DTV transition "Soft test" on 11-20-08 in Chicago

[drh4683]

I heard this on the news and it was also in today's tribune. Apparently the FCC will "visit" chicago on 11-20 and shut off all the analog transmitters for 30-60 seconds. A message will appear in the snow indicating that OTA users should call a number for further DTV information.


So from what I gather, this is like a "pretest" to see how the public will react. A good way to get the message out I guess. As a person against change, I do not look forward to the day everything analog shuts down. I hate digital TV. Whenever I watch DTV with the converter, I get alot of intermittent audio drop out, even with a very strong signal. I hate it. Im so tired of hearing about digital this and digital that and digitally remasterd and better than ever etc etc. Its a shame my natural sense of hearing is analog only......... IMO, digital has its practical purposes, but its not for everything.

Story here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,4081006.story

[Fast_Eddie]

The FCC is "visiting" several cities they have identified as "at risk" based on surveys- too many people don't know about the transition. They're coming here too. I suspect there will be a "soft test" in Denver too.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by drh4683

I heard this on the news and it was also in today's tribune. Apparently the FCC will "visit" chicago on 11-20 and shut off all the analog transmitters for 30-60 seconds. A message will appear in the snow indicating that OTA users should call a number for further DTV information.


So from what I gather, this is like a "pretest" to see how the public will react. A good way to get the message out I guess. As a person against change, I do not look forward to the day everything analog shuts down. I hate digital TV. Whenever I watch DTV with the converter, I get alot of intermittent audio drop out, even with a very strong signal. I hate it. Im so tired of hearing about digital this and digital that and digitally remasterd and better than ever etc etc. Its a shame my sense of hearing is analog only......... Im working on a transverse wave to digital sound converter, so i can hear better than anyone else. IMO, digital has its practical purposes, but its not for everything.

Story here:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...,4081006.story

Digital might be OK if the picture remained clear. It is very hard for me to receive PBS's digital signal while their analog signal comes in fairly well. I don't know if it's technical problems or something else; but, sometimes the NBC and CBS stations will go dark (as in no signal) on digital and be fine on analog.

BTW Doug, were you able to get your "problem" DTV box fixed? I remember you starting a thread a while back concerning your box failing.

[peverett]

I am not against change that actually works for the better(i. e. fuel injection for automobiles), but am against change that is just driven by greed(as I believe this one is). I believe the average person who depends on broadcast TV will be worse off with DTV, especially in poor weather.

[drh4683]

Originally Posted by peverett

I am not against change that actually works for the better(i. e. fuel injection for automobiles), but am against change that is just driven by greed(as I believe this one is). I believe the average person who depends on broadcast TV will be worse off with DTV, especially in poor weather.

I agree with you completely.

As for the converter, it actually works fine now. It hasn't acted up at all. Then again, I dont use it too much. I wonder if there is a thermal cut out in this unit? I need to open it up again and take a look. Perhaps an intermittent cap. I am stunned with the amount of lytics in these and the extreme heat being genererated. The extreme heat will only lead to early failure of the lytics if used constantly.

[peverett]

I have several DTV converters. The best of the coupon applicable ones has been the one sold by Radio Shack. With the same type antenna(amplified rabbit ears) it runs rings around the RCA model sold at Wal-Mart. On top of that, the RCA model tends to crap out, with re-starting needed.

I also have some DTV receivers from a defunct CATV company. These require an external component video to NTSC converter, but seem to be the highest quality ones that I have. They are larger than the common ones and do not seem to get hot at all. The reception on these also seems to be better.

I have also have a couple DTV converters made by RJtech and sold by Newegg.com. These work ok, but also get very hot.

[mr_fixer]

The problem i have with the digital changeover is that the left hand didn't know what the right was doing. i signed up for the converter coupons and received 2 of them but i couldn't find a retailer that had them in stock, i searched for the 90 day period and no one had them, now my coupons have expired and now i am S. O. L,
it sounds like digital is going to be a grand fiasco, I hope they have enough complaints for the FCC to allow a 2 band standard, HDTV and SDTV like AM and fM, Logan

[MRX37]

I don't mind that DTV exists, but I don't want the analog standard to disappear.

