Today is the last day to sign up for the $40 coupon for granny boxes. I applied for my resurrected coupon and should receive it soon. I bought a channelmaster cm7000 recently. I knew about the on-screen print being too small, but I hoped that the reception would be equal to the Zeniths. In the tough areas, it wasn’t; it suffered from haunting (multipath). At the local library, they have an old TV and VCR and DVD player for showing programs. They never did get a Granny box, on the theory that people shouldn’t be able to watch live TV in the library anyway. Yes, good TV is rare. Here in Silicon Valley, Channel 32-4 has the live space station feed from NASA. But channel 32 is a flaky station.
Granny box coupons ending
July 31, 2009
DTV Converter Coupon supply to Slow?
December 25, 2008
The question is, how much longer will the $40 granny box coupons be available? Because there are so many variables, the best I can do is guess. The Feds will issue 34 million coupons. Of those, they have now mailed 40 million coupons. Yes, the coupons are coming back from the dead. Over half of the 34 million coupons died a quick death after only 90 days without being used. That makes available 17 million zombie coupons. But if half of the zombie coupons redie a quick death, that’s another 8 million zombie coupons, of which half can re-redie to create yet another batch of 4 million zombie coupons, etc. So, the zombie coupons could number 32 million. Optimistically, 34 million bleeding edge coupons plus 32 million zombie coupons equals 66 million granny box coupons to eventually be mailed. But eventually doesn’t keep the pipeline full if the zombies aren’t rising from the dead quickly enough. The number of coupon requests per day has recently doubled as The Transition looms closer. A majority of the bleeding edge coupons became zombies. Now with some Granny Boxes on store shelves without major bugs, only a minority of mailed coupons will continue to die at expiration to continue to rise again to become zombie coupons. I’m guessing there is presently only a 2 week supply in the pipeline, and the pipeline could run dry. To watch, see:
https://www.dtv2009.gov/Stats.aspx
I recommend the Zenith DTT901 as best for Granny, but consider getting a better remote and a better antenna.
On Wednesday, January 14 at 3:00 PM in the Sunnyvale Public Library (Silicon Valley), a representative from the FCC will talk about the February 17 Transition to Digital Television.
Update: January 10, 2009: Yes, the pipeline did run dry, so it is too late to try to get coupons before the Transition. See:
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2009/01/dtv-coupons-joi.html
DTV Misinformation Continues
September 1, 2008
In June 2005, with good weather, I decided to build an antenna for a digital television receiver. I had heard that DTV offered crystal clear, ghost-free reception. The TV transmitters here were in different directions, so I built a wide angle antenna (stacked cardioid) since I couldn’t buy one. The “art object” without planned camoflage looked like this:
To check the reception with the antenna, I used a splitter to feed both the digital receiver and an old TV that I used to measure the signal strength (AGC). I found the antenna was haunted (multipath). The picture on the old TV was good, but had a noticeable ghost. The digital receiver indicated receiving a strong signal, but the picture was the pit of blackness. The haunting had produced a different symptom on the DTV than the old TV. Ghost free reception for digital wasn’t really true. After I gained some experience with the quirks of DTV, I began collecting for a bibliography on DTV. If the Library did a program on DTV, the bibliography could help people (and librarians) find accurate information. As the years went by with no chance of a program, I finally gave up on the bibliography. Sadly, accurate information is still unavailable to the average viewer. KQED, the San Francisco PBS Station has on their web site the following:
Are You Ready for More Channels?
Clearer Picture?
Better Sound Quality?
No More Ghosting?
Here comes the Digital TV Transition.
On February 17, 2009, Television will be Changed Forever.
Are you Ready?
In spite of what they say about “no more ghosting?”, nowadays, there is some awareness of the DTV haunting problem. The 6th generation chip in the Zenith DTT901 resists haunting with a much better demodulator. With most granny boxes, haunting results in the usual black screen instead of pixel pus.
