House Passes Delay to Digital TV

[Marquoz]

Originally Posted by bajor27

Not that it really affects me, but I hope this doesn't pass. The remaining people will switch over mighty quickly once they realize they can't watch TV anymore.

Switch over to what if you aren't receiving signals? Somebody on a fixed income in a dead zone caused by a hurried switch over doesn't have the option to get cable or satellite. Just because you have a converter doesn't 100% guarantee you will get a signal for it to convert.

[ussrelativity]

I'm glad the date is staying on February 17. I didn't like the idea of delaying it, after everything that has been done preparing for it ahead of time.

To delay it encourages more laziness.

[Blu-Jawa]

I heard that after the cut off date, the old air waves would be used to give everyone free internet! if that is true it would be cool to have one less bill

[BluHavik]

My take is, if you don't know the DTV switch is coming.. You don't watch TV. So why should it matter to you???

It's been plastered all over for the last few months. If you missed it now, you'll miss it months from now as well.

[UFAlien]

Originally Posted by Blu-Jawa

I heard that after the cut off date, the old air waves would be used to give everyone free internet! if that is true it would be cool to have one less bill

...where did you hear that? It makes NO sense.

They're freeing up the analog channels for government and emergency use...

[Marquoz]

Originally Posted by Blu-Jawa

I heard that after the cut off date, the old air waves would be used to give everyone free internet! if that is true it would be cool to have one less bill

That sale got delayed because of the upcoming switch over. The "free internet" will be a completely different spectrum as to the ones freed up by the analog - digital conversion. There is also still a lot of infighting from the cell companies and broadband companies because offering free internet over the air will destroy a lot of their business models, and the auction will be to the benefit of one company/business model.

[FIDDYPOP]

I dont think this should be put off any longer. Even now it is like 3 weeks away. Not to mention that every 3rd commercial is for digital tv.

[tron3]

I don't know why my thread was closed, as all I did was post information.

February 1st is just a couple of days away. Take my word for it, the "zero hour" adopters will start changing over like crazy. The impact will be much less than expected for non adopters. Let's hope the boxes stay in stock.

On the other hand, you could delay Christmas by a month and people still won't have their shopping done. We simply have to anticipate people waiting for the "after Christmas sales". PERIOD.

This reminds me of a recent work situation. We had a network printer moved into the shop area. They ran the cable for me and I crimped the ends and was ready to plug it into the router. Guess what, no more ports.

It was suggested I use a spare mini-router and simply move a plug into it, along with the printer and plug the mini-router into the larger one. I wasn't happy with that solution and left it until we came up with something more elegant. Besides, the guys already had a working workstation printer.

This Monday the toner ran out and it was also out of stock. Besides that the printer had become very beat up and wasn't worth keeping. They HAD to print. So, I plugged the mini-router into the smaller one and got the printer working out of neccessity. Now I wonder why I put it off as I have accepted the solution. Silly human nature, I guess.

[shooter3295]

The local TV stations,.....cable,......Satellite TV,......Newspapers,....they've ALL been beating on this February 17, 2009 date for the last YEAR.

If these people can't get their heads out of "the dark place" and deal with it,...TOUGH SHIT !

Let them go back to gathering around the Radio.

[caliblue15]

Originally Posted by Marquoz

Switch over to what if you aren't receiving signals? Somebody on a fixed income in a dead zone caused by a hurried switch over doesn't have the option to get cable or satellite. Just because you have a converter doesn't 100% guarantee you will get a signal for it to convert.

That is not the people's fault, but the broadcasting station, they have been running tests for years on this, they should have called and complained, so the broadcast company could boost their signal...

[tron3]

Dead zones occur because the digital signal does not spread like dropping a stone in a pool of water. It spreads like multiple tenticles. Dead zones also occur because the UHF signal just doesn't penetrate as well as VHF.

This example is simply a demonstration on how to help fix the problem. Imagine a transmitter with multiple "nipples" going around the circumference of a transmitter ring. Imagine the signal pulsing out of those nipples. Naturally, the further away the signal, the more spread out they become to create a dead zone. A second transmitter ring with the nipples slightly misaligned to the first will fill those gaps.

Again, I have no idea how they actually transmit the waves, nor if they can control the direction. My example was just for visual impact, and to brainstorm a solution.

[Bobby Henderson]

Originally Posted by Marquoz

Somebody on a fixed income in a dead zone caused by a hurried switch over doesn't have the option to get cable or satellite.

The problem is this switch has not been "hurried" at all. The original May 2006 transition deadline was set back in the 1990s. Then it was delayed 3 years to the date fast approaching now. The general public has had more than a decade to get prepared.

