Digital TV launch leaves some stranded

We switched locally back in Feb. My converter box worked just fine - until 2 weeks ago. Now, does anyone expect me to buy a new converter box every 3-4 months? NO WAY. Guess I'll learn to love the radio.

Finally... more than a decade after this was announced, the big switch! Anyone caught with snow on their old analog set today should just forget about TV and go read a book!

The switch is not affecting me at all except for the annoying tickers that some local channels kept running along the bottom of my screen for the past few weeks warning about it.

I haven't used antenna television since the mid 80's when cable became available in my area. I switched to satellite about four years ago. I don't really like the idea of tax payer funding being used to supply converter boxes.

My mother has a box for her TV and she hates the new digital signal. It is not as good as the analog and she loses stations very easily. The pictures are noticable pixaled. And she has lost several stations even with scanning.

In the s.w. corner of Minnesota we have few stations to watch now... cable may still be our option for stations. I have converter and antenna and get five stations that are still analog with one station that is both. It's a joke for us. we read more and watch less and less TV.

I have been using the digital TV signals since I bought my first HDTV over 7 years ago.  Since discovering how clear the picture was via an antenna I refused to pay for cable.  As an added bonus I get several times more channels including one that shows old movies around the clock.

We were aware of this switch as were many Americans about 8-10 years ago and cable companies started to lower the cost of basic cable in preparation. If you are out in the cold...or snow...you should have prepared. After all...the coupons that you got are your salvation. Either way, we have HDTV piped through the house so it's not a problem on our end.

The switch is working quite nicely, I suppose. I won't pay for cable because when it was manifest the entire point was to 'pay' for television that had NO commercials. They 'eased' commercials in and that is now the reality...The networks effectively doubled their income by collecting from the viewing public AND the advertisers while choosing & restricting what is available to the 'subscribers'.

In fact, I would like to see NBC boycotted for 30 days as a response to blacking out the Detroit Red Wings Game 6.

Let me build a 'package' of the channels I want available to me and charge subscribers a 'flat rate' per channel....then I'll buy back in.

In the interim I believe I will read a book, attend to my garden, work some clay & restore some more art...I believe I will enjoy the peace over the screaming ads so popular just now that I would be being billed for.

Thanks ever so.

Although it has been coming for some time for my Mother it is not working. She lives on a fixed income so cable or in her case Satalite is out. We did manage to get her both a new tv and antenna but in the area in which she lives her channel reception is very poor. Most of the channels fade in and out. Even with a booster there is not one good picture. It is just a shame with the aging poorer population that something else could not be done.

I live in the country and I'm just screwed!  Our antennae picked up analog just fine with good reception over all.  Now, we have nothing.  I'll let hell freeze over before I'll pay for TV.  Digital transmissions don't adapt well to antennae's.  I received an est. for a new tower and antennae and it came to over  $1000.00.  How sad that we took our "free and unfettered airwaves" and sold them out to the highest bidder.  For you folks in love with digital have you ever considered that the airwaves were a commodity that you owned?  The telecommunications industry made out like bandits on this one.  Does anyone else smell possible  graft and corruption within the FCC???? Advertisers take notice!, you'll lose out on this one!

Mine seems better now than before.

Can't get the gov't to send me a coupon for a box, I live in a trailer park with 100 other people, and they would only issue 2 coupons for our address, (we all have the same address except for space number) ......brainless ! So i have to pay 50 dollars ....not this week, have to feed the kids.....screw tv.

We live in the country and have satellite, but you can only get it from a neighboring state. We used to get local stations thru antenna, I guess we don't get to see "our" weather forecast anymore now.

My 84 year old cousin lives on a farm way out in the country. She bought the converter boxes months and months ago. Her tv was working fine this morning until 10 am when our local NBC channel switched and now she got nothing. I called the 888 number and they said to hit the scan button on the remote for the box. There IS NO scan button on the remote and I wasnt going to call back and be on hold a minimum of 15 minutes again.

It is a darn shame that older people have to be the ones that suffer for this change. Why not leave it as it was? Shes on a fixed income, had 4-5 tvs but they are all very older models and now she has nothing to watch at all.

My opinion is switch it back so people can have their choice of digital or analog.

