Got DTV? Got weak signal? You’re not alone
The StarTribune (Minneapolis) online newspaper posted an article yesterday (7/26/08) about a huge issue for current and future viewers of digital television broadcasts. Weak DTV signals.
Although the article focuses mainly on broadcasts in the Minnesota area, we here at TVConversionHelp have fielded many questions and complaints about over-the-air converter boxes that have bad DTV reception and the dreaded “missing television channels” problem.
DTV and Consumer Sentiment
A recent email to TV Conversion Help from a contributor in Maryland brought up a good point.
Has this much-heralded technological “advance” done nothing more than to put the TV service available to many viewers in major US market on a par with what one would expect to find in some third world country? The least we deserve is a replacement that will reach at least as many people as the original service did.
Online knowledge communitys (Such as: answers.yahoo.net, askville.amazon.com, and dtvusaforum.com) show the vast amount of problems that consumers are having with bringing in good reception with their digital converter boxes.
Fixes for a bad DTV reception can bring other problems
Some consumers are opting to use a powered 10dB amplifier to boost signal reception. In many instances, a fix like this can bring in missing digital broadcast channels but not improve signal strength quality for other channels.
Each problem for receiving digital television signals can be quite unique, so if a consumer has success with a 10db amplifier, it doesn’t mean it’s going to work for everyone else.
Other fixes? They range from:
adjusting the position of an antenna
adjusting the placement of the antenna (indoor/outdoor)
purchasing a different antenna (Yagi, UHF, VHF)
hiring an antenna technician
and the list goes on. Will the government provide a coupon program for helping consumers with their signal reception issues? Highly unlikely, and some of these fixes aren’t cheap! An antenna technican can cost anywhere between $50 to $80 an hour, and take anywhere from 1-3 hours making adjustments to an existing antenna.
Digital Television 2.0
In view of all this, it seems hard to believe that commercial broadcast stations in markets like Phoenix, Minneapolis, and New York City aren’t pumping out adequate signal strength to cover the markets they claim to serve or that the technology is such that what they are transmitting is only useable within an extremely limited radius.
One can only hope that the next round of upgrades for over-the-air television signals will be well researched before being proposed or implemented.
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5 Responses to “Got DTV? Got weak signal? You’re not alone”
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[...] only had two converter boxes function perfectly after installation. The other three had reception issues. Related Posts and Reader QuestionsHow do I Install a Digital Converter Box, VCR, and DVD [...]
The FCC has severely limited the power of digital television signals. The digital channels in my area are only 4 percent as strong as their analog counterparts. It is no wonder people living any distance from the broadcast antenna can’t make their converter boxes or expensive new TV’s work. If the FCC had allowed the digital signals to be just as strong as the analogs, anyone who had even marginal analog reception would have been able to get crystal clear digital service. The exceptions would include those who were watching analog stations with visible “ghosts”.
It isn’t right to be robbing rural viewers of their television experience. How will we get the news? From talk radio? From all music all-the-time? Let the FCC know that these digital ripples need to be upgraded to respectable waves.
CAN YOU SEE ME NOW? 1-888-CALL-FCC
I am now waiting for June 12 for the switch to digital tv and Iam tired of the dtv hype. Newsday articles have said that stations need to tell viewers wether their channals will reach them in digital form or not. Newsday also admitted that dtv uhf does not bend around hills while vhf analog does. Plenty of people have seen the dtv signal go over a cliff when it is just cloudy outside. I have the right vhf/uhf antenna to receive dtv signals and I get 28 dtv channals. But if the dtv signals will not be broadcast in full power that is not fair to those of us who have purchased the RCA converter boxes! People have only said they hope the dtv signals will be broadcast in full power. That is not good enough! If the FCC does not demand that digital signals be at full power they have much to answer for! I hope to see signal strength increase on June 12 as well as the apearance of dtv channal 13 which looks great as an analog signal on my tv but their is no dtv 13 signal even after many rescans with the converter box! I have a high quality rooftop antenna and I live on Long Island. If this transition is fixed I hope they do not force another broadcast signal change on us again!
Well the analog signal has been shut off and one week later my next door neighbor, who is good at climbming roofs,turned and adjusted our vhf/uhf antenna. And now our reception is much better with the signals showing at a higher percentage on our converter boxes! The reception maps helped me judge the best angle for the antenna turn and it made sense for the uhf end of the antenna to be turned away from a big tree in another neighbors yard. While most of the dtv channels are coming in well, a few of them look like they could use a signal boost and the ones that broadcast from the opposite direction of New York City which are Long Island stations continue to black out. Perhaps that cannot be helped. I wonder how many people have had to get new antennas to get these new signals. Many will not be as lucky as me and will have to put out more money to make their video setups work! But at least this transiton is near completion! I hope the FCC will be up front with us in the future and discuss future transitions or changes in our ways in getting video signals. That being said I hope this kind of thing does not happen again in my lifetime!
I live in downtown Seattle. I have a large older antenna plugged into my conversion box. I also have a cable coming from a building antenna. My reception is spotty even from line-of-sight stations. It also seems to be affected by the weather much more than analog ever was. It’s actually worse when its clear and cold.
The most idiotic thing about it is that the audio conks out before the picture. I’ve got a crystal clear picture with stuttering audio which I tell you, will drive you completely insane. You have to shut it off. In the old days, I could get an almost snowed out picture and I would still get the audio. Whoever brainstormed this destruction of an American invention and institution should be fired and their retirement stripped.
This is either intentional and utterly corrupt, or shamefully incompetent. I will NEVER pay a cable bill, get me? They are the biggest shaft organization and donate all money to repubs and anti-freedom in the media. Comcast will NEVER get my money.