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Digital switch may be difficult in rural areas(Janesville Gazette, The (Janesville, WI) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 27--You should know by now whether you need to take action to ensure that your TV set continues to work after Feb. 17. After that date, analog TVs will no longer work unless they're plugged into cable TV or a satellite dish. To fix the problem, buy a digital TV or a converter box for your old TV. Simple, right? Maybe not. If you live far from the TV stations' broadcasting towers, you may have reception problems. That's nothing new to those who continue to receive free TV over the airwaves. They're used to "snow" on the screen, especially if they live in low-lying or remote areas. Until now, they might have been content with a fuzzy picture--a sign that the TV signal is weak where they live. But with digital TV, a weak signal may mean you don't even get a fuzzy picture. "It's just garbled, blip and creep and sweep, and it gets all digitized or something," said Ellick Skogen of Team Electronics in Janesville. Barry Orton, a UW-Madison professor who monitors telecommunications issues, predicted "a big mess." He faults the government for poor planning. "The problem's going to be having people trying to put brand new antennas on their roofs in February," Orton said. "We're going to have some people who are going to have a long winter without TV in some places." Set-top antennas that used to work might be useless. "In Janesville, rabbit ears just aren't going to cut it," said Brian Fick of ApplianceWorks in Evansville. An outdoor antenna will fix the problem in most cases, said Tom Furan of Tom's Electronics in Janesville. Team, ApplianceWorks and Tom's Electronics of Janesville all report they've been installing antennas for people who already have converted to digital, and plenty of customers report great results. Digital TV delivers more channels, and the picture is said to be clearer. But if you live in a low-lying area, or if you're surrounded by trees or by houses that are higher than yours, you may have trouble, Skogen said. "There's going to be some people where they're just not going to get it. I haven't run into it, yet, but I know I will, especially in the hill country over by Orfordville," Fick said. Fick, Skogen and Furan all advise that people try an outdoor antenna. Nearly everyone should be able to at least pick up stations from Madison and Rockford, Ill., they said. Here are answers to some common questions from these TV pros. Q: I have an old antenna. Do I need to get a different one to receive digital TV? A: No, unless it's of poor quality. "Antennas don't care," Furan said. That's because the digital signal rides through the air the same way the analog signal has done all these years. Q: Are all antennas pretty much the same? A: No. Quality counts. Skogen recommends a multi-element antenna. The more elements, the better the reception. "It's all about buyer beware, and you get what you pay for," Skogen said. But even with the cost of an antenna, it's cheaper in the long run than paying for satellite service, Skogen noted. Q: Can I get an antenna installed now? A: You might have to wait. The dealers contacted said they will wait until roofs are clear of snow and ice before they send someone up there. Q: Can I get a guarantee that the antenna will solve all my problems? A: Probably not. The dealers said, however, that if they see potential problems, such as blockage from trees, other structures or hills, they will warn you ahead of time that it might not work, or not work well. "I can't guarantee the reception in any particular house," Fick said, but he can dismantle the equipment and charge the customer only for his time. Q: How can I tell if my house is in one of those bad spots? A: "You never know from one house to another," Fick said, but the above-mentioned conditions are clues. For areas with poor reception, a very high antenna, mounted on a pole or tower, might work, but it's going to cost you more than a rooftop antenna, and there are no guarantees. Q: What about an omni-directional antenna? A: Not recommended unless you live in the city where the TV signal originates, Skogen said. You need an antenna that you point in the direction of the signal. Some antennas come with motors that let you rotate the antenna. Q: What about an antenna mounted inside the attic? A: It might help some, but you're taking a chance, the dealers said. The nails and shingles in the roof can interfere with reception, Fick said. And the attic might not allow for proper orientation. Q: What about a signal amplifier? A: An amplifier only amplifies the existing signal, but some people get better results with a pre-amplifier, Skogen said. Some antennas come with built-in pre-amps. More problems on the road to digital TV Not all digital TVs are created equal, and that may be a problem for some. Tom Furan of Tom's TV in Janesville said some digital TVs need to be programmed to accept a set of channels, those from Madison, for example. But once programmed, the TV won't recognize a different set of channels, such as those from Rockford, Ill., Furan said. The TV can be reprogrammed for Rockford, but it will "forget" the Madison programming Furan said. Some digital TVs can handle more than just one set of channels, but others don't, Furan said. Ellick Skogen of Team Electronics in Janesville said he hasn't heard of the problem, but it's possible that some cheaper sets are more limited. Skogen recommends getting a TV that allows manual programming. Another problem some of Furan's customers experienced is with Madison's Channel 15. Turns out that Channel 9 out of Chicago is on the same digital channel as 15, and on some days for some customers, the two channels fight each other, resulting in no picture from either one, Furan said. --Frank Schultz ANALOG TO DIGITAL If you're still confused about the federally mandated conversion to digital TV on Feb. 17, go to www.ntia.doc.gov or call 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322). To see more of The Janesville Gazette, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.gazetteextra.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Janesville Gazette, Wis. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |