Switching to Digital - What you need to know before you buy.

Good info Alan thx. I thought the vhf was going away since that is
where the analog signal was on.

Kevin
check out my new deals site for Great Savings http://www.dealfrogger.com

http://www.tdso.net is another great saving site too.

Alan F wrote:
kevin wrote:
Cable and Satellite providers are trying to sell their expensive plans
with contracts. Here is what you need to know when they switch from
analog to digital on February 17th 2009.

You can buy a UHF antenna with a converter box for all under $50.

But how well will a UHF only antenna work in markets where one or more
stations are on upper VHF? The top 19 DMAs all will have at least one
digital station broadcasting on upper VHF. Philadelphia will have
WPVI-DT ABC 6 broadcasting on VHF low 6.

Many larger UHF antennas have some gain for upper VHF, so they might
work. But for low VHF? Not likely.

The current breakdown of the post-transition physical RF channel
assignments - whenever the transition is finally done - is 42 low VHF
(2-6), 446 upper VHF (7-13), and 1333 UHF (14-51) full power stations. I
say current, because a number of stations still have channel change
petitions pending before the FCC so a few may move from UHF to VHF or
VHF to UHF later on.

Alan F

If you are going to plug or sell a converter box setup, it helps to
know something about what you are plugging. I'm guessing you are not in
Las Vegas because the big four networks and PBS are on VHF for both
analog and digital.

Alan F


kevin wrote:
Good info Alan thx. I thought the vhf was going away since that is
where the analog signal was on.

Kevin
check out my new deals site for Great Savings http://www.dealfrogger.com

http://www.tdso.net is another great saving site too.

Alan F wrote:
kevin wrote:
Cable and Satellite providers are trying to sell their expensive
plans with contracts. Here is what you need to know when they switch
from analog to digital on February 17th 2009.

You can buy a UHF antenna with a converter box for all under $50.

But how well will a UHF only antenna work in markets where one or more
stations are on upper VHF? The top 19 DMAs all will have at least one
digital station broadcasting on upper VHF. Philadelphia will have
WPVI-DT ABC 6 broadcasting on VHF low 6.

Many larger UHF antennas have some gain for upper VHF, so they might
work. But for low VHF? Not likely.

The current breakdown of the post-transition physical RF channel
assignments - whenever the transition is finally done - is 42 low VHF
(2-6), 446 upper VHF (7-13), and 1333 UHF (14-51) full power stations. I
say current, because a number of stations still have channel change
petitions pending before the FCC so a few may move from UHF to VHF or
VHF to UHF later on.

Alan F

Doug Smith wrote:

However, as you suggest there will be quite a few VHF/UHF swaps when
stations go from their interim assignments to their permanent post-
transition channels. This is going to be a sleeper issue -- people who
bought UHF-only antennas that are working fine now, when all of their
major-network affiliates are UHF, but will lose one or more of their
favorite channels when they move to VHF-high.

Agreed. I'm surprised at the number of people from on-line posts who
think that all digital broadcasting is and will be only on UHF. There
are approx 190 digital stations on upper VHF 7 to 13 right now. Somehow
because all the digital stations in the crowded major markets were
broadcasting on UHF for their pre-transition period, the idea that it
was VHF that was going away took hold. This despite a lot of information
stating otherwise on the internet.

Even if the final transition does get postponed to June 12, there will
still be some people surprised when their analog upper VHF stations
flash cut to their upper VHF channels. Some of those stations may go
ahead and flash cut before or on February 17 anyway. Going to be
interesting times.

Alan F

Carolina's - been into most of the electronic stores here and even on
the tv stations have indicated just UHF. Maybe I misinterpreted what
they were saying. You will still need a converter box unless you have
Sat or Cable. We are out in the woods here and the trees block line of
sight for Sat. and cable is not run in our area yet. So our only option
is going with the converter box and the UHF band antenna.

kevin

Alan F wrote:
If you are going to plug or sell a converter box setup, it helps to
know something about what you are plugging. I'm guessing you are not in
Las Vegas because the big four networks and PBS are on VHF for both
analog and digital.