My converter box worked better before the switch. Every time I rescan, I lose another station. The FCC phone rang & rang and then hung up on me. Makes me really want them to be in charge of my health care. Magnavox said to rescan tomorrow. Guess I will watch paid advertising on WMAR. Should have listened to my instincts & not bothered with the change at all.

people were "unprepared"? orly? I think the better word would be "stupid" or "lazy".

The assumption is that there are many households being left behind. I am choosing not to go along with the digital signal. My children will be better for it. We have radio, internet and the library for our information. I am not left behind, I am choosing to walk away from the box. I chalange you to join in.

Well, I have my HDTV, new rooftop antenna w/preamp all of which has worked well with Analog. I will let you know when I get home to see how the digital world looks. I suspect due to the rural area I live in NW NJ will be in the "digital dark". Local cable company is awful and I refuse to pay those prices for junk. Satellite may be an option if need be, but I really don't have a need for the amount of televsion we do watch to justify that additional monthly bill. Until later!

I'm excited that this transistion has started, but while the government has pushed this along for over the air broadcasts, I'm having problems with Comcast cable. Comcast has a program "Digital to Analog" (DTA) where they will provide the first box for free for the analog TV. However in Atlanta, since they have not moved all the upper tier analog stations to their digital counterparts, the program is not in effect (although some analog stations are shut down, e.g. The History Channel that requires a digital connection).

That's fine, except that Atlanta has two public television channels, and the second channel does not need to be broadcast in analog and digital. So prior to June 12, the second station was in analog only. Now the second station is digital only. Comcast Atlanta wants to charge $5.99 per month for the DTA box to receive a local station. This is contradictory to the Comcast advertisement and expectations. Comcast customer support does not know how to address it and is referring it as a technical problem. Hummm. They just need to provide the DTA box to subscribers in all the markets at no charge for the first one, otherwise it is deceptive advertisement (or is there fine print somewhere that I am missing?) If it takes two more years to finally move all the markets to DTA, then that would be $5.99 a month times 24, or $144 more to Comcast above my current charges.

Anyone that isn't ready for cable now is has just got to be too dumb to watch TV anyway (with the exception of the poor, elderly, and folks in the country).

I believe I read that the channels vacated by the digital switch are to be used by the military for their communication needs. So the communications industry isn't really "making out like a bandit".

I sympathize with you farmgirl, I grew up in Kansas on a farm and we were lucky to get the 3 channels that we got back then.

For those of you that have lost channels or have difficulty receiving them it may be as simple a matter as re-aiming your antenna, hopefully you won't need to replace it with a bigger one.

I've recently got rid of satellite and am working on OTA (over the air) TV. THe signals are more picky and susceptible to weather conditions it seems. I'm on my second antenna and it seems I'll need to step up to a larger one because I live in a valley about 45 miles from the transmitters.

But when I get things working right the pictures are great. Much better than analog.

Good luck to all of you in getting set up for this change.

Remember; "Everything is unusual until you get used to it". The Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz.

Finally the end is here..... now the stations can stop all the unnecessary news about the cut off....... without cable I am looking forward to no more repeats, reruns and strange shows that appear everyday..... Yea NO TV..... it had become a real bore so perhaps no TV will add to the quality of life... mine at least.... I shall have pity on those that cannot live without it!

Complete bomb in Palm Springs, Ca. I have an HD ready television on rabbit ears and before the switch, received 12 digital and 14 analog stations. Since the switch this morning, 1 digital station and 8 analog stations. Who does one complain to?

this is not that big a deal, you will find that if you just don't TV you won't miss it as much as you think you will. And if you are so dependant on TV that you just don't know what to do with yourself now that it's switched over, you probably deserve to pay for the stupid box to have it come back on. I say go out and live your life, don't waste it in front of a talking box!

The switch is a pain.  I got rid of cable because I am going back to school.  I had 15 channels this morning, which was great.  But if I close my window or they are doing the grass here at my apartment complex (like now) I get zero reception. 

thanks for nothing!  I can understand why the old guy shot his television.  I got so frustrated I wanted to throw the converter box and antennae out the window of my sixth floor apartment!!

For those of that are having trouble getting digital TV, another thing that I have tried is watching TV over the Internet. There are several websites (Hulu.com for one) that offer movies and TV shows, both old and new. Also, many of the network websites will replay a show the day after it first airs. Just search 'internet tv' and you'll find lots of stuff. But be careful of buying software, I've read lots of horror stories about some of the products available.

Hope this helps.