I must admit, without cable, it's been hell. But that's just the way things are right now. I bought a VHF/UHF antenna a long time ago and, with a little practice at the time I bought it, I was able to get all of my local network affiliates in High Definition (with the exception of FOX because they don't do HD in all parts of Maine yet).
This all started because I have always been disappointed with Maine Public Television. That's PBS in Maine known as MPBN, the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Since I live in the Southwest corner of Maine only a few miles from the New Hampshire border, my cable system carries not just Maine stations, but New Hampshire PBS and several network stations from Boston. So I was used to more viewing options when I had cable.
New Hampshire Public Television is first rate. They have leveraged HDTV technology for quite some time now. They broadcast not only the local New Hampshire PBS feed on a digital sub-channel, but the national PBS feed on the first sub-channel. The also record and playback lots of HD programming. In Maine, not even close. MPBN has made lots of improvements in the past year but they are nowhere near where NHPTV is with technology. So one day, I started playing with my antenna, and using Wikipedia to find the exact digital UHF broadcasting numbers, moved my antenna all around the room, adding extensions to it, etc, until I finally was able to locate NHPTV with just my antenna and my HDTV. It was a lot of work, believe me. I stood on my head, tried aluminum foil, twisted it, turned it upside down, stood on one foot, you get the picture. But I did finally get NHPTV. So now, on those night where I can't sleep, I can watch PBS in High Definition all night.
Then, in my research, I realized that there was also this other network called "ION" which I never heard of because my cable system never carried it. ION is a throwback to the old PAX network and while they still do have some religious type programming, they carry things like "48 Hours", that CBS magazine show, The Drew Carry Show, Mama's Family, and all kinds of stuff that you may not care that much about, but when you don't have cable it comes in handy. ION actually broadcasts nothing in High Definition but instead carries 4 separate sub-channels in 480i.
The problem was, when I moved the antenna to get NHPTV I couldn't get ABC or the CW. Or when I could get ION, with the antenna in the right position, I couldn't get CBS. It was starting to really work my nerves. I could only work on it for an hour or so at a time, and then I just would have to stop and go back to my original configuration and antenna position founded in the early days of my HDTV/Antenna discoveries.
Today, it finally happened. I found the exact right position. I can now get NBC, NBC Weather, ABC, ABC 24 Hour News, CBS, Maine PBS, 4 separate ION stations, the CW, MyNetwork, and regular analog FOX all with just my antenna and my HDTV.
Mind you, my antenna is sitting on the back of my couch in a precarious position but I don't get a lot of company. The point is, I DID IT!!!!. Living in a valley, in an apartment, in the middle of nowhere in a little corner in Maine, that is quite a feat. I don't know what I am going to do to pass the time now. And what happens when some day I decide to get cable or satellite TV which takes no effort or ingenuity at all. Oh, well.
No comments:
Post a Comment