By a mandate of the Federal Communication Commission in Title III - Digital Television
Transition and Public Safety Act, television stations will stop broadcasting with an
analog signal and change to a digital signal. This transition took place at midnight on
June 12, 2009. Now, anyone using an analog set that has not prepared will not be able to
view television.
Why are they doing this? The analog
broadcast uses a frequency that can be used by others. Part of that frequency will
be reserved for police, fire departments and other emergency services. There are
times when more communication is very important. The move from analog to digital
will make room for improved communications during a fire or flood, hurricane or tornado,
or any situation where officials need to be in close touch with each other.
What should you do if you are one of the households that
will be affected? You need to get a digital to analog converter and
a digital antenna for each of your TV sets. A recent check showed a model available at a
large, very common retailer, for less than 50.00. And this is something you should make
note of: The federal government has a program that will give each household two 40.00
coupons to offset the price of the converters. Requests for the coupons must be made
by July 31, 2009.
Testimonial.
Yours truely, that's me, got what I needed for the transition. I used one of the
"coupons" that I received in the mail to purchase a digital receiver. The
coupon was really a gift card that was accepted without question at Wal-Mart. In
fact, I received two of the cards in the same letter. I also purchased a digital
antenna for 30.00. It was not the cheapest, and the gift card did not work for that
item.
The test was done one evening in January while we were camping near Florence. The
last college football bowl game of the year was on and we wanted to see it. I knew
we had power where we were so I took my new toys and my TV with me. We set up in a
large farmers field with forest about 50 feet away. It took about 15 minutes to
unbox and connect everything. I had to do a channel scan on the receiver that took
about 5 minutes. And then.... Presto! It was game time. We got 5
channels, one from Charleston more than 100 miles away. Among the channels were
local affiliates representing ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and Public Television. The clarity
of the channels was absolutely perfect, much better than my cable at home. Even when
it began to rain, the channels were exceedingly clear. Imagine, we sat around the
camp fire in the middle of nowhere and watched college football. It was great.
The receiver and antenna now reside at our CSBG office in Myrtle Beach. If you
care to see an example, please stop in. There the office can pick up several local
channels providing information and diversion for our clients as they wait for service.
We are able to save 50.00 per month by not using cable television. One month
of cable service was more than the cost of the DTV equipment. If your television
needs do not require a hundred channels, this is for you. I whole heartedly
recommend it.
