2009 HDTV conversion.

[radiotvnut]

All Hollywood and the cable companies care about is making $$$. Hollywood will probably eventually get their way concerning the "analog sunset". Everyone I know that has recieved a new digital cable box from the cable company has to have it activated before it can be used. It's not like the old days when one could buy a stand alone analog box from Radio Shack and plug it up and use it. Really, these new digital boxes are another way for the cable companies to make money on box rental fees if you have no choice but to use their box. We have 4 TV's in regular use; and, that could get quite expensive if we had to rent 4 boxes.

[ChrisW6ATV]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

All Hollywood and the cable companies care about is making $$$.

Ummm... Maybe that's because they are businesses?

[Jonathan]

The industry doesn't realize that all movies are copied using computers. HDMI does nothing but hurt the honest people, but everyone knows that. One can get a blu ray or hddvd drive and make a copy, easier than using HDMI, if there is a practical way. If I were all of you I'd ditch cable and go with satellite, it's much cheaper.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

Ummm... Maybe that's because they are businesses?

I guess I should have added that I'm not against anyone making an honest living. But, when greed comes into play & things start taking place that may hurt some members of society; then , there is a problem. I guy told me once that "all he wanted was to make a living, not a killing".

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by Jonathan

The industry doesn't realize that all movies are copied using computers. HDMI does nothing but hurt the honest people, but everyone knows that. One can get a blu ray or hddvd drive and make a copy, easier than using HDMI, if there is a practical way. If I were all of you I'd ditch cable and go with satellite, it's much cheaper.

It goes back to what I've always said. If they are smart enough to encode (or whatever) a movie to prevent copying; then, someone will figure out a way around it.

I have a friend that owns a satellite / TV repair business and his satellite sales have picked up over the past year. I'm sure the increasing cost of cable and the fact that they are moving some of the channels to digital have a lot to do with that. The cable company is coming over Thursday afternoon to hook me up to internet and the $8.00 twelve channel cable. There's no way I'm paying almost $60 for the next step up. Already been there and done that. The only reason I'm getting the cheap cable is because they give a price break on the internet.

[Grainger49]

An interesting read from AST org. I'm not through with it but thought some solid information would be appreciated by those who, like me, still have question.

http://www.atsc.org/faq/faq_general.html


And another in case it hasn't been posted yet:

http://dtvtransition.org/

[wajobu]

Gummint Issued

https://www.dtv2009.gov/

We have one CATV hook-up and my venerable Panasonic 12" with bunny ears (I remember the days with the VHF/UHF converter on our DuMont in the 1960s ).

[merrylander]

Originally Posted by wa2ise

And many people called it the "Funny Cookie Corporation"...

You are being polite, I have a different name for them.

[merrylander]

AFAIK if you want to buy a digital STB it would need to be a brand that your cable co supports. Everytime Constipation Energy drops power while we are watching TV I have to pull the plug on the STB, wait 30 seconds then power up again and watch while the STB downloads its software.

[TedJ]

Try explaining to your 85+ year old grandma that all 3 of her tv's are gonna be showing nothing but snow come 2009. I ended up listening to a rant for half an hour... and I still don't think that she understands. I think this is an excellent example of what is to come. Most people, even if they see the ads, don't understand what it means, and will not be prepared when it all goes away. The coupons are great, but what if you need more than 2 of them? You have to take the extra cost to the neck. I have a feeling there are gonna be a lot of people in government offices having a fun day when they shut analog off, my grandma was already talking about writing the congressman....

-Ted

[wa2ise]

In the New York City area, pirate FM stations, mostly serving poor immigrant communities, keep popping up. Seems that there's at least 5 on the air at any one time. I can imagine something like this happening when analog TV sunsets, that pirate analog TV stations take to the air. There are probably many poor people who can't afford cable or satellite TV service, and can't afford a converter box. That's the pirates' audience. And then there's everyones' grandmothers.

Would a pirate pick a VHF channel, or one in UHF?

Back in 1977 or so, in Syracuse NY, someone one weekend did a pirate TV station, possibly the first one in the nation. On channel 7, an otherwise empty channel up there. An article in the New York Times about it apeared one day buried in the paper.

[kx250rider]

I got a new HD TV device which uses my LCD computer monitor for display, and the computer for controls. Although I'm very impressed with the high detail and super-sharp picture when watching HD broadcast (KTLA Morning Show in Los Angeles on Ch 5.1 via air reception), there is a serious COMPLAINT: The picture has a stop-n-start jerkiness to it, and the audio track is slightly out of sync with the picture. Kind of like an early internet video, but with a clear picture.

The HD tuner I got is a USB device, and my computer is a Core 2 Duo 6300 (IIRC) with 2 Gb RAM and a fairly high-end ASUS board. So I can't blame a lack of power in the computer. If I go out and buy a new TV with an ATSC tuner, will I have better results, or might this be a problem with how far I am from the transmitter? Is this inherently a characteristic of a USB TV tuner, or maybe the one I got is cheap?

Any opinions appreciated...

Charles

[andy]

I've never had much luck with TV tuner cards, NTSC, or ATSC. They all seem to have various problems that make them not quite usable.

Originally Posted by MRX37

Okay here's a more on topic question:

I know sattilite boxes have signal strength meters, do HDTV boxes, or HDTV's have signal strength meters as well?

My 45" Sharp Aquos that has a signal strength meter built into the Menu system.

Originally Posted by MRX37

Something like that would be damn helpful for figuring out which way to point the antenna...

Otherwise -- For US locations only.

Go to www.antennaweb.org

Click on Choose an Antenna

No name needed, but for the best results, enter your Address, City, St, and Zip
Uncheck the 2 marketing checkboxes

The results will give you the all the analog and digital stations available in your area along with their Compass orientation based on your exact address, allowing you to better aim the antenna in the general direction of the transmitter(s). You can also sort the station results with the radio buttons for analog or digital or both and even get a Ground Level Map display.

Bonus -- your current VHF/UHF antenna will work just fine receiving digital stations. No need to buy anything fancy because VHF is still VHF and UHF is still UHF as far as carrier signals go.

Originally Posted by kx250rider

I got a new HD TV device which uses my LCD computer monitor for display, and the computer for controls. Although I'm very impressed with the high detail and super-sharp picture when watching HD broadcast (KTLA Morning Show in Los Angeles on Ch 5.1 via air reception), there is a serious COMPLAINT: The picture has a stop-n-start jerkiness to it, and the audio track is slightly out of sync with the picture. Kind of like an early internet video, but with a clear picture.

The HD tuner I got is a USB device, and my computer is a Core 2 Duo 6300 (IIRC) with 2 Gb RAM and a fairly high-end ASUS board. So I can't blame a lack of power in the computer. If I go out and buy a new TV with an ATSC tuner, will I have better results, or might this be a problem with how far I am from the transmitter? Is this inherently a characteristic of a USB TV tuner, or maybe the one I got is cheap?

Any opinions appreciated...

Charles

You need to better aim your antenna at the KTLA transmitter to get a 70% or better signal so you don't suffer dropouts. Dig up a compass and see post above for help.