Digital TV-Am I one of the last to make the switch?

[Dennis S]

"I bet there are people who are still watching black and white TV."

Wanna bet? (How many bets is that I've tried to get you to take? 3?)

[Gutenberg]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...=100357828

Excerpt:
"When we did our testing — and we did an awful lot of testing before this system was adopted — it performed better than analog," insists Donovan.

Nevertheless, he says, when it comes to the brave new world of digital TV, you may need to employ a very old-school fix to improve your reception.

"Move your antenna just a bit." Donovan advises. "When anyone is trying to receive a signal over the air, you have issues. You have it with your cell phones. Once you get the spot, you're fine."

Donovan thinks a fairly small number of viewers are going to lose reception. But Michael Copps, the new acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is worried the number will be more substantial. Copps recently addressed the FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee.

"Some consumers, through no fault of their own, are going to lose one or more channels as a result of the transition," Copps told the committee. "That we did not understand this better long ago through better analysis, tests and trial runs is, to me, mind-boggling."

The FCC did some in-house testing, and its engineers came away with fairly encouraging results. The problem, says Goodstadt, is that their tests assumed that most people have outside antennas.

"The FCC's analysis was flawed," Goodstadt says. "The standard is based upon an assumption that all consumers who want to receive analog TV have a rooftop directional antenna at 10 meters or 33 feet above the ground. And that's not the case for most people."

[davec]

I was concerned that we might get poor digital signal reception. Our 120 year old home had aluminum siding installed by a previous owner. I visited the antennaweb.org website and found that our antenna was good enough for the job, but they stated that attic installations (especially with metal siding) could significantly affect performance. Several years ago I did install an antenna rotator. With the digital signal, I am finding that small changes in positioning seem to make a very big difference in signal strength.

Dave

[BigGuynRusty]

Gutenberg wrote:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story...=100357828

Excerpt:
"When we did our testing — and we did an awful lot of testing before this system was adopted — it performed better than analog," insists Donovan.

Nevertheless, he says, when it comes to the brave new world of digital TV, you may need to employ a very old-school fix to improve your reception.

"Move your antenna just a bit." Donovan advises. "When anyone is trying to receive a signal over the air, you have issues. You have it with your cell phones. Once you get the spot, you're fine."

Donovan thinks a fairly small number of viewers are going to lose reception. But Michael Copps, the new acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, is worried the number will be more substantial. Copps recently addressed the FCC's Consumer Advisory Committee.

"Some consumers, through no fault of their own, are going to lose one or more channels as a result of the transition," Copps told the committee. "That we did not understand this better long ago through better analysis, tests and trial runs is, to me, mind-boggling."

The FCC did some in-house testing, and its engineers came away with fairly encouraging results. The problem, says Goodstadt, is that their tests assumed that most people have outside antennas.

"The FCC's analysis was flawed," Goodstadt says. "The standard is based upon an assumption that all consumers who want to receive analog TV have a rooftop directional antenna at 10 meters or 33 feet above the ground. And that's not the case for most people."

LOL!!
Please give a link for this alleged "FCC Assumption" of a 10 meter antenna mast?
Man, that analyst is just pulling stats out of his azz!
Most towns/cities won't even let you put up an antenna mast that high.

BGnR

[Gutenberg]

The point is that people's reception is likely to vary and that one customer's experience with the switch will differ from another's. I am not going to get into an argument with you, Rusty, so please stop trying to start one. I am glad you are getting spectacular reception, and hope you continue to enjoy it as much as you have so far.

I think that many people are having experiences like davec--the switch will take some fiddling.

[vicrock]

All analog here, but we get DishNetwork, so are ready.

[BigGuynRusty]

Gutenberg wrote:
The point is that people's reception is likely to vary and that one customer's experience with the switch will differ from another's. I am not going to get into an argument with you, Rusty, so please stop trying to start one. I am glad you are getting spectacular reception, and hope you continue to enjoy it as much as you have so far.

I think that many people are having experiences like davec--the switch will take some fiddling.

You're the only one arguing.
The name is "BigGuy", or Sir, your choice berg.

BGnR

[Black]

Gutenberg wrote:
I am not going to get into an argument with you, Rusty, so please stop trying to start one.

Play nice.

[Don Kiyoti]

BigGuynRusty wrote:
[quote=Gutenberg]
The point is that people's reception is likely to vary and that one customer's experience with the switch will differ from another's. I am not going to get into an argument with you, Rusty, so please stop trying to start one. I am glad you are getting spectacular reception, and hope you continue to enjoy it as much as you have so far.

I think that many people are having experiences like davec--the switch will take some fiddling.

You're the only one arguing.
The name is "BigGuy", or Sir, your choice berg.

BGnR
Wow, what a sphincter!
8-)

[BigGuynRusty]

Don Kiyoti wrote:
[quote=BigGuynRusty]
[quote=Gutenberg]
The point is that people's reception is likely to vary and that one customer's experience with the switch will differ from another's. I am not going to get into an argument with you, Rusty, so please stop trying to start one. I am glad you are getting spectacular reception, and hope you continue to enjoy it as much as you have so far.

I think that many people are having experiences like davec--the switch will take some fiddling.

You're the only one arguing.
The name is "BigGuy", or Sir, your choice berg.

BGnR
Wow, what a sphincter!
8-) You should know Donnie, since you are in a constant state of Cranial Rectal Insertion!!
Did you ever get that PortHole installed in your belly so that you could see out??

BGnR