I’m in australia, but i googled june 12 & television and got:
As of June 12, full-power television stations nationwide are broadcasting exclusively in a digital format. Digital television, or DTV, is a technology that gives viewers crystal-clear pictures and sound, and more programming choices than ever before.
Yeh! You get great TV- crystal clear….. Unless you have been using an antenna, and live in a (beautiful) rural mountainous area! As there is no cable service $$, your only choice if you want “TV” is to pay big bucks for a digital satellite service.$$$ :( So, I’m now getting all my news, shows, etc. on my Internet service. :/ or :) - depending on what you want to see.
Rabbit ears work just fine as long as you have the converter box. There are digital antennas designed for the digital wavelengths, but my old antenna still works just fine.
But for many TV viewers, the move to digital has created more headaches than benefits.
Up until now, she has been able to get most channels from Sacramento and Chico with varying degrees of reliability.
But with her digital converter box, she gets nothing but a black screen telling her she has “No signal.”
Who lives in a mountaintop cabin outside Nevada City north of Sacramento, is apparently beyond the reach of the stations’ digital signals.
“I’m going to have to play the fiddle and listen to more radio.”
More interference
FCC spokesman Mark Wigfield said most TV viewers should see improvements in their reception.
He said studies have shown that 89 percent of stations will be able to reach more homes, while 11 percent of stations will have less reach after the DTV conversion.
This “cliff effect” doesn’t just happen on the periphery. Residents who find themselves caught on the wrong side of a hill without a clear path to transmission towers, usually on Mount Sutro in San Francisco, can also suffer the same fate.
“The picture can break up like a jigsaw puzzle,” who lives in the Mission District. “Sometimes it will freeze or black out and then it says, ‘No signal.’ Sometimes it comes right back and then sometimes it stays off the rest of the day.”
Boosting the signal
Some of the problems may be fixed after the transition when broadcasters remove their analog transmitters from towers and reposition digital transmitters to the top of the structures, where they can broadcast better, said Wigfield. And he said some stations are planning to boost their digital signal after June 12.
“It’s unfortunate if people are having problems, but they may want to give it a try after the transition to see if they have better luck,” he said.
By the way, we have a newer TV and a converter box for the older TV as well as antennaes that are specifically for the DTV “conversion”. No good! The fact still remains that there are no signals that will travel a minimum of 354 miles through or over our mountains. When we retire, we will be moving about 30 miles to the northeast, and, according to www.DTV.gov, we will not receive any signals there either. Soo.. it looks like the high speed Internet via our landline phone service from now on.
CarolinaGirl almost 15 years ago
Don’t get it…
barbhinkins almost 15 years ago
I’m in australia, but i googled june 12 & television and got:
As of June 12, full-power television stations nationwide are broadcasting exclusively in a digital format. Digital television, or DTV, is a technology that gives viewers crystal-clear pictures and sound, and more programming choices than ever before.
Watoga almost 15 years ago
Yeh! You get great TV- crystal clear….. Unless you have been using an antenna, and live in a (beautiful) rural mountainous area! As there is no cable service $$, your only choice if you want “TV” is to pay big bucks for a digital satellite service.$$$ :( So, I’m now getting all my news, shows, etc. on my Internet service. :/ or :) - depending on what you want to see.
Anandgyan almost 15 years ago
I thought they were old ‘Energizer’ bunnies forced into retirement…
Maybe it has something to do with the ears/ antennae and their uselessness in this digital age.
lewisbower almost 15 years ago
Why watch TV?
pearlandpeach almost 15 years ago
AH, the rabbit ears…now I get it! Why did he wait unti now for this “toon…it is good…but to late.
bald almost 15 years ago
rabbit ears are another type of TV antenna for analog reception or were before june 12th now you need a converter for digital
circuit7 almost 15 years ago
It might take a couple weeks from the time he draws the toon until it actually appears in print. Editorial timelines and all.
lalas almost 15 years ago
Rabbit ears work just fine as long as you have the converter box. There are digital antennas designed for the digital wavelengths, but my old antenna still works just fine.
Ushindi almost 15 years ago
Yeah, took me awhile also, but “rabbit ears” is a great one.
alife almost 15 years ago
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/17/BUM717J324.DTL
Digital TV transition a struggle for some
But for many TV viewers, the move to digital has created more headaches than benefits.
Up until now, she has been able to get most channels from Sacramento and Chico with varying degrees of reliability. But with her digital converter box, she gets nothing but a black screen telling her she has “No signal.” Who lives in a mountaintop cabin outside Nevada City north of Sacramento, is apparently beyond the reach of the stations’ digital signals. “I’m going to have to play the fiddle and listen to more radio.”
More interference
FCC spokesman Mark Wigfield said most TV viewers should see improvements in their reception. He said studies have shown that 89 percent of stations will be able to reach more homes, while 11 percent of stations will have less reach after the DTV conversion.
This “cliff effect” doesn’t just happen on the periphery. Residents who find themselves caught on the wrong side of a hill without a clear path to transmission towers, usually on Mount Sutro in San Francisco, can also suffer the same fate.
“The picture can break up like a jigsaw puzzle,” who lives in the Mission District. “Sometimes it will freeze or black out and then it says, ‘No signal.’ Sometimes it comes right back and then sometimes it stays off the rest of the day.”
Boosting the signal
Some of the problems may be fixed after the transition when broadcasters remove their analog transmitters from towers and reposition digital transmitters to the top of the structures, where they can broadcast better, said Wigfield. And he said some stations are planning to boost their digital signal after June 12.
“It’s unfortunate if people are having problems, but they may want to give it a try after the transition to see if they have better luck,” he said.
Watoga almost 15 years ago
By the way, we have a newer TV and a converter box for the older TV as well as antennaes that are specifically for the DTV “conversion”. No good! The fact still remains that there are no signals that will travel a minimum of 354 miles through or over our mountains. When we retire, we will be moving about 30 miles to the northeast, and, according to www.DTV.gov, we will not receive any signals there either. Soo.. it looks like the high speed Internet via our landline phone service from now on.