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US House Kills Proposed Delay For Digital TV Transition
An anonymous reader writes "The Digital TV transition delay bill has failed to pass the United States House of Representatives. By a vote 258 to 168 in favor of changing the date, the bill has failed as two-thirds of the votes are required for it to pass. The delay bill was once perceived as inevitable, [but the House] has now apparently made February 17th the date of transition once again. Now the question remains, will they attempt to pass it again by the deadline?"
What's the big deal, anyway? I'm wondering if I just don't understand something about how this is going down.
the idiots have solved all the real problems so they can waste time with this!
...just do the cutover, get it over with. Sure, a short term pain, but I'm sick of hearing about it.
Really. Just do it already.
Probably.
Will it pass?
Probably not, unless they cram it in a popular bill.
being wasted over this is insane in my opinion.
The television is an entertainment device, nothing more. We have so much more to worry about in this country other than if someone will continue view ads on the tv when we move on from an archaic system.
Do I have this wrong? Is there something else about television that I am forgetting?
~ Ron Fitzgerald
The government doesn't realize that the TV companies have teams ready to go for Feb 17 and all this flip-flopping costs them money in rescheduling, etc..
Thomas says this is a rule suspension vote. It takes a 2/3 vote to suspend the rules and pass a bill. Usually this is reserved for bills that are not very controversial and have broad support.
This failure just means that the bill will have to go to the rules committee. After a rule is passed and the bill is brought up under that rule, a simple majority is all that is needed to pass the bill.
This is just a very small bump in the road to extend the deadline.
In the Houston Chronicle this morning there was an interesting blurb about the delay. Basically, the networks want to delay the switch-over because they don't want it to happen in the middle of the season. They are afraid of losing viewers (and thus advertising dollars) from people who aren't ready for DTV. They'd rather wait until spring/summer when they are airing re-runs.
Lets get it over with already. The people who don't have converter boxes can just... *GASP* read a book, or do something productive instead.
considering the Senate passed the bill unanimously, I figured it would easily make it through the House.
One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
>Anyone have suggestions that don't involving spending $70 a month for five tv shows that aren't online or on itunes?
Kill your TV.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
Most cool Japanese products never get here because they are convinced we are really dumb and could not understand them.
True, but at the same time I fail to see the need for anything more than a "flush" button on my toilet. (Although, now that I think about it, an air freshener button might be a good idea.)
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
This transition has been communicated to everyone for a long time. Delaying it will just add to the confusion.
Looking for any old 8-bit Heathkit/Zenith software/hardware - http://heathkit.garlanger.com
As so many others have pointed out, It doesn't matter if the switchover happens 3 weeks, 3 months, 3 years, or 30 years from now - you're going to have millions of people, most of them elderly or low income, who are going to turn on their TVs and say "What's wrong with this damn thing?" They don't read the news, they have no clue the switchover is coming, and they will scream bloody murder when it does.
The ONLY way to keep that from happening would be for the U.S. government to send teams of technicians to every household in America to verify the converter boxes were installed. Even then you'd have a lot of elderly shut-ins who would call the police to arrest the "intruders" at their door.
Time to bite the bullet and switch over NOW - waiting any longer will do nothing but delay the inevitable.
Hawaii already made the switch to digital TV on January 15th. I haven't heard any newa about their state having any major problems with this transition, so why are they making a big deal about this now?
How many prison TV are ready? February 17th may be a bad day to be a prison guard.
The digital signal I get is a little flaky but they are supposed to boost the signal after the switch.
they? Changes in digital facilities at the cut-over date vary on a case by case basis.
There are going to be fewer channels available for tv after the switch. We'll be using 2 through 51, except there is no channel 37 (that's kept silent for radio astronomy).
Some stations will use the same digital facilities after the switch, so those probably won't improve.
Some of the digital signals already on are using channels above 51 and will move. Due to interference issues, some digital signals are temporarily using lower power and/or a different channel. Those stations will likely have a change in signal coverage (mostly for the better) when the transition is complete.
