I don't think they're going to extend it yet again.

Doubt that they will. Would be nice to have one more summer of OTA analog for the portables though...

Deja Vu all over again...But yeah, this time I think its for real...Still think this is one of the most boneheaded things The Gummint has ever done, NOT trying to get political or anything like that.

I'm not trying to get political either; but, I think it would be nice if they would allow one station per market to remain analog, at least for the next few years. There are too many battery operated TV's around that we all depend on during emergencies. Now, I'm going to have to rig a converter and a DC power source to work with my battery operated TV for use during emergencies. I do own a weather radio and many regular transistor portable radios; but, the local TV station (still analog) does a far better job when it comes to weather coverage.

Another related note: Many of us now rely on Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) phone services. This means that the phone will not work in a power failure without a backup battery which most people neglect to install.

I was watching a 1940's movie before and there was a blackout, and the phone worked fine.

In some ways, things move in reverse as time marches on.

I have a weather radio and have found it to be essentially worthless. The reason being is that you cannot set the alarm different for warnings vs watches. Because of this, if you turn it on while a watch only is issued, you will be alarmed as long as the watch exists(storms or no storms). Try to sleep with that going on. The alarm is the same for warnings or watches-another stupid design defect. I wrote the manufacturere and they claim that the signal transmitted is the same for watches/vs warnings and they cannot differentiate.

I keep hopeing that with all the severe storms recently, someone with some influnce will notice how much better analog TV performs during storms and do the common sense thing-keep at least one analog TV station running in areas prone to severe weather.

Another related note: Many of us now rely on Voice-Over-Internet-Protocol (VOIP) phone services. This means that the phone will not work in a power failure without a backup battery which most people neglect to install.

I was watching a 1940's movie before and there was a blackout, and the phone worked fine.

In some ways, things move in reverse as time marches on.

Not only VoIP phone service is affected during power outages. If you have digital phone service, it too will be useless if the power goes out. This includes 911 emergency calls. I cannot speak for other digital phone carriers, but AT&T's digital telephone service does not have backup batteries or other means of keeping the network going in case of an outage. IMHO, they should have designed a backup power system into the digital network right from the start. Many computer users (and most businesses depending on 24/7 reliability of their online systems) now have uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) for their computers/networks; why not for digital telephone service as well? Hmmm. :scratch2:

BTW: Yes, the DTV transition date now seems to be set in stone, and will not be pushed back again. As I read in today's issue of Broadcasting and Cable magazine's email newsletter, the NAB's campaign to educate viewers about the DTV switch seems to be working well; at the latest count, only a bit over one percent of the American public is not prepared for the transition. In the same issue of B&C was a statement that the FCC will launch a program shortly in which it will send representatives to homes not yet prepared for DTV, installing converter boxes and/or educating viewers as to what they must do to continue watching local TV after the analog stations leave the air forever. This may be the only way to convince those few diehard TV viewers who do not believe analog TV will end for good on June 12 that such will happen, like it or not.

No matter what, there will always be a number of morons out there. Despite all the warnings on TV, there's still gonna be a number of people wondering why their TV wont work.
And there is a whole lot more idiots who think that the DTV conversion effects everyone; those with cable, satelite, etc. and not just those who just got rabbit ears.
But then again that impression was given earlier on, in an attempt to make people think they have to buy a new digital flatscreen POS plasma or some dumb thing like that.

Kinda like in school, you always get the one or two morons; "Teacher, I lost my textbook!" and especially in band; "I lost my music/insturment/uniform/etc!!"

But if you ask me, this digital conversion is just a great big waste of time, money, and energy.
Soon this will happen to AM and FM radio.
Soon, not only that we won't get free TV anymore, but no more free radio either.

And it is a fact that the masses are complete morons.
And if these idiots still don't understand the DTV conversion after all this hype, then fuck em.

And it is a fact that the masses are complete morons.
And if these idiots still don't understand the DTV conversion after all this hype, then fuck em.

Well said!:D

Yes, let's get on with this on schedule or just drop the whole thing. The fact is that some people just are not going to get it unless they get a good kick in the butt, as in turning on their TVs on 6/13 just to be greeted with snow.

Doubt that they will. Would be nice to have one more summer of OTA analog for the portables though...

Three of mine will be quitting..
The taxpayers pay for PBS and it won't come in. There you have it.

Well said!:D

It applies to those elected who gave us this, whoever they are.
Gee, AM stereo..just what I need to listen to news.

Three of mine will be quitting..
The taxpayers pay for PBS and it won't come in. There you have it.

All we have left is the ABC affiliate and an LP Christian station. I'm sure the low power station will remain since they are not required to switch.

Just for the record, the digital PBS signal is harder to receive than the former analog signal. I guess it's a good thing I don't watch PBS much; but, there are others that do. The only thing I watch on a regular basis is RTN and the 6 PM local news.

Radiotvnut is right, DTV signals are much easier to screw up I live within 15 miles of 5 broadcast towers and get analog signals just fine but when a bus pulls up out front or a big truck passes my DTV signal drops to 0%. I normally average 65% to 85% signal strength with one of those big 2' x 3' home made antennas but each day the signal direction changes, sometimes the antenna points 90 degrees to the direction of the broadcasting antenna!

I'm not trying to get political either; but, I think it would be nice if they would allow one station per market to remain analog, at least for the next few years. There are too many battery operated TV's around that we all depend on during emergencies. Now, I'm going to have to rig a converter and a DC power source to work with my battery operated TV for use during emergencies. I do own a weather radio and many regular transistor portable radios; but, the local TV station (still analog) does a far better job when it comes to weather coverage.

I agree - I like seeing the radar. I looked into battery-operated DTV sets and I'm not about to spend that much money for some Chinese crap that won't work when I take it out of the closet next hurricane season.

What I may look into is pulling the guts out of a DTV converter box and stuffing them inside a smaller screen TV, if space permits. I'd like to do something like that to my 3.5" 30+ year old Panasonic (the current "emergency" TV); but, I don't think that would work. A 12" set would be the only thing I might could do that to.

Another channel that's virtually a "no go" now is channel 34 (CW) out of, IIRC, Magee, MS. When they were analog, I could get them on most any given TV at any given time of day with an indoor antenna. The quality was never good; but, watchable. With the digital signal, all I usually get is "weak signal" on that channel while the signal meter hovers around 10-15 %. One time, I held the antenna up in the air and got the signal up to around 25%, enough to give me a severly pixilated image. An outdoor antenna may or may not help the situation.

