Just a reminder: analog television signals will be gone after February 2009

By THOMAS R. WILES
Truckers Connection

3/18/2008

TECH STOP

As you may or may not be aware, analog TV signals are set to be permanently turned off nationwide by Jan. 17, 2009, a little less than a year from now.

Largely already being broadcast right beside the current analog signals are the digital equivalents.

The catch is, to receive these digital TV signals, you must have a digital TV tuner.

Millions upon millions of older televisions and VCRs with built-in analog tuners still in use will no longer have analog television signals to receive.

Anyone using a device with an analog tuner plugged in to an over-the-air TV antenna will no longer be able to tune in to any TV programs unless they have a special add-on digital tuner.

The transition to digital TV signals and digital TV tuners has been under way for a while.

By a law that’s been in place for some time now, all televisions being sold today must incorporate a built-in digital tuner alongside the analog tuner.

If you purchased your TV after March 2007, chances are it has a built-in digital tuner.

After Feb. 17, 2009, the built-in analog tuners will be dropped from new TV sets, which will be digital only.

To ease the transition from analog to digital-only television signals, for a limited time the government is making available coupons worth $40 toward the purchase of add-on digital tuners.

Each household in the U.S. is eligible for up to two free $40 coupons.

The add-on digital tuners are expected to cost between $50 and $70 each, so to cash in on these free government digital TV tuner coupons buyers must cough up between $10 and $30 of their own money to make up the $30 shortfall in the cost towards one of these add-on devices.

Here’s a real key: If you have your older analog-only TV plugged in to cable or satellite, then you won’t be affected by the analog cut-off date.

 Your cable or satellite signal will continue to function as always. This only applies to older televisions that are receiving over-the-air analog TV signals.

Being the tech geek that I’ve always been, I’ve already got five devices with built-in digital tuners, two of them high-definition TV’s.

Even though I’ve got a couple of older TV sets, I have absolutely no plans to obtain the free government coupons, especially since these older TV’s haven’t been watched in at least a year or more.

Though a huge number of people have either cable or satellite TV at home, the vast majority of TVs in trucks tend to be older, and are relying exclusively on over-the-air analog TV signals.

Therefore, many drivers that aren’t already aware of the transition to digital-only TV reception will suddenly find after the Feb. 17, 2009 analog cutoff date that they can no longer watch that older TV set in their truck unless they either get one of these converter boxes, or get a newer TV that has a built-in digital tuner.

Complicating matters a bit further, chances are these digital tuner converters will be AC-only devices, requiring power from a DC to AC inverter in order to function. In my experience DC to AC inverters can cause signal interference.

With the continuing drop in flat panel TV prices, it would probably be wiser to simply solve the problem by buying a new digital TV rather than spending money on trying to convert an obsolete TV so it will work with digital signals, especially in a truck.

Digital TV signals function a bit differently than the analog counterparts they are in the process of replacing. Digital TV signals tend to be an all-or-nothing signal, whereas analog TV signals degrade gracefully with added picture snow and added noise in the sound. On the other hand, if you can receive a good digital TV signal, the picture and sound are perfect.

In my experience, digital TV signals don’t give very good performance in weak or fringe signal areas or with a marginal TV antenna, such as a weak signal area in a truck stop with trucks constantly driving by cutting off and/or causing temporary signal reflections.

If the signal strength drops below a certain threshold, the picture and/or sound can freeze or end up with blocky-looking digital artifacts on the screen that can come and go.

The cure is a better antenna, which probably isn’t an option for most drivers.

On the other hand, if you have a good over-the-air antenna, digital TV signal reception can be nothing short of amazing.

At home, I have a 55-foot tall antenna tower with a large antenna on top equipped with a motorized rotor.

If I aim the antenna correctly, I can receive perfect digital signals from TV stations that are 120 miles away.

Anyone interested in obtaining one or two of these $40 government coupons can apply at the government website at www.dtv2009.gov or you can call (888) 388-2009. The coupons are set to expire 90 days after the date they are issued.