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Old 08-15-2008, 04:29 PM
 
Location: Northern Maine
10,428 posts, read 18,679,925 times
Reputation: 11563

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The areas to be served by digital are available by zip code. About 75% of Penobscot County will have no broadcast TV next year.

Advertisers, Are you listening?
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Old 08-15-2008, 04:45 PM
 
Location: Maine
67 posts, read 435,970 times
Reputation: 58
Quote:
Originally Posted by Northern Maine Land Man View Post
The areas to be served by digital are available by zip code. About 75% of Penobscot County will have no broadcast TV next year.
Northern Maine Land Man... Is there someplace where can I find that info about the areas to be served (by zip code)? I've been to the tvfool web site, and put in my coordinates, and although it looks a little sketchy way out here in the fringes (past Dover Foxcroft) it does seem to suggest that I might. But from what I've been hearing (I ask around alot), it seems that many folks - even close to Bangor can't pull in a digital signal. But that many folks in Penobscot County won't receive a signal? What can we all do? Should we start writing letters to the Bangor TV stations and complain? Will it do any good?

I drive by many homes were I see a television antenna on the roof and I'm so tempted to just stop and ask "hey, do you receive a digital signal?"
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Old 08-15-2008, 05:09 PM
 
Location: Northern Maine
10,428 posts, read 18,679,925 times
Reputation: 11563
"Should we start writing letters to the Bangor TV stations and complain? Will it do any good?"

No. The FCC decided to eliminate TV in rural America to open up broadband channels for digital data. Your local broadcasters were forced to buy expensive new equipment and they will lose many viewers and advertisers. It's a lose/lose for rural America.
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Old 08-15-2008, 05:45 PM
 
Location: on a dirt road in Waitsfield,Vermont
2,186 posts, read 6,824,081 times
Reputation: 1148
In a few months there will be no over-the-air analog tv anywhere in the country. If your tv isn't digital you will have to buy a digital converter if over the air is available. Sounds like many stations will stop offering it.

I believe the action is mandated by congress and the final date is in February.
The Digital TV Transition: What You Need to Know About DTV
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Old 08-15-2008, 06:01 PM
 
Location: Big skies....woohoo
12,420 posts, read 3,231,602 times
Reputation: 2203
WABI and WLBZ (channels 5 and 2) come in crystal clear in Knox county. However, one or the other is always off the air in Pembroke. It's like another planet (and we have cable)
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Old 08-15-2008, 06:01 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,461 posts, read 61,379,739 times
Reputation: 30409
Quote:
Originally Posted by MRVphotog View Post
In a few months there will be no over-the-air analog tv anywhere in the country. If your tv isn't digital you will have to buy a digital converter if over the air is available. Sounds like many stations will stop offering it. ...
Yes, the real problem is that the majority of USA will be without TV coverage.

A tiny portion of USA is urban. The over-whelming majority of USA is rural.

By reducing the broadcast power, the broadcast radius of the transmitters will shrink, leaving most of the nation without signal.

Buying a digital converter does nothing.

No signal, means you have nothing to convert.
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Old 08-15-2008, 06:29 PM
 
Location: Northern Maine
10,428 posts, read 18,679,925 times
Reputation: 11563
Here's a more realistic link for rural Maine:

The Digital TV Transition Time Bomb.

"The instructions for hooking it up were straight forward. The average consumer should have no problems with connecting the cable to the box. Once connected, the on-screen menu was easy to navigate and I even felt some excitement watching the screen as it was auto searching all the channels starting at Channel 2 and ending at Channel 69. And then, it said "0 channels found. Check your signal"."

AntennaWeb (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Stations.aspx - broken link)

When I checked the link here is what I found:

"Show All Stations

There are no stations predicted to serve this location."

Some of you may have heard this term before; "RURAL CLEANSING".
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Old 08-15-2008, 06:42 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,461 posts, read 61,379,739 times
Reputation: 30409
NMLM- thanks I tried that website.

They are saying that I will still be able to get channel 5 after the shift to digital. Which I find interesting since I can not get their signal now while they are still transmitting at full strength.
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Old 08-16-2008, 05:20 AM
 
Location: Northern Maine
10,428 posts, read 18,679,925 times
Reputation: 11563
Maybe the high point in Argyle will get it. You will still be able to get WVOM though. ;-)
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Old 08-16-2008, 01:17 PM
 
Location: Florida/winter & Maine/Summer
1,180 posts, read 2,490,411 times
Reputation: 1170
The only way anybody more that 25 miles from a station is going to get a full time digital signal is via a HDTV satellite dish. Like I said before, I only live 17 miles, across flatland and water from two digital stations and I get nothing on amplified rabbit ears. The other stations come and go. I checked the HDTV antenna guide and I need an antenna rated for 50 miles out to get a decent signal. It is just the end of free tv. I remember in the 50's when the movie theaters fought cable, and cable delivered movies. The technology was available for years but the lobby kept cable out. Now the government is forcing us to pay for an hd dish for reception. Plus, the reviews on those $40 converter boxes haven't been so hot either. There are only a couple of them that are rated by consumers digest at good, the rest were rated poor. Rural cleansing isn't just limited to Maine tv...
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