OT: Digital TV

15 years ago

I live just outside of Wilmington, NC. Our area went to all digital broadcasting in Sep and we were totally unprepared even though we had already bought the digital converter boxes.

All of the information we were being given said that if your regular tv got good reception then you would get better reception with digital. NOT TRUE! Our tvs got NO reception at all after the switch.

I went out and bought a digital tv and could only pick up 1 channel. I went back out and bought an "expensive to me" antenna that was highly recommended. Most of the time the reception is good, but there are lots of times that we get the dreaded "no signal" screen. Or we get the picture with no sound. Last night 2 of our channels were out for over an hour. Of course, I missed the last few minutes of "House".

They say that roof-top antennas are the way to go. I think a lot of our problems are with the broadcasting and not our personal set-up, but you won't hear that info. We even lost a couple of PBS channels because they can't broadcast them all at full-strength.

Yes, the digital pictures are amazing, but it's such a pain. When do we lose signal? Not too often...only when it's windy, when it rains, when it's hot, when it's cold & when it's perfect...

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (7)

yachter123
15 years ago
Basically, they are trying to force everyone into a sattelite system, such as Direct TV or one of the other ones, or a cable system.

I think if you stay with antenna only, your service will be less than desirable, unfortunately!! I thought this wasn't supposed to happen til Feb. and I thought it was supposed to be nationwide, how did your area do it now???

Sounds like the converter box is not going to do the job they promised!!!!
jamie_mt
15 years ago
Yikes! That's a scary thought. We have a rooftop antenna, and so far the converter boxes work fine to bring in the digital signal just as regularly as the analog signal. But we don't use the converter box most of the time yet, simply because channels like Fox and our PBS station haven't switched to digital yet.

I've always had a rooftop antenna though - without it, we wouldn't be able to get Fox, ABC or PBS, even on analog. They aren't that expensive...might be something to consider. Mine was $50, I think...but that was 8 years ago (when I bought my first house). Pretty easy to install too, really.

We won't be buying a digital TV anytime soon...our analog sets work just fine, and the new TV's are way overpriced. I'd go without first, I think...and hubby agrees.