Of course, this is not a big deal right now since I have cable. May not have it for very long if Comcast does not get their act together concerning the internet. I've fired them once and am not above doing it again. Once I hooked my Sister and Brother-in-law up to a DTV box and he saw that he could get 7-8 clear channels, he said he'd never go back to pay TV again.

I would rather have LTE mobile data then old reruns on analog tv any day.

Here in NZ our analog switchoff isnt till at least 2012, 2015 at the latest (when 75% of homes are not watching analog they will set the date - its about 70% at the moment depending on who you believe)

But I find it hard to believe that the digital is harder to recieve then analog - at a friends place with a mountain in the way to the transmitter and a corroded UHF antenna thats done nothing for the last 8 years, and dodgey RG59 cables from the $2 shop, it gets one of the mux's perfectly - and thats an antenna system that just delivers tinted snow on any of the analog channels. Either you have way low power digital transmissions or ATSC just really really sucks compared to DVB-T.

Three of mine will be quitting..
The taxpayers pay for PBS and it won't come in. There you have it.

Us who watch PBS are smart enough and motivated enough to have adapted already!

Note that most PBS stations have already switched early - Flint, Detroit, Toledo and Bowling Green, around here, for example.

Here in NZ our analog switchoff isnt till at least 2012, 2015 at the latest (when 75% of homes are not watching analog they will set the date - its about 70% at the moment depending on who you believe)

But I find it hard to believe that the digital is harder to receive then analog

You have COFDM for the RF modulation method, we in the USA have 8VSB. COFDM is more forgiving of ghosting and such, but needs higher power for the same coverage area. COFDM also tends to have dynamic range issues as well (it has 2000 carriers being switched on and off, and sometimes all turn on, overloading the station's broadcast transmitter amplifier, or TV set front ends). 8VSB doesn't like ghosts.

The Funny Cookie Corporation has just allowed an enhancement to ATSC for mobile receivers (cell phones and such), that may solve the portable receiver not working during a tornado problem.

They've only just started running ads about the analog switch off here which is coming sometime in 2010 for some areas and as late as 2013 in others.

I've thought about building an digital set top box into some of my portable sets. I found one that is small enough that I should be able to get it inside one of my 5" sets and another that should fit in one of my 10" sets. The thing that is holding my back is that I've yet to think of an acceptable way to connect the sets existing channel buttons to the set top box. I think I'll have to use a microcontroller to scan the buttons on the set and send the appropriate commands to the set top box. Ideally I'd like to disable the set top box's on screen display, but I don't think that will be possible.

The set top boxes I've set aside for this project are powered by an external 12V power supply, so that will simplifiy things and allow the finished sets to run from 12VDC as the originally did. It's somewhat academic though reliable digital reception is not possible here with rabbit ears.

Fortunately for Canadians, they're not switching to DTV until 2011. If any Americans live along the border and can pick up Canadian TV stations...
first, if you get CBC then I'm so sorry lol
Second, at least you can pick up analogue TV for a little while longer.

Hiya wilkes, how are ya?

Don't care for CBC? LOL.

The FCC should solve the tornado problem before turning off analog. About 10 years ago, 30 people were killed 50 miles north of here by and F5 tornado. Those were the ones that were above ground. Many were saved by being in an underground shelter. As it happened near dusk, some indication of bad weather could have been seen without any TV warnings, so I am not sure what the reason for the 30 people being above ground.

Just imagine how many more would have been killed if this had happened in later in the evening and the TV warnings crapped out. (I also think the weather radio system should be improved so that only true warnings(not warnings and watches) could be selected. This could vastly improve overnight weather radio usage.)

The FCC cannot "solve the tornado problem" anywhere in this country. Weather events are natural phenomena, out of the hands of people here on earth. If a tornado touches down anywhere, there won't be a thing the FCC can do to stop it. Moreover, the FCC has decided to shut down analog TV on June 12, notwithstanding the problems this may cause in emergencies such as hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. This time the analog shutoff date is all but set in stone and will not be pushed back again, problems or no problems with emergency information. As I have said before in at least one post, there will always be the Emergency Alert System on radio to disseminate emergency information if TV stations are knocked off the air or power outages occur, preventing ordinary TVs from operating.

The end of analog TV is not the end of emergency communications. Moreover, many amateur radio operators are members of emergency networks such as Skywarn, RACES (the latter being a acronym for Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) and other disaster networks, the purposes of which are to provide communications services in the event of an emergency. Radio amateurs have been instrumental in providing emergency communications links during every hurricane that has struck the U.S. in recent years--one example is during Hurricane Andrew in the Miami area seventeen years ago, another is during Hurricane Katrina along the Gulf Coast in 2005, and there are other examples too numerous to mention.

My point is that television is not the American public's only link to the outside world during emergencies. When (not if) the FCC declares the end of analog TV in just under one month, there will always be radio, its shortcomings notwithstanding. Even without being able to see radar scans over radio, some emergency information is better than none at all.

Another person mentioned a few posts ago that free AM and FM radio will end in this country shortly after the end of analog television. I don't believe that will happen any time soon. Many AM stations are going silent and transferring their programming to FM stations, so we can expect FM radio to continue in this country for some time; however, it is entirely possible that AM radio may disappear eventually. When and if it does fade into oblivion I don't think it will be much of a loss, as all that's on AM in most cities is talk radio and sports--and much of that programming is migrating to FM in some areas these days. Many FM stations now have digital subchannels, but their main signals are still on the air and will be for the foreseeable future. There are too many analog FM receivers and tuners (millions) in the United States--car stereos, portables, home systems--for analog FM to disappear now as analog TV will shortly. While it is true that more and more people are listening to Internet radio, satellite radio and mp3s these days rather than to FM broadcasts, there are still enough listeners to the nation's FM stations to keep them on the air.

Note that there are far more AM stations going silent than FMs; the reason is that few people (except talk-radio fans and sports junkies) listen to AM anymore, with more listeners (especially to serious music) preferring FM. (As an example, New York's WQXR, a classical station, now broadcasts over FM exclusively; its former AM arm is now Radio Disney WQEW-AM 1560.) As I said, many AM talk stations have moved their programming to FM or else are simulcasting their programming over the FM station (a sports station in Detroit, for example, WXYT 1270, has done just that, simulcasting all its material over the former WWJ-FM, now WXYT-FM 97.1). A hard-rock FM station in Cleveland has all but abandoned music programming (in large part) as well, now carrying mostly talk.

