HDTV antennas & complaints

Well, let's see the cable company can either take the broadcast feed
that's provided in std def as well as hi def and continue to supply a
signal just like they do now that comes out of the cable box (or wire
if you have no cable box), or they could commit suicide and let most
of their customers go dark in Feb 2009. Which do you think their
gonna do?

> aem sends....- Hide quoted text -

> - Show quoted text -

Posted by Jim Yanik on August 21, 2007, 9:10 am

>> trader4@optonline.net wrote:

>>> wrote:

>>>

> (snip)

>>>>are on a Comcast "Basic" cale, not HD cable.

>>>>

>>>>I am *not* looking forward to what this "improvement" is going to

>>>>cost me.

>>>

>>> If you have cable, the improvement will cost you zippo. The cable

>>> box already supplies NTSC, S Video, Component, whatever you're

>>> using. That isn't going to change. The only folks impacted are

>>> those that receive NTSC over the air.

>> I did not know that.

>> Thanks for the good news.

> Uh, not entirely true- in some areas served by the biggies, and

> especially tiny 'house' cable systems like some apartments use, if you

> only have basic cable, no set-top box is involved. 1 cable, wall jack

> to 'cable ready' TV. (the apartments I lived in until recently were

> like that, and the basic cable my sister had at her house were like

> that.) Or are they going to start converting the signal at the head

> end before they send it down the wire?

> aem sends....

chances are they will sell their system to the local cable company,who will
connect to their system,and then you'll need their box,and pay their rates.
That's what happened at my apt.complex a few years ago,sold to
Brighthouse.(Time-Warner Cable)

Now you can also get broadband internet service,and Internet phone,I
believe.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Posted by Doug on August 21, 2007, 12:36 am

On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:59:33 -0000, trader4@optonline.net wrote:

>wrote:

>> trad...@optonline.net wrote:

>> SNIP HAPPENS

>> > You don't need an HDTV. All you need is an ATSC digital tuner which

>> > will deliver a signal compatible with your existing TV. The govt has

>> > approved a plan to give consumers two $40 coupons that can be used

>> > toward the purchase of two converter boxes. These tuners are already

>> > available for under $100, and will likely be $50-75 by the time you

>> > need them.

>> Interesting. First I have heard of the coupon thing. Sure hope it

>> happens.

>> There are 8 NTSC TVs in this house, as well as 3 NTSC VCRs. All

>> are on a Comcast "Basic" cale, not HD cable.

>> I am *not* looking forward to what this "improvement" is going to cost me.

>If you have cable, the improvement will cost you zippo. The cable box

>already supplies NTSC, S Video, Component, whatever you're using.

>That isn't going to change. The only folks impacted are those that

>receive NTSC over the air.

>The coupon thing is a done deal. You can google or check the FCC.

WHAT cable box?

With basic cable, there is no cable box. The analog NTSC signal is fed
right into the TV's tuner.

Doug

Posted by Jim Yanik on August 21, 2007, 9:05 am

> On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:59:33 -0000, trader4@optonline.net wrote:

>>wrote:

>>> trad...@optonline.net wrote:

>>>

>>> SNIP HAPPENS

>>>

>>> > You don't need an HDTV. All you need is an ATSC digital tuner

>>> > which will deliver a signal compatible with your existing TV. The

>>> > govt has approved a plan to give consumers two $40 coupons that

>>> > can be used toward the purchase of two converter boxes. These

>>> > tuners are already available for under $100, and will likely be

>>> > $50-75 by the time you need them.

>>>

>>> Interesting. First I have heard of the coupon thing. Sure hope it

>>> happens.

>>> There are 8 NTSC TVs in this house, as well as 3 NTSC VCRs. All

>>> are on a Comcast "Basic" cale, not HD cable.

>>>

>>> I am *not* looking forward to what this "improvement" is going to

>>> cost me.

>>If you have cable, the improvement will cost you zippo. The cable box

>>already supplies NTSC, S Video, Component, whatever you're using.

