It gets worse than that. I live only 12-15 miles from the transmitters
and get a great signal (95% +), ... until the occasional reflection
wipes out the signal temporarily. Out of the 20 DTV channels available,
I can only get 4 on a dependable basis. In order to get the others, I
will need to buy yet another antenna that is more directional than the
omni-directional one I purchased specifically for these signals.
The fun continues...
Richard P.
For that matter, digital signals in general are problematic if you're
getting your TV over the air, without a cable or satellite hookup. The
signals are more directional, so you have to have the antenna pointed
EXACTLY the right way for each channel, or you're out of luck. The
signals are also effectively weaker; and when you're trying to tune your
set or move your antenna to get the signal, it can switch from being on
to being off, without the intermediate state you often get now, when the
signal degrades but doesn't quite vanish when you're adjusting things.
(I go through enough gymnastics already, trying to adjust a small
booster antenna in just the right direction to get even marginal signals
on some stations.)
My brother (who designs radio transmitters) and I were trying to explain
all this to another relative, who hadn't heard anything about the death
of analog and who was outraged that, in spite of the supposed
improvements of digital TV, what she was going to get (post-conversion)
was a lot worse than what she has now. Unless, of course, she pays a
lot of money (for a new TV or conversion box, or cable, or a satellite
dish, etc.) And she'll have these extra expenses just to get "free"
commercial-ridden network TV, and public television which she has
already paid for in taxes and pledges. I think to her the conversion
sounds a lot like "Let them eat cake," or maybe "There's one [sucker]
born every minute," and I can't entirely disagree with her.
QUOTE: It is my understanding that in some parts of the country there
will
be no signal or only patchy signals available if the phones are
switched from analog to digital. These areas are in the hinterlands
where antennas are few and far between, a situation that will render
digital signals problematic to receive and transmit with.
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