My wife and I have two households, due to me being in school down in Florida. For a few months now, we’ve each cut back on our expenses, to include watching only over-the-air television. Hey, we like PBS.
So, we’re watttttttttching the Detroit/Pittsburgh gggg g g g g game tonight over the local cc ch ch ch ch channel, and for the l l l lllllllife of meeeeeee e e e I cannot figure out wh wh whooooo decided this would be a g g g goooooood idea. I swear this is a con con con con con . . . . . . pira. . . cy to make everyone sw sw switch over to cable or satellite.
:: no signal ::
What a crock of shit. I mean, we’ll be watching the game, and fifteen seconds after the second goal, we saw the second goal–the damn converter/signal/fuckin’ FCC broadcast locked up. If you’re still watching over the air, I’m su su sure you kn kn know what I mean.
:: no signal::
:: no signal ::
[RIGHT]:: no signal ::[/RIGHT]
Goddamned government. Fuckin’ everything up just for more commercial interests. There wasn’t a damn thing wrong with the old system. And yes, I know the bandwidth of the digital signal is much smaller than the old analog one, but look at the cost of upgrading all of the stations and televisions–is it really worth it?
Tripler
::tin foil hat:: <-- not for conspiracy theory, it’s for reception.
Rabbit ears, because you know darn well nobody wires houses for an on-the-roof antenna anymore. We’ve got those new converter boxes between the antenna and TV. I have to ask, aren’t there some serious bucks made on those boxes?
Unnecessary modification, with money going to companies for unnecessary hardware. Someone’s palms are getting greased, and I’d like to know who. . .
Tripler
. . . and be able to watch TV clearly, without the sk sk sk skipping again. :mad:
Rabbit ears were designed for analogue signals. You can still use an indoor antenna, but it’s better if you use one that’s directional, and has been built to cater for digital signals.
Our particular TV will not go to a channel if there is no signal. So I type in “5.1” and it refuses. I move the antenna, try again. Nope, no channel, won’t go there. Move the antenna again – maybe here? Hooray: crystal clarity.
We’re learning which of the four antenna positions brings in which channels. 13 still only comes in on analog, though, so I guess we lose it next week unless they boost the signal.
There’s no such thing as a “digital” antenna outside of marketing, but there is a kernel of truth in what you said. Many DTV broadcasts are on UHF, so a loop or bowtie antenna is called for. Check out the FCC’s page on getting better DTV reception.
Yeah. Not a fan of the digital tv AT ALL. It sucks.
Sure, there might be equipment that I can fiddle with to get a good signal, but you know what? If I were the sort of person who wanted to fiddle with equipment, I would probably have sprung for cable by now. I can’t even be bothered to remember how to use all of the remotes. I just get up and push the buttons on the tv.
I couldn’t agree more. I remember the good old days when we would send each other letters, and didn’t have to mess around with true-type fonts and video codecs. All this new technology just makes things worse, because of lobby groups and johnny-come-latelies who want things handed to them on a silver platter.
We used to do all kinds of stuff like just dumping oil and antifreeze down the gutter, when we weren’t concerned with this “conservation” bullshit. And I remember when we had our god-given freedom to drive around without a seatbelt and drink a six-pack. Then we’d go out and feel up some broads, and they liked it!
You’ve all got the internet, apparently. Hook your TV to your laptop and watch Hulu.
I’m with you. We get over the air tv. well, we will until the digital switch. The broadcast signal is perfectly fine for watching analog. There’s a bit of noise, but it hasn’t bothered us in the ten years we’ve been doing this.
We attached a digital converter box. No stations. No tv at all.
So basically, we have to put an antenna on our roof and get it to work to get the same tv we’ve always had. This means stringing coax cable down the side of our home, across the ceiling of the family room, down the wall of another room to even get it to the family room, etc. or go without TV. We’re seriously considering going without altogether. It just doesn’t seem worth the trouble.
Why do people keep insisting they have to have rooftop antennas? Sure, that would be ideal, but it’s not necessary. Just get a proper UHF set-top antenna (~$40) or, better yet, build the one linked in the youtube video above (free, or very cheap if you have to buy a balun). I built one and get very good reception.
We have a proper UHF set-top antenna. We get no digital reception with it. We haven’t tried the DIY setup from the YouTube video yet, although frankly if we’re going to put any effort into something at all, I think we’d just as rather go ahead and install the attic antenna.
