I don't know why this hadn't occurred to me earlier, but we are being screwed.

[EnviroBat]

In February of 2009, the FCC is assuming control of the UHF an VHF radio frequency bands. These are publicly owned, freely received radio frequencies which are primarily used to transmit television signals. This has been a method of transmission and receipt of media and information which has been free to Americans since the inception of the T.V. They keep telling us that your T.V. will still work if it is currently connected to cable. If not, the GOVERNMENT will be issuing certificates to obtain a receiver box, again, this must be hooked up to CABLE to work. So, in essence, we are being forced to have cable activated in our homes in order to receive television news, information, or what passes for entertainment. Now, I may be naive, but the cable company is not in the business of simply giving cable service to you or me. So what will the charge be?

In short, are we all being forced to be hooked into the cable network with this new effort by the FCC? Doesn't this provide yet another convenient method of wiretapping us? Who the hell voted to allow the FCC to take over control of publicly owned airwaves? I don't remember this vote, do you? The smacks of totalitarianism to me.

[evlbstrd]

1. Cable is not required.

The converter allows over-the-air digital signals to be decoded for non-digital sets.

[Locrian]

2. not quite

You do NOT have to get cable. There will still be signals you can get with your antenna, but they will be digital. So you need a $20 box to convert to what your TV needs (analog) or a "new" TV. Yes, its a cost thing, but you are not being forced to get cable.

[barbtries]

7. okay i'm curious about this

i bought a tv in time for the last super bowl. will i still get broadcast channels after the change? when i do the autosearch the tv looks for analog and then for digital. will i still need a box?

[rwork]

9. I do this for a living

If your new TV scans for digital channels, then it is a digital TV.
Your channels will double in Feb 09. In fact they are on the air now.
I have been watching them for 2 years. If you live close to the broadcast station, all you will need is rabbit ears type of antenna.If you are miles away you will need rooftop antenna.
I am 100 miles from transmitting station and it works great.

For an example of new channels, NBC has 1 channel regular local and national programming. They also have a 24 hr weather channel.Their numbers appear as 002-1 and 002-2.

[barbtries]

10. thanks for the info.

we're probably 20 to 40 miles away, i guess. the signals are spotty as hell. but i'm very close to having kicked the habit altogether so it really doesn't bother me much. one year ago we had the cable on 24/7 i kid you not.

[AndyTiedye]

15. I Live A Lot Closer Than That, but The Terrain Absorbs Nearly All of the UHF

All the digital transmissions are on UHF frequencies that don't make it here.
UHF really needs an unobstructed line-of-sight to get through.
Analog is mostly on VHF, which has more range.

None of the signals are strong enough to lock in a digital signal, despite what Antennaweb says.
With a large roof antenna, and an amplifier.

Oh well, there's nothing on anyway.

[Pab Sungenis]

17. No, you won't.

If it looks for digital signals, no box is required. You're already set up for the transition.

Most TV's sold after 2006 already have digital tuners built in, and all new sets sold today do (unless they carry a sticker stating they don't).

[ramapo]

3. Just buy a box then

The certificate is to get a box for cheap to continue receive over the air TV. You could just go buy a box for full price if the idea of the government sending you a certificate bothers you.

The FCC controls the entire broadcast spectrum. None of it is publicly owned. The FCC should allocate spectrum for the public good but much has been auctioned off to the highest bidder. This will be the fate of much of the spectrum freed up by the move from analog to digital broadcasting.

You do not have to get cable.

[barbtries]

4. i don't know

but i do know we can say no. i get all my info from the web now and have no cable and no plans to get cable.

[onenote]

5. your facts are quite confused.

YOu are not being forced to hook to cable. Broadcast transmissions are changing from analog to digital. Chances are, unless you've bought a new tv in the last year or so, your tv doesn't have a digital tuner. So you have the following choices: buy a new tv with a digital tuner. Buy a digital to analog converter and connect it to your television (these converters cost around $60 and you can get a $40 off coupon from the government if you want), or get television from cable or satellite.

And, no, this doesn't provide a way to wiretap us.

Facts -- the tinfoil antidote.

[Clark2008]

6. Well, you could just purchase a TV with the ability to do this

without having to have a cable service.

However, I agree that it's totalitarianism. A good number of people are going to have to be put out to go purchase a new TV (regardless of the condition of their old one - and even with any subsidies) just to watch the news? How ridiculous.

[EnviroBat]

8. Alright then. My understanding was that you would need to hook up to cable.

I guess the box will still receive the signals via antenna, but then decode the digital part.

[MadrasT]

11. Digital over the air TV

I do not have cable or satellite. I get my TV over the air. I refuse to pay for the vast cornucopia of crap that is bundled with cable and satellite "packages". (Though there are a few outstanding TV series that we enjoy, and we buy them on DVD at the end of the season.) I get my news over the intertubes.

Last week my $40 coupons arrived from Uncle Sam, so I went out and got a digital converter box at Circuit City.