What may become of the 107 channels of the AM broadcast band in the future is anyone's guess. The stations already in operation there, except perhaps for all-news stations the likes of WCBS-AM in New York, et al. may or may not be around for much longer. I must question the decision of some cities to have two sports stations, as do Chicago (WSCR-670, formerly WMAQ-AM, and WMVP-1000, formerly WCFL) and even Cleveland (WKNR-850, 50kW day/4.7kW night, and WWGK-AM 1540, 1kW day only). Both stations carry roughly the same programming, so why have it on both at the same time? The situation in Cleveland makes even less sense, to me anyway. WWGK 1540 is a 1kW station that covers mainly the city of Cleveland and perhaps a couple of nearby suburbs; WKNR, with its 50kW daytime signal, covers much of Ohio (including Cleveland and environs, of course) from dusk to dawn, has excellent coverage in the greater Cleveland area at night as well, and is an affiliate of the ESPN radio network. WWGK 1540 is an affiliate, IIRC, of Fox's sports radio network. Because of these widely varying coverage areas (and the fact that WWGK is daytime only), I question how both of these stations can survive. While there may be no doubt WKNR will be around a long time, with its 50kW daytime signal, the other station may be doomed to failure because of its low power and being daytime only. I sometimes wonder why WWGK has not gone silent already. :scratch2:

I do not expect the FCC to "solve" any tornado problem. What I do expect them to do is to act in the public's interest as the airwaves are public property. I, for one, do not think shuting off analog TV in areas that are known to experience severe weather regularly is in the public interest. It is well known (and has been expressed by many here and elsewhere) that DTV as presently implemented in the US is very much less reliable than NTSC analog in severe weather conditions.

In spite of all of the other ways that have been mentioned as to spread emergency information-TV is the main one used by the public at this time. In addition, there are many NTSC analog TVs that run on battery power-I have not yet seen any DTV sets with this feature. If a battery operated TV is available-receiver power is not an issue.

Because of this change-much of which I preceive to be driven by greed, not the interest of the public, I fear that unnecessary injuries and possibly deaths will occur.

One final comment-I agree that FM radio will not go silent.

This conversion process is such a mixed bag of "stuff".

I love the amazing picture on my 27" Mitsubishi CRT.

I love the digital sound - really - it is so much better that cable. Frighteningly good.

I love the extra stations I now get - especially the PBS ones.

I love that a dollar store pair of rabbit ears indoors picks up 90% of the stations. I have an A-B switch to use the roof antenna if need be (hello ABC? are you ONLY ones broadcasting your digital signal over VHF in LA?)

I hate that my neighbor upstairs can ruin an episode of Family Guy simply by walking around too much. And don't get me started about the wind, helicopters, and low flying planes screwing with my picture.......and channel 13 is STILL nowhere to be found......no big loss there.

ok, I feel better now. I need a record.......

Rob

The FCC cannot "solve the tornado problem" anywhere in this country.

Knew that that deregulation in the 1980's was a bad idea... :D And they need to do something about trailer parks, as they are tornado magnets... :D

Anyway, as someone mentioned the idea of planting a converter box inside an existing TV set, I've done that with a set that used to be a TV/VCR combo unit. The VCR part died, but the CRT portion worked well, so I installed the converter box where the VCR mechanism was. But this example is not portable or battery powered.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=120655&d=1228009286

I have four converter boxes and I have a lot of TV’s scattered all over my display room. So to connect them I would have to have a lot of cable, splitters and possibly a distribution amplifier. The alternative would be to move the converter to the television set I want to play. I have a simple solution that will cost you about $30 and all you will need is rabbit ears at the sets you want to play often.
Searching the internet on Google I found an antenna mounted amplifier that produces 30db gain made by Antennacraft. Searching again, I found a retailer Reliant Electronics and purchased the unit. Upon receipt, I connected the output
of the GE converter box to the antenna connection of the amplifier. Then using the diagram, I connected the output of the amplifier to a piece of copper wire vertically oriented. I turned on my RCA 621 set to channel 4 and using a pair of
rabbit ears picked up the signal being transmitted by the amplifier. Amazingly the
signal provided an excellent picture and sound from approximately 10 feet away.
I am going to make a permanent installation in the center of the area where my sets are displayed. Don’t think you will have an FCC problem with this low power. Try it, you might like it.

Well, I wish to register a complaint...About a week & a half ago here, we had a Tornado come thru. Or at least a funnel cloud. Depends on who you talk to. Some folks say they saw a funnel cloud, I didn't. Anyhow, the local radio stations, WRGS 1370 KC, & the FM station, they've changed their call letters again for the umpteenth time, I can't remember, I think they're WEYE, 104.3 Mc, both of them are "fully automated", & consequently, we got NOTHING as far as updates on the tornado-just the usual canned, "Blah-blah-blah" reports at the regular newstimes. Other than that, they kept pumpin' out the inane Kuntry-Lovin' hits...Kinda wish the tornado had come by & blown them away, for all the good they did..."Public Service", my ass... Next year-or even after June, if we get another tornado, we could be blown away, & if the lights get knocked out-as they usually are-how would we know if one's coming ? I still say this is about the most stupid jerkoff trick the boneheads in Warshington have ever dreamed up... An' they're masters at coming up w/jerkoff tricks...

I have heard that (around here anyway) that the transition will not apply to "low-power" stations. I am thinking that this is "independent" stations as they have not switched yet.

So there might be hope to have a few analog stations for a little while longer!

I have been watching digital for a year now and I am generally impressed.
A few stations here have already turned off the analog.

:beerchug:

Well, I wish to register a complaint...About a week & a half ago here, we had a Tornado come thru. Or at least a funnel cloud. Depends on who you talk to. Some folks say they saw a funnel cloud, I didn't. Anyhow, the local radio stations, WRGS 1370 KC, & the FM station, they've changed their call letters again for the umpteenth time, I can't remember, I think they're WEYE, 104.3 Mc, both of them are "fully automated", & consequently, we got NOTHING as far as updates on the tornado-just the usual canned, "Blah-blah-blah" reports at the regular newstimes. Other than that, they kept pumpin' out the inane Kuntry-Lovin' hits...Kinda wish the tornado had come by & blown them away, for all the good they did..."Public Service", my ass... Next year-or even after June, if we get another tornado, we could be blown away, & if the lights get knocked out-as they usually are-how would we know if one's coming ? I still say this is about the most stupid jerkoff trick the boneheads in Warshington have ever dreamed up... An' they're masters at coming up w/jerkoff tricks...

