Can I sue the government for taking

Bada wrote:
Alan F wrote:


I get more solid digital channels OTA than I can get in analog. So who
should I sue?

The Sanyo may have a lousy ATSC tuner - which is quite possible. Or
your antenna setup may not work very well for UHF. Or some of your
analog stations are still at low power on their digital signal which is
true for several hundred full power stations in the US. Some holdouts
will go full digital power in the next few months, some will have to
wait until the analog shutdown before they can fire up their digital
channels.

When the Sanyo is picking up a digital channel, the picture is perfect
but there is no in between. It's either perfect or no picture at all,
just a blank screen. I don't believe the analog tuner in the Sanyo is
very good though. I get a better analog picture through the VCR.

With digital broadcast, you can get dropouts. The picture will get
severely pixelated or momentarily freeze and/or the sound will drop out.
The drop outs can drive people nuts, so digital signal degradation can
be more difficult to live with than a noisy analog picture. When long
range reception improves at night, you may find some digital stations go
from no reception to dropout reception or even reasonably solid. If you
have not done so, try doing a digital channel scan after dark.

If you post your zip code and a list of the call signs for the 15
analog stations you get all the time, should be able to figure out the
digital status for them or most of them.

I'm at 62471 and I'm between 60 and 70 miles from the nearest TV
station. I get analog channels 2, 4, 5, 9, 11, 24, 29, 30 from ST.
Louis, MO and 17 and 23 from Decatur, IL. I get 20 and 55 from
Springfield, IL and I get the PBS stations 8 and 16 from SIU. I get 13
from Mount Vernon, IL (it's probably my closest station). The funny
thing is that the one digital station I get most of the time is 55 from
Springfield and it is one of my snowiest analog channels.

The call signs are easier to look up. You need to think of the
stations that way. If I found it correctly, WRSP-DT Fox 55 in
Springfield, IL, is digitally broadcasting on UHF 44 at 335 kW.

The short answer is that ALL of the digital stations in St. Louis, MO
are broadcasting on UHF and they will stay there after the analog
shutdown. Before I list all the stations, is your antenna 26 years old?
Is it connected with (old) twin lead (flat style) cable or RG-59? I
think you will need to upgrade your antenna and cable run for reliable
UHF reception at long range. How clear are the pictures for the upper
UHF analog channels, say UHF 40 and above?

St. Louis DMA Stations by call sign, network, analog channel, current
digital channel, post 02/17/09 digital channel, current an/or post
02/17/09 power in kW and comments. I am leaving out antenna height above
average terrain (HAAT) which is a vital measurement of range, but want
to keep the table simplified. DT = digital TV station.

KNLC fam 24 14 14 1000 kW
WPXS ind. 13 - 21 1000 Digital signal is to be up by 5/18/08
KMOV CBS 4 56 24 540 Will be at reduced power on UHF 24 after 02/17/09
until new antenna installed
KPLR CW 11 26 26 1000
KDNL ABC 30 31 31 1000
KSDK NBC 5 35 35 1000
KETC PBS 9 39 39 991 Early analog shutdown possible
KTVI FOX 2 43 43 1000
WRBU MyN 46 47 47 187
Springfield, IN
WCFN MyN 49 53 13 5.08 Changing to upper VHF in Feb, 2009
WICS ABC 20 42 42 950 kW
WRSP FOX 55 44 44 335 kW
Carbondale
WSIU PBS 8 40 8 14.1 kW Moving to VHF 8.

Of the major stations in St. Louis & Springfield, only KMOV-DT and
WCFN-DT are not on their final digital channel and power. WPXS-DT PBS 13
is not on the air yet. If you can not get the St. Louis stations, you
will need a better deep fringe setup and one which is optimized for
upper VHF and UHF. The long range version of the Winegard HD-769 upper
VHF and UHF series of antennas might be worth looking at. Free OTA is
still there, but you may have to update a 26 year set up. If you have an
old cable run, the first step would be to replace it with RG-6 co-axial.