I can go out in the garage right now and with a pair of rabbit ears, I can pick up all local channels, and even some distant ones. DTV makes picking up distant channels damn near impossible.

[radiotvnut]

Tonight, it was raining and I decided to run an experiment on DTV reception here. The local stations (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, CW) were all coming in with signal levels in the 60's and 70's. Normally, these come in the 80's and low 90's. The PBS transmitter is about 35 miles away and is doing good if it moves the meter into the 50's and there is often major signal drop out. Tonight, there was just a blank screen with virtually no signal strength. I tuned the TV to PBS's analog channel 14 and it came in very clear. I can receive analog channel 34, (CW) which is about 75 miles away, with a bow-tie antenna during most times of the day and night. The picture is not the best; but, it's watchable. I often run an update scan with the DTV converter just to see if any distant digital stations are detected. So far, none have been detected.

I am unaware of any plans to turn off analog early in my area. All the channels are constantly running DTV PSA's and CBS is running crawlers across the bottom of the screen concerning the DTV transition.

I'm going to miss analog DX'ing and knob-turning when DTV fully takes over. Maybe something will happen at the last minute and we'll get another extension.

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

Maybe something will happen at the last minute and we'll get another extension.

It's not looking like it. They seem pretty set on next Feb.

[ChrisW6ATV]

I will not miss analog TV at all when it goes away in February. Nothing about it, zilch, zip. Nada. Digital is so much more stable and smooth, with more channels, has higher quality (not even to mention HDTV which makes SD analog really look like garbage by comparison). And, all this is on the same antennas I have used for analog TV, though I use a smaller antenna now for my all-digital reception. I started watching digital TV in 2000 and have not watched anything analog (except to test my antique TV sets) in probably six years.

But... This forum is so full of people who whine and moan and groan about digital TV and nit-pick and concentrate on its relatively few drawbacks. Maybe I am in the wrong place.

[kcollins4]

Sounds like it.

[Phil Nelson]

Originally Posted by mr_fixer

now my coupons have expired

Can't you have a friend or relative apply for coupons and give you the cards when they arrive?

Phil Nelson

[zenith2134]

SD analog blows dtv away. For this simple reason: It is not compressed. Thats just my opinion.

[JohnVF]

I don't watch TV over the air, so I have no base for opinion on it. I do, however, work in the television business, as in, I make TV commercials. And all I know is having two standards of broadcast is an expensive pain in the butt on my end. Just this morning I had to watch the same 2 seconds of a commercial over and over because there was some sort of anomaly caused by down-conversion to standard definition from HD in the master tape of a commercial we'd done.

If you are watching HD on an SD set, then yes it probably looks not so great, but don't throw the rest of us to the hounds because we want to see the full (or mostly full) potential of the film that was actually shot. Especially those of us who spend hours and hours of our lives trying to create something and have it look as best we can.

But I only make some of the stuff that is broadcast..I actually don't watch a lot of TV myself, and don't see the harm in having two formats for a bit longer. But it really is a PITA on my end, just a logistical mess. For what it's worth, the HD broadcast on my cable is vastly superior SD on the same channels (I get both).

I just don't get judging a technology when you don't have the proper means to actually see what it's capable of. I don't judge the capability of LP on a BSR changer....no I'm not calling SD sets BSR changers, they're excellent at analogue signal reception, but they don't have the ability to extract what digital TV is all about. The converter box is simply trying make something do what it wasn't designed for. I would think that those converter boxes you unfortunaley are having to buy are down-converting the HD signal to SD...of course that's going to look terrible. it looks terrible when we do it here at work on very very expensive electronics. But digital looks stunning on my TV. Standard looks like I'm looking at the film we shot through gauze.