Sandy, I did not realize how utterly useless radio is for weather warnings until I read your post. With so many stations being automated these days (there is one such station in the next town south of here, and maybe--even likely--many more in Cleveland) the chances of getting local weather information and/or warnings are slim to none--they don't ordinarily break into the automated programming for much of anything. There is a 0.5kW local station near where I grew up that changed from oldies to a fully-automated talk format about five years ago or so; I don't hear it where I live now (Fairport Harbor, Ohio, a village 33 miles east of Cleveland that isn't considered a suburb), so don't know what's going on anymore with it or its programming. But I'd think they are as bad as most other automated stations, never (well, hardly ever) breaking into the satellite programming. Heaven help them (not to mention the residents of the area) if a tornado strikes the city where they are located (Willoughby, Ohio, an eastern suburb of Cleveland); the storm might well quite literally blow them off the air, and the public would have little or no advance warning of the event.

BTW, I just looked up (on www.Radio-Locator.com) the information for the local AM/FM radio stations in your area. You were right. The local FM in Surgoinsville, Tennessee is in fact WEYE-FM, while the local AM station in Rogersville is still WRGS. I didn't realize both those stations are automated. I think your best bet will be to hope that the digital TV stations serving your area are receivable well enough to get the info you will need in an emergency situation, although given the all-or-nothing nature of DTV this could be and probably will be hit-or-miss at best--hardly acceptable in an emergency. The next tornado may well knock the local radio stations off the air; at least if you have power and access to your TV (and your cable or antenna haven't been disabled or blown down, respectively) you will get EAS (Emergency Alert System) info. If the storm knocks out your electric service, unfortunately you will be out of luck as far as TV is concerned, and radio will, again, be worthless as many of the local stations will be off the air if the tornado blows down their towers.

The FCC obviously did not do their homework when they decided to shut down analog TV on June 12 this year. This, which is not in the public interest by any means, will leave many, many people literally "in the dark" as far as emergency information goes if a tornado or other natural disaster disrupts electric power or disables the area's television stations. I agree with others here who have said it would have been an excellent idea if the FCC had put a clause in the DTV-shutdown rules that would allow one analog NTSC TV station in each major market to stay on the air to allow for emergency information if needed. The FCC's "nightlight" service provisions were supposed to have addressed this issue, but unfortunately many cities did not take advantage of them, which is why most of the U.S. is in such a mess today as far as TV in emergencies goes. The whole country probably would have been better off had the FCC kept its hands off the present NTSC analog television system, which has served this country well for nearly sixty years. At least with NTSC analog, stations can be received (albeit with snowy pictures and/or noisy sound) when the signals are extremely weak; with DTV, you either have a signal or you don't, which again is totally unacceptable in any emergency situation--in a severe rainstorm, flood condition or tornado, the signal will be unpredictable, leaving viewers either with no reception whatsoever or with an unusable picture and no sound.

Sheeeesh! The FCC really blew it this time.

Well, in all honesty, we're in sort of a "Here there be Tygers" area, anyway, when it comes to news/weather coverage...The Knoxville stations tend to cover only their metro area, which doesn't include us, unless its something REALLY bad, pretty much the same story w/the Kingsport/Johnson City/Bristol stations.

Some folks are not going to bother with the converter boxes. Viewership will decline somewhat with ad revenue to follow. Screw em'. You'll see. My my 85 year old mom cannot get Antiques Road Show anymore. The Comcast guy told me it is a ROYAL PITA. It is.

Some folks are not going to bother with the converter boxes. Viewership will decline somewhat with ad revenue to follow. Screw em'. You'll see. My my 85 year old mom cannot get Antiques Road Show anymore. The Comcast guy told me it is a ROYAL PITA. It is.

Sounds like your mother is still using an NTSC analog TV connected directly to an antenna, without a converter box, and the PBS station in her area is now 100-percent digital. Is she aware that all TV will be digital by 06.12, and that her TV will no longer work after midnight (or sooner) on that date unless it is connected to cable or a converter box? If she has cable, however, she should still get Antiques Roadshow on PBS. Even if the local PBS station is transmitting exclusively digital signals, the cable operator will see to it that the station (and all others on the system) are downconverted to NTSC so that analog sets can receive the signals.

All cable television systems in the U.S., including Comcast, are required by law to carry every broadcast channel in every market they serve. If the system in your mother's area is not carrying PBS, it is in violation of that law.

Whether or not the Digital OTA system is flawed, I am not sure yet. Since I am local to NYC's many transmitters, reception hasn't been too much of an issue (yet)

But as far as safety is concerned, why not leave one analog VHF or UHF station live in each market? Seems like a plausible prevention scheme, "just in case..."

It would be silly to leave one station on in each market in analog. Who would pick the station and who would pay the cost to keep the transmitter on the air? A lot of stations ran their old transmitters down to the last mile so many of then don't have many trouble free hours left so who would pay to replace these transmitters? The way things are today in ad sales the stations don't have the cash. In some markets like LA if something bad happens we have AM radio KNX and KFI both 50000 watt flame throwers and much better news departments then most of the television stations. KFI makes more money then most FM stations so AM is not dead yet.

There are two issues with using radio for emergency issues at present(at least in tornado alley).

1. At present, commercial radio (AM or FM) does not cover severe wether at all. Other than TV, the only weather coverage is on the flawed weather radio systems.

2. There is no way radio can replace the modern severe weather coverage (doppler radar, etc) available on TV. A picture is truly worth 1000 words.

As peoples lives are at stake, I think money can be found. As to the transmitters, new ones can be built-all it takes is money.

In fact, as the coverage area is less for DTV than NTSC(less people see the commercials with DTV), I would bet that some stations would love to remain analog if given the chance(In addition they could advertise-and it would be correct-that their weather coverage is more reliable than others).

The main two things that need to happen is a change in the stupid law(let the marketplace decide) and some money returned to Verizon, etc. I do not believe that any one needs to "choose" a station-they would choose themselves.

Yes new Transmitters could be built all it takes is money. And more $ to pay the electric bill. The possible extra $ from commercials with a few added viewers won't even come close to cover the costs. One possible solution might be to have some stations that are able to keep their antenna and transmitter operational licensed for emergency use during storms etc.. The government could possibly pay them to keep the transmitter operational. The costs would be low for a few years due to the low amount of hours the plant would be operated. After five years the situation could be reevaluated and if there was a true need for analog then the decision would be made how to operate going forward.

