Being the geeky types that we are, you would probably think that we were all set for the digital TV conversion coming up in February.
You would be wrong.
First a little background. We don’t actually have a television set at all. We use our computer, a projector and a TV tuner that plugs into the USB port of our computer. We don’t have satellite TV, and most parks we stay at don’t have cable, so we are using the rooftop ‘batwing’ antenna to get broadcast Television signal. Here’s what it looks like in the cab over area of our class C motorhome. Whadaya think? Pretty cool huh? Home theatre complete with surround sound.
Since it’s being projected from the computer, you’d think that means it’s ‘Digital’ wouldn’t you? It’s my husband, Jim, who handles all our audio-visual needs. He told me, “No, we’re not ready for the digital conversion.” Huh? Well, come to find out the key is to be found in the source of the television signal. If you’re getting your TV channels from satellite, or from cable, then you’re not affected. BUT, if you’re getting TV from an antenna, then you need to look to the next device in line. The antenna, if it’s both VHF and UHF, can pick up the new digital signal, but your TV (or, in our case, the television tuner) may not be able to display it. If the TV/tuner is analog, as ours was, then you’re in trouble.
In case I had any doubt, our local TV news channel made it unavoidably clear. They are doing tests where they broadcast solely in digital mode for 5 minutes or so. During those 5 minutes, this is what we saw:
Ok, I believe him now. So, Jim went and bought himself a birthday present … a digital TV tuner. His choice was a Toshiba D-R560 DVD recorder with built in digital TV Tuner. So now, we still get our TV signal from the rooftop antenna and we’re still projecting onto a screen, but he eliminated the computer and the USB TV tuner from the equation. The antenna now provides signal to Toshiba D-R560, and the projector takes it from there.
OMG … the picture is SO much better! It’s like night and day. We used to watch some stations with very snowy screens. I figured it was OK, it meant we didn’t watch that much TV. We expected some improvement, but what we got was amazing! Crystal clear picture on *every* channel! And we get some more channels too! Taking a photo of the projected TV doesn’t do it justice, but maybe this gives you the idea.
If you’re using antenna and television, and it’s an old television, you may need a converter box. Or, you can just get a new TV. Or, you can try our projector method! If you have questions about your setup, the place with all the answers is www.dtv.gov. The deadline is February 17.
Happy Birthday Jim!
Chris Guld
www.GeeksOnTour.com
Computer Education for Travelers