Converter Boxes - it's NOT just about the box.

A recent visitor expressed an understanding of my frustration of the DTV conversion and posted a link to the following WGME report.

http://www.wgme.com/series/OnYourSide/oys_20090203.shtml

While the couple in the piece is right, the DTV conversion is fraught with misinformation, I noticed something in the video that stuck out like a sore thumb.

The Lewis family, near Oxford, Maine, bought a converted box at Walmart - no problem so far. They rely on antenna TV because of where they live. No cable coverage, no satellite TV coverage. But I noticed on the top of their TV was an antenna (rabbit ears, so to speak) which are supposed to work. Well now we have a problem.

When I first got my HDTV and attempted to receive free over the air digital/HD, I tried about 10 different indoor antenna's and only one worked. I tried the one shown in the WGME clip which I got from Walmart. I tried 3 other brands from Walmart and 2 other brands from Radio Shack. Remember I'm talking about antennas, not converter boxes.

And through this blog I have had contact with people who own outdoor, rooftop antenna of various sizes and shapes; all with various degrees of luck and none all too happy.

But it wasn't until I went to Best Buy and bought a strange looking antenna from a company called TERK. It cost be about $70.00. But I can receive every Portland station and several in New Hampshire as well. All are in picture perfect HD quality. If I need to watch the NH channels I just adjust the position of the antenna where it sits on a table right next to my HDTV.

Here is a picture of the antenna I use:

So let me reiterate. Any converter box will do, they all do the same thing. But not all antennas are alike. And you need a good antenna to receive over the air digital TV.

With mine, I can receive WCSH, WMTW, WGME, Maine PBS, WPME (MyNetwork), WPXT(CW), and WPFO (Fox). Keep in mind that WPFO recently ran a test to make sure everything will work when they cut over to WPFO on midnight, February 17. Search this blog for more info on why WPFO is different than the rest.

I hope this information helps. I am not "endorsing" this product and get no kick backs from the company, or anything like that. It was all about trial and error.

To the Lewis family in Oxford. I wish you luck and would suggest your return the rabbit ears you have, if you can, and then buy the TERK model. If you can't get any stations with the TERK, then you're in trouble because nobody cares about the signal strength of their TV station. (Again read other articles on this site).

New Hampshire Public Television (NHPTV) recovers from ice storm

The nice folks over at NHPTV had to endure quite a recovery from the power outages caused by last weeks ice storm. Unfortunately, only the Analog transmitter has a generator. The digital transmitter did not have power until 4 days after the storm.

The power is back now on digital channel 11 and after February 17, 2009, the digital transmitter will have backup power. So this issue should be avoided in the future.

Thanks to Brian Sheppard at NHPTV for the update.

NHPTV - New Hampshire Public Television - technical difficulties

If you are experiencing issues with receiving NHPTV it is because they have been experiencing some serious problems with their Digital TV transmitter since Monday, 11/24. Parts are on order and they hope to have it up and running by sometime on Friday, after which I will work with them to ensure that SD, DTV, and HD are all running properly.

Hang in there, it should be fixed by the weekend.

Thanks,

Ron