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Old 07-15-2008, 06:54 PM
 
Location: Corinth, ME
2,712 posts, read 5,652,361 times
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Just wondering if Canadian TV is going all-digital as well? We end up watching mostly Canadian stations these days, when we aren't watching PBS programs.
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Old 07-15-2008, 08:01 PM
 
8,767 posts, read 18,661,299 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by starwalker View Post
Just wondering if Canadian TV is going all-digital as well? We end up watching mostly Canadian stations these days, when we aren't watching PBS programs.
Real Americans don't watch Canadian TV....shame on you!
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Old 07-15-2008, 08:55 PM
 
4,282 posts, read 15,745,110 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maineah View Post
Real Americans don't watch Canadian TV....shame on you!

Exactly what I tell my Oregon-born wife when I want control of the remote.

The censor won't allow me to repeat what she then tells me.
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Old 07-16-2008, 12:19 AM
 
Location: 43.55N 69.58W
3,231 posts, read 7,461,765 times
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This whole digital tv thing makes me wonder what I should do with this little b&w battery operated TV I bought for hurricane season down here. I guess it will be be obsolete by Feb. Darn it, I paid a whole $20 for it at my local CVS 2 yrs ago.
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Old 07-16-2008, 07:23 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,443 posts, read 61,352,754 times
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So far it seems that by going 'digital' the industry is forcing rural folks to get satelite dishes.
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Old 07-16-2008, 07:43 AM
 
Location: Florida/winter & Maine/Summer
1,180 posts, read 2,489,740 times
Reputation: 1170
I live 17 miles from two stations digital transmitters, and I get no signal. Some of that 17 miles is over water, so I should be getting an excellent picture, but I get nothing. I called the engineering department of the stations and they are running only 13 kilowatts of power and 17kw respectively. So, I am out of luck and I live in town. Fringe reception was never intended. The actual reason for HD (other than a good picture) is so that the government can auction off all the frequency space. It has brought in billions so far. There will be no TV station above channel 52 when they get through digitizing TV. All the frequency allocations will be for cellular like devices that won't even be available in most of Maine except the south coast. Its goodbye for anyone further than about 35 miles out.....

Forest: You bet, free TV will be a thing of the past, dishes will be everywhere. Remember, they changed the federal law in towns years ago. Many towns forbade dishes that were visible from the street, about 10 years ago the feds threw out all the local regulations that prohibited dishes everywhere. That was a harbinger of things to come.

Last edited by maine4.us; 07-16-2008 at 08:23 AM..
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Old 07-16-2008, 01:36 PM
 
Location: Log "cabin" west of Bangor
7,058 posts, read 9,074,602 times
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Coot #3...I don't even have an antenna on my TV, and it stays unplugged most of the time. When I plug it in I get 5 good, 7 kinda and 12 just enough to annoy me.

Notes on digital TV- you can still use rabbit ears, and a built in amplifier will help. An external, directional antenna is better.

If you are still having trouble with reception, even with an external antenna, use Quad-shield 75 ohm coax cable from the antenna to the box. The standard coax just isn't good enough. You should see a significant improvement by changing the coax.

You can still use the old battery TV, but you will also need a battery to power the converter box- use one of the battery back-up units intended for computers.

Notes on dish type TV- The signal is transmitted in the microwave frequency band, atmospheric moisture (rain, snow, clods, fog) are a significant impediment to the signal. Just like that cup of water in your microwave oven, atmospheric moisture will absorb the microwave energy that you want going to your TV.

Precise dish alignment is imperative for best reception, and you want that dish to be as stable as you can get it- if the wind can move it even a fraction of an inch, over the long distance to the transmission point this results in a significant deviation from optimum.
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Old 07-16-2008, 02:42 PM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,443 posts, read 61,352,754 times
Reputation: 30387
Quote:
Originally Posted by maine4.us View Post
I ...
Forest: You bet, free TV will be a thing of the past, dishes will be everywhere. Remember, they changed the federal law in towns years ago. Many towns forbade dishes that were visible from the street, about 10 years ago the feds threw out all the local regulations that prohibited dishes everywhere. That was a harbinger of things to come.
Actually no I did not know that.

10 years ago, I was living in Italy. Right before we began fighting in Kosovo, had a nice family vacation in Greece.

So I missed these changes stateside.

Your saying that Fed law addresses visible dishes, or just local ordinances do?
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Old 07-16-2008, 06:17 PM
 
Location: Durham NC-for now
307 posts, read 1,588,842 times
Reputation: 253
Default learned French

Quote:
Originally Posted by starwalker View Post
Just wondering if Canadian TV is going all-digital as well? We end up watching mostly Canadian stations these days, when we aren't watching PBS programs.

When my aunt was growing up in Eastport in the 1950s she learned French from watching Canadian TV!

Here in NC when we checking into sattelite they told us we'd have cut down a ton of trees. We said we didn't buy a house in the woods to cut them all down.
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Old 07-16-2008, 07:20 PM
 
8,767 posts, read 18,661,299 times
Reputation: 3525
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fort Lauderdale mermaid View Post
This whole digital tv thing makes me wonder what I should do with this little b&w battery operated TV I bought for hurricane season down here. I guess it will be be obsolete by Feb. Darn it, I paid a whole $20 for it at my local CVS 2 yrs ago.
Well you can get a $40.00 converter box to hook it up to!
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