Some stations that are digital on UHF now will move to VHF channels (perhaps their former analog channel) when the analog signal is shut down. Although that may mean a better signal for some viewers, those who installed a UHF-specific antenna for DTV may find their antenna marginal.
UHF antennas still pick up some VHF signal, more so with channels 7-13 than 2-6, but one would have to be in a pretty strong signal area for that to work.
Some stations will be buying antennas or other equipment from other stations as channel-switches occur (transmitting antennas are generally made for a specific channel or narrow range of them)
Rescheduling antenna and general engineering work will be a headache at the switch if the date changes.
Whatever you're using now, plan on using the channel-scan function to relocate stations that have moved after the change. In some places there may be new channels coming on the air (some are low power) scanning periodically to see what's out there isn't a bad idea.
You can see what's licensed or has construction permits for the various types of tv stations using the FCC TV database.
You can get an idea of relative signal coverage as well as what's in your area at tvfool.com. Seeing different colors for various relative signal levels in a stations' coverage is very helpful in determining what kind of antenna you might need to get a particular station.
Using a good outdoor antenna, a preamp at the antenna, and modern low loss coax cable makes a huge difference for weak signals.
Some areas have analog low-power tv or translator (rebroadcast on shifted channel) stations that will continue to operate after the switch. If you're using a DTV converter for an analog tv you'll need a converter with a "pass-through" feature to allow those signals to bypass the converter and still get to the tv. (may require turning converter off for pass-through, much like behavior with old VCRs when not using VCR tuner)
As the opiate of the masses, is washington worried what happens when people lose their pacifier?
Janie Crane: Without regular picture transmissions, thousands are swarming the streets, desperately buying black-market tapes from video vendors.
Mrs. Formby: We're going to go critical if we don't act soon.
Edwards: We're going to have riots out there. We should distribute emergency video players immediately!
Janie Crane: Edison... an off switch!
Metrocop: She'll get years for that. Off switches are illegal!
Voice: This is a message to the authorities. It is also an ultimatum. You have until sunset to release the detained Blanks. This morning's failures were tests. We can desolate your systems. The reason is the actions of Simon Peller. Release the Blanks or every computer in the city will be simultaneously wrecked. You have until sunset.
Mrs. Formby: My god, they could lobotomize the network. Without television, this city would be ungovernable!
Blank Dominique: Now if all those threats are for real, well, there'd be no networks, would there?
Blank Reg: No, Dom. Not if the lads do their business...
Blank Dominique: We don't have a computer, do we?
Blank Reg: No, we don't. Computers know too much.
Edwards: Chaos out there! People are in a panic, fighting for old video recordings!
Ashwell: Personally, I'd rather watch a smoke alarm.
Background: Big Time... Television! Big Time... Television! Twenty-four hours a day, day after day, making tomorrow seem like yesterday!
Blank Reg (over): This is Blank Reg, welcoming you to Big Time Television, from sunrise to sunset, filling your empty lives with mindless drek!
Bruno: Our 'bomb' is simply a program. It links all the programs of the city through the main one simultaneously. Massive overload. Goodbye everything from... Security Systems to Network 23.
Max: Well, I'll let you know if there's life after the off-switch-tch-tch.
Bruno: I already know.
Max: What I want to know is, why you want to wreck our network? Network!
Bruno: Your network, and the authorities, are mesmerizing millions into worshiping this new priesthood of the computer! Like... cave men worshiping fire! It's a false faith, Max.
[angry crowd noise]
Edison Carter: It's starting to happen. Their world's gone away. Without their TVs, what is there for them?
Edison Carter: Only one man can prevent our city being paralyzed: Simon Peller. Mr. Peller, are you prepared to negotiate to prevent this catastrophe?
Bryce Lynch: Micro-link... running... Control.
Simon Peller (on tape): My dear Miss Jones, of course I will release these people. I have no intention of risking this city or its television network.
