Senate Approves 4-Month Delay In Digital TV Switch 438
DJRumpy sends word that the US Senate has voted to delay the switch to digital TV until June. "The transition date would move to June 12 from February 17 under the bill that was fueled by worries that viewers are not technically ready for the Congressionally mandated switch-over. It would also allow consumers with expired coupons, available from the government to offset the cost of a $40 converter box, to request new coupons. The government ran out of coupons earlier this month, and about 2.5 million Americans are on a waiting list for them."
Re:Just transmit in B&W the last 90 days (Score:3, Informative)
Unfortunately the only difference between a B&W single and a color signal (in the analog world) is the color burst. The signal will take just as much power (basically) to broadcast.
The biggest problem for most stations at this point is probably the extra power it would use to keep the analog transmitters going an extra 90 days. B&W wouldn't do any good there, it would just annoy people and cause more confusion than having no signal (or the "nightlight" signal that would have continued).
I hope that if this passes, TV stations just ignore it and switch on the 17th anyway. It's a stupid idea that won't do any good but waste money and time. Fund the coupons better, and keep the date the same.
Also, people have to go buy a digital tuner. An HD tuner costs extra, and would be a waste of money unless you had an HD monitor (which you probably don't, because if you bought one years ago you can probably afford the $150 to buy the box).
PBS (Score:5, Informative)
There is nothing on anyways (Score:2, Informative)
Currently we have 116 channels of mind-numbing NTSC channels.
After the switchover we will have several hundred more mind-numbing ATSC channels.
For the cable companies, this means that they will have more (apparent) capacity on their head-end equipment. Unfortunately they have decided it is more important to hand out executive bonuses rather than do the inevitable infrastructure upgrades necessary for the public to notice a difference in digital quality. (The cable companies have the luxury to choose when the switchover happens for their customers that are using the cable box or non-ATSC television (tuner). The rest of the CATV audience with an analog CATV ready TV can be allocated a smaller and smaller analog channel lineup to persuade them to either get a cable box or a new TV.)
For the OTA audience, let them visit the "TV repair shops" for an expensive lesson in Digital Broadcast Transmission.
Re:Just do it! (Score:2, Informative)
>>>>>instead of shutting off all analog signal they need to make every station in the country broadcast a repeating message for a week
>>I believe that's what the plan is
Well freedom of religion is a right, so you can believe whatever you want, but it's not true. ;-) When the analog signals turn-off, the digital signals move into the former space. So for example, when WBAL-11 turns-off their analog channels, it will immediately be replaced by WBAL-DT-11. There will be no way for an analog station to exist after the 2/17 cutoff, because a "new tenant" has already moved-in and filled the space.
Re:Just do it! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Just do it! (Score:5, Informative)
>>>TV Stations can still switch to digital early if they want to.
You're about the 10th person on this forum to say that, and it's not true. KSNC received a *waiver* from the FCC due to antenna damage. Other stations have asked for waivers because of economic hardship. Without these waivers they would still be required to continue broadcasting analog.
Re:Just do it! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Just do it! (Score:2, Informative)
>>>How do you explain the channels that are already broadcasting in both formats then
Well using my local stations, WBAL-11 and WGAL-8 and WPVI-6, here's what happens before and after 2/17:
DT-56 ----> moves to ----> DT-11
11 (analog) ---> dead
DT-58 -----> moves to ---->DT-9
8 (analog) ----> dead
DT-64 -----> moves to ---->DT-6
6 (analog) ----> dead
The digital channels move to their permanent homes, and the analog disappears forever. It cannot continue because that space is *already occupied* by a new tenant. Clear? Or do I need to speak more s-l-o-w-l-y? (How did marketing majors get into this forum?) (I mean, I've only repeated this story ~5 times now, and some of ye are still not grasping it.)
Re:Corruption? (Score:3, Informative)
Who really gains by pushing this out longer other than the people who are either 1. oblivious or 2. lazy?
