Development ate my OTA broadcasts!

For a couple of years now (at least) I have been enjoying glorious high definition TV completely for free thanks to "over the air" (OTA) which will in 2009, as most of you should know by now, completely replace the old interference ridden low-res analog transmissions. At the time I set this up I was somewhat surprised it worked at all since I live in a concrete building that is by necessity filled with iron rebar - exactly the kind of stuff that will block a TV signal, or pretty much any radio signal - hence poor cellphone reception and room to room WiFi reception inside concrete buildings. However with a modest indoor directional antenna mounted inside my unit near the ceiling everything seemed to work out - the only thing I couldn't get reliably was the KTEH PBS station that is transmitted from a location 90-degrees from where my antenna is pointing. Since I already get KQED that hasn't been a big problem for me.

Unfortunately in the past few months a new condo and parking garage have risen from the dust right between my home and the where the TV signal is coming from. Both being concrete buildings and full of rebar it seems that they have knocked the signal strength of some of my channels below the acceptable limit for my tuner. If I'm lucky I get audio with interrupted video, if I'm not I get nothing at all. While access to the sun is protected in California for solar installations access to free OTA transmissions is not. Just when analog transmissions are going away I'll find myself cut off and looking at having to resort to cable. Basically I wont do this - I've survived significant portions of my life with no TV at all.

I could petition my building to install a big-ass TV antenna on the roof, it will be hard to do, cost a lot and probably wouldn't be that effective (because of the long cable run required). Considering 22 out of the 24 units already have cable I won't hold my breath waiting for that. Or I could install a much bigger antenna in my unit - its feasible but not exactly attractive, they really aren't designed to look nice. Right now I have a DB2 bowtie with 11.4 dBi gain combined with some low-loss coax which is probably the most compact and highest gain option there is, the next step up provides a couple of extra dB (not quite double the signal strength) but is twice the size and too big for indoor use IMHO. I can always think about using an amplifier - but I'd rather not since they can also amplify out of band interference and make things worse.

My solution for now is to get a new ATSC HDTV tuner card - one of these bad boys from DVICO: Fusion HDTV7 dual-express. Many of those using it have commented it has significantly better sensitivity in the receiver which will hopefully bring my weak channels back to within acceptable limits. Fingers crossed...

Just say No to pay TV

I beg to differ with the story in Wired News that says end of analog TV broadcasts in 2009 will cause US households to switch to cable instead of buying a converter box or a new TV. I actually think the net effect will be fewer cable subscribers.

My reasoning is that people still using old analog TVs are looking for cheapest way to receive TV and as such wont want to pay at least $50 a month just to receive the local programming they can get over the air anyway. Plus switching to cable means you'll have to install cable outlets in all rooms that means a lot of expense putting in wires and outlets - and splitting cable is notoriously problematic because cable companies often provide a marginal signal to households that isn't strong enough to split (as any multi-family dwelling cable user can attest).

Also I believe that once people discover that ATSC (digital transmission) provides interference free reception and many more channels than they ever received before they will actually start dropping basic cable packages for the free over the air programming. As low end TVs increase in capabilities the ability to view 720p and 1080i high definition programming (in particular sports) will also be a big draw. In a recession people are always looking to save money and cutting the cable is an easy fix.