I Can Haz Digital TV?

I’ve been waiting five months for today! Tentative outcome: better than I expected.

As most of my friends know, I’ve pretty much given up television. Some years back, I cancelled my cable TV for good out of disgust at the constantly increasing prices, the virtual monopoly they held, and the way they packaged their services. I won’t use cable TV, or any simulacrum like satellite TV. (I won’t have a regular cell phone account for similar reasons, but that’s another story.) When I cancelled my cable, I upgraded my Internet service to broadband. I still occasionally watched a broadcast TV program, usually on PBS. I liked the Law & Order shows, too. Sometimes I’d do my workouts to them. And I sometimes watched the Patriots games.

Analog reception at my house was never that great. I got used to watching most things through snow. My house is surrounded by taller buildings and tons of tall trees and is in a somewhat low spot. I bought one of those “amplified” indoor antennas a couple of years ago, but it didn’t seem to make a lot of difference.

So, when all the information started to come out about the switchover to all-digital broadcast, I read about the pros and cons with some pessimism. From what I was reading, it didn’t sound like I’d get much digital reception at my house, and I resigned myself to fate. The digital switch, I figured, would probably be the final death knell for what remained of my TV viewing.

But there was no way to be sure until it happened. Last summer, I sent away for the government coupons, bought two converter boxes, and put them on a shelf. I got a new DVD/VCR combo unit for Christmas, and in January, when I set it up, I got out one of the converter boxes and set it up, too. It wasn’t hard to set it up. But as far as I could tell, I could only pick up two digital channels. I wasn’t sure how to evaluate this because I wasn’t sure what stations were already broadcasting in digital, and if they were, if it was at full power. I decided I’d have to wait until the changeover on February 22 and see what came in.

Then, of course, the changeover was postponed. As a result, I’ve been in complete limbo. Every time I looked for information about the digital switch, I’d just find the same “Digital TV for Dummies” basic stuff about how to hook up your converter box. The technical information I was looking for about signal strength and what stations were already broadcasting and what kind of antenna might be most useful wasn’t easy to find, and I didn’t care enough to spend huge amounts of time hunting for it. I hadn’t even tried watching broadcast TV since last January.

So, on June 12th I was waiting eagerly for two things: my chance to claim Vyrdolak as a username on Facebook, and the final switch to digital broadcasting so at last I could determine what, if any, TV I would have.

This afternoon I checked all the cables and connections on my ridiculous home-brewed “entertainment center,” turned on the converter box, and ran a channel scan. I ended up with ONE channel.

In Spanish.

What had me rolling on the floor was the fact that, just as I got the station set, a movie was beginning. It was The Last Starfighter–that is, El Ultimo Guerrero Espacial. I love that movie, and it’s a trip dubbed in Spanish. But, um…I was kinda hoping I could do a little better than just one channel. So I moved the antenna up onto the mantel, and then I could pick up three channels, including the one from Manchester, NH that I’d really expected to be able to get.

At this point, I decided to try something I’d made a feint at a couple of years ago and didn’t manage to do. I decided to try putting the antenna up in the attic and running the cable down through the ceiling to the converter box. The last time I thought of this, the TV was in a different location, and I didn’t have such strong incentive to bother. This time, it was much easier to do. I drilled a hole through the ceiling, threaded the cable through it and hooked everything up. I ran a scan and was able to pick up about 11 channels. According to the signal map at DTV.gov, I should have 18 channels with strong or moderate signals, and I’m sure other parts of Pepperell do. But I can keep working on it.

So, I actually do have digital TV! And my, but it is nice…when it’s there at all, that is. *wry smile* Sharp clear picture, gorgeous stereo sound, and then a flock of birds goes over or something and it all breaks up into squares like a scratched DVD. But as I said, I’ll keep working on it. It’s a lot better than I expected. I might even be able to watch the Patriots games. Until everything is simulcast as streaming video on the ‘Net, it’s something. I may buy a somewhat better and more powerful amplified antenna, too. The return on my investment is a lot more obvious with digital than it was with the old analog signals.

The local cable company, Charter Communications, has filed for bankruptcy, by the way.