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Are you still having trouble making the adjustment to digital television Date published: 6/20/2009
BY MICHAEL ZITZ Last week's transition from analog to digital television took TV stations about 10 seconds, and But, a week later, some people in areas without cable and others who simply don't want to pay for cable or satellite TV are still trying to figure out why they aren't getting local stations even though they have the new converter boxes the government and broadcast TV industry told them to get. Some consumers, including more than a few angry Fredericksburg-area viewers who have called The Free Lance-Star to complain, are having problems tuning in to Washington and Richmond channels because they're trying to pick up VHF signals with a UHF antenna. Some of them may need big and expensive new rooftop antennas to boost reception to accommodate the digital transition. For others, the fix may be as simple as rebooting their new digital receiver. PICKING THE ANTENNA According to Shermaze Ingram, a spokesperson for the Washington-based National Association of Broadcasters, many Fredericksburg-area consumers who don't have cable will need a large, rooftop antenna capable of receiving both UHF and VHF broadcasts to receive all the stations they got before on their analog sets. "If you're 40 miles from Washington [or Richmond], the signal is going to be weak," she said. "One of the Fredericksburg ZIP codes I looked at is 50 miles from the D.C. transmitters," Ingram said. Antennaweb.org indicates a very tall antenna height [over 50 feet, including the height of the house) and a very directional antenna are necessary in order to receive any of the D.C. stations [except the public station in Goldvein]. A check of RadioShack.com showed that type of antenna going for $150 to $190. Such an antenna can cost nearly $400 including installation and running cables. But the Federal Communications Commission says a special antenna is not necessary to get a digital signal; an old VHF-UHF rooftop antenna should work with some tweaking. The antennas are available at most stores that carry electronics, like Radio Shack and Sears, and at many online electronics stores. REBOOTING THE RECEIVER Other people are having problems related to new equipment. The FCC Monday recommended "double re-scanning" for those having problems. This FCC Web page will help consumers installing a converter box and re-scanning DTV sets: dtv.gov/installbox.html. Because most consumers had already been using them before the moment of the transition, digital tuners and converter boxes are still trying to tune in to signals that no longer exist. Doing a "double re-scan"--essentially a reboot--often fixes the problem. Unplug the antenna from the converter box or TV. Turn off the converter box or TV. Turn it back on and perform a re-scan. Plug the antenna back in. Do a second re-scan. The tuner memory is re-cleared and it can usually then find the new digital frequencies for stations.
Date published: 6/20/2009
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The FCC is in charge and responsible for this "wonderful" change to give us a "better picture" and "more channels." All I get with my converter is France, Africa, Japan, China Euronews. Yea, this is much better the the 10 local American channels I used to get.....NOT! Everyone who is suffering this "wonderful change" should go to FCC.gov and log into the complaint page and bombard them with email complaints. Maybe with numerous complaints someone will do something, but I doubt it. It's US government.
A principle reason for the shift from analog to digital TV is to
free up the VHF spectrum from roughly 50 megahertz to 80
megahertz for use by public service organizations.. Now all
TV transmitters are operating above 160 megahertz. These
frequencies are are not bent back to earth, but are
absorbed, hence reliable signals have a shorter range. I
have trouble with WWBT and WCVE here in KG, but the
other Richmond stations have good signals.
Any comparisons to reception characteristics made prior to last Friday are useless. The new digital signal is "all on" or "all off". It does not gradually degrade into a snowy picture like the old analog signal. The fact seems to be that the FCC drew a bunch of maps, and figured out that some percentage of the folks would be able to receive an acceptable signal, but some will not. Fredericksburg is on the edge of both Richmond and DC. Until a new solution is put in place we will always have trouble.
I grew up in Culpeper many moons ago. I remember getting channels from D.C., Harrisonburg, Charlottesville and Richmond. From time to time, we could even get channel 20. I don't remember the reception being horrible - at least on a clear day.
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