Digital: 0, Analog: 0.01

[vakkotaur]

With only simple indoor antennas, digital TV is right out. Analog is almost out. Yes, analog. See, the primary TV transmitters (in the USA) have all gone digital now, but the low power translator or relay stations have not. Some are digital, some are analog. For how long is unknown. There is no set schedule I've seen for ending analog transmission for low power and translators.

There are three places that are nearby (in country terms of "near") and they're all about 30 miles away. I have joked that the surrounding areas all serve Fairmont "equally poorly" and it turns out it's not all that much of a joke. It's pretty much true. The tower to the north or northwest is effectively invisible. The tower to the east shows an occasional hint that something might just be there. The tower to the west, with a crude 4-element beam antenna (cut for channel 14), just manages to indicate that there is a channel 16 and 45. A lot of snow, no color, and sound breaks squelch if things are just right. Each tower carries all the networks, so getting reliable reception from any one of them would take care of about everything.

A nice big roof-mounted antenna with a pre-amp would likely turn 16 and 45 into at least reliable reception and might turn a few other stations into possibles. Given the state of broadcast television content this is more a technical challenge than a great desire to view the programming. I don't foresee installing an outdoor antenna anytime soon. I am considering trying a good antenna in the attic and then someday it could be mounted outside. But even an attic antenna is a pretty low priority.

I did watch some TV today yesterday, but that was on DVD.

Comments

[sheryl67.livejournal.com]

We just got rid of our cable box yesterday, after realizing how much money we spent on it a month, and how little we watch anything on cable. All of those channels and NOTHING on.

We are lucky though, an old-ish pair of rabbit ears seems to be working fine for all but one of the channels.

I think I feel relieved to have gotten rid of the cable though, spending less time watching television seems like a very good idea to me.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Most channels were never watched. I think I occasionally watched the odd network show but not very often, aside from NOVA on PBS and even that has gone downhill. While on the treadmill I did watch TV as a distraction and at first it was the History Channel when it wasn't nonsense (how much JFK conspiracy crap, UFO bilge, and Nostradamus could they find?!). I wasn't that crazy about MythBusters as they seemed to be more about blowing things up than getting things right (I saw their attempt at a steam cannon get "busted" and a few nights later saw a working version on a History channel show...) and then it was Spike for CSI.. full of nonsense, but often the least annoying nonsense on. CourtTV (or whatever silly name they changed to) had real Forensic Files but only a couple times a week and seemed to go into reruns almost immediately. When Iowa Public TV gave up on classic Doctor Who, there really wasn't any reason left for cable at all.

I can get news from radio and the web. Same with weather. And for video, there is a fair sized collection of tapes I haven't watched in a while and a good many DVDs as well. I'm working my way through Freakazoid! now.

My sister was glad to get the digital converter as the picture quality did improve (despite some comments to the contrary about such things - no more ghosting on local stations!) and the number of channels went up. On one channel was lost, and that was a religious or shopping type thing that she was glad to be rid of. Of course, she lives in a large metropolitan area with several local full-power transmitters. I suspect that is the case or close to it for you as well.

I'm in a small town centrally located in the middle of nowhere. Really, folks from surrounding even smaller communities come here to shop. It's actually a bit curious that the surrounding even smaller communities have the translators. I'd like to talk to someone here who gets TV over the air, but I don't know of anyone who does. One person I know tried and due to his location and local geography found he'd only put up some artwork that looked like a TV antenna - it didn't do him any good. That is not encouraging.

[sheryl67.livejournal.com]

"found he'd only put up some artwork that looked like a TV antenna" Lol. And now I'm trying to figure out how to make some artwork to put on my roof that looks something like an antenna. :)

I LOVE Freakazoid! What a wonderful show. I must see if they have it on Netflix.

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

With all the strange antennas out there (yagi, log-periodic, discone, dicone, rhombic... and you should see the goofy arrays used for moonbounce) it would be hard to not end up with something antenna-like. And there is always the old 'rule' that any metal in the air will do: Any antenna will outperform no antenna. And now there are fractal antenna designs as well.

I just watched the second episode, twice. Once as broadcast, and once with the commentary. I don't know that I'd want to watch more than one or maybe two episodes a day, but it is nice to see it again.

[html corrected]

[rbradakis.livejournal.com]

We can get one of the flat indoor antennas (we live in a metro area with relatively decent reception after all) and hang it on the wall behind the picture near the TV. The antenna will actually be hidden by art. OR! You could paint it to be art of it's own!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

You need a gain antenna, just as we do. It turns out that the old high-gain yagi we already had does pick up usable digital signals when it's aimed right. So far I've "acquired" four different transmitters, six different feeds. Unfortunately they are in three very different directions and two of them are FOX.

Amusingly, I discovered that the appropriate antennas are out of stock everywhere, including on the web. So a great many people must have been more desperate than we are. ;p

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

I am considering what it might involve to set up a couple bays of rhombic for channel 45 (PBS) in the attic.

It looks like the converter box(es) we have need an initial list to edit (maybe it's only to edit out?) but have two re-scan modes. One is a complete re-scan and the other appears to be "look for any new channels" which seems at least somewhat clueful. Real clue would be to let me manually build my channel list from nothing if I so chose.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, the omission of that ability to build your channel list manually shows an incredible amount of negligence or small-brained thinking on the part of designers. Our box has two different re-scan commands, but both appear to erase and replace the entire list. It would be nice if one of them just added new channels and left the existing ones alone. The "documentation" of course is completely useless. No information in there at all. Like the rest of this so-called "transition", the design of the converter boxes obviously assumed a signal-rich urban environment and ignored the majority of areas in the US where signals are weaker and less numerous, and tend to come from different directions.

[thecanuckguy.livejournal.com]

Good for you, cutting down on TV is always a good thing! TV can be watched on the web easily enough without cable at all (how do you get your Internet, by the way?) and DVDs are great (especially for folks like me who believe that the best shows are those that have been off the air for years, DVDs bring back the memories, can be watched any time, and best of all have commentaries (for the most part)!

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

Net is DSL.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

This whole fiasco suddenly reminds me of the old Rocky and Bullwinkle arc with the "metal munching moon mice" that overran the US and ate all the television antennas, causing mass panic and riots and forcing people to actually talk to one another...