You could also apply for a $40 coupon from NTIA, use that to buy a $50
converter box, and see if the converter box does better than the Sanyo.

I do have 2 converter box coupons ordered but don't they only convert
the digital signal to analog? I would be happy if I could just keep
getting analog but if their is not enough signal to get a digital
picture, will their be enough digital signal to convert to analog.

Yes, the converter boxes won't help you with displaying HD on a HD TV.
They output SD only. If you want HD on the Sanyo HD TV and I can't see
why you wouldn't, first look at improving the antenna & cabling setup.
If the Sanyo ATSC tuner turns out to be crap, the Samsung DTB-260F is a
very good ATSC tuner STB.

Useful website for antenna info:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html.

Alan F

Bada wrote:
Agent_C wrote:

On Sun, 09 Mar 2008 18:34:19 -0500, Bada wrote:


Can I sue the government for taking my free over the air TV away?


They're not.

A_C

Maybe not yours, but it looks like they might be taking mine.


You're right, Bada Bing, it's a conspiracy and you're the first. I've
heard a rumor that the gubmint is secretly stocking all libraries with
the expectation we'll all have to read again without all that free TV
drivel polluting our critical thinking skills. Get a rope!

--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'

"Bada" wrote in message
...
Can I sue the government for taking my free over the air TV away? It looks
like when they switch from analog to digital, I will no longer get free
over the air TV.
=======================================
It looks like you are wrong!

Just get a coupon and buy a new DTV box and you will still get FREE OTA!
=========================================
For the last 26 years I have received my free over the air TV from my 80
foot tower with 3 antennas and booster. I get about 15 analog stations all
the time and some days as many as 50 stations. I recently bought a small
20 inch Sanyo HDTV with intentions of later buying a big one. It has found
about 25 digital stations but most of them only 1 time and the rest of
them 2 to a few times. One comes in almost all the time except when it is
cloudy, storming, raining or snowing. It looks like when they make the
switch, I will only have 1 channel most of the time and zero part of the
time.

Richard C. wrote:
"Bada" wrote in message
...

Can I sue the government for taking my free over the air TV away? It
looks like when they switch from analog to digital, I will no longer
get free over the air TV.

=======================================
It looks like you are wrong!

Just get a coupon and buy a new DTV box and you will still get FREE OTA!
=========================================


How will that help? The converter boxes only convert a digital signal to
an analog signal. If I'm not getting enough signal for a digital
picture, will their be enough digital signal to convert to analog.



For the last 26 years I have received my free over the air TV from my
80 foot tower with 3 antennas and booster. I get about 15 analog
stations all the time and some days as many as 50 stations. I recently
bought a small 20 inch Sanyo HDTV with intentions of later buying a
big one. It has found about 25 digital stations but most of them only
1 time and the rest of them 2 to a few times. One comes in almost all
the time except when it is cloudy, storming, raining or snowing. It
looks like when they make the switch, I will only have 1 channel most
of the time and zero part of the time.

Bada wrote:
Richard C. wrote:
"Bada" wrote in message
...

Can I sue the government for taking my free over the air TV away? It
looks like when they switch from analog to digital, I will no longer
get free over the air TV.

=======================================
It looks like you are wrong!

Just get a coupon and buy a new DTV box and you will still get FREE OTA!
=========================================


How will that help? The converter boxes only convert a digital signal to
an analog signal. If I'm not getting enough signal for a digital
picture, will their be enough digital signal to convert to analog.

If I were you, I'd start budgeting for an whole new antenna system,
including a 160' tower with a 10db UHF preamp for each of four new
antennas. Or move to the city where a pair of rabbit ears will do.
Your free TV is worth exactly what you pay for it.





For the last 26 years I have received my free over the air TV from my
80 foot tower with 3 antennas and booster. I get about 15 analog
stations all the time and some days as many as 50 stations. I
recently bought a small 20 inch Sanyo HDTV with intentions of later
buying a big one. It has found about 25 digital stations but most of
them only 1 time and the rest of them 2 to a few times. One comes in
almost all the time except when it is cloudy, storming, raining or
snowing. It looks like when they make the switch, I will only have 1
channel most of the time and zero part of the time.




