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  #1  
Old 01-24-2008, 02:40 PM
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So I was browsing Horizontal Hold...

and it hit me-- There are so many awesome TVs out there that will not have an opportunity at an NTSC converter box. It is interesting to note that us TV collectors have saved so many sets which would've been destroyed otherwise. Imagine how many converter boxes they'd have to allow us for just one collection>? Right now I'm using my portacolor in the kitchen and its very watchable but slightly snowy. Guess I'll have to setup an outdoor aerial when 2009 comes. Thats what gets me.... The conversion is effectively decreasing functionality of many household's tv viewing capability. What do you think?
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Old 01-24-2008, 03:19 PM
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Especially the portables, no more will I be able to bring my Watchman fishing or camping, or anywhere for that matter.
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Old 01-24-2008, 03:52 PM
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Yes, forgot to mention that. Portables are the hardest hit, because even with a converter they're no longer portable. Well you could still bring it camping or fishing but it'd be useless. Thats really a shame.

Besides, when I go camping its au naturale....no tv or radio or anything electronic. Haven't been in a while, THATS a shame.
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Old 01-24-2008, 04:09 PM
bozey45 bozey45 is offline
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And that brings up those little battery operated sets we use in the hurricane prone areas in emrgencies. That hasn't been addressed yet; maybe a couple of analog transmitters can be reactivated during a storm threat in selected areas.
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Old 01-24-2008, 05:50 PM
MRX37 MRX37 is offline
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I think they should keep one or two VHF analog stations on the air just for emergency purposes.

I mean what else is the FCC going to do with the 54-88 MHz band anyhoo? Try to sell it? Maybe ham's would want those frequencies, but they don't need them far as I know. You can't make good use of that band unless you have a big enough antenna, so uses for cell phones, portable radios, and digital wireless routers is ridiculously out of the question.
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Old 01-24-2008, 06:12 PM
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I guess I have almost never used the tuner in any TV by itself...I've always either used the DirectTV receiver, a DVD player or a VCR connected to an outdoor antenna with an RF modulator connected to a distribution amplifier which then fed all the TV's in the house or barn, and just left all the TV's on channel 3. When the digital converter becomes available I'll get the antenna set up again and use it the same way as the other video sources.
There is not really a strong enough signal here for a good picture on just rabbit ears or a built in antenna on a portable.

I've never felt the need to watch different programs in different rooms of the house so a single source for all the TV's is fine for me. I use a "Rabbit" remote control relay system so I can change channels on single DirecTV receiver from the bedroom, and just use the TV remote (if equipped) for volume and power.
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Old 01-24-2008, 09:18 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zenith2134 View Post
and it hit me-- There are so many awesome TVs out there that will not have an opportunity at an NTSC converter box... Imagine how many converter boxes they'd have to allow us for just one collection?
There is no limit on the boxes at all. You could buy fifty of them if you wanted one for every TV in a large collection. Echostar will sell one version for US$40 each. Compared to the cost and time spent restoring our old sets, that is a very small investment.

The two-coupon plan is a reasonable limit for government aid to people who are either really poor, or who are dead-set against spending any money on a government-mandated change. The rest of us just get to go along and get "free" stuff, too.
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Old 01-24-2008, 09:28 PM
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Originally Posted by MRX37 View Post
I mean what else is the FCC going to do with the 54-88 MHz band anyhow?
They will let digital TV stations use it, just as they do now. WBBM digital is on channel 3 in Chicago, and I am sure many other cities have low-VHF digital stations as well.

The only sell-off of spectrum now used for TV is in the 700-800 MHz range. With the switch to digital TV, even reduced UHF band, many more stations can be on the air in any given geographical area, in addition to the fact that many more total "channels" can exist with digital due to the multiplexing ability and efficiency, because digital stations can be put on adjacent channel frequencies without problems. (Try that with analog over-the-air TV!)
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Old 01-24-2008, 09:51 PM
peverett peverett is offline
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All of what Chris is saying is true and great IF your reception is good. From what I have seen so far, analog comes through with a watchable picture in the same conditions that causes the digital picture to freeze and the sound to stop. I will believe how great digital is when I see it. Extra channels are no good if they cannot be watched.

I am reminded of my Mother in rural Oklahoma's experience with cellphones. When they were analog, she had service. Now, with digital cellphones, she has to go to a nearby town of get reliable service. I expect the same with digital TV.
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Old 01-26-2008, 11:39 AM
Don Lindsly Don Lindsly is offline
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Like cellular, Digital TV is not about consumers. It's about government , manufacturers and broadcasters getting more money for less customer benefit.
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Old 01-26-2008, 01:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Lindsly View Post
Like cellular, Digital TV is not about consumers. It's about government , manufacturers and broadcasters getting more money for less customer benefit.
Damn straight.
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Old 01-26-2008, 07:58 PM
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Yeah, I guess having a phone with you in emergencies, or so you can call people to tell them about changes in plans, or call your co-workers while you work in a remote location, is less customer-beneficial than wired phones, and pay phones on street corners. HDTV must be less-beneficial than analog, too, and the 24-hour free weather channels must not be of any benefit, either.
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Old 01-26-2008, 09:06 PM
peverett peverett is offline
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Chris, you have mis-understood. My mother still has a wired phone that works fine. She used to have an ANALOG cell phone that worked fine in her rural area as well. Now she has no or very poor reception on her present DIGITAL cell phone and must got a nearby town for it to work. If an accident happend on a highway near her house, she USED to be able to report it from the scene with her ANALOG cell phone. Now she cannot.

I call that loss of service!!!! With my experience to date with digital reception, expect the same with digital TV.

As far as the alternate channels, I do not need four alternate weather channels(from FOX, CBS, NBC and ABC). The only real use of the alternate channel that I have seen has been on our local PBS station where an actual program was broadcast on it, if only part time. To date, around here, only one network other than PBS has even used the alternate channel available on digitial. What they broadcast was "Coming soon", no real programming.
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Old 01-26-2008, 10:47 PM
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How refreshing

Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Lindsly View Post
Like cellular, Digital TV is not about consumers. It's about government , manufacturers and broadcasters getting more money for less customer benefit.
To have people speak the truth.
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  #15  
Old 01-26-2008, 11:57 PM
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ChrisW6ATV ChrisW6ATV is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by peverett View Post
Chris, you have mis-understood.
My comments were only in response to people who would broadly say things like
"digital TV and/or cell phones are intended to make people pay more for less benefit".

I understand that not every cell phone works in every location. It is important to know, though, that not all cell phones (analog, digital, or multi-mode) perform equally, when used on the same network. Perhaps a different model of phone (particularly a good Motorola model, and not the "free" phones offered) would work better in her location. Even more important is the choice of cell-phone carrier. In rural areas, Verizon far outperforms the other carriers because its network is in the 800 MHz band versus 1900 MHz for all the other major companies. What company does she use? Most of them offer a trial period that would let you and/or her try various phones at home.

Audiokarma is a great place to talk about classic equipment, but it gets poisoned too often by people who whine and whine and whine about everything digital and act as if everything about anything analog is superior, over and over and over and over again...
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