Originally Posted by tron3

February 1st is just a couple of days away. Take my word for it, the "zero hour" adopters will start changing over like crazy. The impact will be much less than expected for non adopters. Let's hope the boxes stay in stock.

On the other hand, you could delay Christmas by a month and people still won't have their shopping done. We simply have to anticipate people waiting for the "after Christmas sales". PERIOD.

Another example of this fact of human behavior is what we see at tax time.

Year after year millions of Americans wait until the absolute last minute to file their taxes. Then they're stuck in long lines at the Post Office and go through all sorts of other headaches they knew they could have prevented by getting things done a little early. And some of those procrastinators are even getting refunds. But they wait until the last minute because the task of filling out those forms is like doing school homework. It's a hassle.

The process of getting one of those converter box coupons may strike a lot of people as being the same sort of pain in the butt.

In the last few days leading up to the deadline I think we'll see a lot of people just going to the electronics stores and buying converter boxes with their own money. They won't fart around with the task of filling out forms and waiting for a coupon to arrive in the mail.

The FCC and other interested parties still need to be aggressive in handling situations for those who truly cannot afford to even go out and buy a conversion box.

I'm a little surprised private industry hasn't got involved in this because there's a lot of "feel good" public relations "we're helping the community" types of marketing opportunities they could use to promote their brands.

[The Big Blue]

Faith restored.... for now.

Originally Posted by tron3

Imagine the signal pulsing out of those nipples.

I need a cigarette.

[kdn1221]

Originally Posted by tron3

Imagine a transmitter with multiple "nipples" going around the circumference of a transmitter ring. Imagine the signal pulsing out of those nipples. My example was just for visual impact, and to brainstorm a solution.

I'm all for "nipples". The more the better.

A note for Congress - Deal with the economic problem not with digital signal cutover.

[SkantDragon]

There's also the point that.. ummm... it's not like we're talking about oxygen here. If some people's TVs stop working, they won't die. They might even try going outside.

The horror!

[reiella]

Originally Posted by tron3

Dead zones occur because the digital signal does not spread like dropping a stone in a pool of water. It spreads like multiple tenticles. Dead zones also occur because the UHF signal just doesn't penetrate as well as VHF.

This example is simply a demonstration on how to help fix the problem. Imagine a transmitterwith multiple "nipples" going around the circumference of a transmitter ring. Imagine the signal pulsing out of those nipples. Naturally, the further away the signal, the more spread out they become to create a dead zone. A second transmitter ring with the nipples slightly misaligned to the first will fill those gaps.

Again, I have no idea how they actually transmit the waves, nor if they can control the direction. My example was just for visual impact, and to brainstorm a solution.

Oddly enough you also hit on part of why a 4 month delay translates to a year delay for the folks who are supposed to be using the spectrum; the Fall.

Fun sidenote for DC. RCN turned off the analog signal [had fun sets of warnings in the bills etc for a while] and still folks didn't know it was happening or was going to happen. Now, of course, some folks might be wondering why RCN would be doing this, mostly the same reason the DTV transition switch date is there. RCN wants to utilize that bandwidth for other services over coax.

Originally Posted by Bobby Henderson

I'm a little surprised private industry hasn't got involved in this because there's a lot of "feel good" public relations "we're helping the community" types of marketing opportunities they could use to promote their brands.

Closest I see for that happening myself are the cable companies pushing their schtick. And maybe even advertising their broadcast only service [which for my market is 15$ a month, still a bit high for paying for something that's really free, but there ya go].

[Suntory_Times]

Originally Posted by SkantDragon

There's also the point that.. ummm... it's not like we're talking about oxygen here. If some people's TVs stop working, they won't die. They might even try going outside.

The horror!

It was 46 degrees today where I live, and we havn't had a day under 40 for several days. We actually have a really 'cold' day excpected tommorow of 38 degrees. I sure as hell don't want to go outside.

[bajor27]

Originally Posted by Marquoz

Switch over to what if you aren't receiving signals? Somebody on a fixed income in a dead zone caused by a hurried switch over doesn't have the option to get cable or satellite. Just because you have a converter doesn't 100% guarantee you will get a signal for it to convert.

Sorry. Not fully versed in the whole situation and wasn't even aware of all of these extra deadzones, but as some others have mentioned, this definitely hasn't been a hurried switch - well, it at least shouldn't have been hurried as it's been planned for years.

My understanding of the delay was that it was just to give people more time to purchase converters though. The delay isn't to give broadcasters more time to fix dead zones.

[Silo5]

The House is supposed to vote again on this today. I wonder how it will turn out this time.

[blujacket]

My locals are cutting off their analog signals Feb 17th regardless of what the Govt. does.