1. It wasn't congress who passed the law permitting small satellite dishes. It was the FCC.
2. The FCC has also promulgated a rule that allows property owners and renters to erect TV antennas regardless of homeowners' association rules or deed restrictions, so long as the antennae are installed on property controlled by the homeowner/tenant (that is, not in common areas). That is, with few exceptions, if you own your home and the roof is over your head and yours alone, the homeowners' association cannot prevent you from erecting a TV antenna.
I see a lot of whining about the switch to digital from folks who claim to get fewer digital channels than analog.
Since anecdotes doth not evidence make, I would like to provide a link to an article where some folks actually analyzed what the real net impact of the transition is going to be to the average TV viewer.
The outcome? The peak of the gain/loss graph is at 14% of the U.S. population losing one channel. In other words, the majority of the population will break even or gain channels.
They can't convert them until 2/17. Because of the extra allocations for full power stations, applications for other types of stations are frozen until then.
I suspect that OPT is or has probably purchased a bunch of gear with that money that they will probably use to flash-cut their analog translators to digital as soon as the FCC allows them to.
If you want to blame the FCC for something, blame them for selecting ATSC. Why on earth they chose MPEG2 when everyone else gets MPEG4 or H.264 is anyone's guess (greed from patent holders maybe?).
Um, because when they actually created and standardized all of this MPEG4 and H.264 weren't around and because the horsepower required to decode MPEG4 and H.264 would have significantly raised the cost of the receivers.
Wrong. Power for NTSC transmissions are measured as peak power. The sync pulses are at the peak, and the average power is much, much lower.
ATSC transmission power levels are measured as average power, which due to the digital nature of the signal is much, much closer to the peak power level anyway.
Well, all low-power operations, including Class A stations, will have their own transition timetable that is TBD. Some will transition by flash-cutting to digital on or shortly after 2/17, some will take longer.
How hard would it be to broadcast on all common channels in the area a fixed pattern that says something along the lines of, "TV broadcasts using your current equipment are no longer available. Please conatct... blah blah blah".
Pretty hard, given that the top 100 MHz of the UHF spectrum has already been sold and won't be available post 2/17. Two channels for each broadcaster just won't fit anymore without it.
The spectrum "giveaway" you speak of was actually an unfunded mandate. The broadcasters were forced to operate dual, redundant facilities for a few years and on 2/17, the "extra" spectrum is going to be summarily taken away from them.
In the meantime, the top 100 MHz of the UHF TV spectrum is being removed from TV service was auctioned off to the wireless industry for billions and billions of dollars.
we need portable televisions that can receive the digital broadcast, but so far, none have reached the market.
Not true. Two reached the market. One was sold by Radio Shack, one by Insignia. They can still be had on eBay. The problem is that mobile reception of ATSC is impossible due to the Doppler effect, and portable operation doesn't work all that well. I bought the Insignia unit, and with it's whip antenna, it is certifiably deaf. Plugged into a proper antenna, it's not bad.
The hurricane doesn't really affect anything in that market. In particular, the designated Emergency Alert System station for that market is the local PBS affiliate, and they are not shutting down their analog transmitter early for that exact reason.
Anonymous posters are treated as second class citizens
No they're not. They're treated as average. Non-anonymous posters have a history that can be consulted to give them above- or below-average starting visibility. If you consistently post down-modded stuff, your posts will command less attention than AC posts.
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1. It wasn't congress who passed the law permitting small satellite dishes. It was the FCC.
2. The FCC has also promulgated a rule that allows property owners and renters to erect TV antennas regardless of homeowners' association rules or deed restrictions, so long as the antennae are installed on property controlled by the homeowner/tenant (that is, not in common areas). That is, with few exceptions, if you own your home and the roof is over your head and yours alone, the homeowners' association cannot prevent you from erecting a TV antenna.
I see a lot of whining about the switch to digital from folks who claim to get fewer digital channels than analog.
Since anecdotes doth not evidence make, I would like to provide a link to an article where some folks actually analyzed what the real net impact of the transition is going to be to the average TV viewer.
