[Grovenet] Digital Electronics

Wed Mar 26 18:07:47 PDT 2008

Thanks Vickie,

    I feel like the plot is thickening.  We did get the coupons and  
we used the spring break days to go out to learn more since we had to  
head into Portland anyway.  Of course each 'expert' we talked had a  
different story about what is or is not going to happen.
   One guy told us that all the local stations are already  
broadcasting in both digital and analog. (They are not.)  One guy  
told us that the converter boxes will send out all the channels and  
your regular VCR will work (It will not.)  Etc.
    I would wait and not buy an HD receiver until you know that you  
really do need one. If you have an antenna and an HD ready TV it  
seems like that should do the trick.

   What we finally decided to do was to buy the basic box, they call  
them STBs for set top box, and hook it up to see what it would do.   
We did hook it up and it only sends one channel out of the box at a  
time.  It does split the channels into the original station and the  
substations that come with it. (Example channel 22-1, 22-2, 22-3, etc  
but it still only sends out one at a time ie only 22-2.)  That is  
also when we discovered that channel 22 exists. Before we only got  
2,6,8,10 and 12.
The set top box would only get channel 8 (sub channels 1&2 but  
poorly) channel 12 (1&2 but poorly) and channel 22 wonderfully (1,2  
&3) We called some of the TV stations and they said that they are not  
yet broadcasting in digital. They will start sometime between now and  
the Feb deadline but didn't say when. That is probably why 8 and 12  
were not great.
And I might add that when I say  poorly, I mean that the picture was  
wonderful but it acted like a computer that had buffer problems.  The  
nice clear wonderful picture would freeze then become pixellated for  
a few seconds, then pick up again and look great.  Channel 22 on the  
other hand looked great, it made the TV look like it was an expensive  
set.  When all the stations convert to regular digital they will  
likely all look great.

We took the box off the TV so we could get the regular channels  
back.  We'll hook it back up again later when we need it and in the  
mean time work on the recording issues.

Since most people get their TV from cable only about 15% of  
households use antennas for their main hook up. There are however a  
number of people who only pay for one cable hook up and use an  
antenna for a secondary TV so they will have to figure out what to do  
also.

I don't know why the powers that be decided to make the coupons  
expire 90 days after you get them and encourage people to hurry up  
and get them since supplies are supposedly limited, all the while  
knowing that stations aren't broadcasting yet.  Maybe the whole thing  
is the secondary economic stimulus  plan (chinese electronics  
version) that will be hyped just in time for Christmas.

Katie

On Mar 26, 2008, at 2:35 PM, Vickie Madeoneup wrote:

