Community Newsletter: Q&A: Please clarify the digital TV (DTV) transition in 2009
- 5/16/08 3:56 PM
Converter Boxes
by rosiemyrosie - 5/27/08 7:25 AM In reply to: Chill out dude by RuskinRulesA simple question about the issue of converter boxes has turned into the same discussion we hate so much among politicians and the news media. The exchanges have digressed from the issue to personal confrontation, innuendo, who said what, what was meant to be said, yes you did, no I didn't........., it is sad and pitiful, but a reflection of the nature of our population. So, what is the point here..........., stick to the subject and stop trying to direct others as to how they should think, say and act.
I started reading this forum with interest, but forget it. Who needs all this nonsense.
" Live and let live!"
answers to ? about cable boxes in feb., 2009
by atvguy - 5/16/08 10:05 PM In reply to: re: The digital TV (DTV) transition by gmclamAmen to the reply by gmclam ; the desired response is to help the confused questioner(s) not to brag about responders new & expensive reeza purchase I'm tech challenged & appreciate short, concise response
God Bless
chip
You just don't get it.
by c.b.mullen - 5/17/08 9:00 AM In reply to: The digital TV (DTV) transition by RuskinRulesI think your reply is about as considerate as that of bhorn1. You guys seem to be oblivious to the fact that millions of Americans are suffering and through no choice of their own are living in a state of poverty.
Instead of talking up the benefits of digital TV you should be thinking of how you can help the disadvantaged and less fortunate among us. It is your duty as a human being to do so.
I can't help these people financially but I have spent every year of my life volunteering my help, doing anything I can to make their lives better and trying in some small way to help alleviate their suffering. I have always insisted on anonymity and I certainly don't want any recognition or credit for helping them.
To defend his answer is just as disgusting as his answer.
Changeover! Converter boxes
by Grandmomof7 - 12/22/08 5:15 AM In reply to: You just don't get it. by c.b.mullenWhat a mess!
I ordered my coupons and so did my daughter. The local stores didn't have any of the converter boxes in stock.
Dish Network asked us to send the coupons to them, what a nightmare that was!
My daughter's coupons expired and still no converter boxes to be found. There should not have been an expiration, that's totally wrong! Now she has no money to buy a converter box without a coupon.
Dish Network finally in Sept. decided they would just update our system and give us local channels for 6 months. We've had a mess with our bill ever since, not getting Dish on one of our tv's now and on top of that one of our network channels and been turned off!
This whole digital switch is a disaster as far as I'm concerned! The government should have just sent out converter boxes to each household, they waste money all of the time anyway!
Changeover! Convertor Boxes
by HalfLife360 - 1/20/09 12:56 PM In reply to: Changeover! Converter boxes by Grandmomof7Hi Grams
<<My daughter's coupons expired and still no converter boxes to be found. There should not have been an expiration, that's totally wrong! Now she has no money to buy a converter box without a coupon.
Dish Network finally in Sept. decided they would just update our system and give us local channels for 6 months. We've had a mess with our bill ever since, not getting Dish on one of our tv's now and on top of that one of our network channels and been turned off!
This whole digital switch is a disaster as far as I'm concerned! The government should have just sent out converter boxes to each household, they waste money all of the time anyway!>>
Check http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx first to see if your location even has any signals strong enough to bother getting a converter. Your local librarian can help if you are not familiar with it.
Have your daughter or a friend apply for a new coupon. Use a friend's address or your name if you never applied for one. Friends and family can be very helpful. :+) BestBuy now offers converter boxes online as of Dec 2008. That's an option if none of your brick and mortar stores in your area have stock. You can read the reviews to decide which best fits your situation. I realize the program is out of money now but you might as well get on the waitlist and/or find a friend/family who hasn't used up their coupons. The prices have dropped another $5 in 2009. There was no problem getting coupons beginning March 2008 last year. Many stores constantly restock as they run out. The 3 month expiration date is listed on the coupon and the online site when users apply. Keep checking your local stores and ask your neighbors/friends which boxes worked for them and where they got theirs. The expiration is so that if somebody doesn't use their coupons, the money can go to somebody else.
A onetime $14-20 for a converter is a lot less than Dish monthly. Since Dish isn't providing you much service, maybe you can save the monthly fee and get a new DVR with a tuner. It will convert and you get a recorder too. You just have to watch TV with it on since the converter is in the device. You still need an antennae no matter if you've got a converter or a dvr with tuner.
If you have strong signals in your area, you'll be pleased with them.
If not, then don't bother with a converter and maybe shop around for a different service.
Dish TV and Local stations
by KeithHarmon - 1/21/09 10:06 AM In reply to: Changeover! Convertor Boxes by HalfLife360If you have Dish Network, a few things worth noting regarding local channels that I found when I got the service. With the VIP722 HD DVR box (costs an extra 5.99 per month for the DVR):
1. You can hook up your antenna to the box and tune in local channels in HD (the good news). The bad news is that you get no program guide for the antenna stations, which also means you can't select shows from the guide to be recorded on the DVR. You can still manually program for recording the channel, start and stop time with daily/weekly recurrence, but more difficult than jsut select the show from the guide.
2. If you can run a TV cable (coax or A/V patch cables) to another TV in another room, you can watch Sat/OTA/DVR recordings in STANDARD DEF in that room on the second TV. Note this is not the same show as in the main room. There is a radio remote for the 2nd room to control through the wall.
3. you can record in real HD, and record A LOT - easily double the shows than will fit on my Fios DVR.