The "legitimate" businessmen: Digital TV Tuner companies, Advertisers
The scammers: Cable companies, Satellite companies, Best Buy Salesmen in the HDTV section, Senators being bribed by all of the above.
Re:There should be no coupons, period. (Score:1, Informative)
When the GOVERNMENT passes a law that obsoletes your hardware because the GOVERNMENT wants to sell that spectrum for billions of dollars, the GOVERNMENT needs to reimburse those citizens it fucked in the process. Thanks for being such a corporate shill, though.
If the government decides to sell off the 2.4/5 GHZ 802.11 A/B/G spectrum for a couple billion dollars and move consumers to a new band, leaving the old wireless gear (laptops, access points, etc.) obsolete (and jammed by the new owner of this spectrum) you don't think you should be compensated in some measure for the new stuff they force you to buy??
This isn't technology becoming naturally obsolete...this is technology being disabled with malice aforethought by the government.
Re:There should be no coupons, period. (Score:2, Informative)
Switching to digital has been mandated by the government, no choosing if you want to switch or not.
Re:Just do it! (Score:3, Informative)
>>>So the various stories saying they will leave messages up after the transition are all lying?
In the case of WBAL, WGAL, and WPVI..... yes. It will be physically-impossible. For example, WBAL can't simulcast both DT-11 and Analog-11 at the same time and on the same frequency; it would just create garbage on people's televisions.
>>>Show some respect to your lower uid elders ;-)
Yes well, how many times do I have to say 2 + 2 == 4? Like I said I repeated my story about WBAL, WGAL, and WPVI around 5 times now, and yet people keep telling me I'm wrong. BTW I've been on the internet since 1987 (shortly after Star Trek TNG premiered). I think that makes me the elder. ;-)
Re:Just do it! (Score:5, Informative)
Actually it is true. Early in the transition, waivers were needed. Towards the end, this was eliminated. You might want to read some details here [senate.gov].
Re:Just do it! (Score:3, Informative)
Some pass through the analog signal when turned off. So all it would take is to hook it up, and never actually turn it on. I can see some people doing exactly that.
Re:Ahh... (Score:5, Informative)
Don't ignore the other aspect of this bill. As a holder of one of the 14 million expired coupons, I look forward to getting and using a new one. I requested so early, that it came in February, with an unexpected 3-month expiration period. For price and selection, I was motivated to wait as long as possible, and time ran out. My mistake, but if I get a second chance, I'll buy it right away.
I'm unsure if it'll really happen, because the funding looks to have been spent, and there's a waiting list of people who didn't waste their coupon ahead of me, but it's in the article, so it must be true. [sign-up required, editor - or you can change your user-agent to be the googlebot.]
Re:Just do it! (Score:2, Informative)
Because of Clearwire vs. LTV carriers. (Score:4, Informative)
Not trolling but honestly, why was this article flagged as corruption?
Because Obama's adviser on the DTV transition was an executive VP at Clearwire, which (with Sprint) is rolling out a WiMAX network. The competition (notably Verizon) is about to roll out LTE on the bandwidth being freed by the DTV transition (which they bought at auction for billions.)
Delaying the DTV transition for months delays the LTE rollout ditto, while Clearwire captures more market share and the competitors' capital is locked up in useless assets that are producing no revenue.
See this slashdot article [slashdot.org] for more.
Re:Ahh... (Score:3, Informative)
I think I understand now: https://www.dtv2009.gov/Stats.aspx [dtv2009.gov]
There are 11.7 million coupons outstanding. So, if the redemption rate continues below 60%, then that would be enough to cover the 2.5 million coupons on the waiting list and 2 or 3 million more. However, I read elsewhere that current expiration dates would be pushed out to September 15th, so new applicants would probably not be issued any coupons until after that.
