Comments on: Are you ready? Digital TV tests tonight in O.C., L.A.

By: eyemale

eyemale — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:04:56 +0000

for those using rabbit ears , just toss them out and try using a 6-9 inch wire ( speaker wire or old phone cord) strip the ends and loop each end to a 75 ohm connector, ( can pick one up at radio shack for a few bucks) also the old UHF Antennas ( either round or bow tie shape) work better than rabbits ears for digital. I live in the orange county area and my 1st scan with this cable method picked up 17 digital channels. whereas the rabbit ears only picked up about 5.

By: Barry

Barry — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:38:01 +0000

Thanks Gadgetress!

For fun, I did a comparison between one TV on cable and another TV on rabbit ears (the TV on cable can switch between digital and analog.) During the test broadcast on KABC, the TV on rabbit ears showed a warning message and the TV on cable showed the same warning message when switched to analog. Switching to digital, the programming was different where they talked about what was happening to the analog viewers.

Thanks again!

By: Gadgetress

Gadgetress — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:53:22 +0000

Good question Barry. I guess we'll find out at 5:28 p.m.... I did call Time Warner about it -- company spokesperson said that whether cable subscribers see tonight's message or not, their TV will continue to work post Feb. 2009. I will update if I hear or see otherwise on what cable viewers will see during the test. UPDATE: 4:11ish p.m.- I just added Time Warner's official response. La Habra Mike -- Tell the government yourself at Cox's Irvine event, which is 3,000 miles closer than D.C. An official from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission is supposed to be there. - Gadgetress

By: La Habra Mike

La Habra Mike — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:16:40 +0000

>Ryan Says:
December 2nd, 2008 at 1:29 pm
My grandma tried the box about 3 weeks ago and took it back b/c she didn’t get any channels. Are the digital channels not available until the “cutoff date” ?

If your Grandmother is like me with rabbit ears she will get slim to no Digital channels at all!
The Government needs to sign an emergency law forcing Apartment owners to either put up a master antenna, or allow us to put up small antennas or pay for digital basic cable channels 2-13-14-83

By: La Habra Mike

La Habra Mike — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 23:12:05 +0000

This really bites!
I am on fixed income,
Can’t afford cable (it sux anyway)
I have one of those digital converters
I have to use rabbit ears because the apartment does not have a master antenna and does not allow outside antennas
Under Digital I get 2 channels THATS IT!!
Under the old system I can get every channel (some snowier than others)
Looks like Feb 17 I will have to go back to reading or spend my nights at the Library to get streaming video
Why hasn’t our rotten politicians thought of the rights of people like me!
I would like to find out if any of the politicians I voted for voted this stupid changeover to digital and the switching off of millions of others like me

By: Barry

Barry — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:57:48 +0000

So what would a cable user expect to see on their analog tier during the 2-minute test?

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:59:36 +0000

Thanks Tamara. Love your column.

By: Gadgetress

Gadgetress — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:43:05 +0000

Ryan – Pretty much every local TV station is already broadcasting in digital. But they aren’t showing up on the regular 2, 4 and 7 channels. Rather, the channels show up as 2.1 or 9.1… You can check digital signals near your address at AntennaWeb.org. — Gadgetress

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 20:29:48 +0000

My grandma tried the box about 3 weeks ago and took it back b/c she didn’t get any channels. Are the digital channels not available until the “cutoff date” ?

…Forgive my ignorance, I’ve have digital cable for almost 10 years

By: TV

TV — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:58:15 +0000

about time man… who doesn’t have cable or satellite anyway?

By: wosomo

wosomo — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:09:00 +0000

This 2 minute digital test will go down as the best televisions programming of all time.