On Wed, Dec 30, 2009 at 8:46 PM, Robert Carroll <[email protected]> wrote:
> Speaking personally, it does not matter to me if TV broadcasting is ended. I do not think that there is any imminent danger of over-the-air TV coming to an end as a result of the cellular industry trying to grab more spectrum. Chances are they are not going to get what they want from the FCC, at least not under the current administration. Not to mention that too much has already been invested in the current system by the TV broadcasters, the viewing public as well as government. > With the switch from analog to digital, I am able to receive only two local > digital broadcasts despite having a very large VHF-UHF antenna mounted 10 > feet above the roof of my 2-story house. I dwell in Vienna, VA, which is on > the Capital Beltway only 10 miles from the transmission towers. Prior to > the switch, I could receive at least 14 TV broadcasts. Effectively, TV > broadcasting is ended for me and I must rely on cable for TV viewing. I lived in Dunn Loring, just outside Vienna, as the transition to digital took place. I had an antenna at ground level in a low spot, yet could get all the local digital broadcasts. There would be occasional interference from passing vehicles and aircraft due to multipath, but I did get the stations, even Baltimore on occasion. I now live out in Fauquier County and can still get all the local DC stations, sometimes Baltimore and even Charlottesville, Petersburg and Richmond occasionally with the same antenna, albeit roof mounted now. Perhaps you are just in a bad location for general reception, there is something amiss in your antenna system, or your tuner is not as good as it could be. It is hard to get info on tuner specifications, but under digital broadcasting, that component is much more important than it ever was under analog broadcasting. I dunno, but you should be able to get better reception than what you have indicated. How do any of your neighbors fare? A lot of folks used those analog to digital converters when the switch to digital first happened, and there are now many of them just laying around as users of those boxes eventually bought digital TV receivers. See if you can beg or borrow one from somebody, hook it up to your antenna, plug it into your set and see how well it receives the local stations. If it gets better reception that what you are currently using, that could mean that your tuner is weak. Better reception, but yet not great, could still mean there a problem with your antenna system and it is not providing sufficient signal. > I don't know how important TV broadcasting is in smaller cities or in rural > areas. Perhaps it is more important there. Over-the-air TV can be important in rural areas because, for the most part, those portions of the country are devoid of cable providers. Steve ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
