WTFH: The end of analog TV broadcasting is near
This note is addressed to the almost 19 million households in the US whom receive their Television reception – not via cable or satellite but over the air using antennas. Did you know that unless you already have a DTV compatible tuner or DTV set top box on all your Analog TV’s, or are connected to a cable or satellite TV service, you will lose your television reception on Feb. 18th 2009? You think February 2009 is too far away to be thinking of that? Think about all the TV’s you presently have in your house or your grandmother’s house, and about all the TV’s your family is going to buy between now and then. Unless they are Digital TV capable (not to be confused with Digital Cable or Digital Satellite service) – they will be useless. Really.
What to do? Buy a new DTV Set-Top Box or subscribe to cable or satellite service (and buy / rent their new set-top box) for each analog TV you own. And, here’s a tip: You can apply for up to two $40 off coupons from the government towards the purchase of new set top boxes (while coupon supplies last). Of course, you could always replace those old TV’s with TV’s that have the new Digital TV Capable tuners and continue to receive your over the air broadcasts. Also note that many of the thin LCD/Plasma TV sets didn’t even include any tuner at all in their sets.
Now who said digital was better/easier?!?!
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Consumer interest in free over the air digital- HD TV is definitely on the increase. The number of visitors to our web site http://www.dennysantennaservice.com has skyrocketed over the past year, mainly do to the introduction of free over the air digital - HDTV.
Choosing the proper TV antenna for a particular location is the main issue for most. Many consumer’s have a tendency to purchase antennas that are to small to do the job, digital reception is an all or nothing proposition, you’re going to want a strong signal. Also, there is a misconception that all digital - HDTV broadcast signals are on the UHF band (14-69) Currently it’s true, many broadcaster’s are transmitting their digital signals on UHF, because much of the VHF band (2-13) is currently being used to broadcast analog TV signals. However, when the digital transition is complete on February 17th of 2009, the date set when broadcasters will turn off their analog signals, things will change. There are only a handful of broadcast locations across the U.S. that have plans to remain 100% on the UHF band, most areas will have both VHF and UHF digital stations. This means if you purchase a UHF TV antenna now, chances are you may loose the ability to receive a portion of your digital channels in the future. Some areas already have VHF digital stations.
My best advice is to purchase a TV antenna that is large enough to be certain it can easily receive all of the digital broadcast signals in your area, even during poor reception conditions. The antenna should be VHF/UHF capable, unless you are absolutely certain all of your stations are currently UHF, and will remain UHF after the digital transition is complete. To determine the channel number your area digital stations currently broadcast on now, and the channel number they plan to broadcast on after the 2009 analog shutdown date, visit http://hraunfoss.fccgov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf. When you visit this site, start by finding your state and then the city where your area stations are located. The channel number that appears in the first column is the current digital channel number of that station, the second column is the current analog channel number, and the third column is the tentative final channel number destination. The third column is the channel number where the station plans to permanently broadcast their digital signal. VHF channels are 2 - 13 and UHF are 14 - 69. If your not sure where or what stations are available in your area, visit http://www.antennaweb.org. This is a great site to visit, it will provide the city location of the stations in your area and much more.
on May 26, 2007 at 05:06 PM - LINKIn that link they forgot the “dot” between fcc & gov. It should read:
on September 29, 2007 at 06:33 AM - LINKhttp://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf.
Looking for more information on DTV coupons and the impending transition to Digital Television? Click here!
on May 27, 2008 at 06:51 PM - LINKhttp://www.dtv-coupon.com
Great Article.
Jay
on July 29, 2008 at 12:20 AM - LINKDTV and the digital transition at http://www.tvconversionhelp.com/2008/04/25/dtv/