so, everyone ready for it? i don't have cable, so i had to buy a converter box...but then i found bunny ears that say they pick up the digital signal, so i'm gonna try those tomorrow and just return them if they don;t work...but i may also just call and get cable if its cheap enough...i just don't wanna pay to have the channels i already have now...but maybe if i can add discovery, cartoon network and bravo for not too much, i'll be okay...i really just wish i could pick the channels i want...that'd be SO nice...
An antenna is an antenna is an antenna. They all pick up the digital, but one on your roof is going to be best. You still need the box.
I have an analog TV, don't have cable/satellite and haven't bothered getting any equipment for the change-over. I only "watch" (have on as background noise) about 4 hours of TV a week, at most, so it's just not worth the expense to bother with buying the equipment. The ~$30 - $50 I'd spend on a new antenna, and the ~$50 I'd spend on a convertor box (since I'm not willing to seize money from other taxpayers to subsidize my TV viewing), could be better put towards saving for a digital TV. I'll just do without TV for a few months...and I doubt it's going to bother me much.
I barely watch any telly so I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing to get ready for the switchover. We do have a creaky old Sky box which has a crappy picture most of the time and the image constantly freezes, and a Freeview box because Channel Five is still impossible to get through a normal antenna even though it's supposed to be a basic terrestrial channel. Ehh, most of what I watch comes on DVD eventually so it's not a big deal. I'll wait for discs of certain shows and movies if I really want to see them.
lucky... i just figured that one out, so we're heading to target to return this one and get what we need...
I've got WOW cable. I'm fine. But I am gonna miss analog broadcasts. I'm used to pounding on the TV, messing with the bunny ears just to get a good signal... R.I.P. Analog...
I am amazed at how many people still don't understand what's going on with the switchover. There are just far too many uninformed people out there. If you have an antenna already, and it's not complete crap, then you probably don't need a new one. "HDTV" antennas are a marketing ploy. ChldsPlay said it perfectly. If you do not have an HD-ready tv (there will be a logo on the front of the tv if it is), then yes, you will need the converter box. Worried about the cost? Apply for the govt. coupon. https://www.dtv2009.gov/
While I agree HDTV antenna are complete load of crap, for my house it seems to be working well... We live out in the middle of nowhere and when we got converter boxes we tried them in my room and a few others and our house is in the right place where it doesn't matter what we get its gonna be a choppy digital signal at best. At one point on my TV I had maybe one local channel and for some reason I will never understand a massive amount of religious channels I did not even know exist. We had to get one of those HD antenna to even get a signal out here, Then my parents suddenly decided to get dish network and we use the converters for a TV we use just when were eating and my nephews room, mainly cause his mom doesn't wanna pay for another receiver. So for some places those antennas do in fact work, but from what I've seen from other people I know and what people who sell this stuff tell me. Unless your like me in the middle of nowhere you don't need one of the HD antenna just a converter
You know that half the people in areas that finished the switch to Digital today are going Cold Turkey because they can't watch Tv
Says the person that didn't take the basic RF class. So didn't I. But an antenna is not just an antenna. There are Onmi-directional and Directional antennas. There are antennas with different impedence (ohms) values, etc.
I can't believe there are people here who own a computer and have internet but no Cable or Directv/Dish TV? What are you using dial up?
Newsflash Digital Signals CANNOT be transmitted over the air. It is really a Digital Signal represent over an an analog signal. Unlike having the sine wave with little bumps on it, it is a wave with several more little bumps. You know what happen when you cannot get a good signal through the antenna, you have played DVD with scratches in them right? (ATSC support MPEG-2, I believe).