I winced when I read in the San Francisco Chronicle August 17, 2008 Page D6, the following: “Some history: Congress allocated more spectrum to broadcasters in 1996 so they could create digital broadcast channels.” Actually, TV viewers are losing over 200 Megahertz of prime radio spectrum. Before the big spectrum grab, there were TV channels 2 through 83. What now? Channels 2,3,4,5, and 6 are “unsuitable”. Channels 37, and 70 through 83 are gone. AT&T gets channels 54 and 59. Qual Comm gets channels 55 and 56. Verizon gets channels 60, 61, 65, and 66. Public Safety gets channels 63, 64, 68, and 69. Various Cell phone companies get channels 52, 53, 57, and 58. For Sale are channels 62 and 67. Regional Emergency Services share channels 14 through 20 with DTV stations. People must realize the $40 for each coupon came from somewhere.
A post script to the Library turning down my request to put a message about the $40 coupons on the Widescreen: they are now requesting Staff ideas for messages. For background, see:
https://thedonofpages.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/why-libraries-failed-with-granny-box-coupons/
***Edit September 14, 2008: The San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, Page C1, “FCC steps up … digital TV” repeats the error of “Congress allocated more spectrum”. I had sent an Email to them nearly 2 weeks ago telling them of their mistake. Even if they didn’t believe me, there are several TV Broadcast stations in San Francisco with studios and Chief Engineers. Then again, the PBS Broadcast station here is still running the announcement with the “This Old House” stars saying every household is entitled to a pair of $40 coupons. The FCC is mandating the Broadcasters air an increasing number of spots about the DTV Transition, but apparently there is no requirement that the spots be factually correct. Well no, I haven’t sent PBS an Email, and I suppose I should. Maybe they can get David Brancaccio to do the spot correctly instead of Norm Abram.***
***September 18, 2008
Another error source. ME!! Coupons are still available to everyone. See my next post titled: “DTV Coupon Misinformation from ME!!” ***
Why Libraries failed with Granny Box Coupons
August 11, 2008
Since most households can no longer get the $40 coupons, time to assess what happened. Manufacturers were slow to make the DTV granny boxes, and most were flawed. Overheating shortens their lifetime, chirps were in the audio, lipsync sometimes failed, buggy timers miss timepoints, multipath haunts some boxes, the EPG fails to deliver the promise of PSIP, buttons are too small for Granny, APT finally arrived, smart antennas didn’t arrive, some Grannys will need antenna upgrades, menus were strange, and box crashes happened. Magazine reviews of granny boxes were shallow at best. Consumer Advocates said little on Granny Boxes. On the web, avsforum had lots of noisy chatter, but contained some fabulous pearls of wisdom well worth the digging. The Feds with beancounting mentality made the coupons die quickly, a mere 90 days. Households that got coupons when first available found nothing worth purchasing, and 5 million coupons expired as waste. The Feds flip flop on APT hurt manufacturers as well as the LP stations. The States of confusion have cash refunds for taxes on the coupons. See:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=14072944#post14072944
When retailers were originally shipped product, they seemed caught unawares. Of course they didn’t know of flaws in their product, but they still don’t know about the flaws in the products sold by their competitors, either. Newspapers did barely more on granny boxes than quote press releases, and showed listings for cable TV, but not DTV. Nobody mentions that viewers are losing over 35 TV channels of prime radio spectrum. See:
http://www.tvtechnology.com/pages/s.0157/t.12136.html
Just a week ago, I told someone who didn’t know it that DTV has been transmitted for years now. Viewers have lots to learn, and with no one to help, they will learn the hard way. Broadcasters successfully informed the public that the transition was coming, but their sound bytes didn’t include the phrase “while supplies last”. One crawl ended with “… for more information, contact your electronic retailer.”
Well, at least retailers are not as clueless as most libraries. Here in Silicon Valley, programs on DTV were presented by the Alameda County Library, a shining light in the darkness. At a December library staff meeting, I said that the coupons would be available in January, and we should have a program about the DTV converters. Hopefully, this wasn’t confused with my previous requests for a program on DTV. Those had been rejected year after year after year because it wouldn’t fit in the budget. This year, well, it didn’t fit in the budget, and a program on converters didn’t either, so I suggested cheaper approaches. How about a display in the small display case? Maybe later, it’s booked up for months. Well, then I suggested the following message on the widescreen for our passerbys:
The Digital TV transition happens February 17, 2009.
