ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Looming on the horizon?

I'm still looking for an affordable replacemenet for my 1.8" LCD TV. What am I going to use next hurricane season? I can't exactly use a converter box for a TV that runs on AA batteries

I imagine there will be someone with a battery powered converter. I ordered a coupon for one of the regular converters anyway, I figure it will run fine from an inverter but I will probably be opening it up to see if it doesn't run on one low voltage DC supply. It might be as simple as a 3 terminal regulator and a DC coax plug (maybe just the right battery).

Well, I do have a generator now, so we can always fire up the 65" HDTV, but if it's a wide outage, cable will likely be out, and we don't have a decent antenna for it. And we probably won't be running the generator 24/7, either. Luckily, I've got internet on my cell phone, and we have laptops and a small inverter, so that much is covered.

That little 1.8" is just so nice to toss in my pocket and watch the game at the park while the kids are playing, etc, in addition to actual emergencies. It's a shame, too- it's made from quality lead solder and would probably have lasted a few decades.

From what I have seen of over-the-air digital TV, the converter box users are going to have problems of their own, particularly in fringe reception areas.

While a weak signal on analog TV will result in snow or occasional picture tearing, the picture and sound is at least somewhat usable even down to quite low signal levels. A signal below a certain critical level will give you NOTHING on a digital setup. If the signal fades in and out, it is like trying to watch internet streaming video over a dialup connection. Constant pauses and dropouts in picture AND sound.

The converter boxes are going to be designed and built to a price point (however much the government subsidy is--$40 per box, IIRC). To cut costs, extra RF gain stages and other "frills" that mike make the things useful in fringe areas will probably be the first things chopped out.

All the noise your hearing on the TV about the comming change. is the cable, and satellite companies, hoping you will be unhappy with the converters, so they can snag you in as a customer, In my opinion, this is just another goverment helping, the communications giants.

Ha, who is going to lobby for us.

Steve, your right, a lot of people will miss their 1.5".

Digital TV is being pushed heavily here as well, and analog shutdown is due to take place region by region between the end of this year and 2012. A lot of people will need to invest in better antenna systems, as while they seem quite happy to watch through a little snow, they're not going to take to the blocking and freezing effects with marginal signals on digital.

Given a good signal, the digital pictures we get here are good. The main problem I've experienced -- both on my own digital converters and with those I've seen elsewhere -- is that some of the software is so full of bugs that it would take a barrel of DDT to expunge them!

Far too many of the receivers lock-up on a whim, go part way through a timer program and then suddenly there's no video, or a frozen frame even though the signal is fine and sound continues perfectly, etc. Regular reboots are the order of the day.

Exactly what I heard...

We have satellite anyway, so the only person noticing the analog shutdown was yours truly... and I simply stopped watching TV. I think the only time I watched TV during the last year was when my girlfriend wanted to wtach one special dance show with me. That was one evening in a full year.
Now I only use my TV as a video monitor.

My late 1950s TV is unuseable now... it's only got VHF reception, so not even a chance to use it with a converter box with RF output.
I havent used it for years anyway since I suspect faulty capacitors but don't feel confident working on a TV set (so far my electronis experiences have been limited to minor solid state work under close supervision).

Everything's going to be streaming video through the internet soon, anyhow. Cartoon Network has been a real leader with this respect; they have nearly their entire late-night "adult swim" lineup free for download online- watch one commercial, and the whole show streams to you whenever you want. Quality is very good, too, and a lot of old shows are archived.

http://www.adultswim.com if anyone cares to check it out.

I think the internet and the DVR are the perfect match and really the way TV is going to go. With a DVR you could cache the shows during slow times on the internet to watch at your leisure. It avoids the bandwidth problems of millions of people trying to stream a lot of different shows at the same time. You could select from a catalog and get them shipped on the next scheduled time or pay a little more to get them right now.