As much as I like analog and hate to see it go most viewers use either dish/satellite or cable.

BTW when earthquakes hit out here it’s television that is behind some of the radio stations except for the comedy of seeing the anchors hiding under the desk. But fire coverage can come in handy so I can see your point about being able to see what’s going on. But I can’t see the need to keep an analog station on the air for that because there is no storm caused interference and digital should be good to go.

With earthquakes and such, I do not think the type of TV matters. At present, no pre-warnings are possible.

However with severe storms that are changing by the minute, up to date information is critical.

I have experienced both DTV and Satellite during storms. Both freeze up and lose sound-no good at all. In fact, during one episode DTV froze up for 10 minutes while analog NTSC continued on snowy, but useable.

To leave a high power transmitter for long periods as an emergency measure is difficult for many reasons. These beasts don't like to sit dormant without being run on a regular basis, which means maintenance and operational costs, plus, the channel assigned to such a transmitter would have to be kept free, which is nearly impossible in most markets. In a nutshell, it wouldn't be practical.

Since they've announced the ability to tailor the dtv signal for portable devices, it should be a moot point anyway.

At least the extension gave me time to get a whole bunch of sets fixed to see analog one last time. I took the 11th and 12th off of work, the 11th is also my daughters birthday. I plan to fill every available space in the house with tvs and let the damn things play all day. Channel 6 said last night that analog will cease right at midnight on the 12th, I wonder how many will be off before then, either way, I'll be watching. I now have working sets ranging in years from 1949 to 2001 so it should make a cool video.

The people most affected by the loss of TV in bad weather will be in outlying rural areas, where small independent radio stations still sign off the air overnight or do not have the means to keep an employee there around the clock. Or, on the other hand, even in metropolitan areas (such as New Orleans) the television weather departments are very good at coming and staying on the air during severe weather outbreaks. There is only one radio station with a real news department here, and the last time we had flooding and tornadic activity overnight they did not break into "The Dave Ramsey Show" to provide information. Probably because Entercomm isn't paying anyone to stay there after midnight.

Hopefully my outdoor antenna will pull a signal through severe thunderstorms. Haven't had the chance to test it yet.

Thats one month until I have to trash all my Shure Wireless microphones so some bloated Telecom can install high powered transmitters everywhere and we can enjoy some crap TV on our cell phones. Progress marches on.

I just found out that they're switching the channels to UHF when they axe analogue TV here... which is just stupid because there are no UHF channels here, and there never were. So very few, if any people here would actually own a UHF antenna.

So i guess I won't be able to use the antenna on the roof at all, after 2011. It will just be a shrine to the good ol' days when TV was once free.

Today (May 29th) it's two weeks and counting...

I just found out that they're switching the channels to UHF when they axe analogue TV here... which is just stupid because there are no UHF channels here, and there never were. So very few, if any people here would actually own a UHF antenna.

So i guess I won't be able to use the antenna on the roof at all, after 2011. It will just be a shrine to the good ol' days when TV was once free.

Where are you located? You may not have UHF stations in your area, but it could be that your local VHF channels will be moved to UHF channels so you may still get some use out of your antenna, or you could get cable so you won't have to worry about where your local stations wind up--on VHF or UHF. The UHF stations will be downconverted to VHF channels on cable anyway. The cable system in my area near Cleveland does that with the city's UHF channels (we have six such channels, on 19, 23, 25, 43, 55 and 61, with channels 19, 25 and 43 downconverted to channels 4, 10 and six respectively. Drives me nuts trying to find the stations sometimes, but that's the way they do it, I guess). This is done on our cable system and all others in the U.S. because it is easier to transmit VHF signals over coax cables; if direct over-the-air UHF signals were transmitted over your area's cable system there would very likely be problems with signal loss in long cable runs, among other things. In other words, higher frequency signals are more difficult to carry over cables; therefore, the UHFs are downconverted to VHF so there is little or no degradation in picture quality.

Where are you located? You may not have UHF stations in your area, but it could be that your local VHF channels will be moved to UHF channels so you may still get some use out of your antenna, or you could get cable so you won't have to worry about where your local stations wind up--on VHF or UHF. The UHF stations will be downconverted to VHF channels on cable anyway. The cable system in my area near Cleveland does that with the city's UHF channels (we have six such channels, on 19, 23, 25, 43, 55 and 61, with channels 19, 25 and 43 downconverted to channels 4, 10 and six respectively. Drives me nuts trying to find the stations sometimes, but that's the way they do it, I guess). This is done on our cable system and all others in the U.S. because it is easier to transmit VHF signals over coax cables; if direct over-the-air UHF signals were transmitted over your area's cable system there would very likely be problems with signal loss in long cable runs, among other things. In other words, higher frequency signals are more difficult to carry over cables; therefore, the UHFs are downconverted to VHF so there is little or no degradation in picture quality.

Ah, I got digital cable, but I still use the antenna in my room.
But when the digital channels will be on UHF, you'll need a UHF antenna, eh?

Or can you use a VHF antenna with the digital box, even if it says it's on UHF?

Anyway I got a UHF bowtie antenna I'm using as an AM antenna, but I doubt that will work well enough... even with a rooftop areal the TV stations are fuzzy.

Here in Seattle the local channel 5 NBC TV station just announced that it's 11 days 'til the death of NTSC...

Yep, saw that last night on the '68 Zenith rectangular color set I've been working on. They have been counting down here too. I hate this.

But if you ask me, this digital conversion is just a great big waste of time, money, and energy.
Soon this will happen to AM and FM radio.
Soon, not only that we won't get free TV anymore, but no more free radio either.

Maybe I misunderstood your post, but how is DTV not free?

And to anyone talking about emergency communications, get a VHF/UHF scanner. Find the nearest SKYWARN repeater to you - usually they're on the 2 meter band, FM. No subscription needed, all analog :)

2. There is no way radio can replace the modern severe weather coverage (doppler radar, etc) available on TV. A picture is truly worth 1000 words.

However, Doppler often doesn't tell you what's actually happening at ground level :) There's a reason local TV stations often get their reports from SKYWARN spotters on 2 meters or 440MHz...heck, during storms you can sometimes hear the tones on the repeater go off on TV :D

The average Joe knows nothing about SKYWARN and will not learn anyting about it unless the media promotes it. The average Joe does know about TV. I still maintain that comparted to he average person's alternative, a weather radio, the weather information presented on TV is worth 1000 weather radios. Knowingly reducing the reliablitlity of mainstream severe weather reporting is criminal in my opinion. (As to the proposed mobile TV spec-it is just that, proposed, the technology does not exist yet-at least in mass production).

