Re: DTV antennas?

Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:20:36 -0700, Joerg
<notthisjoergsch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Converter boxes? You do not get to pick. It's calling the stores every day until one has stock. Then get there as fast as legally possible. Step on it. It's almost like when tomatoes or bananas show up in Moscow.

Can't you buy one online from one of the electronics dealers?

Dunno. The local Radio Shock store had a pile of the Zenith ATSC
converter boxes in stock. About $75. I may have timed my visit
perfectly, but they were certainly available about a week ago. I'm on
satellite TV so I don't qualify for the government subsidized coupon.

The what??? In "socialist" Britian you would have to prove you were absolutely destitute to get a subsidy on a digital set top box!

ISTR there is a scheme to make them available free to pensioners. And more importantly some help in setting the thing up to work. The older TV aerials lacked the right characteristics and often needed replacing for DTV.

Incidentally over here a few early adopters have come unstuck when the latest signal encoding improvements have broken the earliest firmware. It is estimated that about 1% of all set top boxes sold to date will fail as a result (although most early adopters probably have replaced it by now). At present only a few parts of Scotland are affected.

Regards,
Martin Brown
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