Prior to installing the digital converter box, I could get about 6 analog channels over the air via set top rabbit ear antennae. They were all somewhat fuzzy.

After installing the digital converter, with the same set top rabbit ear antennae, I get more channels, and the reception is crystal clear.

I did lose a few channels (most annoyingly, our local PBS channel) that either haven't yet started transmitting digital signals over the air, or are currently broadcasting very low power over the air digital signals. It's my understanding that after the Feb '09 conversion I will probably get those few "missing" channels back.

The converter boxes are great. I feel like I finally screwed Comcast. :bounce: :woohoo:

[NashVegas]

13. That Part's Great. What's No Great Is The Auctioning off the Analog Frequencies

Which have always been publicly owned and regulated because any idiot with the right low-tech equipment can operate a transmitter for a very low cost. See, that's always been the deal to broadcasters: you accept regulation because if you don't, anyone can get on your frequency and no one is going to prevent it.

Only these new users of the public airwaves that ANYONE can slice into aren't licensed renters - they will own it.


Inside the 700 MHz spectrum land grab
Drew Clark, Friday, April 6, 2007 at 3:30 PM PT Comments (11)

Like a fresh spring breeze, new radio-frequency spectrum is in the air. It is so close that you can almost smell it – and seek to keep others away from it.

The next big spectrum land grab is over 700 Megahertz (MHz.) It’s the promised land of “beachfront property” that broadcasters are set to vacate on February 19, 2009, when the transition to digital television is supposed to be complete. Lots of folks are jockeying now to lock up these airwaves.

Besting the television broadcasters was the battle back in 2005. The high-tech industry teamed up with wireless carriers, and with the public safety officials, to push for DTV legislation forcing broadcasters out of the 700 MHz band.

The gizmo-makers have sought the frequencies for more than a decade. Same with spectrum-poor wireless carriers like T-Mobile. They joined up with Cisco, Dell, Intel and Microsoft to form the High-Tech DTV Coalition in 2005.

They struck a pact with public safety officials, who were also motivated against the broadcasters. Congress had promised public safety 24 of the 108 megahertz once the DTV transition was complete.

With the February 2006 passage of the DTV legislation, 60 of those 108 megahertz will be opened at auction by January 2008. Police and firefighters will get their due. The additional 24 megahertz within the band is already owned by Access Spectrum, Aloha Partners, Pegasus Communications and Qualcomm.

more ...

http://gigaom.com/2007/04/06/inside-the-700-mhz-spectrum-land-grab/


PS - don't forget - the government doesn't need to physically tap into a wireless phone line to monitor your conversation. more 4th Amendment erosion.

[ben_meyers]

12. I'll bet it's the same government conspiracy that forced me

to change from 8-track to cassette tape or from cassette to Cd's. They killed Sony betamax too you know. There ought to be a law against changing technology forcing people to keep up.

[NNN0LHI]

14. I still got my high-buckled shoes in the closet just in case

[TrogL]

16. I can't buy reel-to-reel tape anywhere

What's up with that? :shrug:

[spin]

18. Just go to Amazon.com ...

http://www.amazon.com/s/103-0308775-3935031?ie=UTF8&tag=mozilla-20&index=blended&link%5Fcode=qs&field-keywords=reel%20to%20reel%20tape&sourceid=Mozilla-search

Amazing how our world has changed since the advent of the personal computer. It took me only 15 seconds to find reel-to-reel tape. (Did it merely to find out if it was still available).

[ben_meyers]

19. And just try to get toner for your Mimeograph Machine

Hell, we ran an entire protest movement with those things, still love that smell.

[NNN0LHI]

20. Oh that smell. I loved it while growing up

Reminded me of fresh baked bread.

I can smell it right now.

Don

[applegrove]

21. I just bought bunny ears yesterday. Got the cheap ones as I know they will

not be working in 6 months. I have one question though... how do you get one of those decoder boxes and how much do they cost. I may have to have one if I don't get cable. I see ads on TV but figure those are not the cheapest as it is some corporation selling them. Will we be able to get decoder boxes at futureshop where there will be various price points?

[Tesha]

22. Pretty much any store selling TVs can sell you "the Digital TV converter box".

If you just walk in off the streets, it'll cost you
$50 to $70 bucks. But if you go to Uncle Sam's web
site, you can sign up for one or two coupons (actually,
"Electronic Benefits Transfer" cards) worth $40 each
so the boxes will only cost you $10 to $20 bucks cash
out of your pocket.

We bought two boxes and gave one away with a 25" CRT
TV that we donated to charity. The other is now providing
us with very clear digital TV on our slightly-newer 32"
CRT TV.

We bought to different models (from two different
manufacturers) but it hardly matters; they're all
pretty much the same. We kept the one that had "local"
pushbuttons so it can be operated without its remote
control.

Tesha

[applegrove]

24. Thanks.

[NightWatcher]

23. my big beef with the "switch" portable tv's useless in emergencies

unless the "boxes" will also be battery powered. Plus might some smaller stations not be able to broadcast during an emergency (hurricane, storm, etc)?