--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'

"Jim Yanik" wrote in message ...
Bada wrote in :


the government has virtually UNLIMITED time and resources when it comes to
legal actions against it.They can postpone and delay as much as they want.

He plans to sue for Euros in Europe while he has the USA over
a dollar barrel.
--

Rick Evans
---------------------------------------------------------------
Lon -71° 04' 35"
Lat +42° 11' 07"

It's not providing better service if it is going to take the service
completely away which it looks like it may be.

What are you smokin? I've been watching free digital OTA since August
2002.

Jer wrote:
Bada wrote:

Richard C. wrote:

"Bada" wrote in message
...

Can I sue the government for taking my free over the air TV away? It
looks like when they switch from analog to digital, I will no longer
get free over the air TV.


=======================================
It looks like you are wrong!

Just get a coupon and buy a new DTV box and you will still get FREE OTA!
=========================================



How will that help? The converter boxes only convert a digital signal
to an analog signal. If I'm not getting enough signal for a digital
picture, will their be enough digital signal to convert to analog.


If I were you, I'd start budgeting for an whole new antenna system,
including a 160' tower with a 10db UHF preamp for each of four new
antennas. Or move to the city where a pair of rabbit ears will do. Your
free TV is worth exactly what you pay for it.

There is no one in my area that would climb or put up a 160' tower. I
can't get anyone to climb my 80' tower. Last year the amplifier went bad
and I finally got a 75 year old man to change it. No one else would do it.
I have about 1500 to 2000 dollars in my antenna system and it has always
been good. There is 2 UHF and one VHF antennas and a booster.







For the last 26 years I have received my free over the air TV from
my 80 foot tower with 3 antennas and booster. I get about 15 analog
stations all the time and some days as many as 50 stations. I
recently bought a small 20 inch Sanyo HDTV with intentions of later
buying a big one. It has found about 25 digital stations but most of
them only 1 time and the rest of them 2 to a few times. One comes in
almost all the time except when it is cloudy, storming, raining or
snowing. It looks like when they make the switch, I will only have 1
channel most of the time and zero part of the time.

"Bada" wrote in message
...
Can I sue the government for taking my free over the air TV away? It looks
like when they switch from analog to digital, I will no longer get free
over the air TV. For the last 26 years I have received my free over the
air TV from my 80 foot tower with 3 antennas and booster. I get about 15
analog stations all the time and some days as many as 50 stations. I
recently bought a small 20 inch Sanyo HDTV with intentions of later buying
a big one. It has found about 25 digital stations but most of them only 1
time and the rest of them 2 to a few times. One comes in almost all the
time except when it is cloudy, storming, raining or snowing. It looks like
when they make the switch, I will only have 1 channel most of the time and
zero part of the time.



i'd suggest that size isnt everything and you should get a properly
installed aerial that will get the services available to you.



--
Gareth.

That fly... is your magic wand.

"Bada" wrote in message
...
Can I sue the government for taking my free over the air TV away? It looks
like when they switch from analog to digital, I will no longer get free
over the air TV. For the last 26 years I have received my free over the
air TV from my 80 foot tower with 3 antennas and booster. I get about 15
analog stations all the time and some days as many as 50 stations. I
recently bought a small 20 inch Sanyo HDTV with intentions of later buying
a big one. It has found about 25 digital stations but most of them only 1
time and the rest of them 2 to a few times. One comes in almost all the
time except when it is cloudy, storming, raining or snowing. It looks like
when they make the switch, I will only have 1 channel most of the time and
zero part of the time.

For a guy who put up an "80 foot tower", you don't seem to be very
strongly motivated to fix your problem . . . . for some reason . . . . . .
bob?


- -
"If there are no dogs in heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they
went."
-Will Rogers