Head over to the Fox web site - you should be able to catch the last few minutes of House there (I know it's not the same, but still - it was a good last few minutes!).
Related Discussions
Receiving digital TV on analog TV
Q
Comments (2)
Depends what you mean by "the sticks". Exactly where do you live? OTA digital tv could be available to you depending on where you live, but you'll still need a converter box to receive it. Check with your local stations to see if they are transmitting OTA digital, or, like the guy said, go dish.
...See More
Since the advent of digital TV can one use an antenna?
Q
Comments (7)
We just bought a little portable digital HD TV and it gets at least 10 channels in Madison, Wisconsin with only its internal antenna (the antenna is not on the outside) and the picture is great, so you can get great digital TV reception without an antenna, but I am sure the number of channels you get depends upon your location. We get channels that I did not know were broadcast over the airwaves in our area. We got the portable digital HD TVs for $30 over Christmas (after all the sales and coupons) so you may want to borrow or purchase one of those to test it out before investing in upgrading your antenna.
...See More
Yet another converter box/digital TV question
Q
Comments (6)
You might get a better signal once they do the switch-over in February. For now (at least in my area) they are broadcasting the digital signals UHF. I have contacted one of the engineers at the CBS affiliate in Des Moines, and his email explains a lot. This was written this past summer: It's actually not an issue with signal strength, but rather many stations are using *different* channels at this time for broadcasting digital, than they will be after 2/17/09. For instance, we are presently broadcasting our digital signal on UHF channel 31, because our VHF channel 8 is still tied up being an analog transmitter until next February. A digital receiver will already call our digital channels by their "virtual" names of "8-1" and "8-2", once the receiver initially discovers the signal on channel 31. But, our signal won't be on "real" channel 8 until next February. Channels 5, 11, and 13 in Des Moines are doing similarly with temporary UHF channels, and plans to move their digital signals down onto their traditional VHF channels next February. Other stations are going to stay on their present digital UHF channels, and are effectively already done with the digital transistion, except they still haven't shut off their analog transmitters. But even though our UHF channel is temporary, we are still broadcasting it at full strength. It's legally maxed-out at a level that is intended to replicate the coverage area of analog channel 8. BUT, receiving our digital signal just as well as analog depends on having home UHF reception that's just as good as VHF reception. Admittedly, for many homes, this is not the case. Some people have VHF-only TV antennas. Sometimes, the little "UHF loop" on their indoor rabbit ears don't pick up as well as the longer VHF aerials. In my opinion, the best kind of antenna is still the good-old-fashioned rooftop-style VHF/UHF antenna. But, even if you have one of those, old antenna wire or old signal splitters may be preventing the higher-frequency UHF channels from carrying down to the TV set as well as the VHF signals do. And, finally, UHF sometimes doesn't do as good of a job of holding up over long distances and penetrating natural or man-made obstructions as VHF signals do. Therefore, even though we are transmitting digital at "full power", there are a number of reasons that some viewers may not receive the digital as well as analog, most of them related to poor UHF reception. Some people may experience improved digital reception after 2/17/09, if they haven't already taken steps to improve UHF reception by that time.
...See More
digital tv converters/last day to get coupon
Q
Comments (0)
Tonight at midnight (7-31) is the last day you can apply/request to get a discount coupon for your converter from the government. We have cable now but have been thinking of canceling and our TVs wouldn't work then. So I requested one. This is the web site to get one: www.dtv2009.gov It says the coupon will expire 90 days after it is mailed out. Here is a link that might be useful: dtv coupon
...See More
bettyd_z7_va
15 years ago
Oh my goodness!
Did I understand that you don't have an outside antenna at this time? Maybe if you bite the bullet and get one it will help the problem.
We will be digital here in Feb. Got the coupons from the gov. for our $20 savings, but haven't bought the boxes yet. I'm in no hurry because I'm not a tv person. But you can be sure the 2 guys in my house will have those boxes in place before Feb!
Betty
Sandi_W
Original Author
15 years ago
One of our neighbors has a satellite system and they have as many problems with digital as we do & they're locked into an expensive system. In fact, we've been told that satellite systems may not be the answer. Another friend has Direct TV with many problems also. It seems cable is the best way to go, but then you don't get ANY service when cable goes out which can be often around here. I've never had an outside antenna, never needed one, but will be buying one now. I heard that the best one to buy is a cheapie old-timey one.
Our viewing area was chosen as the test site for digital broadcasting. We had many, many shows on local tv advising how to be ready for digital and NONE of them mentioned needing anything any different than what we already were using except the converter box.
I am going to watch House online today. Love that online tv expecially since we went digital.
kathleen_li
15 years ago
We have cable because we HAVE to. We can't get any signals with an antenna, as we are too far from the city. I hate the extra 100 bucks a month, but we have no choice.The cable co will take care of the switch in Feb., so they say, we'll see!
catiecupcake
15 years ago
Cable here is HORRIBLE so we have Direct TV...Right now because of DH's NFL Sunday Ticket, we pay close to $200 and you can bet I curse every month when I pay that...Just seems over priced but he loves it so whatcha gonna do?
donnawb
15 years ago
I have cable because when I moved here I had an antenna and didn't get but two channels. Got cable but that cable you couldn't get the local channels. They said I needed a larger and higher antenna. I live in the lighting capital. Still didn't get the local channels in that great. It was fine if you wanted to move your head from side to side.

Finally real cable came and stayed with it. Been looking into getting a dish but everyone I talked to said that they always go out. My DH is disabled and that is all he does all day.

I don't have cable in my kids rooms so don't know what they are going to do.

OT: Digital TV

Comments (7)

yachter123

jamie_mt

Related Discussions

bettyd_z7_va

Sandi_W
Original Author

kathleen_li

catiecupcake

donnawb

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

OT: Digital TV

Comments (7)

yachter123

jamie_mt

Related Discussions

bettyd_z7_va

Sandi_WOriginal Author

kathleen_li

catiecupcake

donnawb

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Sandi_W
Original Author