MIXED RECEPTION

As TV stations go digital, viewers learn that a good antenna and location are key

Sunday News

Jun 14, 2009 00:22 EST

By PAUL FRANZ, Staff Writer

It was 12:01 a.m. Saturday, and Ann Wood no longer had television.

"I guess I'll have to adjust to living without TV," said the 72-year-old Leola resident, who has been struggling to understand the analog-to-digital switch. "I'm not mechanically oriented. I need someone to hook this up for me."

At midnight Friday, TV stations across the U.S. cut their analog signals, leaving Wood and about 3 million other Americans who hadn't prepared for the switch in the dark, Nielsen Co. surveys report.

"There are people who are having all sorts of problems," said John Baldwin, WGAL-TV's creative services director.

Eighty-nine people called the local television station to report problems with their reception by Saturday evening, said WGAL's assistant general manager, Bob Good.

"I don't know how long it'll take to get resolved," Good said. "Some will get their TVs fixed today. Others, I don't know how long it will take."

Other local TV stations reported an influx of frustrated viewers Saturday.

"The calls are coming in heavy," said Jan Strock Sr., chief engineer at WHTM-TV ABC27. "We're overwhelmed."

Most reported problems that were easily fixed by "re-scanning" for channels on their converter boxes.

"People didn't understand how to 're-scan,' " Baldwin said.

Since the switch took effect Friday night, WGAL, which was previously broadcasting a digital signal over the UHF frequency on channel 58, switched exclusively to a VHF signal on channel 8.1.

The switch of frequencies confused some, who had been tuned into WGAL's digital signal before the Friday night cutoff.

Other callers reported more serious problems involving reception, which in some cases were resolved by repositioning the antenna. In other cases, however, viewers didn't anticipate the need for a better antenna.

Rabbit ears may not cut it
Even if some viewers had their converter boxes ready for the Friday night switch, they may still have been left with nothing but snowy static Saturday morning.

"You either got it or you didn't," said David Goodling, a former TV repairman from East Lampeter Township.

"[This is] more complicated than your old bunny ears," Baldwin said.

Walking around the room with a set of rabbit-ear antennas or a small indoor antenna isn't going to cut it anymore for many people living in certain areas, TV professionals say.

"Digital is counterintuitive," Goodling said. "The antenna may work in a spot or direction that you'd never guessed. You have to aim it right at the signal."

In many cases, viewers may have to shell out several hundred dollars more to get an outdoor antenna installed on their homes.

"There's no shotgun solution out here for this," Jan Strock Sr. said. "There's a lot of fragmented problems."

Strock said the government didn't do a good job of letting viewers know that better antennas were a necessity for some people in areas with a poor signal.

"The perception was that in the public service announcements, all you needed was rabbit ears and a conversion box," he said. "People saw the PSA [public service announcement] and thought that's the way it worked.

"It's going to cause a lot of confusion."

Goodling agrees, although he thought the government and local TV stations did a good job of letting people know when and how to get a converter box.

"There was probably not enough research or forethought done by the government," he said of the need for outdoor antennas.

Digital real estate
The key to getting a good digital signal is location, location, location.

People living in higher elevations and closer to TV station transmitters may be able to get away with just rabbit ears or an inexpensive indoor antenna.

Others won't be so lucky.

Living in the lowest point of a valley, for example, makes getting a good digital signal very difficult, said Kim Hammond, of Heidig's Antenna Service in Lancaster. Areas where there are large metal objects such as tall buildings or tunnels are also trouble spots.

"If you're a farmer, you're in great shape," Goodling said. "Out in the flatlands you'll get a lot of channels.

"If you're in the city, it depends what's around you."

Hammond said a customer in Ephrata could get as many as 50 channels with an outdoor antenna, but cautioned that those instances are "very rare."

Reception and the amount of channels people get will vary widely. Even next-door neighbors, depending on the location and direction their antennas are set, may get a completely different set of channels, Goodling said.

"If you're on different sides of a building," he said, "you may get completely different channels."

The price of installing a high-quality outdoor antenna may come as a shock to some expecting to pay only $40 to $60 for a converter box. Hammond said their best antenna installation comes with a price tag of $550 plus tax. The cheapest plan Heidig's Antenna Service offers costs is $225.

"I can't afford to watch TV anymore," said Ann Wood.

Living off an income of $16,000 a year from Social Security, she said it was just "too much" to invest in an outdoor antenna or even a cheaper indoor one.

Neola Gilbert, of Leola, woke up Saturday morning with no signal from her converter box.

"My box isn't strong enough to bring it in," she said. "I'll have to wait and see what I can afford."

Although some think it's expensive, Hammond said the quality and reception is worth the cost of installation and doesn't come with the inconvenience of monthly service charges that satellite or cable TV bring.

"People with outdoor antennas are getting two times the amount of channels than they did with rabbit ears," she said. "And the picture is really good."

But, Goodling argues: "Somebody needs to offer a low-cost alternative."

Unlike analog, digital signals are transmitted in much the same way that data on a computer is written. Analog used AM and FM radio bands to transmit video and audio, so even if the signal was poor, a viewer could still get an image.

"Analog was a wide beam," said Chris Paul, a professional antenna installer. "[Getting it] was like hitting the broad side of a barn."

Not so with digital.

"It's either perfect or it's gone," Bob Good said. "There's no middle ground."

Indeed, Jan Strock Sr. said, the signal can sometimes be very elusive.

Location and elevation are crucial factors to getting a good signal, but so is the direction the antenna is pointed.

"There is no one-size-fits-all solution," Strock said. "These poor viewers, they're confused and for good reason."

Worth it in the end?
In 2005, the federal government approved the digital switch in an effort to free up analog TV signals for emergency broadcasts.

Fast forward four years: The conversion has finally been made after an initial four-month delay ordered by Congress in February, and viewers continue to experience problems.

Nearly 700,000 calls were received by the FCC's DTV help hot line this past week, the Associated Press reported.

"Our job is far from over," acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps said in a statement. "This transition is not a one-day affair."

Anyone with cable or satellite TV service was unaffected by the end of analog broadcasts, but about 17 million U.S. households rely on traditional antennas.

Good remains cautiously optimistic.

"It's a serious problem for some," he said, adding that he actually expected more calls than the 89 WGAL received Saturday, and that most of the issues people had were resolved quickly.

While it may still take weeks for all Americans to get on board with the DTV conversion, Dave Goodling said the switch will be worth it once everyone is up and running.

"It's a great system, and it does work," he said. "Everybody is going to be surprised at the great picture quality."

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Paul Franz is a Sunday News staff writer. Contact him at pfranz@lnpnews.com or at 295-5063.