As to being free, DTV (in good weather) is free if you have the converter boxes. I watch it quite a bit.

As to AM/FM, they are pushing so-called HD radio here quite a bit, but I am not sure it is catching on. There is no law in this case and the problem with retrofitting the hundreds of millions of AM/FM radios in automobiles is almost insurmountable. I expect AM/FM to be around for a long time.

As to AM/FM, they are pushing so-called HD radio here quite a bit, but I am not sure it is catching on. There is no law in this case and the problem with retrofitting the hundreds of millions of AM/FM radios in automobiles is almost insurmountable. I expect AM/FM to be around for a long time.

HD radio is being promoted to death here in northeastern Ohio (and the rest of the US) as well. An ad heard over Clear Channel O&O (owned and operated) stations these days (actually for the last couple of years) states, in no uncertain terms, that "It's time to upgrade!" but I don't know how well this is being received (pardon the pun) by the public.

I agree with you that AM and FM radio will likely be around for years and decades to come. However, many AM stations today are going silent as the companies that own them are finding that they cannot afford to maintain them and their companion FM station(s) as well. This happened to a 1kW daytime station about 25 miles south of here about five years ago. The station's owner, which already owns an FM station about 50 miles from here in the next county, sent its AM station's license back to the FCC for cancellation when the company (Music Express Broadcasting) discovered the AM station's transmitter and towers were so antiquated and in such bad shape (at least one of the towers was not anchored to the ground properly and could blow over in a strong wind--didn't necessarily have to be a tornado; those towers were so poorly anchored that one good 50-60 MPH wind gust could have probably toppled them in no time flat) that it would cost much more to update them than they wanted to spend at the time. Therefore, the AM station, which by this time had had no fewer than four formats during its 35-year existence, all of them (the last being a satellite feed from the Sporting News Radio network) failing miserably to draw sufficient numbers of listeners to keep it on the air, had no choice but to pull the plug at the end of its broadcast day on Memorial Day 2004, IIRC. The station was never heard from again.

FM radio as we know it on 88-108 MHz will probably, even likely be around for years/decades to come and will do well if only because, as you mentioned, there are so many (read millions) of FM receivers still in use in cars, home stereos, and combo FM/mp3 players, etc. To retrofit these millions of radios for HD would not necessarily be impossible, but from a cost standpoint it would not be practical.

The idea of using HD (hybrid digital) subchannels is FM's equivalent of DTV's subchannel arrangements. FM stations using HD subchannels can play several different formats at the same time by using multicasting technology, without having to put more actual full-power stations on the air. One station here in northeastern Ohio, for example, plays classic hits on its main signal (105.7 MHz), 1950s-'60s oldies on one of its HD subchannels, and '60s-'70s oldies on the second. Another station here plays '80s-'90s hits on its primary frequency (106.5 MHz) and has all comedy programming (labeled, at least on RadioStationWorld.com, as LaughLaugh) on an HD subchannel. Not to be outdone, the CC O&O country-western station in Cleveland has an HD subchannel that carries all classic country, while the main signal at 99.5 is current country music.....and the list goes on.

only 9 days left...

It's official. Our local ABC affiliate will discontinue analog broadcasting @ 9 AM on 6/12/09. Also at 9 AM, their digital signal will move from channel 49 back down to channel 11 (the old analog spot). This station went on the air in 1953 and I will record it's analog send-off.

ABC here cut their analog transmitting power...

Is the cutoff time 12 noon or Friday night at midnight ?

Three days left until the end of analog TV (actually it will be two at midnight; I'm writing this at 9:43 p.m. EST Tuesday, June 9).

There is a "talkback" forum on our local FOX TV station during the six and ten p.m. news that had a message tonight (during the 6 p.m. newscast) from a viewer who seemed somewhat less than enthusiastic about the switch to digital on June 12. "Once you guys go digital on Friday, I AM GONE!", the message began. I don't remember the rest of the message, but from the looks of it it seemed like this gentleman was ready to quit watching TV entirely after channel 8 (WJW-TV, the FOX station in Cleveland) turns off its analog signal in just over two days. At least two other stations in this area will pull the plug on analog on 06.12 at 10 a.m.: WKYC-TV, the NBC station in Cleveland, and WUAB-TV, the MyTV affiliate here, will stop analog at the same time. WOIO-TV 19, the CBS station in our area, will end analog roughly the same time as WUAB, probably because both stations are operated by the same company, Raycom Media.

I wonder how many other people will actually kick the TV habit for good after June 12 rather than get cable/satellite or a converter box, or a new TV. Needless to say, if a huge number of viewers give up on TV after the transition (the same, the very same worst-case scenario conjured up several years ago when digital TV was just in its infancy), it won't be good for the stations, the networks or their advertisers. I also wonder how many stations will go dark because of lost ad revenue after 06.12. Hmmm. :scratch2:

On this evening before the digital changeover, the local station hosted a brief viewer call in Q&A session concerning the DTV transition tomorrow. The very first caller was asking what she could do to continue using her battery operated portable TV's in the event of bad weather, etc. The answer was that her TV's would be rendered useless since the converter boxes were not battery operated. They suggested that she buy a new portable TV that would receive a digital signal.

They are saying that a few minutes before 9 AM, they will make one final announcement as to what's going on and then they will flip the switch. Needless to say, I will be recording the event.

There is one TV station (formerly a home-shopping channel) on analog channel 67 in Canton, Ohio, 60 miles southwest of here, that made the switch early to digital (a couple months ago), but did not make a big Hollywood production of it; it just scrolled a message across the top of the screen at 11:57 p.m. EST or so, saying that it would be terminating its analog signal at midnight. The message was repeated a few times, then, at one minute after midnight....poof, no more analog. I didn't notice the difference as I have cable (Time Warner), so the picture remained after midnight (though it seemed clearer, to me anyway, in digital than it had been in analog), but I'm sure other viewers with antennas connected directly to their TVs (no converter box) noticed it immediately after the station signed off its analog signal. Since this station is currently (and has been for some time) showing nothing much other than infomercials, however, I don't think very many folks will miss it.

