... and this time we really mean it.

[lyle_from_minneapolis]

I used to enjoy falling asleep to the white noise on the set...now I'd need to fall asleep to occasional pauses and pixelizations.

[ozover50]

I used to enjoy falling asleep to the white noise on the set...now I'd need to fall asleep to occasional pauses and pixelizations.

I'm a lucky chap..... I already get those through satellite pay TV. And they graciously don't charge for them!!

[jimk]

All we ever watch is DVD's these days, haven't watched "TV" in years...

Mostly true at our house, too.

JimK

[scotty]

I believe its being turned off in my area in 2012,
we're one of the last areas in the UK to switch over.

I've been with (Virgin ,previously NTL ,previously Cable) for several years now.
But the one thing i don't like is that i won't be able to record one program while watching another, as there won't be any terrestrial programs! Yes, i still use a VHS video !

I'll have to get one of these new PVR things to do that!
And that 's more money they'll be getting off me!

John if you PM me i can tell you what to do concerning Virgin and watching and recording.I can record 2 live tv programmes and watch another channel with V+

[johnallg]

As sort of an aside to this, I just found out that guitar/ microphone wireless systems that are not recent units will no longer function due to the signal shifts.

This makes no sense as TV will be abandoning frequencies, not moving to previously used allocations.

[johnallg]

Can't wait until it is over.I have analog cable and the off air signal gets picked-up by all the wiring in my house and makes it impossible for me to watch local channels on cable.

There are leaks in the analog cable system if this is happening. Not due to your house wiring, but open cable on your provider's system.

[kiramdear]

As sort of an aside to this, I just found out that guitar/ microphone wireless systems that are not recent units will no longer function due to the signal shifts.

This makes no sense as TV will be abandoning frequencies, not moving to previously used allocations.

Yeah, my JD was wondering about that, too. Unless the old frequencies are blocked one should still be able to make use of them.

[johnallg]

Part of the reason they didn't do it sooner has to do with government mandates to keep things backwards compatible. The same thing happened when they went to color broadcasts. There are far better ways to transmit the color signal, but they wouldn't work for B&W TVs. So, it was mandated that new broadcast technology had to be compatible with the older sets so people wouldn't have to buy new sets.

When you understand how they came up with the way to put the color information on the b&w signal so it would not interfere with b&w sets but let the color receivers show color, you realize just how intelligent the old engineering types were. Ingenious.

The same thing happened when the digital idea came about. It took quite a bit of governmental finagling to finally approve digital since it meant that all the old sets would instantly be useless. That's the reason behind the government sponsored coupons to help people buy converter boxes. This was helped along by the fact that these days a huge majority of people have cable or other such services that wouldn't cause issues.

Actually, DTV was visualized and sought as a way to get American television set manufacturers back on top as Japan had cornered the market. We all can see how well THAT concept worked out....

Back in the early 80s is when the development consortium began designing, testing and specifying the present DTV technology. And Collin, DTV has been on the air for well over 7 years, as we went on the air 7 years ago when the "have to be on the air" date came and went. Other larger markets were on the air before that date.

I am working a long full day as we see television history change by stopping analog broadcasting. At 10am, we are turning off our channel 2 digital transmitter and powering up our new channel 8 transmitter (abandoning VHF-Lo due to all the interference) and putting up a slate on analog telling our viewers to rescan their digital sets to find us on the new channel. That stays up until midnight Friday when we turn it off. Our electric bill will be less!

[shamustwin]

Something on the news this morning the old brodcast waves will be used for an emergency system and cell phones. All out of my sphere of understanding.

[rikk]

The over the air digital signals are MUCH BETTER quality than cable or satellite which compress the signals to hell and back.

As for the frequencies for wireless stuff, they will still be there, but no longer legal to use. That sucks big time for a lot of my colleagues that have thousands of dollars invested in "old" wireless gear.

[octagon]

Can't wait until it is over.I have analog cable and the off air signal gets picked-up by all the wiring in my house and makes it impossible for me to watch local channels on cable.

There are leaks in the analog cable system if this is happening. Not due to your house wiring, but open cable on your provider's system.

You are probably right,but either way...I can finally watch local TV!Hooray! I just turned on channel 2(PBS)and got a crystal clear picture.I have been waiting for this day since February.

[collin]

haha, I was going to post ...why am I still getting a signal through my bunny ears.

Apparently, the signal dissapears at different times depending on the station

[kiramdear]

Say Good Night, Gracie.

[octagon]

Say Good Night, Gracie.

Well,at least you can still communicate with the spirit world.

[jingle_jangle]

I'm "schkeptible" of all this tech. Not a Luddite by any stretch, though.

I have Sirius radio. No matter what I do, I can never get a consistent strong signal, especially late at night. And my car setup won't get enough of a signal anywhere in the Bay area to work for more than a minute driving around.

So, it seems that digital must be a 0/1 situation. Either you get it or you don't. Can't wait to get home tomight and see what Comcast hath wrought.

Plus, I'm getting Brasilian TV by satellite dish. Is that digi or ana? My head's buzzing.