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too bad. this transition was announced years ago, and if people are so lazy that they cant go out and get a $40 dtv tuner over a span of 4 years, then they obviously don't care that much about watching tv.
Actually, the receiver was free if you got the coupon from the government. The problem was with people in rural areas, where they don't have dial up internet; so, it's harder for them to get the coupons.
 
That's not 100% correct. If the signal is poor you may get a picture with lots of artifacting/pixelating and video freezing without going to an all black screen. It is different than snow, but possibly even more exasperating.

I wonder if that's what we've been experiencing. Some of our stations switched over a few months ago and we've gotten some strange pixelating and freezing. Basically it's unwatchable.
 
I live in Wilmington, NC and work at a TV station here. We were the first in the country to officially make the switch last September. Yes, there was a big switch!!!

the-big-switch-009.jpg


Anyhow, it was nowhere near the fiasco many thought it would be.

If you are experiencing problems though, I can almost guarantee you need a bigger antenna. Also, let's say a station brands itself as channel 7, it's probably not broadcasting on ch 7 anymore. Check with your local TV stations to find out their new digital channel assignment. Even if they are now on channel, say, 52, they may switch again in another couple of months. Rescanning will be your friend.:)
 
I lost a good local channel in the switch. Yes, I have a DTV set, as it picks up other digital stations, just not my favorite. Also, I think the quality of the pic leaves something to be desired. Occasionally, breaks up in square patterns.
 
Check with your local TV stations to find out their new digital channel assignment. Even if they are now on channel, say, 52, they may switch again in another couple of months. Rescanning will be your friend.:)

I'm not in the US so I don't know how it works there, but over here the stations keep the same numbers. If the frequency needs to change for whatever reason, then they somehow signal the receiver to update the frequency. If it was "channel 9" before, then it'll still be "channel 9" after the change. Does it not work like that in the US?
 
DTV is not all it is said to be...

Our Digital TV messes up all the time. It does not get snowy like the analog but it gets pixelated and the audio gets out of sync or stops and starts at random. imagine every half second the audio going in and out.

Hi I am a PowerBook becomes with dots replacing missing characters
h. I a. a po..rb..k
 
I'm not in the US so I don't know how it works there, but over here the stations keep the same numbers. If the frequency needs to change for whatever reason, then they somehow signal the receiver to update the frequency. If it was "channel 9" before, then it'll still be "channel 9" after the change. Does it not work like that in the US?

I honestly know zero about the UK's broadcast system, but in the US's analog days, channel 9 broadcast over channel 9, which lies in the VHF band. This number was important not only for reception, but for station branding and Neilsen's ratings systems. With the digital switch, most stations were assigned a UHF channel # (I think that's channels 13 & up). So channel 9 is now broadcast on digital channel, say, 45. Most stations are embedding PSIP information into the signal so when your ATSC tuner or convertor box sees channel 45, it displays it on channel 9. When you're flipping channels, you'll still hit channel 9, but the actual signal will be coming over channel 45. Confusing, I know. The mian reason for this as I can see is to retain the decades of station branding that's been beat into viewers heads...

Some convertor boxes aren't great at recognizing this PSIP info, so we tell people who can't find us on 9, to try tuning in channel 45. It should then see channel 45, and recognize it as channel 9.

EDIT-Just saw that your in NZ and not UK. Sorry, but I don't know anything about Kiwi broadcast standards either, but I hope my response helped.
 
Where the hell is my free A-TEAM!

I made the switch a while back and to be honest, I had gotten real used to all the extra channels. I say extra because in my area (Seattle), the broadcasters took their analog signals and played a 24 hour sports and retro tv. Now that the analog signals are dead, I can no longer watch the A-Team everyday... WFT?!
 
One of the digital carriers here started a "sport extra" channel a couple of years ago, but they've discontinued it now so that the bandwidth can be used for "big" channels. I wonder whether a similar thing is happening for you.
 
I switched over to digital broadcast years ago. I LOVE it! More channels than analog and they look great. Of course, I live in the city, so that probably makes a difference. Did everyone out there having trouble make sure to get amplified antennas? That is key.
 
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