One other station in the same area, a religious station on channel 17, will actually sign off the air permanently, either at 12:01 a.m. or early in the morning of 06.12, so that the NBC television network affiliate in Cleveland, WKYC-TV, can move to that channel from its current digital channel position, channel 2. I don't honestly believe that WKYC-TV will make a big to-do about pulling its analog signal off the air either; it may very well do the same as the infomercial station in Canton did, just putting a scrolling crawler either at the top or bottom of the screen announcing that it will end analog transmissions at 10:01 a.m. EST June 12, and reminding viewers with converter boxes to rescan them so as to find the station on its new digital channel, channel 17.

As far as WOIO, analog 19, the CBS station in Cleveland, and WEWS, analog 5, the ABC affiliate in the same area (not to mention the PBS, FOX and CW affiliates--one of two PBS stations we get here on cable has been operating in digital for some time already, and the other just recently, as in a couple days ago, announced via a screen crawl that it is now operating at full digital power), are concerned, however, I don't know where they will wind up on northeastern Ohio viewers' converter boxes or ATSC tuners. I expect they will be on UHF channels. There has been an announcement on the ABC station, however, to the effect that, immediately after the digital transition, viewers in fringe or outlying areas may receive the station poorly or not at all over the air. The reason for this is that the station's engineers are still doing work on the new digital transmitter and antenna, as well as still having to remove the old analog antenna so that the digital one can be mounted in its place. This should resolve any reception problems viewers in fringe areas might have once the digital antenna is at the top of the tower, although the station has made a point of reminding viewers that this work will not be completed until some time in July.

Time-Warner Cable is currently advertising a special on basic cable service (broadcast channels only) for $9.95 per month, locked in for 12 months. I guess they are just as concerned as anyone that some people may lose their TV reception after 06.12, and they don't want that to happen. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if other U.S. cable operators are following suit as well.

That's the way the other channels around here did in February. A crawler explaining what was going to happen, analog one minute, snow the next. I recorded the event; but, ended up using the tape for something else since the turn-off was nothing exciting and those stations were fairly new in comparison to the ABC affiliate. WTOK was, I believe, Meridian's first TV station and has been on the air since '53. So, I want to document their analog turn off.

Oh, and my avatar is a "TV mountain" displaying the last night of analog. A 3.5" '78 Panasonic portable B&W, a 17" '77 Zenith CCII, a '79 19" RCA colortrak, a '70 Zenith 12" B&W, an '81 RCA 12" B&W, a '77 13" Sharp color, and an '87 Sanyo/Sears console. All receiving analog for the last time. I've got a VCR connected to my daily watcher, an '81 19" Philco, to record the last few hours of analog TV. I'll also have the '69 23" Zenith B&W console in my bedroom on for the event.

Currently Friday June-12, 12:54 AM, and I've got on WABC Channel 7 VHF, analog in NYC.

The program is coming in crystal clear on a 1966 General Electric tube port-a-color 11" color tv made in Syracuse, NY. :D

They are discussing the transition; got a flat-CRT late model 'SPC' set with apparently an LG/Zenith ATSC OTA receiver, and the local news gents are explaining the need to rescan the converters following the "...end of [snowy] analog broadcasting FOREVER..." at approx 12:30 PM for them.

I have not done this since 2004...but WHERE is my "VTR" !

Think I still have some shrinkwrapped T-120 Maxells in the upstairs closet.

Will post back, remember this thread is crucial for the very few who still care.

I like the avatar, radiotvnut, it is excellent. :thmbsp:

I learned that WSB-TV and WAGA-TV here in Atlanta are both pulling the plug at 12:30 p.m. Friday. I have a 12" TG&Y B&W set radiotvnut gave me on my way up here; I fashioned a coat hanger for an antenna :) I'm going to take a movie of WAGA's final moments with my wife's digital camera.

WAGA is the only station I can get halfway decent reception on - I think these apartments have metal framing, as I could never pick up AM stations at night without walking outside.

P.S. If anybody near New Orleans sees the end of 4/6/8/12 or 26, please PM me and let me know how they ended it.

Hi AUdubon-

Just tonight I was explaining the 'realities behind the switchover' to some close friends, and the best way I could put it was how you mentioned. Stick a paperclip in the terminal and you'll get at least a few snowy channels, all of the time...

The following message will sound corny, but I suddenly feel the need to do it. It sadly is the product of the son of people who were addicted to television YEARS ago, so I suppose it's inevitable as much as one can try and run from it.

From the cigarette-smoke-filled households of my youth, to my early adventures with vhs taping, analog has always been full of just purely interesting and entertaining moments. Don't get me wrong, I've probably watched more news and public broadcasting than anything, but growing up I loved sitcoms and cartoons.

Cya old pal. Don't worry I'll still save the Archer adjustable rabbit ears and the old sets. Just hope the little switchmode power supplies know who they're messin' with :D:D

Just sitting here before leaving for work and decided to rescan the bedroom TV to see what's happening in the Chicago market. Noticed co-channel interference on channel 2 analog, which usually means tropo from Milwaukee.

Switching to channel 4 doesn't get me Milwaukee, but WWL in New Orleans! It's been coming and going about every 15-20 seconds but is in color and moderately clear when it does come in. Google Maps gives me a distance of around 900 miles - and this is off of the backside of my attic-mounted antenna.

I remember seeing a lot of analog DX back in the late 80's/early 90's and thought it was impressive to get a signal from a couple hundred miles away, but this has them beat.

Won't get to see most of the transitions today; I'll be at work. Thought about bringing the laptop with a tuner stick, but have too much to do. One I don't want to miss, though, is WCIU (26) here in Chicago. They're running a special at (I think) 11:45PM for their signoff. They are the first analog UHF to sign on in Chicago (1964), and will be the last to sign off (although WFLD-32 is supposed to be doing nightlight duty).

-Jim

Switching to channel 4 doesn't get me Milwaukee, but WWL in New Orleans! It's been coming and going about every 15-20 seconds but is in color and moderately clear when it does come in. Google Maps gives me a distance of around 900 miles - and this is off of the backside of my attic-mounted antenna.

That's a trip! WWL is signing off at 11:59 tonight, and will air a DTV notice for the next 30 days, so you may be able to pick it up again.

It has already happened in Nashville TN , channels 2, 5, and 8 are just static now, channel 4 WSMV just has a a single frame picture stating is has shut down broadcasting on analog.

Saw (and recorded) WTOK-11 flip the switch at 9 AM. About 8:30, they said something like "we've been counting down the days to the end of analog broadcasting for months and it's now finally here". About 8:56, they aired the news director and the station GM who again explained what was about to happen and that they were giving the cutoff honors to one of the engineers who installed the transmitter back in '74. They then showed one of the original test patterns from 1953 and said that this was one of the first things that was seen on WTOK and would be one of the last things seen on the analog channel. Finally, they showed the engineer with his hand on the switch while they counted 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, (SNOW, end of an era).

