, came back & asked the locals what they would be LEAST willing to do without-Access to food, water, or TV-and TV won out overwhelmingly...Imagine what would happen if America was forced to go Cold Turkey w/o The Idiot Box...An' it was THIS thumb-sucking bureaucrat who caused it...His life wouldn't be worth a plugged nickel...

[merrylander]

Just wait Sandy, it ain't over 'till the fat lady sings.

[Arkay]

Originally Posted by merrylander

Just wait Sandy, it ain't over 'till the fat lady sings.

That's the spirit! Never say die!

{But what do you do when the fat lady DOES eventually sing? }

[zenith2134]

...you get out your converter box so the tubes can continue beaming, mixing and amplifying!

Keep those old sets runnin; no matter what it takes! I'm going to make sure mine are still used here and there to keep em in working order.

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by Arkay

That's the spirit! Never say die!

{But what do you do when the fat lady DOES eventually sing? }

I was thinking of several fat ladies standing outside Congress shaking their fists and shouting rather than singing. This project has been a total screwup from day one. They needed the bandwitdth for fire and police etc. Really? Is that why Verizon and AT&T wound up with the lion's share and so far no one has picked up on the public service part as yet.

Why, even though the standard allows for a 4:3 signal inside the 16:9 broadcast do we get letterbox viewing?

This was a blatant grab by the cell phone companies, and why not cellphones print more money than the mint.

[Arkay]

I'm kind of with Sandy G on this... I almost hope it causes widespread dissent and a huge backlash, forcing them to return to the status quo ante.

While I am not against technological progress [Where would we be without the internet and access to AK, for example? ], in this case I think it served the needs of a limited number of people (and the government) making more money, more than it served to benefit the general public. It is primarily an exercise in transfer-of-wealth without sufficient other justification. Let it be revealed for what it is, and let the bureaucrats learn a lesson!

Of course, I am basing this on a limited amount of information, and may be wrong. If I am wrong and it turns out to be overall better for the consumer, then so be it. I'll be sad to see the old systems go. I LIKE the sound of my Marantz TV tuner, and would like to be able to play things off the air over vintage TV gear... but it won't be the end of the world, any more than the passing of crank-and dial phones was. {Although dial phones STILL work when connected to modern systems!}

Fortunately, Hong Kong is still broadcasting both formats, and has not announced any timetable for cutting off the free-to-air traditional (PAL) channels. Unfortunately, I suspect it is only a matter of time before they do announce such a date here, too...

My condolences to those more immediately affected!

[botrytis]

Well, digital broadcasts use less bandwidth compared to analog - picture was on one frequency and sound on another. This will basically free up the analog bands for fire and police departments to use (which don't have enough frequencies now).

Yes there will be pain - is it a big deal - NO.

Wait until the total conversion of our enegy system to sustainable energy for the REAL PAIN!!!

[Phil Nelson]

W-a-a-a-h! I had this scheme to pile up some vintage TVs, tune them to different channels, and videotape the Big Moment.

Then I scheduled a last-minute weekend trip out of state. I'll be staying at my sister's house tomorrow night, and they probably don't even own a TV with antenna, so I'll miss it altogether.

Phil Nelson

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Phil Nelson

W-a-a-a-h! I had this scheme to pile up some vintage TVs, tune them to different channels, and videotape the Big Moment.

Well, there's the direct VCR method, connect as many VCRs as you have to antennas, and program them to record from 10:30PM Friday night to 2,4 or 6 hours later (depending on the tape speed you select). Then you'd see if the stations just kill the carrier in the middle of Conan, or play the National Anthem, and or a public service announcement saying "tough bananas if you didn't get a converter box".

They needed the bandwitdth for fire and police etc. Really? Is that why Verizon and AT&T wound up with the lion's share and so far no one has picked up on the public service part as yet.

Well they must be planning on giving the cops and firemen cell phones...

[Hemingray]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

Well they must be planning on giving the cops and firemen cell phones...

Maybe I'll get better service then.

[Hemingray]

less than 24 hours left.... RIP NTSC.

[compucat]

I will mourn the loss of my portable sets most of all. The larger sets can run off a converter with no great hardship but I will miss being able to use a pocket size TV. I have a 10" netbook computer in which I am using a USB tuner as a portable digital TV solution. So far, it is working out rather well and the battery life is comparable to a standard portable. Sometimes you have to get a little creative.