Alan F


kevin wrote:
Good info Alan thx. I thought the vhf was going away since that is
where the analog signal was on.

Kevin
check out my new deals site for Great Savings http://www.dealfrogger.com

http://www.tdso.net is another great saving site too.

Alan F wrote:
kevin wrote:
Cable and Satellite providers are trying to sell their expensive
plans with contracts. Here is what you need to know when they switch
from analog to digital on February 17th 2009.

You can buy a UHF antenna with a converter box for all under $50.

But how well will a UHF only antenna work in markets where one or more
stations are on upper VHF? The top 19 DMAs all will have at least one
digital station broadcasting on upper VHF. Philadelphia will have
WPVI-DT ABC 6 broadcasting on VHF low 6.

Many larger UHF antennas have some gain for upper VHF, so they might
work. But for low VHF? Not likely.

The current breakdown of the post-transition physical RF channel
assignments - whenever the transition is finally done - is 42 low VHF
(2-6), 446 upper VHF (7-13), and 1333 UHF (14-51) full power stations. I
say current, because a number of stations still have channel change
petitions pending before the FCC so a few may move from UHF to VHF or
VHF to UHF later on.

Alan F

That was just funny........News said they just delayed the switchover to
June 12 in our area because many households are not ready.

Kevin

Alan F wrote:
If you are going to plug or sell a converter box setup, it helps to
know something about what you are plugging. I'm guessing you are not in
Las Vegas because the big four networks and PBS are on VHF for both
analog and digital.

Alan F


kevin wrote:
Good info Alan thx. I thought the vhf was going away since that is
where the analog signal was on.

Kevin
check out my new deals site for Great Savings http://www.dealfrogger.com

http://www.tdso.net is another great saving site too.

Alan F wrote:
kevin wrote:
Cable and Satellite providers are trying to sell their expensive
plans with contracts. Here is what you need to know when they switch
from analog to digital on February 17th 2009.

You can buy a UHF antenna with a converter box for all under $50.

But how well will a UHF only antenna work in markets where one or more
stations are on upper VHF? The top 19 DMAs all will have at least one
digital station broadcasting on upper VHF. Philadelphia will have
WPVI-DT ABC 6 broadcasting on VHF low 6.

Many larger UHF antennas have some gain for upper VHF, so they might
work. But for low VHF? Not likely.

The current breakdown of the post-transition physical RF channel
assignments - whenever the transition is finally done - is 42 low VHF
(2-6), 446 upper VHF (7-13), and 1333 UHF (14-51) full power stations. I
say current, because a number of stations still have channel change
petitions pending before the FCC so a few may move from UHF to VHF or
VHF to UHF later on.

Alan F

On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:08:27 -0500, kevin wrote:

That was just funny........News said they just delayed the switchover to
June 12 in our area because many households are not ready.

It hasn't passed the senate yet, and there's nothing that I know of to
stop stations from turning off there analog feed whenever they want. I
hope the Senate rejects the extension. People have had almost 10 years to
convert to digital. I changed about 4 years ago. Those left in dark
deserve exactly what they get.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
My Tivo Experience http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/tivo.htm
Tivo HD/S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm
AMD cpu help http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php

"Wes Newell" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:08:27 -0500, kevin wrote:

That was just funny........News said they just delayed the switchover to
June 12 in our area because many households are not ready.

It hasn't passed the senate yet, and there's nothing that I know of to
stop stations from turning off there analog feed whenever they want. I
hope the Senate rejects the extension. People have had almost 10 years to
convert to digital. I changed about 4 years ago. Those left in dark
deserve exactly what they get.


The Senate just passed the Bill.

