As I See It

Don’t go to your favorite store that carries new televisions and ask if you need a new TV for the digital conversion.   Of course you do!  NOT!

I keep testing salespeople in stores to see what their answers are.  They get mad when I suggest that their answers are just plain crap!  You don’t need a new TV,  in fact, if you have cable or satellite service, you don’t need to do anything.  But please don’t ask.

Factually, you will find you can use your existing television with no problems.  If you have cable or satellite, you will be able to use your older analog set without doing a thing.  If you use rabbit ears or a roof antenna, you will need to get a converter for $40 to $60 dollars. And, the government will give you up to 2 coupons that will give you a $40 discount when your purchase the device.  I have 3 of various manufacturers.

How do you get the coupons? 

• Click here and Apply online
• Call the Coupon Program toll-free 24-hour automated system 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009).
• Mail a coupon application to: PO BOX 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000. Download a Coupon Application here.
• Fax a coupon application to 1-877-DTV-4ME2 (1-877-388-4632)
• Deaf or hard of hearing callers may dial 1-877-530-2634 (English/TTY) or 1-866-495-1161 (Spanish/TTY). TTY Service is available from 9 AM - 9 PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday.

If you do ask, what will some of the salespeople tell you?  Here are some of the misstatements I have been told.  These are WRONG:  If you don’t get a new TV, you won’t get any television.  If you don’t get a new TV you won’t receive any of the shows broadcast in HD.  All shows broadcast on digital television will be HDTV and you need a new set to be able to watch them.  Your TV will go black on February 17th.  The old TV will be useless.

First of all, that is all bull dung.  Second, most people who use satellite and cable won’t see any change.  Only those that use an antenna will need the converter if they have an older TV.

Third, High Definition and digital television are not the same thing.  Digital television is how the signal gets to you TV if you use an indoor or rooftop antenna.  High Definition is one of the signals you can receive on digital, not all.  As I said in an earlier blog as an example, Vermont public television broadcasts one HD (high definition 16:9 widescreen) and three SD (standatd definition 4:3) signals.  All work on an older analog standard definition set with either an antenna converter, new built-in tuner, cable or satellite.  And the reverse is also true. A new wide-screen HD set will receive all signals and formats.

My sister lives 30 miles from me and uses a roof antenna to get a few Boston stations.  There is no way she will get those stations on free over-the-air digital television.  She and her husband were prepared to give up TV they claimed.  After much conversation over a couple of months with several people, they asked me to order DirecTV for their home.  I ordered the service, and requested three HD receivers for the three rooms they have TV’s in.  All their sets are analog and old, but each receiver puts out very good SD 4:3 signals or HD 16:9 for any set they migh use now or in the future.  And who knows, Santa may bring them an HD set for Christmas.  So the day after Thanksgiving. the big white van drives to their home to begin the install.

Do you need to buy a new widescreen HD television?  Only if you want one.  And prices have never been better, and should get even lower as we get nearer to Christmas.  So, ny advice? If you want one, go for it!

—-David S. Calef

You went out to your favorite electronics supplier and purchase a digital television converter.  Now what?  Plug it in and see what happens.

These boxes are not very complicated. Antenna in, television out, power and a remote.  So give it a spin and be ready for the shock of your life!

Be sure to RTFM.  Read The Freakin’ Manual.  Do what it tells you to set it up.  It will find any strong digital signal and display it for you.  This process can take a few minutes, so go get a drink or a snack.

When you start checking out the new digital channels, you will be in for a few discoveries.  The best is that stations now can transmit multiple signals.  In Vermont the public broadcasting station offers me channels 41.1, 41.2, 41.3 and 41.4.  The .1 channel is the full HD (high definition 16:9) channel, while the others are SD (standard definition 4:3).  In New Hampshire I get only 2 channels, one HD and the other SD.  On an older set, the HD signal can be received by your choice of letterbox with full width of the transmitted picture or cropped where you have only the center portion of the 4:3 SD signal.

The biggest issue I fear you will find is a large number of missing channels that you normally receive.  You have just experienced the cliff effect of the digital signals.  They are either 100% great signal, or nuttin’ honey.  Sadly, most people will lose one or more channels.

Now is the time for showing your outrage to your congressional representatives, the station you have lost, and the FCC.  Demand answers as to what they are going to do.  You won’t get a good answer.  The answer is, add cable or satellite.  Spend money will be the answers. Yours, not theirs.

Don’t get me wrong.  This digital conversion is the right thing to do.  It is just very ill prepared, not thought out, and is headed for disaster for a lot of citizens.  Unfortunately, you are either going to miss out on channels and programs, or you need to sucumb to cable or satellite.

One final word. The converter you just installed will block your analog signals you know have. So, after you are done testing, disconnect the antenna from the converter and reconnect it to your television.  There are a few units that will allow the analog signals to pass when you turn the power off on the converter.

—-David S. Calef

As the antenna users fall off the digital cliff on February 17, 2009, what do they do?

It appears the answer from the FCC and the broadcasters is simple.  Get cable, or satellite.  Well, I’m sorry, but that just is wrong.  These genuine American citizens likely have free over-the-air television because that is what they choose to afford, either out of necessity, or as a monetary choice.  The DTV cutover stinks of lobbyist influence at every level.

What happened to free broadcasting?  It got hijacked by big powerful cable operators and the satellite guys and their high priced lobbyists for the good of their own companies.  And congress and the FCC is letting it happen.  Why not free all the spectrum and tell the broadcasters to cease all transmission except by cable, satellite and internet.  That would free up tons of spectrum that could be auctioned.

The thing that makes me the madest is that the broadcasters themselves have their head in the sand.  So they realize what they are losing?  Do they care?  Or are they part of the problem?

Reality is we are going to have a mess on our hands on February 18th.  And the solution is only cable and satellite.  Some of the broadcast engineers recognize this and do care.  Most seem not to.  Not their problem.

The present nationwide February 17th cutover date should be abandoned.  Then cutovers by market. Smaller ones first, a month apart.  Didn’t Wilmington, Delaware teach anyone anything?  Or are they just putting the best face on it?  No, you can’t retreat entirely on the conversion. It is the right thing to do.  But more assistance has to be available, and a nationwide cutover isn’t going to do it.

What is congress going to do when hundreds of thousands of people start calling?  They will probably try to undo the cutover. But it will be too late.  Some broadcasters are jumping back on their original channels at cutover and can’t fall back.

Broadcasters need to wake up. The FCC needs to see what’s happening. And congress needs to look at the true warnings from Wilmington before the cutover.  Barack…… where are you?

—-David S. Calef

I have been in love with television and broadcasting since we got an old black & white TV when I was in 4th grade.  My 65th birthday is February 17, 2009, and the United States is celebrating it by shutting down analog television broadcasting. Sort of……

I am convinced this is absolutely the right thing to do. And I am absolutely convinced we are not prepared for the consequences.

First of all, those most affected are those with antennas.  So why do we pick the middle of winter when climbing on a roof in northern states is at its most treacherous?  And, do we have any idea how many people, regardless of how good their antennas, will fall off the digital reception cliff?

I have purchased my digital converters and tested them with my existing roof antenna and rotor.  With analog I get a good usable signal from Manchester, NH and a couple mostly usable from Boston. Great signals from Windsor, VT, VT and NH public television.  Somewhere around 10 depending on which you consider usable.

With digital I get glorious digital and HD signals from 3 stations.  NH and VT public TV and Windsor, VT. No Boston, no Manchester, no nothing else. Gone, dead, kaput, zilch, nada.

I have seen the future and it is very limited!

—-David S. Calef