I'm glad I recorded the event and I'm happy that the station bothered to go out with some class. The other stations didn't do anything. They were there one minute and gone the next.

Maybe I'll one day get a youtube account and figure out how to upload the video. If anyone here has a way of posting videos somewhere, I think it would be interesting to see what other stations did.

WAGA-TV dedicated the first half hour of their noon newscast to the cutoff. The first chief engineer, who is 99-years-old and turned the transmitter on in 1949, had the honor of turning the transmitter off shortly before 12:30 P.M.

WSB-TV turned off a minute or so later, the switch was pulled by two of their veteran newsmen. Unfortunately, they reduced power in the 11 o'clock hour, and the picture was very marginal.

I recorded the end of these two stations, and will post them on my Youtube account when I get back home Tuesday. (Youtube account "audubon5425")

The only analog signal I see from the Seattle market is the UHF translator for KSTW on UHF 62. I thought KING 5 was going to keep the xmtr up for a couple weeks running a PSA about the transition, but I cant see that either. Maybe they dropped the power. I've kind of let my antenna farm rot since I went to cable, so my "pulling power" isn't what it used to be. I didn't actually see any of them drop. I had KIRO 7 analog on here, went to answer the phone at 9:00 and when I turned around a few seconds later, they were gone.

The only analog signal I see from the Seattle market is the UHF translator for KSTW on UHF 62. I thought KING 5 was going to keep the xmtr up for a couple weeks running a PSA about the transition, but I cant see that either. Maybe they dropped the power. I've kind of let my antenna farm rot since I went to cable, so my "pulling power" isn't what it used to be. I didn't actually see any of them drop. I had KIRO 7 analog on here, went to answer the phone at 9:00 and when I turned around a few seconds later, they were gone.

That's the 3rd time you've posted that same thing. Once is enough, please.

The only analog signal I see from the Seattle market is the UHF translator for KSTW on UHF 62. I thought KING 5 was going to keep the xmtr up for a couple weeks running a PSA about the transition, but I cant see that either. Maybe they dropped the power. I've kind of let my antenna farm rot since I went to cable, so my "pulling power" isn't what it used to be. I didn't actually see any of them drop. I had KIRO 7 analog on here, went to answer the phone at 9:00 and when I turned around a few seconds later, they were gone.

I don't know where the duplicate posts came from.....I did loose my connection for a few minutes; maybe the computer kept trying and stacked the posts in a cache somewhere. Sorry

All of the Washington DC station's has sign off at around 11:30am - 12:01pm. WTTG FOX 5 was the only one I saw that signed off by doing the national anthem. MPT was the last one to sign off at 12:28pm. I'm hoping the digital channel's reception will improve after they move them around.

I'm in Canada, but maybe the stations here are powering down their transmitters. 2 channels have shitty recepton, and the other one has a little snow, as well as the french channel.

Just sitting here before leaving for work and decided to rescan the bedroom TV to see what's happening in the Chicago market. Noticed co-channel interference on channel 2 analog, which usually means tropo from Milwaukee.

Switching to channel 4 doesn't get me Milwaukee, but WWL in New Orleans! It's been coming and going about every 15-20 seconds but is in color and moderately clear when it does come in. Google Maps gives me a distance of around 900 miles - and this is off of the backside of my attic-mounted antenna.

I remember seeing a lot of analog DX back in the late 80's/early 90's and thought it was impressive to get a signal from a couple hundred miles away, but this has them beat.

Won't get to see most of the transitions today; I'll be at work. Thought about bringing the laptop with a tuner stick, but have too much to do. One I don't want to miss, though, is WCIU (26) here in Chicago. They're running a special at (I think) 11:45PM for their signoff. They are the first analog UHF to sign on in Chicago (1964), and will be the last to sign off (although WFLD-32 is supposed to be doing nightlight duty).

-Jim

Well, today (6/12)was the best day for Sporadic-E skip in the last 10+ years! I work nights, and had been working some long hours on top of that, so I missed our first analog sign-offs, Chans. 2 and 18 at 9:00 AM. As soon as I got in the door, I flipped on the 12" Samsung B&W in the kitchen, and WESH Chan. 2 had their static message about needing a converter box to continue watching their station, but I noticed some co-channel interference lines. I flipped around, and found a message on Chan. 5: "THERE IS NO MORE ANALOG TELEVISION", but couldn't make out the call sign in fine print below.

I went to the bedroom and turned on the knob-tuned GE PC-chassis set connected to the outside antenna, turned the antenna North, and found out it was WNEM, from Bay City, Michigan. I also picked up WTAE Chan. 4, from Pittsburgh PA. When our local CBS Chan. 6 WKMG went off the air at 12:30 PM, I got a snowy FOX 6 from Milwaukee WI.

Over about the next hour, I picked up KSTP Ch. 5 from St. Paul Minnesota, Canadian stations on Chan. 5 & 6 (Global TV), WTMJ Ch. 4 from Milwaukee. They had already signed off and had a static screen with a big TMJ 4 logo. Came in good for almost a whole hour. Also got WKYC Ch. 3 from Cleveland. they were giving directions on places to go to get DTV help.

By 2:00 PM it all died out. Our local Chan. 6 came back on in the afternoon, running the "how to hook up a converter box" video. They'll be running it until July 12.

It would be great if we got a few more days of Sporadic-E. With most of the stations gone, and most of the remaining ones showing just a text screen, it'll be easy to ID the stations.

Mike

We used to get CBS (WFSB 3) and ABC (WTNH 8) affiliates here in southern rural CT...in analog...not perfect, but it was watchable. My indoor homebrew DTV antenna doesn't pick them up (over 30 miles away); so TV is gone :tears: I suspect that we'll get signals again once the leaves are off the trees. I get below a signal level of 30 on a few stations, but not enough to get a steady picture. During this past winter (with the leaves off the trees) we got a couple of info-mercial type stations, and sometimes CPTV (Public TV).

Goodbye to TV :sadwave:

I think that the FCC seriously mis-calculated those of us that don't have or want rooftop antennas or cable/satellite TV. Something just doesn't seem right about having a signal (reliable) one day, and then it's gone the next. Also, digital signals are very sensitive to bad weather--not good for weather alerts.