Analog TV shut off in the United States

[The Brain]

Ask for analog.

[Josquius]

Great. So it's official, my options are a dish that'll get glitchy whenever there's a thunderstorm (which is pretty common, since I live right on the riverfront) or to pay Comcast the prices those thugs demand, which is pretty ridiculous, considering most of what they do is a soft service.

I'm going to watch UHF in memory of broadcast television later.

What fees are there?
In the UK its a simple case of just buying a £30 box to sit near your TV.


Anywhoo: This is clearly all a conspiracy to control us when the time comes. Anyone with a TV can recieve the signals via standard analogue wavelengths but with digital you can chose to decrypt them and you need the boxes to know what to decrypt thus destroying any chance of a televised rebellion

[CountDeMoney]

Switch to digital TV not so clear for many
No signal or broken-up images prompt steady stream of calls for help

By Frank D. Roylance and Chris Kaltenbach

June 13, 2009

Laura Wilson thought she was ready for the much-anticipated conversion from analog to digital over-the-air TV. The 73-year-old Bolton Hill resident bought digital converter boxes for both her sets, and she had volunteers from Americorps stop by her apartment last week to make sure she was all hooked up.

But when local stations ended analog transmissions Friday afternoon, Wilson punched up her local channels and the screen on her living room set read "No programs" or "Weak signal." Some channels that did work were badly distorted, and the sound was intermittent.

"I got a problem," Wilson said.

Many area residents faced the same issues Friday. Local television stations weren't deluged with calls when they finally shut down the analog broadcast signals that have carried TV programming to homes since the 1940s. But they had a steady stream of callers who needed help with their converters and new digital antennas.

"Nobody who has called was totally unaware that the DTV transition was going on," said Jay Newman, vice president and general manager at WJZ, Channel 13, who reported 40 to 50 calls in the first two hours after the switch.

"One person called in, and it turned out she hadn't turned her converter box on," said Wanda Q. Draper, director of programming and public affairs at WBAL, Channel 11.

The local calls reflected a broader pattern. Nationally, digital TV assistance call centers reported receiving thousands of calls as stations ended analog transmissions. Most callers were seeking the $40 discount coupons available to help offset the cost of converter boxes. (To order, call 888-388-2009.)

Others needed help re-scanning their converter boxes to pick up the new digital signals. (To re-scan, press "Menu" on the box's remote control, then press "Scan.")

The long-anticipated transition was originally set for Feb. 17. Congress ordered the change in 2005 to free up the analog TV frequencies for other uses. Digital broadcasts are also expected to provide sharper images, better sound and more channels.

But the changeover deadline was pushed back to June 12. Congress needed more time to fully fund the $40 converter box discount coupons.

Viewers with cable or satellite hookups are unaffected by the change. Only those who still get analog signals through rabbit-ear or rooftop antennas - and lack digital converters - lost programming Friday.

As the transition day neared, there has been plenty of information and help available to consumers. TV stations, government agencies, advocacy groups and electronics stores posted public service messages, set up DTV hot lines, hosted information sessions at libraries and offered free converter box installation.

Mostly, it worked. Nielsen, the TV ratings agency, estimated that 11.5 percent of the total - some 127,000 Baltimore-area households - were entirely reliant on over-the-air broadcast signals. Another 14 percent had some TVs hooked up to cable, satellite systems or converters, but other sets still relying on over-the-air analog signals.

But barely 8,000 households (less than three-quarters of 1 percent of the total) were thought to have gone down to the wire unprepared for the switch - fewer than typically lose electrical service in the Baltimore area during a thunderstorm.

Many of those may be among the poor, non-English speakers and elderly. Some were baffled by all the techno-talk and might have given up in frustration.

"We heard from several seniors who said, 'I'm just not going to watch TV; I'll do without,' " said Laura Riley, division chief for individual and family services at the Baltimore County Department of Aging.

"That's a concern," she said. For many elderly residents, TV is a companion, "their link to the outside world, how they get information about weather and events."

"When you're alone like me, that's my partner," Patricia Bruchalski, 82, said about her TV.

Bruchalski, a pianist and former opera singer in Brooklyn Park, received assistance Thursday from Anne Arundel County's Department of Aging and Disabilities and a community organization, Partners in Care. After her converter was installed, Bruchalski marveled that broadcasts seemed clearer and gave her more channels - about 15 instead of the three she was used to.

"You're going to be up all night watching TV now," volunteer installer Rick Ebling told her.

Baltimore County's Department of Aging also has been helping vulnerable seniors with the conversion. "We heard from people who were confused about the coupons. ... We would go online and order [the coupons] for them," Riley said. Some also received help installing the devices.

But once the converters were properly installed, many seniors called to complain that they had lost a channel. That happens as local channels drop their analog transmissions, as they did Friday.

"If you didn't re-scan, the box wouldn't pick up the digital signal," Riley said. "So today, our message is: 'Did you re-scan? You have to tell [the converter box] to look for all the new digital signals.' "

But that requires some dexterity with the converter's remote control and some technical savvy. For a generation that grew up with simple on-off and channel selection knobs, the plethora of button-packed remote control devices - for the TV, the VCR or DVD player, and now a DTV box - only adds to the confusion.

"We're trying to help people by helping them label their remotes," Riley said.

Wilson seemed resigned to whatever this intricate new technology would grant her. "I'd rather look at just one channel than none at all," she said. But she'd miss her "soaps," and she worried that her 7-year-old great-grandson would miss his wrestling when he came by to see her.

As it turned out, her problem was easily resolved. After a visitor re-scanned the converter on her living room set, her local stations returned. Her bedroom TV needed to be switched to Channel 3, and its converter had to be re-scanned. Then it, too, was working again.

Almost. On both sets, some channels were still badly distorted and required careful re-aiming of the digital antennas, not always with good results.

But "it's better," Wilson declared, smiling again. "It's some company, believe me," she said of her TVs.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

[DontSayBanana]

What fees are there?
In the UK its a simple case of just buying a £30 box to sit near your TV.


Anywhoo: This is clearly all a conspiracy to control us when the time comes. Anyone with a TV can recieve the signals via standard analogue wavelengths but with digital you can chose to decrypt them and you need the boxes to know what to decrypt thus destroying any chance of a televised rebellion

Directly, there's not much difference, but quite a few broadcast stations figured it would be cheaper to get added into cable packages than upgrade their broadcasting equipment, so there's a few less "broadcast stations" out there now than before. Also, the digital broadcasts are more narrowband, which means if the antenna isn't aligned just right, you'll get nothing. That's where Sav's post was interesting- it talked about 909a antennas, which would have mechanisms to align themselves, but they'll most likely be expensive.

[jimmy olsen]

700,000 calls made to the digital TV hotline this week. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31343385/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

[derspiess]

700,000 calls made to the digital TV hotline this week. 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31343385/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/

LOL.  Dumbasses.

[Jaron]

Sigh. Elderly. We really need to find these people something to do instead of watching TV all day.

[derspiess]

Sigh. Elderly. We really need to find these people something to do instead of watching TV all day.

Yeah, we need them out driving & stuff.

[DontSayBanana]

Yeah, we need them out driving & stuff.

Put them in a franchised demolition derby. We could call it: Golden Gears.

[Scipio]

Yeah, we need them out driving & stuff.

Put them in a franchised demolition derby. We could call it: Golden Gears.

Three offenses against humanity in one two-word phrase.  Unbelievable.

[DontSayBanana]

Three offenses against humanity in one two-word phrase.  Unbelievable.

So? So is Jerry Springer; look how effective that's been in separating out the shallow end of the gene pool.