Sid is right about one thing–moving to digital TV, with all of it’s advantages, suffers one HUGE disadvantage. Range. The former VHF analog channels would travel close to 100 miles, and could even be received with a set of old-fashioned rabbit ears. I used to routinely watch TV stations 85-90 miles away with acceptable (a little snowy sometimes) reception. During the summer months, the skip would be working, and I could watch a Dallas, Texas station from my home in northwest Iowa! Those days are gone forever, Sid.
Right. Despite the advantages, a lot of poor folks, those who couldn’t afford cable let alone a digital TV and digital service, were left out in the cold. I think I recall that they were going to get some sort of assistance, but I don’t know what it was. I know that when I bought a house on the Eastern shore of the Chesapeake, I was out of luck.
Sid is right about one thing–moving to digital TV, with all of it’s advantages, suffers one HUGE disadvantage. Range. The former VHF analog channels would travel close to 100 miles, and could even be received with a set of old-fashioned rabbit ears. I used to routinely watch TV stations 85-90 miles away with acceptable (a little snowy sometimes) reception. During the summer months, the skip would be working, and I could watch a Dallas, Texas station from my home in northwest Iowa! Those days are gone forever, Sid.
Right. Despite the advantages, a lot of poor folks, those who couldn’t afford cable let alone a digital TV and digital service, were left out in the cold. I think I recall that they were going to get some sort of assistance, but I don’t know what it was. I know that when I bought a house on the Eastern shore of the Chesapeake, I was out of luck.