I have been anticipating the FCC switch from analog to digital for several years. The original plan was to have the final demise of NTSC (“analog”) broadcast in 2006. Now, it will really happen. The change that they averted when they went to color is finally here. Everyone needs a new TV.
Unless you have cable or satellite. Then you can wait until your old box dies. But I use rabbit ears in my multipath [1] hell of a location in the city. On good days, I can get 7 channels of regular interest, plus 4 explicitly Christian channels (24, 26, 49, 51. The 700 Club shares 11). Sometimes I cannot get ABC-30 or CW-11 clear enough to record or avoid watering eyes. Other times Fox-2 and My-46 are too bad to watch, too. So I really only have 3 reliable channels in analog.
Enter digital clarity. Yesterday I got my gummint subsidized converter box and hooked it up. Now I get perfectly clear (in numerical order) Fox-2.1, CBS-4.1, NBC-5.1, local weather 5.2, and PBS 9.1-9.4. That’s it.
Unless I get a fancy antenna and mount it high on my house, I won’t be getting CW-11, ABC-30, or MY-46 (or any weak local access or Christian stations, should they get digital licenses). Such an antenna will be expensive to buy and install; maybe comparable to 6 months of cable bills (fewer if one pays for premium stations).
Another problem not discussed in the cheerful Digital switch warning announcements is that the new letterbox format may reduce the use of your screen. I don’t mind the black bars above and below a letterbox formatted show or movie. But if a 3:4 ratio program is broadcast in the 4:9 letterbox format, my 3:4 screen has the letterbox bars on all sides. Some stations have this glitch, and others (PBS) don’t.
Then there is the problem of using my old VCR. It would need a separate converter box, and could only record whatever channel the converter is actively showing. No more unattended recording of shows sequentially on different stations.
But, maybe it is time for me to upgrade. My Tuner/amp is from the 1970’s. My VCR, DVD, and TV were all the cheapest available at their respective times. Actually, my 1987 TV died two years ago, and I bought the cheapest floor model 20″ screen that I could find, anticipating that I will buy a better one when forced to by the digital conversion, at which time digital units will become more affordable.
But now I wonder: Why am I wasting so much of my time on Television? Erich posted Just say “no” to TV. Do it for your country [2] a year and a half ago. At that time, I stopped watching altogether for a while. Perhaps it is time to revisit that idea. I have gone cold turkey on TV for years at a time in the past. Once I got over the withdrawal, it was easy. To escape, I would just read.
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