The outcome? The peak of the gain/loss graph is at 14% of the U.S. population losing one channel. In other words, the majority of the population will break even or gain channels.
Yeah. About that.
Sigh.
They can't convert them until 2/17. Because of the extra allocations for full power stations, applications for other types of stations are frozen until then.
I suspect that OPT is or has probably purchased a bunch of gear with that money that they will probably use to flash-cut their analog translators to digital as soon as the FCC allows them to.
If you want to blame the FCC for something, blame them for selecting ATSC. Why on earth they chose MPEG2 when everyone else gets MPEG4 or H.264 is anyone's guess (greed from patent holders maybe?).
Um, because when they actually created and standardized all of this MPEG4 and H.264 weren't around and because the horsepower required to decode MPEG4 and H.264 would have significantly raised the cost of the receivers.
Well, except for the fact that it's not actually true. See my other reply right above.
Wrong. Power for NTSC transmissions are measured as peak power. The sync pulses are at the peak, and the average power is much, much lower.
ATSC transmission power levels are measured as average power, which due to the digital nature of the signal is much, much closer to the peak power level anyway.
Um, you are factually and provably wrong about that. 100 MHz of the spectrum was taken away from that billionaire's club of which you speak.
Try the fuck again.
Well, all low-power operations, including Class A stations, will have their own transition timetable that is TBD. Some will transition by flash-cutting to digital on or shortly after 2/17, some will take longer.
Dialup modems. They were called BBSs. I ran one when I was in high school.
The designated Emergency Alert System station for that market is leaving their analog transmitter on.
There's no reason to postpone. The Emergency Alert System station for that market is leaving their analog transmitter on.
How hard would it be to broadcast on all common channels in the area a fixed pattern that says something along the lines of, "TV broadcasts using your current equipment are no longer available. Please conatct... blah blah blah".
Pretty hard, given that the top 100 MHz of the UHF spectrum has already been sold and won't be available post 2/17. Two channels for each broadcaster just won't fit anymore without it.
The thought that prisoners serving their sentences may not be able to watch Oprah just breaks my fucking heart.
I call "bullshit" on that.
The spectrum "giveaway" you speak of was actually an unfunded mandate. The broadcasters were forced to operate dual, redundant facilities for a few years and on 2/17, the "extra" spectrum is going to be summarily taken away from them.
In the meantime, the top 100 MHz of the UHF TV spectrum is being removed from TV service was auctioned off to the wireless industry for billions and billions of dollars.
How, exactly, did Hollywood benefit from that?
we need portable televisions that can receive the digital broadcast, but so far, none have reached the market.
Not true. Two reached the market. One was sold by Radio Shack, one by Insignia. They can still be had on eBay. The problem is that mobile reception of ATSC is impossible due to the Doppler effect, and portable operation doesn't work all that well. I bought the Insignia unit, and with it's whip antenna, it is certifiably deaf. Plugged into a proper antenna, it's not bad.
The hurricane doesn't really affect anything in that market. In particular, the designated Emergency Alert System station for that market is the local PBS affiliate, and they are not shutting down their analog transmitter early for that exact reason.
The ultimate failure of DRM was predicted a few years ago on these very forums.
Please. Back when it was called "copy protection," its ultimate failure was predicted 25-30 years ago on forums that are now defunct and lost to time.
Since I actually have a life, my time is not free, so I would not have saved money on that deal.
You fail it. And no, pointing it out yourself doesn't help.
The entire bar went quiet to watch it
Wait. An entire bar paid more attention to a Microsoft commercial than a football game? Was this, perchance, a gay bar?
I certainly know where I want to go today.
Anonymous posters are treated as second class citizens
No they're not. They're treated as average. Non-anonymous posters have a history that can be consulted to give them above- or below-average starting visibility. If you consistently post down-modded stuff, your posts will command less attention than AC posts.
If you're commenting here, you could not possibly have a girlfriend.
No I wasn't, but as I noted in another reply, the outcome of that case sounds like a pretty egregious judicial error.