Digital TV

[W4EWH]

There's nothing to see. The average TV transmitter looks like any other cabinet with a couple of buttons and some meters. There's no "ooh" nor "aah" factor to them these days. They look about as exciting as the side of a cereal box.

In this day and age, most people just aren't impressed by that sort of thing anymore.

I'd bet they'll be interested when they see the tech's faces: the box may look bland, but the people won't.

I was at the New England Telephone office in Back Bay the night we cut the old Panel (electromechanical) office over to a #1 ESS (Electronic Switching System). I say more than one old panel tech wiping tears from their eyes.

YMMV.

Bill W1AC

[KA1ZGC]

Most of the engineers who put their blood, sweat, and tears into those transmitters are long gone. Many were laid off and replaced by glorified IT weenies because most owners don't know the difference (they think an MCSE actually has value); many simply left because the work is grueling, the job is thankless, and the pay is pathetic.

There are a few real engineers still around, mostly in the top 20 markets, otherwise the whole industry has been downsized almost below viability.

Don't take my word for it, read the trade rags and forums. The overwhelming consensus is that broadcasting in general (and broadcast engineering in particular) is a dead-end road.

The comparison to NET&T is comparing apples to meteors. That was a very different age, and you were surrounded by people who actually gave a crap. Very few of those people left in any broadcast facilities.

Most of the people who would shed a tear likely won't be there to do it.

[WB2YGF]

Set up a DTV box with rabbit ears on the TV in the spare bedroom of a friend's mothers apt. on Central Park West in Manhattan. Got all the local channels -- except WNBC (local analog 4, digital 28 I think) was "no signal". Odd because the xmtr ant. is on the Empire State Bldg with the others, so it should come roaring in. I switched back to analog and it was there, piss weak. But no digital sig. Must be some weird "shearing" of the sigs among the buildings.

WNBC-DT is conspicuous by it's absence here too.  The analog is fine. (central NJ).

[Ralph W3GL]

Re: WNBC-DT, 

Check with Dave, W2VW...    He might have an answer to your problem!

[Pete, WA2CWA]

Set up a DTV box with rabbit ears on the TV in the spare bedroom of a friend's mothers apt. on Central Park West in Manhattan. Got all the local channels -- except WNBC (local analog 4, digital 28 I think) was "no signal". Odd because the xmtr ant. is on the Empire State Bldg with the others, so it should come roaring in. I switched back to analog and it was there, piss weak. But no digital sig. Must be some weird "shearing" of the sigs among the buildings.

WNBC-DT is conspicuous by it's absence here too.  The analog is fine. (central NJ).

Down here in Sayreville, I get 4.1, 4.2 and, I think 4.4 using a 30 year old antenna, with at least 20 year old RG-59 cable. All channels come in great. The last time I did a channel scan, I think the box found 30 to 40 channels. Antenna is facing Northeast.

[flintstone mop]

Jack and others srtuggling with signal levels on digital.
There are several UHF antenna manufacturers that offer panel type antennas with about 10dB gain. Not too expensive!
A rotor could also help to pinpoint sigs and a little elevation. We should know the routine.
Preamps are'nt my thing.

Fred

[Tom WA3KLR]

AP article just issued on the switchover mentions that the FCC has given the stations freedom to decide what time of the day to switch and that antennas may be swapped out over the next 3 weeks:

http://www.bnd.com/business/story/801494.html

[W2VW]

AP article just issued on the switchover mentions that the FCC has given the stations freedom to decide what time of the day to switch and that antennas may be swapped out over the next 3 weeks:

http://www.bnd.com/business/story/801494.html

It is rumored certain broadcasters will celebrate by launching surplus ball bearings with a slingshot toward the R.F. OFF pushbutton from a distance. 

[Ed/KB1HYS]

Hmmm,  Ya think that some of those analog transmitters will be coming available soon for low/no cost?
 

[W2VW]

Hmmm,  Ya think that some of those analog transmitters will be coming available soon for low/no cost?
 

Lots. Ya got 480 3 phase there?

[WA1GFZ]

looks like no more TV at the beach till I put up an antenna. Might try a sloper from the window facing W.

[W1ATR]

Ok, so does all this mean the sweet little old lady across the street, a.k.a., the daughter of Satan, who has wabbit ears on her TV will stop calling me EVERY SINGLE TIME I key up my superbowl leenyar? 

[K3ZS]

Alas, tomorrow is the end of TVI as we now know it.
We can ditch those lossy low pass filters.

[KA1ZGC]

Just heard that the Portland and Bangor NBC affiliates' analog signals will be going dark at 0900 Eastern Friday.

The Bangor affiliate, WLBZ, will be moving back to channel 2 some time after that. I know they have the new channel 2 transmitter on site already, not sure when they'll make that cutover.

It's also worth mentioning that only the fully-licensed NTSC signals will be going dark. Translators and LPTV stations that are currently broadcasting NTSC will continue to do so.