>>That isn't going to change. The only folks impacted are those that

>>receive NTSC over the air.

>>The coupon thing is a done deal. You can google or check the FCC.

> WHAT cable box?

> With basic cable, there is no cable box. The analog NTSC signal is fed

> right into the TV's tuner.

> Doug

many basic cable systems still use a cable box,for signal security.
They play games with channel allocations and shifting channel frequencies
slightly.Some cable systems use a digital system right up to your wall,and
you need a box to convert to analog NTSC.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Posted by on August 21, 2007, 10:51 am

> > On Mon, 20 Aug 2007 21:59:33 -0000, trad...@optonline.net wrote:

> >>wrote:

> >>> trad...@optonline.net wrote:

> >>> SNIP HAPPENS

> >>> > You don't need an HDTV. All you need is an ATSC digital tuner

> >>> > which will deliver a signal compatible with your existing TV. The

> >>> > govt has approved a plan to give consumers two $40 coupons that

> >>> > can be used toward the purchase of two converter boxes. These

> >>> > tuners are already available for under $100, and will likely be

> >>> > $50-75 by the time you need them.

> >>> Interesting. First I have heard of the coupon thing. Sure hope it

> >>> happens.

> >>> There are 8 NTSC TVs in this house, as well as 3 NTSC VCRs. All

> >>> are on a Comcast "Basic" cale, not HD cable.

> >>> I am *not* looking forward to what this "improvement" is going to

> >>> cost me.

> >>If you have cable, the improvement will cost you zippo. The cable box

> >>already supplies NTSC, S Video, Component, whatever you're using.

> >>That isn't going to change. The only folks impacted are those that

> >>receive NTSC over the air.

> >>The coupon thing is a done deal. You can google or check the FCC.

> > WHAT cable box?

> > With basic cable, there is no cable box. The analog NTSC signal is fed

> > right into the TV's tuner.

> > Doug

> many basic cable systems still use a cable box,for signal security.

> They play games with channel allocations and shifting channel frequencies

> slightly.Some cable systems use a digital system right up to your wall,and

> you need a box to convert to analog NTSC.

> --

> Jim Yanik

> jyanik

> at

> kua.net- Hide quoted text -

And more cable systems are being upgraded over time to be digital
right to the wall because it lets them cram more channels into the
same space.

In the case of systems that provide some basic service without a box,
here's what should happen with the end of NTSC broadcasting. The
cable company almost certainly will take a std def source for a given
channel, turn it into an NTSC compatible signal at the head end and
put it out over the cable. That is straightforward, not expensive or
hard to do, and causes minimal disruption to their cusotmer base.

And I don't see much choice. In such a system, what would the other
alternatives be? Provide the signal in ATSC and expect customers to
buy a tuner/converter box? That would be possible for those without
a cable box, but it won't work for those that have a cable box.
That's because there is nowhere to put the tuner/converter, ie you
can't put it before the cable box, you can't put it between the cable
box and the TV.

Now, in deference to Pa Pa Peng, who I apologize for jumping on a bit,
I can't say for sure what cable companies will do. But I seriously
doubt that 18 months from now, there is going to be some big trouble
ahead for cable customers that want to continue to use their existing
sets and cable. I base this on the following:

1- Considerable thought has been given by the FCC and Congress to
minimizing the transition impact. They are giving two $40 coupons to
over the air homes to help pay for converters. And it makes sense,
because Congress and the Pres can do a lot of stupid things and no one
cares. But if your TV stops working, all hell will break loose. All
this discussion has been focused on OTA, which today is a small
percentage of the total, maybe 15%. It would be pretty stupid for
everyone to ignore some impending big problem in cable land, while
worrying about OTA.

2- I've seen lots of discussion in various forums over the last few
years about the turn off of NTSC, and no one has said anything about
there being anything special that needs to be done that is gonna
impact consumers. Everyone instead says it only affects folks
receiving OTA

3- Technically, it's a simple and easy thing for the cable company to
continue to provide an NTSC signal from the head end. Or to continue
to provide it as a digital signal out of the cable box.

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