Finally some real instructions from Channel 2

Almost ten days after the "digital transition," Channel 2-0 (analog) is still broadcasting an instructional video on DTV with Michael DiSeria, and reception of Channel 2-1 remains bad. In fact, Carter of ABC Warehouse told me today that "Channel 2 is tricky in most spots." He showed me an RCA outdoor antenna that was plugged in to a showroom TV and let me turn it on. That TV could pull in 2-0 pretty good, but 2-1 not at all.

Also today, Channel 2 has added a scrolling message on its analog channel suggesting one delete all channels, rescan, (old advice so far) and then extend the VHF rabbit ears 16 to 18 inches and put them parallel to the floor, pointing towards Southfield. Finally! Some real instructions. With that new advice, I was able to pull in 2-1 in the living room and watch Simpsons, King of the Hill and Family Guy. Didn't feel like sticking around for American Dad! though.

Don't throw out that old antenna just yet

Some people think that to get the digital channels they have to get entirely new antennas. On the other hand, some Best Buy employees are telling customers that their old antennas should work just fine with new TVs they buy there. I guess they aren't working for commission.

It would be better to tell people: "You might not need a new antenna." If an antenna doesn't work with one TV, try it on the other TV in the house (odds are good there's more than one TV in your house). A flat antenna is useless in my room. It works wonderfully in the living room.

And if the old antennas don't work anywhere in your house, don't rush out to buy a $100 outdoor antenna. A different kind of indoor antenna might work without setting you back hundreds of dollars. I read somewhere that some outdoor antennas need a motor to rotate them when you change the channel. The motor will cost something extra, I'm sure. Wouldn't you feel silly installing a motor and then finding out than an indoor antenna that you can more around with your hand works better?

Digital TV reception can vary widely in one house

First off, let me reiterate that antennaweb.org is a completely useless website. You're much better off heeding the advice in DTV Made Easy, a free pamphlet from ConsumersUnion that is available at the Detroit Public Library and presumably other public libraries around the nation. The pamphlet advises one to try small indoor antennas and consult with neighbors before shelling out $100 or more for an outdoor antenna.

To that advice I would add that digital TV reception can vary greatly from one room to the next in one house. In the living room, a Craig converter box is attached to an old analog Philips Magnavox TV. A couple of months ago I attached an RCA flat antenna that kind of looks like a bat. It pulled in every digital channel there is and needed only a small adjustment to get Channel 50-1. Now it needs greater adjustments for Channels 4-1 and 7-1, but it still gets all the channels. That "bat" antenna is perfectly useless in my room, where I have a Dynex digital TV. With a broken Philips SCP020 antenna attached to that Dynex set, I get all the digital channels except 7-1, 7-2, 7-3 and 50-1. Sometimes I can get 7's channels. But I have never been able to get Channel 50-1 in my room.

Is it because the Internet router is in there? Or is it because I still haven't gotten rid of the old analog set I used to watch in my room? antennaweb.org says nothing on the matter, just brushing it off as "various factors" that can affect the reception of an indoor antenna and urging me to buy expensive outdoor antennas with color codes no antenna manufacturer uses.

Channel 4-1 in the rain

This morning I was watching Ellen at 10 AM on Channel 4's digital channel. Andrew Humphries had just said there would be on and off showers throughout the day. Some time after Ellen's monologue, it started raining, and I was actually impressed that Channel 4's reception didn't deteriorate, even though at times the rain sounded quite heavy. But later on, with no significant change in the rain, Channel 4's reception became awful. They're supposed to stop analog transmission at 6:15 AM tomorrow, not that I can get the analog channel to come in today anyway. Hopefully they will also strengthen digital transmission, so that no amount of rain can challenge reception. After all, a severe weather warning on TV is pretty useless if you can't even get the message.

When will Channel 4 reduce its analog signal

Channel 4 (WDIV) has been announcing since last week that "on or around May 15" they will reduce their analog signal, and, one would hope, boost their digital signal. When is this going to happen? It's almost May 20, and the analog signal seems to remain at the same strength. The digital signal, on the other hand, has been extremely droppy of late. After much wrangling, I found a position that works for the digital TV set in my room. For the analog TV set (with converter box) in the living room around noon today, I couldn't find any position that worked for the digital channel, so we fell back to analog. This is all the more annoying because Channel 4 digital reception had been very good for a long time.

Kudos to Channel 20

Tonight at midnight, Detroit's Channel 20 is turning off its analog transmitter, according to its website and scrolling announcements in both the analog and digital channels. Today was the original deadline, before Congress decided to delay it to June 12 for the sake of a few stragglers. Channel 20 is sticking to the original deadline, so congratulations.

Today I actually tuned in to Channel 20's analog channel for the first time in months. Channel 20's digital transmission has been so good (sometimes reaching the 80s in the signal strength meter) that I have never had to fall back on the analog channel as I've often had to do with other channels (yes, I'm talking about Channel 7). My tuning in to 20-0 was purely out of curiosity, to see something for the last time. My Dynex TV has a signal meter, and it presumably goes from 0 to 100. But I've never seen it at 100. I'll be watching 20-0 at midnight tonight, to see it switch to static. And then I'll switch to 20-1, and hopefully see the DTV signal meter reach the 90s for the first time ever.

The crucible of Channel 7 digital reception

Writing good things about Channel 7's digital reception is likely to jinx it for me. Soon after my post of January 27, Channel 7 digital reception became unstable, at least on my digital television. I have now broken the antenna for that TV in four new places and Channel 7 still doesn't come in. Channel 4 comes in reliably, and Channel 20, unsurprisingly, comes in nice and strong. If only Channel 20 had a quality newscast.

In the analog television in the living room which now has a Craig-brand converter box, Channel 7 came in good until yesterday, when all of a sudden it kept dropping frames on Ugly Betty. After the second commercial break I gave up, turned off the converter box and watched the rest of the episode on analog. It seems viewers aren't the only ones unprepared for the digital transition. Some TV stations still have a hell of a lot of work to do.