[QCWA] Digital TV

[Paul Walcott]

Just wanted to say Thank-You to everyone who replied.
I'm afraid I won't be able to attend the convention,
but I've at least got a lot more ideas where I should
be reading and studying now.
73's,
Paul 
WD8H


--- Paul Walcott <pcwalcott at att.net> wrote:

> Has anyone heard the technical details of the
> upcoming
> switch to Digital TV?  I'm not looking for an
> engineering level treatise on the subject, but I'm
> looking for a little more information than what I
> see
> in the 30 second announcements that run on the local
> TV.
> 
> As a ham I'm wondering about several things such as:
> 1)  Will the switch to digital involve stations (at
> least the VHF stations) changing frequency,
> hopefully
> up into the UHF range?  I've been hoping that the
> change means no more channel 2 adjacent to 6 meters.
> 
> 2)  Will the digital signals be more immune to TVI
> than the current analog signals?  In a general sense
> that seems to make sense, but I realize that I'm
> speculating there.
> 
> I'm also wondering about a couple things simply
> speaking as a TV viewer:  
> A)  Will the switch to digital TV be a phased-in
> thing
> or just a sudden overnight occurrence next February?
>  
> Right now I've got one digital equipped TV attached
> to
> an outside antenna.  I get all the normal analog
> signals that I've always gotten, but when I enter
> the
> menu to scan for digital signals, I only get one
> channel, and that one is so weak as to be useless.
> 
> B)  If I don't decide to get cable, satellite will
> my
> present VHF/UHF rooftop antenna probably be adequate
> for local reception or will there be enough of a
> change in frequency (as I asked above) to require
> replacement?
> 
> C)  Are the converters for use with an older analog
> TV
> available on the market yet?  I admit that I haven't
> been shopping and asked about them yet, but I have
> read the sales papers from Best Buy, Circuit City
> and
> a couple of their competitors, and I haven't seen
> any
> advertised yet.  They all seem much more interested
> in
> selling new TV's.
> 
> D)  Am I the only one who's frustrated by the lack
> of
> mid-level technical information about this subject? 
> It seems that the only advice I've seen on the local
> media is something like, "Get a digital TV, or
> cable,
> or satellite, or if you don't, you'll need a 
> converter.  
> 
> I admit that maybe I'm more touchy on this subject
> than others as in the late 1960's and early 1970's I
> made my living in TV repair, but I've since moved on
> and am finding this present situation irritating.
> 
> 73's,
> Paul
> WD8H
> 
>
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