True, but they didn't order the change for this First responder BS they keep spouting. the FCC mandated the change so that they could resell most of the spectrum at auction, which they did last year to a bunch of telecom's for nearly $100B. There is a very sizable portion of the population that only gets tv through rabbit ears (urban populations like houston where you can get 20+ stations over the air, and the very rural areas where cable doesn't go.) The biggest headache is going to be for people in the rural areas, because the digital signals just dont go as far as the analog ones. and it doesn't degrade gracefully. Either you can catch the signal, or you cant watch it at all. the situation with small portable tv's is the most distressing. the fcc never mandated that small sets (under 14'' i think) be made with digital tuners like they did with bigger sets, so you can still buy small analog tuner tv's that wont work in 3 weeks. and like okie said, when folks head to a storm shelter they will be in for a big surprise. This whole thing has been a disaster from day one. the fcc never put enough money into reaching the people who most needed to know about the change (ads on the internet are not likely to reach people who don't have cable tv, duh), device makers and retail shops made the terminology so dense you need an IT degree to understand it, cable co's used the confusion to convince people that they had to get cable service or else, stations fighting the change tooth and nail, countless delays (remember that the original proposed change date was almost 3 years ago), it's just ridiculous.
yep, in 3 weeks i guess mine will just go in the trash. heck, even goodwill probably wont want it. true. my elderly mother-in-law has cable, but the cable stations presented it as if you just HAD to get something they offered, confusing a lot of older people. it took us forever to convince her that because she had basic cable she was fine, she didnt need anything else. and a lot of other little blue hairs she knew were confused.
I sincerely hope you were being sarcastic. This has been coming for close to if not more than 4 years. And unless I'm mistaken, vouchers for the converters are not going to disapear the day the switch happens. People who were unaware of the switch will still be able to go get one and buy the converter. Is it an inconvienence and some people might not realize its happening... yes. But when is any major change the govt mandates not an inconvenience for some group of people out there? And I'm pretty sure this isn't the first relatively major change mandated by our govt in history that people didn't realize was coming or know about. I could be wrong but there always seems to be a group of people who don't realize something is happening in our country. (sometimes the group is as big as one of the two major parties if you ask me). Stuff happens, go buy (or get the voucher and buy) the converter and hook it to your tv. It's my guess it doesn't need its own power supply but then I'll be honest and say I don't know for sure because I don't need to buy one.
They ran out of funding for vouchers last week. The FCC has stopped sending out vouchers and is trying to get more, but it requires congressional approval. their is only one converter that i know of that is battery powered, the rest all have to be plugged in.
Of course I was, hence the "rolleyes" emoticon. I have little sympathy for those not ready for the change. This has been well known and publicized for years. They are out of money for vouchers so another small delay will probably be needed and I have no problem with that. The argument over signal distance is valid but, most of these broadcasters are operating digital transmissions at below full power because they simultaneously broadcast UHF/VHF. Many of these stations will ramp up power levels when they shut off analog. Hopefully that will help. There will be some that currently get fuzzy analog who cant get a lockable digital signal. They will need to invest in a more elaborate antenna/pre-amp setup. The small battery power TV's are a problem. Not sure it can even be addressed. They will get nothing without a box. You need a generator or spare 12 volt battery in your storm shelter with a DC to AC converter.
We are going to see a flood of new small, flatscreen, digital battery TV's on the market, similar to the DVD players that are already popular. I need to find out who the players are in this market and buy them on NASDAQ. The next iPod will probably have a DTV tuner built-in. I'm buying more Apple shares if they drop to $75.
I bet the shares do drop because of the Jobs medical issue. You know that is coming, whether it is warranted or not. People are going to irrationally panic because he is not at the helm.
Thanks for the info Pod... didn't know they required its own power supply. I guess you can tell i stick to radio when the power is out. Drc40 - Sorry I'm a lil slow on the uptake on some of these emoticons. I figured it was but it just didn't convey the sarcasm to me. Geuss I'll have to work on my recognition skills :hihi:
amazon shows a few in the 150+ range, but none from reputable manufacturers. My solution is a usb tuner that plugs into my laptop. combine that with a cell network card and i'm ready for any disaster. as long as the generator holds out.....