Total cost for the DVR w/HD channels is $37/mo. *IF* you get local channels from your antenna. If you connect it to your computer network, you can get (pay for) movies downloaded to watch when you want (but I have not actually done this yet, so there are probably some caveats with that)
thank you for recognizing that people cannot afford new tvs
by mickey712 - 5/13/08 3:07 PM In reply to: A number of responses out of touch... by basemanNew tvs are totally out of the question for me. I've got home heating oil & propane to buy! I refuse to pay for cable tv & am only willing to pay to support pbs & npr. Let the advertisers pay for the airways, not the public.
I received a government coupon for the digital box, had no other store close by to purchase the converter box (which is also supposed to allow analog signals in) other than Walmart (which just in the last month drove the local Radio Shack out of business); brought it home; hooked it up & got nothing but fuzz. My son came over to try again for me, he seemed to have it hooked up & scanning correctly but got no signal - so how is that going to help me & millions of others?
Please let me know.
Convertter Box
by sandylee1072 - 5/18/08 6:53 AM In reply to: thank you for recognizing that people cannot afford new tvs by mickey712You just described my situation completely. The converter box I bought is not working ... weak signal, I probably need to buy a new antenna or some other crap to make it work.
converter box
by hikergirl - 5/21/08 2:16 PM In reply to: Convertter Box by sandylee1072Sandy: Before you spend any more money, try antennaweb.org. You just input your address and it will tell you all the channels you receive and your distance from the stations. Also, if you will go to (I think) dtv.gov and click on the section for antennas, you will find that you do not need any special type antenna. Sales people will tell you you need digital or amplified or some other type. I doubt you will. Just be sure you aim the dipoles as close to the direction indicated in antennaweb.org as possible, but near a window. I, too, bought a piece of junk (Magnavox) and had to return it. The new box works just fine. Pat
Speaking of Costs....
by jwdunkel - 5/19/08 7:59 PM In reply to: thank you for recognizing that people cannot afford new tvs by mickey712Has anyone bothered to ask any of the cable companies who are now charging premium fees for HDTV whether they will drop the "premium fees" once HDTV becomes the new standard? Would they then charge a premium fee for those who need analog feed?
ARE Cable companies charging extra for HD?
by cvmoreau - 5/27/08 6:47 AM In reply to: Speaking of Costs.... by jwdunkelI have no idea what's going on, elsewhere, but my cable company (Comcast) does not charge extra for HD, per se.
First of all, though, remember that there may never be a time when all channels will be HD. I think some channels will remain in standard definition -- although all channels will be digital.
Originally, I had basic service, only, which meant the analog channels, and no set top box. After purchasing an HD set, I decided that I'd like to get the local broadcast channels in HD, so Comcast gave me a box which gave me just that -- the same analog channels I'd been getting, plus the local HD broadcasts (as well as the PBS standard def sub-channels). Since they had to give me a digital box to do this, they charged me an additional $5 a month for the box. I suppose we could get picky, and say they're charging for the HD channels, but, there really is no way they could deliver those digital HD channels to me without a box, since ATSC is the over-the-air digital format, and cable uses QAM. Therefore, I really do consider the $5 to be the rental cost of the set top box.
Later I decided to add the basic digital package which includes about a dozen, or so, HD channels, such as Discovery, Food, ESPN, TLC, etc., etc. I pay the same thing for that package that someone who has only a standard def TV pays, but I get the HD channels, as well. (Actually, those with older sets get those channels, but they're downconverted to standard def.)
So, ARE they charging extra for HD?
Cables cost $ for HD
by KeithHarmon - 5/27/08 1:25 PM In reply to: ARE Cable companies charging extra for HD? by cvmoreauCox charges me $14.99 for a "Digital Gateway", one for each digital tuner they have enabled in my home. One of them is the $5 cable box, which is fine for a rental fee (14.99+5 = @20). Another is the $2.99 for the cable card, which is also a rental fee. They could certainly enable my HDTV to tune in signals without the cable card, but then they could not charge me the $14.99 + $2.99 ($18) for the HDTV content. Cox called to warn me I should get the set top box because new channels would not be receivable by the cable card (fortunately, this time there were no new channels I found interesting). Both Dish and DirecTV charge more for HD content, regardless of the box you have.
So, Yes, you have to pay more to get "premium" HDTV content from any provider. The only way to not pay more for HDTV is with an antenna and an HDTV tuner (either in a HDTV or an outboard tuner).
The key word is "premium"
by cvmoreau - 5/27/08 2:24 PM In reply to: Cables cost $ for HD by KeithHarmon>>So, Yes, you have to pay more to get "premium" HDTV content from any provider. The only way to not pay more for HDTV is with an antenna and an HDTV tuner (either in a HDTV or an outboard tuner).<<
As I said, above, I subscribe to digital basic and I get at least a dozen HD channels, and I don't pay any more than those who have an analog standard def set and are subscribing to digital basic. So, I do not pay extra for HD. However, I've no doubt that if I subscribed to some premium packages I might have to do just that.
Even with just the basic package, I'm getting quite a few more HD channels than I would with an antenna, and at no additional cost.
Charter Charges
by zysmith - 5/28/08 7:56 AM In reply to: ARE Cable companies charging extra for HD? by cvmoreauCharter cable absolutely charges extra for all HD content and, like the other providers, compresses the feed and reduces the quality.
For now, true HD is the province of Blue Ray and over the air broadcast.
Compression
by cvmoreau - 5/28/08 2:37 PM In reply to: Charter Charges by zysmithComcast may not charge extra for HD, but I do find that they compress the signal, badly. I've compared over-the-air HD transmissions with the channel on cable, and the OTA programs have considerably better resolution.
Right now, if you want full resolution HD, you'd better hope that FIOS is installed in your neighborhood. It isn't in mine.
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