> Katie
>
> I have an HD-ready TV, but what I have come to understand is that I  
> needed to buy an HD antenna, which I got at Radio Shack ($130 I  
> believe) and then I also need to get an HD receiver, then my TV  
> will work Feb 2009 when this change takes place.
>
> The US government is giving away $40 coupons (2 per household) good  
> towards a converter box, which you do not need if you have cable or  
> satellite TV. The coupons expire May 23rd 2008
>
> Be careful about HD enhancer receivers. I too am an ignoramus when  
> it comes to all of this but from what I gather an HD enhancer just  
> takes an analog signal and gives it an extra kick to simulate HD,  
> but it will not help you after Feb 2009.
>
> The website that came with the coupons is
> www.DTV2009.gov/lowpower
> www.DTV2009.gov
> 1-888-DTV-2009
>
> IF you do decide to go cable or satellite, keep in mind that they  
> will try to sell you the option of local stations (at least they  
> did when I signed up before), anyway, I just told them that I was  
> not willing to pay for local stations that I have always gotten for  
> free and they did not charge me for them.
>
> Good luck
>
> Vickie
>
> Katie Allnutt <allnutt at verizon.net> wrote: Thanks for the site Chuck.
> What we need is a digital converter box that takes the soon to be
> digital incoming signal, converts all the channels (or multiple ones)
> into analog and then spits all the channels out the coaxial line all
> at once so the VCR/TV can work as it does now.
> Everything I've seen takes in all the digital signals but only spits
> out one channel at a time. That is why they claim each TV needs its
> own box. Other wise people would just buy one box, plug it in next to
> their incoming antenna  and let their existing wiring do its thing.
>
> I know they want us to switch to a paid service but I won't go to
> cable/satellite because it seems wasteful to pay every month for a
> signal that comes free over the air.
>
> And I'm not totally in disagreement with why the switch is going to
> happen. After all there is only so much bandwidth for broadcasting
> and switching to digital does free up a lot of space for other uses
> (some of them necessary, the others merely commercial). I hope some
> good comes of it, but according to the site you gave 15% of us are
> still antenna only and there will be lots of people who are miffed if
> we have to convert to new TVs or extensive equipment purchases.
>
> Katie
> I  was grousing about the whole thing and my wonderful spouse did
> tell me that there is still a market for 8-track tapes among the few
> nostalgia buffs. So I guess the old technologies never really die
> they just shrink to the status of being an oddity.  If I ever have
> grandkids I guess the little ones can call me granny analog...
>
>
>
> On Mar 25, 2008, at 5:18 PM, chuck wrote:
>
>> Sounds like a real pickle Katie.  Unless you convert to Cable/
>> Satellite
>> - which of course is what they want.  I was at Blockbuster Sat  
>> night -
>> and the place was packed - guess Comcast was out due to someone
>> stealing
>> some copper line - glad I don't have Comcast.
>>
>> Verizon has also been pushing their packages on us.  Of course if you
>> accept the digital telephone deal, you can no longer use the old
>> fashioned analog phones (the ones that don't need an outlet) which
>> really come in handy during a power outtage (as in they still work
>> just
>> fine).
>>
>> I'm no expert - so I turned to google - and found this.  Hope it
>> helps.........
>>
>> http://dtvfacts.com/digital-tv-converter-box/
>>
>> chuck
>>
>>
>> Katie Allnutt wrote:
>>> Has anybody come across this dilemma yet?
>>> We are simpletons. Not that we are dumb, but we live a simple life.
>>> We have an old fashioned antenna on the roof and get out TV for  
>>> free.
>>> But I do like to tape the Sunday morning news programs and watch  
>>> them
>>> at my leisure. (One is on channel 6, one is on channel 8 and
>>> sometimes I'll record channel 2 or 12 also depending on  what time
>>> they come on since I can only record one channel at a time.)
>>>
>>> Right now life is good. I can program the recorder to turn itself  
>>> on,
>>> change the channels at the appropriate time, record what I want and
>>> turn itself off.  All of this can happen with me in a different city
>>> if I wish.
>>>
>>> With all the new conversion to digital stuff coming out, we
>>> understand that we will have to get a converter box and all that.  
>>> But
>>> we have talked to the young bucks at the electronics stores (they  
>>> can
>>> hardly fathom life with an antenna) and for the most part they have
>>> no clue how to solve the dilemma without replacing all our
>>> electronics.
>>> How in the world with a converter box do you get the different
>>> signals to come out of the converter box? It appears that the  
>>> digital
>>> boxes will only send out the signal of one channel at a time. If I
>>> want to record 2 or three shows on different channels, I have to
>>> manually tell the converter box to change the channels.
>>>
>>> Analog pass through does not seem to be the answer because come Feb
>>> '09 the signals that I want to send to the VCR will not be  
>>> analog, so
>>> they won't pass through. And the box seems to only convert one  
>>> signal
>>> at a time.
>>>
>>> Short from buying a recording device that has a built in digital
>>> tuner (expensive!) does anybody have any a clue how to deal with
>>> this?  Besides stop watching the talking heads of course....
>>>
>>>
>>> Katie
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> GroveNet mailing list
>>> GroveNet at rdrop.com
>>> http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/grovenet
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> GroveNet mailing list
>> GroveNet at rdrop.com
>> http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/grovenet
>
> _______________________________________________
> GroveNet mailing list
> GroveNet at rdrop.com
> http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/grovenet
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Looking for last minute shopping deals?  Find them fast with Yahoo!  
> Search.
> _______________________________________________
> GroveNet mailing list
> GroveNet at rdrop.com
> http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/grovenet