dwest wrote:Well like the headlines said let's hope the folks in Alpha Centauri have enough time to get their converter boxes, cause in about 4.37 years they ain't going to get zip.
So that means we have 8.74 years until the Centaurians show up in their lightspeed ships and blast us to smithereens for cutting them off in mid-season.
"Earthlings! We demand to know if Michael Weston achieves revocation of his Burn Notice! Ka-pow!"
I lament the loss of analog TV as much as I lament the loss of dial-up, carburators on cars, and VHS tapes. To be honest, I have little pity for the people that didn't switch because this was coming for the last TEN YEARS. We Americans are so jaded by our government, though, that it was easy to disbelieve, because it took 10 years to accomplish.
In addition to OTA TV, the cable companies are switching more of their cable services to digital transmission...allowing them to fit more channels at once down the same pipe. There are some very unhappy customers there, as well.
Chad Wilson
Some whistles, an old fiddle, an old banjo, a bass, a guitar and a bodhran
I thought we weren't supposed to get any "snowy" channels. We have our HDTV hooked up to a rooftop antenna, and HSN comes in snowy and there's one station that tells DISH subscribers they need a new smart card to get that station. We don't get either of those two stations on the TV that's hooked up to the converter box and rabbit ears.
And dial-up is not gone. I can't afford anything else.
The US must have a different pricing structure to the UK then. Unless you are hardly ever on the internet, it is cheaper to get broadband than dial up, and it leaves your phone line free.
David
Payday, Piping, Percussion and Poetry- the 4 best Ps
I am also getting a few channels that come in snowy. I think that they are still broadcasting in analog temporarily. One channel that my wife wants for her programs is now only broadcasting information about the analog to digital changeover. If they are broadcasting in digital at that station, we are not getting it, but we are still getting the snowy analog signal about the changeover.
Here in the USA, the regular digital station is broadcasting at 480 pixels. What is called high-definition is either 720 p or 1080 p. If you get reception from an antenna directly from the originator of the signal, you will receive the high-definiton format that they are broadcasting in at that time of day. I just checked my TV this morning, and I am getting digital station in all three different levels of definition. However, if you receive your high-defintion signal from a cable or satellite provider, you will receive whatever they give you. Oftentimes, if the station is broadcasting in 1080 pixel format, the cable company will reduce that to 720 p, allowing them to minimize the digital information that they must pass through their optical cable network. The cable customers are paying for high definition TV, but they are not getting as much of the high-quality 1080 p programming as those who watch freely with an antenna. Of course, most cable customers are unaware that they are being shortchanged.
The US must have a different pricing structure to the UK then. Unless you are hardly ever on the internet, it is cheaper to get broadband than dial up, and it leaves your phone line free.
David
What does broadband cost in the UK? I pay $99 a year for dialup. There are some broadband plans that have teaser rates close to that price, but after the promotional year, the normal price is more like $30 a month. $30 is a lot more than $8.
There are also some bundled deals with a cell phone, land line, broadband and cable TV for $100 a month, but I don't need all that.
The US must have a different pricing structure to the UK then. Unless you are hardly ever on the internet, it is cheaper to get broadband than dial up, and it leaves your phone line free.
David
My dial-up service through ATT costs $16.95 a month. Any of the bundled offers for high speed internet through the cable TV or phone company require that you also get phone service and TV through them and that brings the cost to around $100 a month. My phone service now is about $22 a month. The convenience of having faster speeds and not tying up the phone line aren't worth almost 2 day's pay to me.
My husband is making noises about going back on cable - he just heard the football playoffs will be all on ESPN in a few years and not available over the air.
caedmon wrote:If you are getting snow, the channel is still in analog. Or the broadcaster is having issues.
With a digital signal, you get:
1. Clear picture (it is just 1's and 0's)
2. A picture with some blocks, or freezes.
3. No picture.
There are no in-between steps.
We have two cable boxes, one is the big one that does on demand etc. Last night, it was working fine, but on the teevee hooked up to the little simple DTA box, there was sound missing on three channels and the equivalent of a 10-second out of sync with sound and voices. All the exact channels came in fine on big box. It was weird. The tv hooked to little box is five years newer than old Sharp that's hooked to on-demand box. Explain that one... We put up with it rather than call India (Comcast)
we have "basic" cable, have had it for years. We're in the broadcast path for a radio station down the street and using an antenna was useless - all stations had "ghosts" on it. We also cannot get anything on FM below 93 without a lot of extra outside stuff cuz of that station. I've complained before, it got better for a bit, then went back to being a pain. And it's a Christian station!!!
Growing up, I lived near VOA's (Voice of America) tower farm, and near WLW's tower (back when it was a lot more powerful than today). Plus my dad was an amateur radio operator.
He built a Heathkit color TV when I was 6 years old. It had BOTH VHF and UHF. He put an antenna on another tower with a rotor, and we could get stations from both Cincinnati and Dayton, in fact we usually got the Dayton ones better.
The US must have a different pricing structure to the UK then. Unless you are hardly ever on the internet, it is cheaper to get broadband than dial up, and it leaves your phone line free.
David
My dial-up service through ATT costs $16.95 a month. Any of the bundled offers for high speed internet through the cable TV or phone company require that you also get phone service and TV through them and that brings the cost to around $100 a month. My phone service now is about $22 a month. The convenience of having faster speeds and not tying up the phone line aren't worth almost 2 day's pay to me.
My husband is making noises about going back on cable - he just heard the football playoffs will be all on ESPN in a few years and not available over the air.
Hi Charlene
The cheapest deal I can find here is through Virgin Media - £25 per month for phone line and 10 meg broadband. At current exchange rate that is $41 per month, and only basic tv channels included for that price.
The top of the range deal, excluding pay per view channels is £58 - $95 per month with 20 meg broadband.
David
Payday, Piping, Percussion and Poetry- the 4 best Ps
caedmon wrote:I lament the loss of analog TV as much as I lament the loss of dial-up, carburators on cars, and VHS tapes. To be honest, I have little pity for the people that didn't switch because this was coming for the last TEN YEARS. We Americans are so jaded by our government, though, that it was easy to disbelieve, because it took 10 years to accomplish.
In addition to OTA TV, the cable companies are switching more of their cable services to digital transmission...allowing them to fit more channels at once down the same pipe. There are some very unhappy customers there, as well.
Nonsense! None of the great trad players had digital television, and they played way better than those that do!
Dial-up only costs less if you can afford to have your phone line tied up. With a special needs kid in school and two sets of elderly parents, we need for people to be able to reach us at any time of the day over the phone. When we had dial-up, we needed a dedicated phone line for it, which was actually MORE expensive than DSL.
Weeks, is it KSBW you're getting snow on? They've been announcing that they wouldn't have digital service to all areas before fall. Unconscionable, as far as I'm concerned, as they've had plenty of time to make the accommodations.
Redwolf
...agus déanfaidh mé do mholadh ar an gcruit a Dhia, a Dhia liom!
