RSS FeedFree Digital HDTV Receivable Downtown? You Bet!
In our household, we’re always on the hunt for ways to trim costs and keep those bills in check. When moving downtown from the suburbs some four years ago, we knew that our reliance on receiving ten clear over-the-air (OTA) TV signals might be compromised and sure enough, two weeks of enduring a hazy channel 4 (NBC) during the summer of 2005 forced us to call 1-800-COMCAST to get cable. Watching three Jay Leno ghosts do the monologue in an onscreen snow storm just didn’t work. Our household hadn’t paid for television since college when MTV actually played music videos (anyone remember this one or this one or this one?) and it was a nice source of savings – we figure about $5000 total so far. Fast forward to 2009 and the FCC clock is counting down to a June 12, 2009 digital TV switchover and we’re happy to report that getting OTA digital HDTV* downtown works well. Follow the break for more details about our digital TV switchover…
All the networks (cable and OTA) have been broadcasting public service announcements for the last year informing the public that digital TV is coming and each household can procure two $40 coupon subsidies to buy an over-the-air digital TV converter box to make the switch. The coupons look like gift cards and ours went towards purchasing the Tivax STB-T8 and the Zinwell ZAT-950A each costing about $25 after counting the subsidy. No, not the Tivo and the Zenith. The Tivax and the Zinwell. (Other choices included the Sansonic, Goodmind, MicroGem and ChannelMaster which along with the English in the Tivax manual gave us a good chuckle.) Our full set up is shown above with a close up of the Zinwell converter box shown below.
Setting up both converters, one for the bedroom and one for the living room, was a snap. Plug your antenna into the converter and plug the converter into your television. Then, turn them both on…you use the converter much like you’d use a cable box. Both come with a wireless remote control, scan for receiveable channels, have a decent user interface, include an on-screen guide telling viewers what show is currently being broadcast and we now get a good choice of OTA network channels producing breathtakingly clear pictures. The only glitch we encountered was getting channels 22, 56 and 66 downtown with our standard indoor rabbit ear antenna. According to the FCC’s station listing, those three channels should be receivable but we can’t pick them up; the other channels come in fine. Each channel can now carry multiple TV signals depending on how the broadcaster configures its signal. Channels 4, 7 and 9 broadcast their weather radar and forecast all the time on 4-2, 7-2 and 9-2 in addition to their regular programming. PBS runs a total of four channels on its signla, channel 26. PQ Living writer Columbo will be glad to hear that the Retro TV Network is back on 7-3 showing all the classic syndicated series favorites. We were also glad to learn about the monthly fee free DTVPal DVR thanks to yesterday’s FastForward column in WaPo.
After a week of use, we like the Zinwell DTV converter better than the Tivax. It’s smaller, the on-screen user interface is slicker/more informative and it moves between channels quickly which any remote punching media hound will appreciate. The upside? We’ve learned that you can effectively go free of monthly fees while getting both digital HDTV and DVR capabilities. The downside? Less programming to watch and nothing viewable on-demand. Now…what about that cable TV subscription? It just might not last.
For more information about the June 12, 2009 digital TV switchover visit: www.dtv.gov
* Important Note: Although we were able to determine that HDTV is available over-the-air in downtown DC, the DTV converters we tested will not turn a regular analog 2003 year TV like ours (or yours) into an HD resolution display. To display HDTV in its full glory, you need to have an appropriate tube, LCD or plasma display that can render HDTV in full resolution (referred to as 720p, 1080i or 1080p).
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Comments
Columbo…..thanks for the info. I’ve been very anxious to rid myself of the 140 cable/internet bill. I look forward to purchasing this antenna and giving it a try.
Another option that’s a step up from an antenna but cheaper than the full-on digital/HD cable box:
If you have an HDTV with a digital tuner (most made in the last few years have one), just get regular old analog basic cable, and you’ll also be able to get the local digital/HD channels. They don’t advertise it (big surprise–they want you to pay for the super deluxe digital HD DVR cable box), and they don’t list the channels on any of their listings, but they’re there–just make sure you include digital channels when you do your automatic channel setup. (And you’ll have to delete a bunch of unused channels, too.) You only get the digital/HD channels you’d get if you had an antenna (plus some from Baltimore, for some reason)–your cable channels will all be analog–but you wouldn’t get those at all with an antenna anyway.
(NOTE: This is for COMCAST; I have no idea if this would work with Cox.)
Yes, and if you get Comcast basic cable, which is only about $16.00 a month, and you don’t use the cable box (just plug the cable from the wall into your television), you get all the way up to channel 99! Using the cable box you only get up to channel 30 or something around there.
You know that DTVPal you linked to is intriguing pqresident. I’m not sure it’s worth $250 to me right now, but once something like that goes below $175 I think I’d pick one up. Part of why I prefer DVD’s to TV watching is the ability to pause, rewind, pick up where I left off, etc.
Something like this product now offers that ability to OTA HDTV viewers. I only wish manufacturers would work something like this into a DVD player so I didn’t have to have an additional box attached to my TV.
here’s another HD DVR that doesn’t carry monthly fees, it appears to be more expandable/flexible and can play content from the Internet such as streaming Netflix moives. its initial cost is quite a bit higher than the DTVPal though coming in at $799.
I’m relieved I’m not the only one who can’t get channel 56 this way. I checked their website and it looks like they’re broadcasting digitally via other channels now, but those don’t come in either. Can’t understand why it’s so hard to pick up now, right in the heart of DC!
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We’ve got an HDTV so didn’t need the converter box, but we did have to upgrade our indoor antenna. I highly recommend the Terk HDTVa that I bought on Amazon last year, I pull in approx. 20 or so HD channels with this amplified antenna. The Columbo’s haven’t had cable for 7 years now, and it’s only gotten easier to live without it thanks to OTA HDTV, Netflix, Hulu, and the iPhone.
Oh and going to bars to watch sports. When you live in a 1 bedroom condo it’s nice to get out of the house to watch tv sometimes too.