[RTC List] DTV Conversion Support or User Group

[William Van Hefner]

Dwight,

If you are looking for some local info on DTV, HDTV and TV broadcasting,
you might want to take at a small website I put together at
http://humboldtonline.com/hdtv/ . There is quite a bit of useful and
practical information there. Much of it is specific to this area.

I don't have the answers to all of your questions, but here are some that
I can think of off the top of my head.

- There is no such thing as a "HDTV converter box". There are DTV
converter boxes, but they simply allow you to view (new) digital
television broadcasts on an older analog television set or tuner. It's a
simple digital to analog converter. HDTV on the other hand requires a new
TV set or display. You will never be able to get High Definition from an
older analog tuner. You not only need to buy a new TV, but also be capable
of getting a signal from an HDTV broadcaster.

- Rabbit ears may be good enough, but only if you are very close to the
transmitter tower and have a line-of-sight view of the tower itself.
Residents in the Kneeland area could probably get away with this. Then
again, signals up there are so strong that you can routinely pick up audio
from radio stations, even when a radio is turned off!

- It is highly unlikely that translators in this area will be converted to
DTV anytime soon, if ever. Certainly not before the end of the decade, I
would imagine. The cost is just way too prohibitive at this time. There
are also a number of LPTV broadcasters in Humboldt County that will not
likely upgrade to DTV anytime soon, if ever.

- You can find a list of local broadcasters on the website I mentioned
above. If you dig deep enough, there is also a list of all translators
between here and Redding to the East and North to Oregon as well.


William Van Hefner
Editor
HumboldtOnline.Com
e-mail: editor at humboldtonline.com



On Tue, December 9, 2008 5:23 pm, Dwight Winegar wrote:
>

> I know the focus of this RTC mail list is quite narrow, especially
> since people did not want to have a BBS anymore, however with the "Digital
> Conversion" new questions are coming up that go beyond the
> basic FCC FAQs.   What is a local source for Humboldt County residents to
> ask various questions.
>
> For example:
>
>
> -  Digital is either "All or Nothing" so how do we know how many
> Digital channels are actually out there in the local area, that are
> possible to receive? -  Digital broadcasting is causing the changing of
> numbering.  Some are easy - such as 6 is now at 6.1, but others are now on
> new channels or "virtual channels" (if someone wants to define that
> difference). You will not find Newschannel 3 on 3.1.
> -  Rabbit ears are not enough, even though many sales people and some
> of the FCC material would have many to believe so.  Even with an amplified
> Radio Shack antenna you may very well NOW be needing an
> outdoor antenna.  Where do you get that at, and the advice on putting it
> up?   Not from the places you would have traditionally gone - such as
> hardware stores or even all Radio Shacks. -  Oh those darn recording
> devices...  If I must have a DTV converter box than how do I pair that up
> with my VCR, or the newer DVD recorders?   What about timers and tuners in
> the equation? -  Hey my converter box says DTV and not HDTV; do they make
> HDTV
> converter boxes? (or how beneficial would they be over DTV converters?) -
> The FCC rules for the conversion only say Full Power stations or
> "Primary", yet in this rural area there are many "Translators" and
> some "Relays" so what happens with these after 17 Feb 2009? Apparently a
> number of these will still be around and allowed to broadcast - and which
> ones are they - serving where from where?
>
> - What you didn't kill your television yet?   Well there's still KEET
> and Jim Bernard, ... and maybe the Simpsons or House  =8-P
>
>
> These are some of the more frequent questions that are coming up in
> larger numbers, and not the ones the FCC talks about.
>
> - Dwight
>
>
>