Simon Peller: I never said that!
Simon Peller: Those Blanks will be brought to justice. They haven't heard the end of this, Carter.
Edison Carter: Oh, I think they have... Simon. Unlike the Fringes, justice here is a lot more than cash flow... or politics.
Max Headroom: What are you laugh-laugh-laughing about? Bryce just tried to kiss me! Kiss me!
Edison Carter: Well, you are irresistible.
Theora Jones: Well, thank you.
Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
You are absolutely right, my friend.
TV is a more 'respectable' addiction than booze.
People are used to having it, and having it 'taken away' feels unfair to them, even though the only thing they did to earn the privilege of watching TV is buying the thing.
But frankly, our society has become so busy and thus so very lonely. TV helps people alleviate the loneliness. Many people need the stimulus of seeing a human face. There is social pressure to not have generations of a family live together in the same house. This is the American dream, and costs a lot and is much emptier.
My grandfather spent his waning years just watching TV all day long, every day. That's what he wanted. Maybe that's why I hate TV so much.
A lot of people, a lot of elderly, just want TV 'to work', and I'm not sure moving a timetable around will help them.
This is all going to be moot. The FCC database is being flooded with STAs providing proper notice of early shutdown pre-emptively in the face of the new legislation.
In the end, it will all be moot, because a number of stations are not even properly budgeted to continue transmitting. Most current UHF stations are going to see their electric bill drop 80% when they turn off their analog. They have no incentive to continue transmitting analog.
I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
delaying it is like pulling a bandaid off a wound slowly causing the pain to be prolonged and more acute, when just grabbing the bandaid and ripping it off completely gets it over with quicker, sure there is going to be some pain but you get it over with quicker and can get on when cleaning & dressing the wound with antibiotics and a fresh bandaid...
either way there is going to be some pain but what would you prefer? get it over with quicker? or prolonged and more acute pain?
Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
-- $SIGNATURE
Basically they are suggesting that the WiMax people are lobbying Congress to delay the switch to DTV.
Their rival, Verizon, cannot deploy Verizon's 4G Long-Term Evolution wireless broadband network until the spectrum is freed up by the elimination of analog TV signals. The longer the delay, the more market penetration for WiMax, and the more trouble for Verizon.
Using a good outdoor antenna, a preamp at the antenna, and modern low loss coax cable makes a huge difference for weak signals.
It can, but one of the most common mistakes people make is using an amplifier and a big antenna in an area that doesn't have a particularly weak signal. This especially applies to digital. An amplifier can easily swamp you with too much signal, or amplify other frequencies so much that they interfere with the frequencies you want. And amplifying a bad signal isn't going to do much for you. Your antenna may be pointed at a reflection, rather than the actual source.
I think it's best if people actually get their reception tested by a technician, rather than running out and buying amplifiers and large antennas just because they get poor reception.
... and then they built the supercollider.
As president of the Procrastinating Luddites of America, I say that I care! And so do hundreds or thousands of others! Maybe even more...(we haven't gotten around to compiling the membership list).
Yes, the image is slightly better with digital TV. It isn't a night and day improvement.
You aren't running HD though, are you? Perhaps you _are_ using a converter box on your old analog. There's a reason they are called _converter_ boxes. "Digital" and "HD" aren't synonymous.
If you've only browsed TVs at the electronics store, don't assume they were intelligently set up to demonstrate the best of HD to you. Watching broadcast analog at somebody's place almost makes me tear thinking my vision is clouded these days, and, yes, once HD is converted _down_ the difference is, well, worth the price of the converter box. What comes out that converter box isn't really the HD experience. Our one local news that actually runs 1080 is into art -- knee level shots of the scene clearly defining the rain drops hitting a street lamp lit street and the like. Best thing to being there until the Japanese push super-HD and 3D.
Converter boxes are just a stop gap. Something that lets those who don't want or can't afford anything better to still have access while they simultaneously don't hold the rest of us back.