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#61
06-11-2009, 10:17 PM
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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.
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#62
06-11-2009, 11:57 PM
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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.  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. 
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#63
06-12-2009, 12:03 AM
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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.
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#64
06-12-2009, 12:05 AM
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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.
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#65
06-12-2009, 12:09 AM
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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
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#66
06-12-2009, 08:47 AM
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My last analog DX catch
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
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#67
06-12-2009, 10:33 AM
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Quote:
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#69
06-12-2009, 11:13 AM
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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.
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#70
06-12-2009, 11:40 AM
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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")
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#71
06-12-2009, 11:42 AM
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It looks like Seattle analog is 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.
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#72
06-12-2009, 11:44 AM
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Quote:
__________________
"If evil exists, it's a pair of train tracks, And the Devil is a railroad car." -Josh Ritter-
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#73
06-12-2009, 11:49 AM
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It looks like Seattle analog is 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.
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#74
06-12-2009, 11:51 AM
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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
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#75
06-12-2009, 11:55 AM
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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.
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