Re:What about the lease space (Score:4, Informative)
Their licenses will get extended the 116 days the switchover is delayed:
US Senate passes bill to delay digital TV switch [reuters.com]
There is an interesting politics as usual angle to this too:
Chicago politics lands in DC [wizbangblog.com]
Re:There should be no coupons, period. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Poor planning (Score:3, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Just do it! (Score:3, Informative)
Its been unofficially done on avsforum.com. The answer is:
Zenith DTT-901 (cobranded as Insignia NS-DXA1)
Sold at major box stores like bestbuy, target, etc. Its what I have. Tip: get the latest version product (currently october 2008 on the bar code.)
or
ChannelMaster 7000
Unfortunately, they don't seem to carry them at the box stores.
=====
Being a fellow NYCer (Bronx), I can tell you if you live in the boroughs, they're irradiating us with UHF. I live in a ground floor apartment, and I'm getting UHF reception with a loose rg-6 cable! Your pal's problem is not (really) with weak signals, but with multipathing. The Zenith is good with that, but he's best off getting an antenna designed to ameliorate "multipathing".
ex. - Philips Silver Sensor. It looks like a triangular raygun made of silver tongue depressors. A homemade Grey-Hoverman antenna could do the job too. If he lives directly behind a blocking apartment tower, he's probably screwed. The reason why we get crappy reception with DTV now? Its because none of the stations can broadcast at FULL POWER until AFTER the cutover!
Re:Ahh... (Score:4, Informative)
I envy you.
Here in Sweden, they switched us over without considering the signal coverage in the countryside. Analogue reception was already bad, and it's impossible to put these heavily distorted radio signals together into digital video frames. No, the viewers were not ready. No, the government didn't care.
And no, they didn't offer coupons for set top boxes either.
Re:Just do it! (Score:3, Informative)
The UK found an increased energy cost for consumers (because they'd need a set-top box), and a much reduced energy cost for transmitters. http://help.digitaluk.co.uk/psi/kb/article.aspx?aid=6253 [digitaluk.co.uk]
Re:Advertising dollars (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Just do it! (Score:3, Informative)
Using my local stations, WBAL-11 and WGAL-8 and WPVI-6, here's what happens before and after 2/17:
DT-56 ----> moves to ----> DT-11
11 (analog) ---> dead
DT-58 -----> moves to ---->DT-8
8 (analog) ----> dead
DT-64 -----> moves to ---->DT-6
6 (analog) ----> dead
The digital channels move to their permanent homes, and the analog disappears forever. The analog cannot continue because that space is *already occupied* by a new tenant. Clear? :-)
Re:Just do it! (Score:3, Informative)
Hmm... Have you checked the power they're transmitting at? I've read that many of the stations are transmitting at lower power until they shut off the analog stations.
Other solutions, if possible(you might be in an apartment), might be to put an antenna on the roof or in the attic. Even with a longer cable run, a larger antenna will beat rabbit ears all to heck. The extra height doesn't hurt either.
Then again, I download fairly frequently as well - I get 5 stations, including the religious channel on my ignore list and PBS.
Re:Just do it! (Score:3, Informative)
Hate to break it to you there bud but replacing tubes in RF transmitters is far from a job that takes an "hour or two".
I work for a TV station here in Los Angeles and I assure you there's more to swapping tubes than just popping them in and turning the transmitter back on.
First just installing the tube is no easy task, these things are designed with specially tuned cavities that usually require two people lifting/twisting heavy metal parts in and out of the cabinet. These parts cannot be banged around or damaged in any way. Once the old tube is out, you still have to go through the process of putting all that heavy shit back together.
Once you're done with all that (oh look 4 hours has gone by), now you're ready to sweep and tune the tube. Bust out your handy dandy rectum spanalyzer (oh sorry, Spectrum Analyzer for you laymen). So even though you took pain staking care to mark where and how your cavity was put together and where all the tuning rods are, you'll still spend another few hours tuning the god damned thing.
So to make short story long, no, it's not a matter of a few hours. It's more than likely closer to 8 to 12 hours, and a LOT longer if anything else is bad. Have you seen what even a 10kw tube arcing through it's cavity looks like? It's NOT pretty.