As a one time film maker, I find the near total lack of lip-sync most annoying and a symptom of the dumbing down syndrome. No body cares about such details anymore.
Just another example of our government at work.
I just want to point out here that the question I actually asked in response to this was "how a given local station's lack of attention to detail is the fault of the government", not:
You're shocked/offended by what part of this, exactly?
Since the question was changed, its answer has zero relevance. Nevertheless, I want to clarify a few things, here.
Nothing the government does shocks me anymore but I am offended by being forced to not only buy into a technology that I do not want but my tax money is used to make sure that everyone in the country has access to it.
Nobody cares if you want it or not. Least of all me. However, claiming on one hand that you shouldn't be asked to pay for a new technology you don't want, then claiming on the other hand that this expense should not be reimbursed; basically suggests that you're going to be unhappy no matter what happens, so you might as well just accept it and get on with your life.
In other words, it sounds like you just want something to complain about.
I would have liked to have broadband access years ago but no one is lobbying the government to get it to folks like me. I would like a nice new all electric car but... same problem.
Really? You got the facts to back that up?
You might have thought BPL was just some conspiracy to wreck the HF spectrum, but the people lobbying for it were lobbying under the guise of "getting broadband access to people like you". Being lobbyists and not engineers, most of them even believed that's what they were lobbying for.
As far as the electric car goes, when did that become Congress' responsibility, anyway?
You have the right to your own opinions. You do
not have the right to your own
facts.
I would also like taxpayers to subsidize the purchase of a MALTMILL(R) so everyone in the country could buy one or quit drinking beer.
Exactly. If it's something you support, no amount of taxpayer money is too much. If it's something you don't support or are apathetic to, every single penny was wasted.
That pretty much sums up the thought process of every American.
If I had the clout the broadcast and advertising industry do, I could force my wishes on the rest of the country and get the "government" to subsidize my wishes.
Yeah, having digital television is certainly one of the worst atrocities humanity hath wrought to date. Right up there with Pol Pot, no question.
Appearently you didn't know that all of this has been in the works for decades. It started with EAS and is continuing through DTV. It's all part of getting our nation's communications infrastructure out of the 1930s.
America's broadcast infrastructure is, among other things, used in times of emergency to disseminate vital information to the public. This is why EAS was introduced, which is far more compatible with ATSC than it ever was with NTSC.
That's kind of necessary now, because us hams are no longer capable of acting (or even willing to act) as a substitute infrastructure should the one in place fail.
Broadcasters broadcast in order to make money. It's a business. In whatever "Golden Era" you grew up in, broadcasters were broadcasting to make money. It was a business then, too.
Sure but the government didn't force me to buy a receiver or take my money to buy one for the poor folk.
The government came to your house, put a gun to your head, and ordered you to buy a new receiver? I must have missed that memo.
You say you don't even
watch TV, but are all pissed off about lip-sync issues and going on like you're about to have a God-given right taken away from you. For someone who "doesn't watch TV", you sure are awfully upset about your TV reception.
I'll say again: don't complain about the expense and then turn and complain about the subsidy. You cannot have it both ways.
I've never seen a single digital tuner that did not have a built-in S-meter for exactly that purpose. With all due respect, you might try reading the manual....
I will take another look but understand, I am talking about a digital converter for an analog TV set not some glitzy "entertainment center".
I wasn't talking about "some glitzy 'entertainment center'" either (just gotta talk trash about everything, don't you?). As you found out just by giving the P&M a rest long enough to merely
look at the remote control, you just hadn't done your homework before making these accusations.
>instead of randomly blaming engineers or the government because you haven't figured out how to peak the receive signal yet.
I said nothing about engineers.
Oh, yes you most certainly
did:
As a one time film maker, I find the near total lack of lip-sync most annoying and a symptom of the dumbing down syndrome. No body cares about such details anymore.
Whether you meant it or not, that was a slap in the faces of the broadcast engineers who have been busting some
serious ass to not only get all this stuff up and running, but get it all up and running
alongside the pre-existing (and seriously antiquated) infrastructure so that
you wouldn't lose your signal without ample opportunity to establish reception under the new infrastructure.
Pissing and moaning about lip-sync and S-meters in the midst of all that strikes me as extremely ungrateful towards the engineers who are still up to their asses in alligators trying to get the transition completed as best they can. You're complaining about the color of the bike shed that hasn't even been painted yet.
Look, Jack... I respect your viewpoint, and even empathize to a certain extent. However, you cannot see the future in the rear-view mirror! The expense you've suffered (subsidised or not) is
bubble-gum money compared to the enormous expense and effort your local broadcast stations have suffered, almost entirely out of their own pockets.
If you think the new receivers are a nuisance or an unwelcome expense, try it from the
transmitter side of things.
Then, you'll find your receiver woes (both technical and financial) aren't that big a deal after all.
--Thom
Kilowatt Amplifier One Zero Grid Current
