Everyone ready for the big digital TV switch?

[LynneSin]

I think I still have a coupon for a convertor but never used it.

[Iggo]

1. Been ready for about ten years, I think.

[mwooldri]

2. Have been for some years now.

I purchased a couple of digital tuners way before the converter box program started.

Also to anyone on the board who is having trouble with digital TV reception and is using an indoor antenna I have this piece of advice for you: try to rig up an outdoor antenna. In some cases, amplification may be required. Most problems I find happen to be with inadequate TV antennas.

[Captain Hilts]

6. I'm in an apt. building and I face away from ALL the DC area transmitters. nt

[mwooldri]

36. Hmmm...

... get one of these, aim at Baltimore :)

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?main_cat=03&PROD=AD-DB8

It is about 3 1/2 ft wide and 2 1/3 ft tall, so it isn't small... but it's one of the best UHF antennas money can buy and will work somewhat on high-VHF.

If your profile is correct though, you're not that far away from the DC transmitter sites. An outdoor antenna is almost always better than an indoor antenna anyway.

[Captain Hilts]

38. I'm in an apt. building and can't use an outdooe antenna. Sucks. nt

[Rhythm]

3. Our TV died a month ago...

So when we buy a new one at the end of the summer, it'll be digitally compatable.

[LynneSin]

4. I was going to ask if you even miss it

:shrug:

[Rhythm]

35. We do... but not for the reasons you'd think

We don't have cable or sattelite service here, and an outside antenna would have to be 40' high to do any good. So, we haven't had regular access to television programming for several years.

What we do have is a pretty good selection of DVDs that now can only be watched on this old 15" monitor, and a Wii that is sitting idle while i get even rustier at "Guitar Hero"!

I could care less if i watch anything on TV, save for the news. And even then i can get more in-depth information online.

[Captain Hilts]

5. No. I have the special antenna and everything and can't pull in a damned thing. Out of luck. nt

[LynneSin]

8. Do you need a convertor box coupon? I didn't use one of mind

The other I gave with an old TV I sold about a year ago.

I was at Target yesterday and they had a big pile of the convertor boxes and they were the same amount as the coupon.

[LeftyMom]

12. The coupons expire.

If you had them a year ago, your coupon isn't good anymore.

[LynneSin]

15. you're kidding me - that kinda sucks

Oh well - if it's useless might as well pitch it

[Captain Hilts]

13. I've got a converter box. My apt. faces north and the broadcast antennas are to the south. nt

[jeff30997]

7. TV ? Digital TV ?

What is it ? Some kind of PedEgg™ for fingers ? :shrug:

[Deep13]

9. What, again?

:shrug:

[Orsino]

11. Yeah. How much more digital is it gonna get?

:wtf:

[bigwillq]

10. Yes

I already have a cable box.

[flvegan]

14. It's only taken what, like two years?

How hard can it be to get boxes to everyone that needs one.

[LynneSin]

16. Enough for them to delay this program 4 months

But Obama said enough is enough and the conversion goes thru friday.

I can see all those $40 convertor kits will be marked up to $100 just to make a profit off of this.

[Captain Hilts]

18. Um, boxes aren't enough for MANY folks. nt

[cemaphonic]

20. well, in my case I have the box

What I don't have is an antenna on my 35' roof, a chore that I have been not looking forward to at all. I rarely watch any tv that isn't on Netflix anyway, so it'll happen when I get around to it, but just getting the converter boxes isn't necessarily enough to be ready.

[flvegan]

22. I thought the box WAS the antenna?

See, I had half the story.

[cemaphonic]

24. nah, it's just a little box about the size of a portable dvd player.

It takes the digital broadcast from the antenna and converts it into an analog signal that an older tv will accept. The problem is that if you have spotty analog reception (in my case, because I've been getting by with rabbit ears on a steep forested hillside) you can go from "fuzzy signal" to "no signal"

I wouldn't be surprised if someone thought to kill two birds with one stone by making an antenna that had the DAC built into it however.

[lizziegrace]

28. That's what I thought

but if you had an antenna before, you'll still have to run it to your converter box.

[LeftyMom]

31. Try ten.

One of the first trainings at my first job was about this. That would have been in 1998. :rofl:

They'd already delayed the transition several times. Originally it was going to be in 2002, if I recall correctly.

[DarkTirade]

17. I'm as ready as anyone can be.

I don't even own a TV. :P

[Mojambo]

19. I download all the shows I watch. n/t

[BarenakedLady]

21. I got a converter for my old tv

I only get 8 stations and FOX isn't one of them. I'm not sure if I'm happy about that or not.

[Inchworm]

23. Just another slap to the impoverished hillbilly population

No digital signals will be in most areas around here. It's either satelitte or get all your news from church. I guess the old farmer types can get all they need from the weekly 10 page newspaper...

Most will happily do without outside influences. It is a great step backwards in broadcast TV. If something major happens in the world in July, many won't even know about it until August. Luckily, the story will be so watered down that it won't matter by then.

:rant:

:bang:

[Captain Hilts]

33. Yeah, but it works great in flat places like Houston. nt

[Rambis]

25. Bought the box

it worked for about a half hour then went blue and I haven't got another one.

[Ramocles]

26. Its unlikely that digital TV will completely replace

standard broadcasts. The old technology will probably hang around for another decade.

[Swede]

29. Analogue signals will no longer be broadcast.

It was in all the papers.

[Swede]

27. Look how big the switch is!!!!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

30. Yes, and fortunately, I have an HDTV.

[elocs]

32. I've been ready for years. Years. n/t

[Fire Walk With Me]

34. And will the major cessation of broadcast signal cause aliens to wonder if Earth has ended?

[pokerfan]

39. Signals will still be broadcast, digitally encoded though.

Aliens should have no problem figuring out the digital encoding. It would be their own fault if they're not ready as we have been broadcasting the transition news for over a year now.

[Fire Walk With Me]

41. They'll just laugh at our tiny bit ratio.

[pokerfan]

42. Oh sure, they're laughing

But they probably can't wait for the next season of Desperate Housewives.

[mike_c]

37. what's that?

:rofl:

No TV here!

[InvisibleTouch]

40. I'm only vaguely aware of what, if anything, I need to do.

If I have to buy an antenna, it's not worth the expense to me. I haven't had cable in some 15 years, and haven't really missed it. Of the channels I do get, there are only one or two shows I watch on a semi-regular basis, and those I can probably find online. I might just replace that big monster television set with a fishtank.

[abq e streeter]

43. No, and not getting the box...gonna see if I can go cold turkey; no TV at all

who knows, I might get a lot more stuff done, and then again, I might freak out from withdrawal ( although I don't watch lots of TV now) and frantically scramble to find a converter box after 24 hours...