Sunday, January 18, 2009

Digital TV here we come...and there it goes?

First, let me say I love my new TV. I scored a great deal on a Sony 40" LCD TV. It has great reception thanks to a digital antenna. But I think we might have a problem. With the official digital switch coming in less than a month, I have an issue tonight.
I get my TV signal from regular broadcast, meaning through and antenna over the air. In the Portland metro right now there is a heavy wind storm. It seems to be causing some problems. Some of the "smaller" stations in town are showing their usual signal on my signal meter but there is no picture or sound. It's almost like the transmitter has been turned off. While I wouldn't normally have a problem with this, it's a bit of a problem given that I have completely made the switch to digital. My DVD-Recorder only sees digital channels and my TV only sees has 2 channels that aren't digital programed in. In addition I can barely receive the old analog channels. So I love my new TV, I love the new HD signals, but I think there might be some bugs that need to get worked out before we go "live" across the country. The again maybe some of the transmitters have been turned off intentionally to fix some stuff. Only time will tell, but if they keep them off for much longer I think there might be a few people who have made the switch (like me) who will not be happy...of course if I had satellite or cable this wouldn't be a problem.
While I put this in a previous post I'll attach it here as well. If you have not gotten ready for the digital switch time is running out. All high powered analog stations must switch to digital only broadcasting on February 17, 2009. (If your local analog station has a LP in it's official call letters the switch does not affect you). For more info head to dtvanswer.com. You also may want to check out AntennaWeb.org. If you live in or around Portland, OR here are the digital channels I receive: 2.1 (KATU-HD), 2.2 (KATU-SD), 6.1 (KOIN-HD), 8.1 (KGW-HD), 8.2 (NBC Weather Plus), 10.1 (OPB-HD), 10.2 (OBP-SD), 10.3 (OPBPlus), 10.4 (OPB Radio), 12.1 (KPTV-HD), 22.1 (ION-HD), 22.2 (qubo), 22.3 (ION-Life), 22.4 (Worship), 24.1 (TBN), 24.2 (TBN-Church Channel), 24.3 (TBM-JCTV), 24.4 (TBN-Spanish), 24.5 (TBN-Kids), 32.1 (CW-DT), 49.1 (KPDX-DT). Of those channels, thise evening all of 24 and 32 were not working. According to my sources 49.1 is off the air until the switch as engineers get things ready. As of the time I finished this post only 32.1 is still not showing a picture or sound on it's digital channel. If you have questions about any of this please feel free to email me (the link is on the right) or comment ot send me a message on facebook, myspace or twitter. Thank you!

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