It finally happened

[radiotvnut]

Comcast finally moved the last few analog channels to digital.

Up until about a year ago, we had cable channels 2-67 still available via analog delivery and could be received on a traditional cable ready TV without the need for a cable box. Channels 2-13 could be received on any set with a mechanical tuner.

Then, they moved all channels above 12 to digital and the only way to watch them was to obtain either the big Motorola Comcast digital cable box or the low end digital transport adapter (DTA). They would allow you one big box + two DTA's or three DTA's without the big box for no additional charge. Additional DTA's could be rented for a few dollars a month. We got our three free DTA's for the three TV's that get the most use. The kitchen TV and the bedroom TV are only used for watching the local news; so, those sets were connected directly to the cable, since we didn't feel the need to rent additional DTA's.

Tonight, I turned on the kitchen TV to watch the evening news while eating supper. I was greeted with snow on all channels. I then checked the bedroom TV and got the same results; so, it's obvious they have moved everything to digital.

And, I still don't plan on renting more DTA's. The other two TV's will be connected to antennas and DTV converter boxes.

I'm really not that thrilled with the digital service. The living room TV is bad about freezing up and/or losing the picture. Once, the locked up and I had to call Comcast for them to send a signal down the line to reprogram the box. Sometimes, the wrong channel will appear on the screen or the channel will not change. The other night, I lost sound and the only way I could get it back was to unplug and reapply AC power to the DTA box.

And, the cable companies will probably end up going belly up if the service does not get better and if the price keeps going up.