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As of midnight, TV stations made the switch to DTV. WABC 7 said it started its transition at 12:30 p.m. yesterday, "Many people calling WABC-TV on Friday needed to rescan their converter boxes or had antenna. In some cases, the fix was as simple as moving or expanding the antenna. In other cases, a new antenna was need." (The FCC says to make sure all channels are rescanned.) In Baltimore, one station's programming director said, "One person called in, and it turned out she hadn't turned her converter box on." While those with cable or satellite connections are fine, it's estimated that 1 million people are unprepared for the switch. Cincinnati's Freestore Foodbank gave away free converter boxes; one man who waited over four hours but was told they ran out spoke to the AP, "I'm on disability, and I can't really afford to buy one. I can't get anything on my TV now, so I guess I'll have to go to friends' houses if I want to watch anything." The FCC's DTV site is here; here's the converter box troubleshooting guide.
DTV Is Here
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Yes I can't really afford a converter box because I didn't apply for the government coupon where I'd pay less than $10 for a box.
Cry me a river
"it's estimated that 1 million people are unprepared for the switch"
Good. Perhaps these people will pick up a Book and perhaps start to read for once.
That would be remarkable, wouldn't it?
Yeh it's probably wrong or something to say this, but if you took all the people who after two years of warnings still didnt or couldnt get their tv act together, and rounded them all up and gave them their own state, I promise you there'd be faster lines at the post office, atms, supermarkets, metrocard machines, basically it'd be utopia.
I'm pissed cause I can't get receive Abc and wpix anymore cause they moved to new and different sending locations post-transiton even after I've re-scanned. Now I get Pbs instead. Now I have to buy a new antenna. I'm pretty amazed that the converter boxes actually make the picture look like dvd on a sdtv. It actually is like 80% hdtv if you zoom in to 4:3 cause it can keep it's resolution.
The hi-def over the air feeds are also better quality than those from cable and satellite. The signal from the ESB is plenty strong for the metro area, assuming your signal isn't screwed up by the concrete and steel canyons.
If only the content wasn't brain-dead shite.....
The only cable that doesn't compressed their HD feeds to crappy quality is FiOS.
If your not prepared by now, by 1000s of hours of ticker on the god damn thing you claim to watch, you don't deserve TV, you probably don't even know what a TV is, or a power cord is. Anyone who is not yet prepared is either clinically dead, or a hazard to society and must be euthanized.
"when I put this rope into Jesus's face in the wall, the spirit of Jesus comes into my dark box of idleness and illuminates it to show the holy word of Fox News Channel"
Anyone who claims to have no clue, is lying to get attention and pity and act helpless to exploit the civilized world into "rescuing" them.
Also the statistics of how many household aren't prepared are BULLSHIT. Here are some examples:
"own a tv?" "yes" "do you have cable or satellite?" "I don't want satellites in my neighborhood, they give cancer and germs" "do you have a digital tv?" "i'm not smart like you, I'm just a housewife" "do you have a digital converter box" "no" = unprepared
"own a tv?" "yes" "have cable or satellite?" "no" "have a digital tv or converter box?" "no..." *click* "...but I only watch dvds on my TV and watch everything on Hulu"
"own a tv?" "yes" "have cable or satellite?" "no" "have a digital tv or converter box?" "no" "thank you for taking this survey" *click* (TV is in attic and hasn't been used for years, no TV watching in this household)
and if they truly are incompetent
"own a tv?" "no" "thank you for taking this survey" *click* writes down as unprepared to watch Digital OTA TV and get ad impressions
If your not prepared by now, you have much bigger problems with your life, like figuring how to watch and hear the screen you claim to have, or how to use a toilet, or how to get off the couch and get a job and stop living off welfare and disability payments.
Oh yeah, I wonder how TVs in prison work. That is probably a HUGE population of unprepared people. How many years do inmates need to save up to buy a converter box? do the coupons work for the prison commissary? and does any one make converter boxes with clear plastic cases, and if they do, do they cost $1000 each just because the suppling company and the correctional system can exploit the prisoner community?
yikes
Go outside.
TL;DR
This transition shows how stupid Americas are.
Unable to afford it? You shouldn't be owning and watching a tv then. You can then save money on your electric bill.
Does anyone even remember why they did this?
So they could re-sell the frequencies for bajillions of dollars.
Aside from that, it's a matter of resources. Radio frequencies aren't infinite. There are only so many bands, and channels within bands have to be separated to avoid interference. That's why there were no channels 3, 6, 8, 10, 12, etc. in the old TV spectrum. With ever more wireless services requiring spectrum, it made no sense to tie up both the digital and analog bands. And the TV stations sure wouldn't like to have to maintain and operate two completely separate transmission systems, drawing twice as much power. That's why some stations dumped analog long before the switchover deadline.
I think it had something to do with cleaning up the air waves so planes can fly faster or higher. I'm not sure which one.
There are one million grandmas living in New York City?
the signal is beautiful IF you can get enough of it in to watch the programming. the benefit on non-digital was that the picture was still watchable even if you couldn't get a very strong signal. We've been fiddling with it all day, calling the help line which does advise rescanning and calling the affiliates (that's the next step), but nonetheless, we're only getting one channel in clearly enough to get the sound and have the picture not freeze.
as for whether or not those people read, as we all seem to like to insult anyone's intelligence, the reason we don't have cable is because we read more than we watch TV. I'm on my second book of the past week; my bedroom is littered with everything from Harry Potter to Ken Follett to Einstein biographies. Suck on that.
victory - can get pretty much everything, not the prettiest, but all watchable
Anyone having problems getting CBS 2.1 from the Upper East Side? I can't get 5.1 either. Both worked before the 12th. I get most of the other channels, some with a stronger signal strength, but 5.1 and 2.1 come in at 0. Not a big deal now, but eventually there will be some sports event on either to watch.
Nevermind. I did a scan but it didn't work. I then tried 33 and 44 and it worked.
Keep us posted?
Are they broadcasting porn after the switchover? Or do I still have to use my computer to get it free?
What really sucks is that the TV-part on all my AM-FM-TV radios are now dead. I rely on these to listen to the news while cooking, cleaning, and working and have not heard anything about next generation receivers. (Both of my units are less than four years old.)
I'll have to check to see if WNYC still simulcasts the NewsHour.