Don't Fear the Digital Transition!

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Added: Thu. Dec 04, 2008 10:35am
Posted in: Consumer Information

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Do you receive your TV channels through a roof antenna, or rabbit ears?  Is the TV at least a few years old?  If so, you'll need a DTV converter box to see anything after February 17, 2009.  My mother has never had cable or satellite TV, so she was worried about her TV setup.

She bought 3 of these RCA DTV Converter Boxes, and tried to set one up herself.  I tried to help her over the phone, but she was only able to pick up 4 channels on the box, and the picture frequently pixelated and was unwatchable.

Frustrated, she disconnected the box and waited for me to fly up to Missouri for Thanksgiving.  When I arrived, I found that her real problem was a damaged coaxial cable coming down from her big roof antenna.  This is how a good coaxial "male" connection should look:


That tiny wire point in the middle is what actually carries the TV signal.  The rest is just insulation and shielding.  That tiny wire was barely being held in place by the badly banged-up connector on the end.  I chopped the end off of the cable, re-stripped the insulation on the end, and added a new metal connector that I bought at Radio Shack for about $2.  After re-installing the DTV Converter Box, I followed the very easy on-screen menu instructions to scan for TV channels.  The box found 10 channels in about 60 seconds.  My mom was thrilled!  She got more channels for free, and all of them were crystal clear!  I was also able to get all ten channels on her other TVs, even though they each use a little "rabbit ear" antenna indoors.  In one evening she moved from anger to joy about the digital transition.  If you get your TV though an antenna (and it's not a new-ish TV set), you are running out of time.  Here are some valuable sites:

http://www.dtvtransition.org/  This is a good overview of the transition.

https://www.dtv2009.gov/ 
This will help you get coupons to help offset the cost of the DTV Converter Boxes.  Use them quickly, they have expiration dates.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f 
This is a forum where they discuss the HDTV/DTV reception in cities across the country.

Also, feel free to send me a message with any questions.  I can't promise I'll have all the answers, but I'll do my best to steer you to the truth.

Keep these facts in mind:
 
1. If your TV is pretty new, it probably doesn't need a converter box.  TVs with an "ATSC" tuner can pick up the digital DTV/HDTV signals from an antenna.  For the past several decades, we've used "NTSC" tuners.  Those older tuners will not pick up anything after February 17, 2009 unless you get a converter box.

2. Each TV will need its own converter box.  It is the box that gets to change the channels from now on.  The converter box will also be changing the channels for your VCR as well.  The TV and VCR will need to be left on channel 3 or 4 forever (it's your choice, just be sure that it's the same channel for both).  Just like you put your TV on 3 or 4 in order to watch a VHS tape, you'll need to set the VCR itself to channel 3 or 4 in order to record a program from the DTV Converter Box.  Leave the DTV box on and tuned to the proper channel so that the VCR can pick up the signal.  Otherwise, you will record static.

3. If you get cable or satellite TV on all your TV sets, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING.  Your TV providers are sending you a signal that will continue to work.

4.  The reason my mother gets more channels now, is because the DTV transmissions give the TV stations more bandwidth.  As a result, one TV station can send out multiple channels.  Mom now gets 3 PBS channels, as well as NBC Weather Plus.  In the future the TV stations will probably send out even more channels for free.

5. If you're confused, don't hesitate to ask a technically-savvy friend or relative (or me) for advice.  Don't be scared.  You'll like the results once it's over with.