Digital Dialog

More on Antennas

Location of antennas is very important.  A good rule of thumb is, if you can see the general location of a transmitting antenna, you should be able to receive its signal.

PBS Hawaii's digital transmitter is located in the southern Waianae mountain range above Makakilo, so aim your antennas in that general direction...

Oh, you say you live somewhere between Waipahu and Nuuanu?  Well now you have a dilemma...you are probably going to have to rotate your indoor or outdoor antenna in different directions to receive the best signal from the different stations.

FYI, of the major stations, KITV and KHON will remain broadcasting from the Ala Moana area.  KHNL, KFVE, KGMB and KHET will be broadcasting from the aforementioned Waianae mountains.  And to add more confusion to the pot, all the TV stations will be broadcasting on different frequency bands (so remember what I said in the last post...get a directional antenna that will receive channels 2 - 52).

Now if you have an outdoor antenna, moving it will be a very difficult and tedious chore.  You can put a device on it that will rotate it from a remote control in your home or maybe put up two antennas with an A/B switch, both expensive solutions, but necessary nonetheless since the location of the transmitters are in various locations.  You may get lucky and be able to point your antenna inbetween all the transmitting antennas and receive a weaker but watchable signal from all the stations.

A good web site to visit would be: www.antennaweb.org

Antennas, Antennas, Antennas...

Like real estate, you'll need an antenna to receive over-the-air digital television signals, and it's all about location, location, location.

First is to know where the location of the station's transmitter you want to watch is located.  It is often not the same place where the station's offices are located.  Call the station and they'll be happy to tell you where it is.

Second is the location of your receiving antenna.  Sometimes the best place for your television is not the best place for your antenna.  Walls, cabinets, hanging pictures, etc. can all contribute to a lower received signal, and with digital, you want the best possible signal to get to your TV.

Now here is the one thing about antennas that no one tells you, those rabbit ear-type antennas are meant for channels 2 - 13 and the loop antennas are for channels 14 - 52.  You are going to need a directional antenna that can receive all the channels, 2 - 52 because many of the TV stations in Hawaii will be changing to a different channel after January 15, 2009, and if you get a directional antenna that receives all the channels, you won't have to worry.

More about antennas in my next post...

Reach Out And Transition Somebody

With the Hawaii DTV Transition happening on January 15, 2009, the television broadcasters of Hawaii are trying to reach out to viewers who might be unable to or are unaware of the coming transition.  We can only do so much and we need your kokua.  Here are things you can do to help:

1)  Should you know someone that uses over-the-air signals to view TV, tell them about needing a converter box if they want to continue using their analog TV;

2)  Send me an email (skomori@pbshawaii.org) of names of community associations or groups or even neighborhoods where over-the-air reception is prevalent;

3)  Refer them to my Blog here or they can go to www.dtv.gov for information;

This transition is going to be a bit bumpy and every little bit helps, so if you can...reach out and transition somebody..

Time is Running Out

For those who plan to continue using your analog TV and are looking to purchase a converter box:

Hawaii's Digital Transition date closer than ever (JANUARY 15, 2009), and if you want/need the $40 coupon offered by the Federal government to subsidize the purchase of a Digital-to-Analog Conversion Box, you better do it now.  Just go to:

www.dtv2009.gov

You can either fill out an application form on-line or print out an application form (which you will need to fill out and mail).  It will take up to 6-weeks, depending upon when the application is received, to receive either one or two coupons (you chose on the application) towards the purchase of a converter box (and if you can afford the additional small cost increase, with analog pass-through).

So if you don't do it by the end of November...you'll lose your over-the-air analog signal for good on January 15, 2009 and your analog TV will become a dust collector...

Far Out...

Satellite coverage...Dish network and DirecTV...they keep telling us that everything will be okay for the digital transition, but now I'm unsure...

Over the past week, ever since our analog transmitter on Oahu malfunctioned, the majority of viewers calling in complaints have been Big Island and Kauai satellite subscribers.  They (the satellite companies) tell me that they are using my digital over-the-air signal, but yet when my analog goes off, you don't get our programming!??

What gives?  And there is nobody but voicemail to talk to you when you call them or if you do get ahold of somebody, they have no idea what you are talking about and blame the TV station that you are calling about for their problems.

Let's just hope that when the transition happens in Hawaii (January 15, 2009) that you won't lose all Hawaii local channels...

IF YOU'VE GOT IT...USE IT!

With our recent KHET analog transmitter outage, I have been gettting calls from folks who have already purchased a DTV converter box but are waiting to use it, I say...if the converter box is an analog pass-through model that I have recommended purchasing in a prior post...USE IT NOW!  You don't have to wait until analog goes away to install the unit.  This way, should the analog signal disappear, you may be able to see a station's digital signal.

That being said, whenever a channel is selected on a DTV tuner or converter box, the channel number usually shows up on the screen for a few seconds and then disappears.  If the number ends with a ".0", you are watching the analog signal of a station.  If it ends with a ".1, .2, .3..." you are watching a digital channel.

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

By now you've probably heard about the FCC DTV Tansition date of February 17, 2009...its been all over TV, in magazine ads, posted in stores, etc.  but here is something that you may not know...

HAWAII TELEVISION BROADCASTERS WILL BE SHUTTING-OFF ANALOG BROADCASTING AT NOON ON JANUARY 15, 2009!  DIGITAL BROACASTING BEGINS JANUARY 15, 2009 AT NOON!

This shut-off will affect Oahu, Maui and Hawaii for those that watch TV using an antenna.  If all your TVs are connected to cable or satellite, then ignore everything about the transition...IT DOES NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Now for those of you who do receive Over-The-Air (OTA) TV signals, it means that you will need to either purchase a converter box, subscribe to cable or satellite or purchase a digital television set.  In addition, you may need to install a better antenna system to receive OTA signals.

Check out my earlier posts for information on getting a converter box and antennas and keep coming back to read my future posts on what this early transition to digital means for you.