For example, one of WLBZ's translators is on HLR mountain. It's been receiving ATSC and transmitting NTSC since it was first put on the air three-ish years ago, and will continue.

If you live in an area served by a translator or LPTV station, you will continue to receive analog television from them.

It will likely be some number of years before the FCC mandates LPTVs and translators make the switch. They weren't even considering authorizing digital translators until five or six months ago, when it became clear that some post-transition contours would fall short of pre-transition contours.

At any rate, we're starting to hear concrete "PLATE OFF" times for tomorrow. Stock up on popcorn!

[K3ZS]

One neat thing about digital TV is the use of same channel repeaters.  In my area the PBS station is repeated on the same frequency as the original transmitter on top of a local mountain.   The NBC station was doing the same, but for some reason switched RF channels, probably due to too much overlap between the repeater and the actual station in some areas.  In areas where the repeated signal and original are the same amplitude it looks like multipath to the receiver and breaks up the picture.

[flintstone mop]

NOW there is a warning from the GREEN committees that the switch to digital will cause high lead levels in the landfills, as people throw away their old CRT TV's.
Supposedly a lot of lead inside a CRT.


Fred

[Pete, WA2CWA]

NOW there is a warning from the GREEN committees that the switch to digital will cause high lead levels in the landfills, as people throw away their old CRT TV's.
Supposedly a lot of lead inside a CRT.


Fred

I don't know other places, but around here, you can't dump a TV for "normal" trash pickup. You have to call the local public works (trash pickup) to schedule a curbside TV trash pickup. Like wise, if you take it to the local trash/recycling/dump facility, they have a "special place" there for TV's, monitors, computers, appliances, grass, newspaper, cardboard, etc. For TV's, monitors, and computers, you even have to sign a sheet indicating what you are dropping off.

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Heh, heh, New Jersey.

NOW there is a warning from the GREEN committees that the switch to digital will cause high lead levels in the landfills, as people throw away their old CRT TV's.
Supposedly a lot of lead inside a CRT.


Fred

I don't know other places, but around here, you can't dump a TV for "normal" trash pickup. You have to call the local public works (trash pickup) to schedule a curbside TV trash pickup. Like wise, if you take it to the local trash/recycling/dump facility, they have a "special place" there for TV's, monitors, computers, appliances, grass, newspaper, cardboard, etc. For TV's, monitors, and computers, you even have to sign a sheet indicating what you are dropping off.

[Opcom]

After using ours for a few months, I have one remaining complaint and it seems to belie one of the basic claims for DTV.

That claim being that much less power is required at the transmitter.  If this is true, it seems to just be a red hearing because they are not getting as much signal into my receiver as the analog stations do/did.

Not all of them are running their digital transmitters at full licensed power. You won't really know for another four days. It will then change again with allocation and equipment changes over the next year or so.

We're still not even to the halfway point of the transition. Once the NTSC transmitters go dark, then the ATSC transmitters can be put to full power. It costs too much money to run both at full strap at all times (with not one penny reimbursed).

We won't know how the transition went until it's actually happened. This long, agonizing limbo we've been stuck in is about to end. Good riddance, too.

At this point in the game, it's still too early to draw conclusions.

this might explain why one of the channel's digital signal seems to have improved much. Maybe they already cranked it since they turned the old TX off.

[Opcom]

Heh, heh, New Jersey.

NOW there is a warning from the GREEN committees that the switch to digital will cause high lead levels in the landfills, as people throw away their old CRT TV's.
Supposedly a lot of lead inside a CRT.


Fred

I don't know other places, but around here, you can't dump a TV for "normal" trash pickup. You have to call the local public works (trash pickup) to schedule a curbside TV trash pickup. Like wise, if you take it to the local trash/recycling/dump facility, they have a "special place" there for TV's, monitors, computers, appliances, grass, newspaper, cardboard, etc. For TV's, monitors, and computers, you even have to sign a sheet indicating what you are dropping off.

I think nearly all the lead is in the glass, and it cannot escape from the glass unless the glass is melted. The phosphors might be the worst part really. There's a good videos on youtube showing CRT and monitor recycling.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPx09iB7R04
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8VfcmKDLiw

other interesting - doing it at home..:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1raLZg63jQ

[WB2YGF]

I don't know other places, but around here, you can't dump a TV for "normal" trash pickup. You have to call the local public works (trash pickup) to schedule a curbside TV trash pickup. Like wise, if you take it to the local trash/recycling/dump facility, they have a "special place" there for TV's, monitors, computers, appliances, grass, newspaper, cardboard, etc. For TV's, monitors, and computers, you even have to sign a sheet indicating what you are dropping off.

In Somerset County (NJ) you have to take TV's/monitors/computers to the County recycling center on the first Saturday of each month. They even have workers that remove the items from your car for you,  They pile the monitors on pallets and shrink wrap.  All you need to tell them is what borough/town/township you're from.  My trash collector will only pick up household trash NOTHING ELSE.  Recycling (Bottles, cans, newspapers, cardboard, dry cells) is picked up by the County bi-weekly in the special blue bins provided.