Digital TV Sucks

[AnaKhouri]

Over the summer, every television station in the U.S. switched from an analog to a digital signal. This meant that people with older television sets and/or without cable or satellite (both apply to us) needed to buy this box you hook to the set, or else you wouldn't be able to get any channels. We don't watch much TV (Dollhouse on Fridays, The Big Bang Theory on Mondays, Law & Order if I feel like vegging out) but we decided to submit and get the damn box.

Digital TV has been nothing but a pain in the ass for us. For the first week after the switchover, every channel showed a blue box proclaiming "No Signal!". NBC wasn't even on our list of channels; we no longer get it at all (farewell Law & Order). We got 'extra' channels: 3 or 4 variations on PBS, which would be nice (I like "Mystery!") if any of them ever came in, but none of them have worked since the switchover. On the stations we do get, there are constant sound problems, the picture freezes or is full of artifacts, or we get the "No Signal!" box.

Since Saturday every single station has come up "No Signal!". I have rescanned numerous times. Nothing helps.

I really wouldn't mind that much except that I am staying at home with the baby and am breastfeeding, which requires both hands, so I can't read while Khan is eating, which is pretty much all the time. We refuse to spend money on cable, which we would never use. So I've been listening to NPR. A LOT of NPR. But right now is their pledge drive so it's annoying to listen to at the moment.

I'm sad Husband will miss The Big Bang Theory tonight; he loves it because he says he knows lots of scientists who act like Sheldon. And I'll be pissed if I miss Dollhouse. Cable companies probably made a deal with the government to give them kickbacks after everyone gets cable because they fucked up their network stations.

[ArcticChicken]

And I'll be pissed if I miss Dollhouse.

I always just stream it from Fox's website the next day.

[SG15Z]

Yeah everyone I know that has DTV is having problems as well. It just doesn't work right. If you have to you can always watch your shows online. I personally have Satellite but only because my family watches stuff. The only things I watch are either on the Networks or Syfy (SGU this Friday!!).

[ditchdj]

From what I can gather the main problem is that with digitial TV you either get a picture or you dont. If you're using an indoor antenna you're gonna have more problems because the signal inside tends to degrade from bouncing off the walls of your house before your antenna finally gets it. I've found that things are much better when the antenna is outside. It's best to have it mounted on the roof with a view above the trees so that the space between your antenna and the TV station's transmitter has an unobstructed view.

If you're in an apartment put the antenna in your window sill or mount it on the apartment wall outside your window if you can get away with it.

Done this way it's possible to pick up full-power TV stations from as far as 40 miles away without much hassle.

[Sandman]

Ditto what ditchdj said.. but get it up as high as you can!

Also.. weather conditions will wreak havoc with your signal... it will also make you get stations in from over 200 miles away!

[AnaKhouri]

Well, as of this evening we got the picture back, but there is no sound. It is not the TV, as Husband is currently watching a DVD and the sound is fine.

Thanks for the suggestions, but none of them are really workable. We live in an apartment. There is no window in the living room, just a sliding-glass door that leads to the balcony. The people are pretty strict so we couldn't get away with planting an antenna on the building.

I may have to get a more comfortable computer chair so I can take ArcticChicken's suggestion and watch Dollhouse online.

[ditchdj]

Thanks for the suggestions, but none of them are really workable. We live in an apartment. There is no window in the living room, just a sliding-glass door that leads to the balcony.

You can put the antenna up on something in front of the sliding-glass door and that will improve the signal. If there's not enough cable from the antenna to reach your TV you can buy an extra cable and connector and run it like that. If your apartment's above the first floor then it will really improve signal reception.

[Aethian]

hulu.com should be your new best friend.

[AriGriffin]

I have that digital antenna crap too. I hate it.
Since the switch, we no longer get Fox, NBC, CW, or that other one that I forget the name of... eh. They shortened the broadcast range by about thirty miles and we were on the outskirts of their analog format. I usually get CBS, PBS, and ION. Sometimes I'll get a station in Spanish and ABC. I missed the first few minutes of Castle trying to get the darn antenna and converter box to pick it up.
I set it up correctly and pointed it the way a website for antennas told me to. I had to put in my address and answer a few questions about the area and antenna and it told me the direction to point the antenna.

[Food Lady]

All I know is that I had to get an antenna that was a bit more expensive than the one I had. Very few problems. (I have a 2nd-floor apt with a balcony & sliding glass door.) Before the switchover I lived in an apt that had an antenna on the roof and hookups for it in every unit. We got better reception than people without that setup.

[Demolition Man]

Go to AntennaWeb.org. That site will help you figure out which direction you need to point your antenna at and what not. Its been very helpful whenever I have needed to help folks out with getting their DTV signals.