Old TV’s may need a TV Converter Box. Every
household is entitled for up to 2 coupons for a Box
while supplies last, probably through July 2008.
From your household, call 1-888-DTV-2009
to request your $40 coupons, good at local stores.
The answer was no, the widescreen is mostly for library events. I wonder if the librarians could have answered in a timely manner the series of questions that my suggested message would have generated anyway. Librarians are great at patting themselves on the back with talk of nobly educating the public and being 2.0 aware. But I guess “reaching across the digital divide” means turning kids into gamers, as it didn’t include helping Granny get her box, make it work, or learn how to use it, much less explain UHF reception problems. Firedog at Circuit City will do that for over $79 after coupon. So, why did most libraries here fail Granny so badly? Programs here are divided into 3 types: Adult, Children, and Teens. Bulletin Boards show the plethora of upcoming programs for each. If Granny sat in the chair in the Large Print Room, then on the other side of the Large Print Stack in front of Granny (not “a” Large Print Stack), the wall is empty. No bulletin board, no posting of events for Granny put on by the Geriatric Librarian. The kids check out piles of books, and we ask for library funding based on the high circulation figures. Maybe Granny just doesn’t check out enough library books to be worth noticing. Besides, programs for kids are an investment in the library’s future. Granny will just be dead soon. My post on purchasing is here:
https://thedonofpages.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/digital-tv-granny-box-purchasing/
I’ll work on the November Election with some of the many Grannies that will work a 15 hour day at the Polls to make it possible for the community to vote. After that, I’ll evaluate the Granny boxes yet again, so I can make another purchase then. I’ll try to ignore the DTV test coming up in Wilmington. See:
Zenith DTT900 vs. Zenith DTT901
July 27, 2008
The Zenith DTT901 has the added feature of analog passthru, so naturally it should be a little less sensitive than a Zenith DTT900 because an electronic switch will introduce maybe a dB of loss. I traded my hostage for a May build Zenith DTT901. I decided to test it against my March build LG tuner Zenith DTT900. The Rabbit Ears feed a balun, and coax connects it to a two way splitter. One output of the splitter goes to the 900, the other output to the 901. Each Zenith fed its TV through coax. I powered up, selected a weak channel, and compared the two horizontal signal bars. I was amazed at how they seemed syncronized, as if both TV’s were being fed the same source. The Signal Strength beep rate for the 901 is slower than the 900. What counted is which produced pixel pus first as the signal got weaker. The difference was slight, but definitely the 901 was better.
This caused me to realize that there are two problems to consider: The ability to pick up a weak signal, and the ability to exorcise multipath hauntings. The 901’s could have a better tuner, or it could be a better demodulator. I tried a more directional antenna in hopes of eliminating the chance of haunting, but that antenna didn’t have a sharp enough pattern to draw a valid conclusion. It could also be just the individual variation and luck that in the particular units used, the 901 was better. Different channels produced the same result.
Experiments not only lampoon theory with facts, they reveal the unexpected. In this case, it was the sound. I would adjust the Rabbitt Ears for a weaker signal, and then readjust for best signal. Both Zeniths would lose lock or picture when the signal went weak. When the signal returned, the picture returned and everything was normal, almost. Sometimes, the sound changed. A definite delay was introduced in the sound from the 901 compared to the 900. It was longer than reverb, and sounded like the 901 was echoing the 900. If I changed channels and then changed back, the sounds from the TV’s were once again synchronized. I tried this on different channels, and got the same result. The delay is way too small to lipsync the picture with the original sound or the echo as correct, so I don’t know which Zenith was doing the timeshift.
Operationally, this quirk is meaningless, and without this test, there’s no way to know the timeshift happened. My conclusion is that if better reception is needed, I should upgrade from the Rabbitt Ears. The difference in sensitivity between the Zeniths is too small to worry about.
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