digital TV tuner

[esantoro]

I used one of those $40 coupon cards to get a digital TV tuner for my analog TV, as there is no way I'm going to spend money on a digital TV until the prices are dirt cheap.

I got the digital tv tuner with analog pass through from Radio Shack. The brand is Digital Stream.

I researched the brand and model quite a bit and thought I'd pass on the experience. Great digital tuner for $20, when you use the $40 discount card that the government has been sending out. Without the coupon, the price is $60.

ed

[ArtS]

I bought mine a while back and boy was I surprised how clear the picture is. I also now get some extra channels!

Great deal for a one time cost of $20. Especially seeing how little TV I get to watch.

ArtS

[TwinOaks]

Yeah, and digital signals are easier to fiddle with, you know, sneaking in subliminal messages. I'm just wondering why the GOVERNMENT has made it a law that things have to be digital. What's wrong with analog?

Okay, now that I've said that, flame away.

[esantoro]

I also find it pretty suspect the the public service announcements telling of the Feb 2009 changeover is because digital is better.

It's for commercial reasons. The analog spectrum is full and can't take more stations broadcasting. But with digital there's much more access for corporate media to fill the airwaves with more crap.

I watch two channels 11 and 13 (PBS) via rabbit ears. Though, now that a few other channels are coming in clearly, I find myself wasting more time.

ed

[$$hobby]

ive bought a couple different brands.

The DS is a nice unit, but the TV Guide could be better. you can only see the guide on the channel your watching. I do like the fact that there is several hours of guide tho. The Insignia has a guide you can browse thru and see other channels, but it only shows the current show and the next hour.

another thing to, is that the sound thru the DS is better/louder w/o increasing the TVs sound.

one last annoying issues is the sound level with the different channels. some are fine and some are too soft. i would think that the stations would be able to put out a common signal for sound.

for you people that record via VCR/DVD, you will need a separate unit to use on the recorder, unless youre watching the show you want to record.

[JohnD]

From what I understand about the change over:

When TV was first developed, they ran tests to find the best frequencies. The analog TV signals used up huge amounts of bandwidth on these frequencies. Now, with so much wireless technology, I guess we're running out of room. Digital uses a much smaller bandwith, which will free up space.

I've heard rumors that the big cell phone companies had a bit to do with the change over. The space freed up on these optimum frequecies will allow them to provide a stronger signal to a wider area. Some of the conversations I've had lead me to believe That thi$$$ may have been the catalyst for the changeover.

So, Not only are they promising better TV reception, But You'll also have "more bars in more places".

As to the accuracy of this post, I may have made the whole thing up?

John

[gunfighter48]

The change over to digital was brought on because the US is running out of radio frequencies. Each nation is allocated so much frequency space by an international communication union and that's all your country gets by international law. As stated before the analog TV signals took up huge amounts of space in the US radio spectrum. The Europeans have had digital and HD TV for a long time. We were supposed to have switched some time ago, but the politicians got into the process and that slowed up our transitions by about 5 years. Digital TV packs a lot more signal in a much smaller space. For those that already can receive Digital broadcasts, the picture is much better in quality. While not HD TV it's a leap ahead of analog.

There is big $$s riding on the auctioning of the old TV frequencies. There are many different businesses bidding for the newly freed up radio spectrum. The last I read the government will auction off the frequencies to the highest bidders. I would like to be a fly on the wall at the corporate offices of the bidders, should be some fun!!!!!!