Vintage Knits Update

June 21, 2009

Digital TV Rant

Filed under: Vintage Meanderings — sadie @ 10:05 am

OK. This is not a post about yarn or knitting. I was one of the many people who waited until the last minute and did nothing about converting to digital TV. Last Friday at 9:00 a.m., my TV screen went black. So, I thought it was about time to go buy a new TV, and a new antenna. Off to Costco I went, and purchased a TV. Then, I went to Target to buy an antenna. Well, I let the TV sit in the box for a few days before deciding to put it together. Apparently lack of television was not all that bad.

I got everything set up, and scanned for channels, only to find out that I could only get three channels, and they were public broadcast channels. No network local channels could be received, no matter how much I manipulated the antenna. So, I thought I needed a better antenna. Back to target I went, and to my surprise, the lady behind me was returning the more expensive antenna. That one did not work for her. I thought the more expensive antenna might work for me, so I bought it. I get home, and still cannot receive any network channels. Now, off to Radio Shack; the very nice gentleman working there asks me where I live. I tell him my suburb, and he says “there is no antenna that I can sell you that will get you digital channels.”

Apparently, this digital system has a lot of flaws. It is much like cell phone service, if you live in certain areas or around trees, you cannot get service.

I then call the FCC. They put my address in the computer, and confirm that there is very weak (or no) service in my area. The FCC says “call your local TV station and see if they are working on the problem.” When I called the local TV station, they tell me to call the FCC. This is really crazy! At least with analog, I got the channels; not always clearly, but I could watch TV. It looks as if they are forcing people to have to sign up for cable or satellite service. Do I see a conspiracy here?

Why did I feel the need to write this rant? Because every day, I stop working for ½ an hour, and go and watch the Bold and the Beautiful. I guess I must be going through withdrawal from that soap. It is the one thing that I miss from not having TV service!

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