Many TV Stations Won't Make Switch to Digital
It turns out that not all television stations are switching to digital in early 2009. And it will be tricky for consumers to still see the signals of thousands of specialty stations that aren't ready for the switch.
Nearly 3,000 stations operate under different rules than the 1,700 full-power stations that provide the most-popular broadcasts. The low-power broadcasters typically aim their programming at religious and minority groups. A few also host shopping or civic channels.
And nearly 5,000 more "translator stations" help extend the reach of full-power stations, often in mountainous areas where TV broadcasts need relaying.
The feds aren't requiring those stations, many of which operate on shoestring budgets, to make the expensive switch to digital. At least not yet. That might seem OK, except millions of households that depend on antennas will find it difficult to watch both digital and analog stations after the switchover.
Converter boxes will enable old TVs to receive the new digital broadcasts, and the feds will help us buy the converters. But the federal rules don't require the digital boxes to also handle analog signals from low-power stations. And most manufacturers fear that analog signals will interfere with digital signals.
They will instead shut out the analog signals—and the specialty TV stations that will still use them.
Tags: digital TV | HDTV
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Reader Comments
Digital Proves Unreliable In Severe Weather
I have a concern about receiving uninterrupted critical TV
weather coverage here during severe storms and tornado
warnings once analog transmissions are discontinued.
My husband is trying out a digital converter, and we can
consistently receive only one station! We are able to receive
8-10 analog stations using the same antenna!
When dangerous weather approaches, following the path of
severe storms or the path of tornados is very reliable on
analog stations, but as soon as the weather surrounds us,
the digital station is effectively blacked-out! This is similar to the way that satellite TV transmissions are blocked.
It is assumed that even if we are forced to buy a decibel
power-gain appliance and power-up our antenna reception,
we will still be without critical weather warning broadcasts
when they are needed the most as digital signals are
unreliable at best when blanketed by heavy weather...
Can you help me understand how rural America will be
notified of severe weather and kept safe (as possible) when
analog weather newscasts are no longer available?
I believe this is a very valid concern that should be addressed immediately with everyone who is vulnerable to such severe weather threats.
radio instead of TV during storms
While I agree NFL games don't cut it on portables (the 2004 season was spoiled for those of us without power four of the first five weeks of the season), DC TVs serve a purpose during storm season that radio can't match.
Your suggestions have flaws:
1. A car battery has a limited juice. We needed to monitor the path for nearly 24 hours after the power went out with the first feeder bands of Frances.
2. I hope you are right; and may they not have built-in lithium batteries with a 2.5-hour play time. I don't mind burning 4 or 8 D-cells a couple times a year.
3. As a kid, we had only radio to get us through storms and frankly, they weren't much help. Radios may be sufficient to save yourself, but they do little to allay fear. You just can't track a storm on a local level during a radio broadcast. When sitting alone in a hallway, closet, or bathroom during a storm, watching the storm approach helps control fear. Remember, knowledge is power.
How many of those hundreds of special interest stations do you watch, anyway? I watch so little TV that I'm a broadcast-only cable subscriber; I don't even get ESPN anymore.
RE: Digital TV
Oh the inumanity that the FCC is forcing upon us in the name of progress. We should forever have to forgo the benefits that opening up the frequency spectrum will provide us as well as the much better quality that digital provides just for the infrequent need for a few to receive storm warnings on a portable DC powered TV. The real crisis here may be the inability to watch NFL games on a portable.
I have three suggestions:
1. Buy a ac/dc converter and power the converter off of a car battery
2. Wait a little bit. I am confident American engineering will provide many third world companies the ablility to flood our market with portable digital DC TV's
3. BUY A RADIO. THEY ARE MORE THAN SUFFICENT TO RECEIVE THE INFORMATION YOU NEED TO SAVE YOUR ..... SELF. How about a NOAA weather radio or a regular radio which can get NOAA weather frequencies.
Sure you can't get your soaps or the price is right during the storm but it will accomplish the purpose.
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