February 5, 200917 yr First, the government owns the airways and leases them to others, such as TV stations, Cell companies, radio stations ect. The deadline was Feb 17, 2009 for a long time. Most, but not all, who do not have a converter box now as has already been stated still wont be ready in 4 months, most people don't need the $40 coupon from the government for the box, but yes in these economic times it does help a lot of others. As also has been stated, the government has already leased out to others the area that the analog signal now sits, these new leases start on Feb 18, 2009. Money has already been paid for it, now the TV stations are required to continue to broadcast in both analog and digital, costing them millions more in just 4 months. Let's say a couple of years ago you but down a huge chunk of money to start a lease on a house starting on Feb 17, 2009, then a few weeks before you were to move into the house you are told that the current occupant wants 4 more months to move out, you won't be a very happy camper, as well as having to spend extra money to live in the mean time, as well as several other problems it will create for the future tenants.
February 5, 200917 yr Transitioning to digital creates more space for more users (more TV stations, more cell service, better wireless technology, etc). Think of it like the radio. Currently, there are 103 available radio stations (87.5, 87.7, 87.9,.... 107.5, 107.7, 107.9). Analog signals "bleed" over onto other frequencies. Louisville's WAMZ (97.5) gives off the strongest signal in the city (100,000 watts). When you dial into 97.3 or 97.7, you will faintly hear the 97.5 signal "bleeding" into the other stations. With a digital signal replacing an analog signal, we can add other stations that won't "bleed". In other words, we could have a 97.6 station that would not be affected. (By the way, WAMZ puts out analog and digital signals. They even have a second digital radio station on 97.5-2 that plays other music, but can't be heard on a typical analog radio). If and when the radio industry transitions to all digital signals, we could have thousands of radio stations, rather than the 103 currently available.
February 5, 200917 yr By the way, I'm not upset whatsoever at Rockmom. She made a choice not to buy the converter box (even though she did attempt to upgrade with a new TV). Her choice only affected her. While she is happy about the delay, she wasn't complaining before the decision was made. Rockmom's decision did not "slow progress". Our country's leadership can be thanked for that...
February 5, 200917 yr Hokie, Now you have piqued my interest. I had no idea that this had anything to do with the radio. So, theoretically if there is an opportunity for thousands of radio stations, there could be more coming that don't sound like all the stations out there (WFPK being the exception up here). Or do you think we will continue to see more copycats of the same old stations and nothing new?
February 5, 200917 yr Even though this has been extended look for some local stations to go ahead and switch over on the original date. A Cincy station said it will save them $6k per month in electricity bills.
February 5, 200917 yr Hokie, Now you have piqued my interest. I had no idea that this had anything to do with the radio. So, theoretically if there is an opportunity for thousands of radio stations, there could be more coming that don't sound like all the stations out there (WFPK being the exception up here). Or do you think we will continue to see more copycats of the same old stations and nothing new? Radio transition date has not been set for the USA. For the UK, it is 2017. As for more stations, not all would be audio. Some would transmit traffic, weather, etc. The radio receiver would pick up these signals simultaneously. You could listen to your favorite radio station, see the song info on the radio screen, then be interrupted with an update on a traffic accident in any area you want. Not all would be playing Britney Spears...
February 7, 200917 yr Author Check where you bought your daughter's TV set.. If you bought it this Xmas. it's probably digital... When they ran the test here my TV failed and so did several of my friends sets that we know are digital so the test is not that accurate...Also check the brand and model No. on line to see if it's digital.. So, I've done more research and it IS digital. Now my question is, if it failed the test, does that mean I still need a converter box for it? :idunno: I'm so confused! :confused:
February 7, 200917 yr No offense to anyone, but this is stupid IMO. If people can't be ready after a year of constant warnings, what difference will a few more months make? Why bog things down for those that procrastinate? Why is that the Dems are always doing crap like this? Why does irresponsibility always seemed to get rewarded? :ohbrother:
February 7, 200917 yr Author ^ Nope,you should be ready to go.. Maybe a new set of rabbit ears.. That's another question I had. A while back I bought a set of fancy-schmancy rabbit ears that I thought were pretty expensive. Do I need to get some special kind?
February 7, 200917 yr Author No offense to anyone, but this is stupid IMO. If people can't be ready after a year of constant warnings, what difference will a few more months make? Why bog things down for those that procrastinate? Why is that the Dems are always doing crap like this? Why does irresponsibility always seemed to get rewarded? :ohbrother: And, conversely, people have waited a year, what's 4 more months?
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