On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:02:56 -0800, Rastamon wrote:

"Wes Newell" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:08:27 -0500, kevin wrote:

That was just funny........News said they just delayed the switchover
to June 12 in our area because many households are not ready.

It hasn't passed the senate yet, and there's nothing that I know of to
stop stations from turning off there analog feed whenever they want. I
hope the Senate rejects the extension. People have had almost 10 years
to convert to digital. I changed about 4 years ago. Those left in dark
deserve exactly what they get.


The Senate just passed the Bill.

They may delay the official cut date, but there's nothing stopping the
stations from taking their analog feed own early. I don't think they can
force them yo continue broadcasting analog.



--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
My Tivo Experience http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/tivo.htm
Tivo HD/S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm
AMD cpu help http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php

Wes Newell wrote:
On Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:02:56 -0800, Rastamon wrote:

"Wes Newell" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:08:27 -0500, kevin wrote:

That was just funny........News said they just delayed the switchover
to June 12 in our area because many households are not ready.

It hasn't passed the senate yet, and there's nothing that I know of to
stop stations from turning off there analog feed whenever they want. I
hope the Senate rejects the extension. People have had almost 10 years
to convert to digital. I changed about 4 years ago. Those left in dark
deserve exactly what they get.


The Senate just passed the Bill.

They may delay the official cut date, but there's nothing stopping the
stations from taking their analog feed own early. I don't think they can
force them yo continue broadcasting analog.

The House has to pass an identical bill, but from the news reports,
that sounds to be all but a done deal. The bill does allow stations to
shut down on February 17, because in part we are already in a period
when stations can shut down their analog without asking for specific
permission from the FCC.

As of last Friday, at least 180 full power stations have shut down
their analog broadcast. Around 310 in total have previously stated they
plan to be shut before February 17. Several hundred more stations have
already quickly filed Silent STAs with the FCC stating they plan to shut
down on February 17, even if the permissive delay to June 12 is signed
into law.

So the reality is that in some markets, a number of stations will have
shut down their analog by February 17, regardless of the extension to
June 12. People in those markets who have not gotten converter boxes may
lose some of their favorite stations and are going to be upset because
they thought Congress had saved them from this. The coupons may be
backlogged and slow to arrive, but there is no shortage of converter
boxes in the stores. So it is just a matter of spending $50 or $60 on a
converter box plus in some cases getting a better antenna. A better
upper VHF and UHF antenna setup in most places.

We should call this bill the chaos bill because it throws many
carefully laid conversion plans by stations into the dumper and add
massive confusion as to which and when stations will change their
digital channel. Rescan early, rescan often may be the watchword from
Feb. 17 to June 12. Another word for the bill is the clusterf**k bill,
but they can't say that on the air.

Alan F

kevin wrote:
Carolina's - been into most of the electronic stores here and even on
the tv stations have indicated just UHF. Maybe I misinterpreted what
they were saying. You will still need a converter box unless you have
Sat or Cable. We are out in the woods here and the trees block line of
sight for Sat. and cable is not run in our area yet. So our only option
is going with the converter box and the UHF band antenna.

kevin

Check http://www.rabbitears.info/ Digital Transition Reports or if you
want a detailed spreadsheet of what teh conversion plans are for all
1809 full power stations in the US, go to http://www.rabbitears.info/ss/.

If you are in a rural area and have reception issues, the best
solution is usually a dedicated UHF antenna combined with a upper VHF or
full VHF antenna if you need that. The Channel Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie,
Channel Master 4228 (now 4228HD) 8 bay bowtie, and the Antennas Direct
91-XG are the generally regarded as the best UHF antennas for the buck.
The CM 4228 has decent performance for upper VHF and the new CM4228HD
model has been tweaked to have good gain for upper VHF. For a useful
website on antennas, go to
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html. Click on the
comparing commercially available antennas link.

To look up your local stations and their direction & expected signal
strength at your location, try www.antennaweb.org & www.tvfool.com.

Alan F