# Dtv Broadcast Transition



## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

With the transition of television transmission for analog to digital to meet the 2009 deadline, will the Winegard antennas that we all have in our Outbacks continue to receive a broadcast signal? As we have cable at home, I have not been following this story very much, so please enlighten me. I'm thinking that we will all have one more modification to add to the list this summer.


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

After a quick search, I found that Winegard is oh-so happy to offer you an adapter to solve this problem for $200 --> Winegard RC-1010 Digital HD Receiver. I guess that I actually wonder who benefits from this transition?


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## dougdogs (Jul 31, 2004)

H2oSprayer said:


> I guess that I actually wonder who benefits from this transition?


ya think?

keep your money in your pocket for a while. I have the regular "bat wing" on my rig, and my TV's receive digital broadcasts just fine. (excellent picture quality actually)


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## ED_RN (Jun 25, 2006)

I,m sure we will end up paying something, we always do when our government makes "improvements". Of course the FCC will be laughing all the way to the bank when they get done selling off the newly available frequencies. My understanding is that if your TV is capabale of receiving a digital signal your ok. Just in case you can sign up at www.DTV2009.gov to get 2 $40.00 vouchers in case you need to buy a converter.


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

ED_RN said:


> I Just in case you can sign up at www.DTV2009.gov to get 2 $40.00 vouchers in case you need to buy a converter.


I also found this link and applied. One caveat, at this time, there are only a small hand full of converters that the vouchers can be used toward, and they must be used within 90 days.


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## W4DRR (May 17, 2005)

You will only need the converter for your Television if it is not digital ready. As for the antenna, it won't know the difference....RF is RF.

Bob


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## timber (May 15, 2007)

The digital signal is UHF (it is an analog signal carrying digital data). You just need an antenna that will receive UHF - common for antennas to be UHF/VHF. The problem will be in getting the digital signal to the tv tuner. Today tv's have analog tuners; HDTV or SDTV is digital signal. That's where the $$$$ cost is... you'll need a converter box for your present day analog tv tuners to process this signal or purchase a tv that is *digital signal ready *(it doesn't have to be HDTV just a digital tuner will do - ASTM or something like that).

I think I read somewhere this will free some bandwidth that will allow the FCC to 'sell' for other services. So, just think of it as we're paying for new technology. Kind of like taxes -- the governments get it one way or the other!!!

My 2 ¢


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Go here if you want to register for the $40 credit for the Digital Converter.

https://www.dtv2009.gov/


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## kjdj (Sep 14, 2004)

Good reason to subscribe to cable. Thankfully a good few campgrounds have cable. I suspect analog cable will be around for a good while. Where else can you have Disney playing in one room Fox News in another without a converter box?

My question is when will TV manufacturers include both off-air DTV and Cable DTV tuners in smaller than 50" TV's?


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## outbackgeorgia (Jan 28, 2004)

As Bob said, the antenna system does not know the difference, it is the TV set that must be digital, or used with a digital to analog converter for non digital TV's.
Actually, the Outback's Wineguard with the amplifier works great!
I just spent last week on lake Allatoona and brought my HDTV converter. I was able to pick up about six HDTV stations in the Atlanta area over the air. I do the same at home. FREE, over the air.
One must live within range of the station, I have a small VHF antenna on top of my garage and it works fine.

Dave


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

Like everybody said, the batwing does fine getting the digital signal. In my usual camping spot I could get 3 analog stations, with the HDTV I got 12. Several ways to get DV. Buy a new TV, everyone sold new is suppose to contain a DV tuner. Look for a VCR/DVD that contains a DV tuner, not all of them does. You can get the converter with the coupons. Cost should be $59 - $89. With the $40 coupon cos will be $19 - $49, depending on what you want. Cable and Dish/Direct are required to offer the old analog signal until 2012. As long as they offer a component out feed, you can alway feed thesignal through the VCR into any type of TV. One thing is that you do not have to buy a big flat screen HDTV to get Digital TV. There are some regular tube type TV.s out there for a couple of hundred that has digital tuners, but you will only get the best pictures on a HD TV. Good luck.


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

You can receive HD and digital TV with a coat hanger. So no problem with the Winegard antenna. Now your TV, thats another story as mentioned.


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## W4DRR (May 17, 2005)

California Jim said:


> You can receive HD and digital TV with a coat hanger. So no problem with the Winegard antenna. Now your TV, thats another story as mentioned.


But that would have to be a coat hanger marked specifically for "HDTV".









Bob


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

W4DRR said:


> You can receive HD and digital TV with a coat hanger. So no problem with the Winegard antenna. Now your TV, thats another story as mentioned.


But that would have to be a coat hanger marked specifically for "HDTV".









Bob
[/quote]

and licensed by the FCC


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## outback loft (Sep 22, 2008)

Yes your winegard antenaa will still work, but with a catch. you need a tv with a digital tuner, or a digital converter box, when you have a digital tuner you will pick up hi-def channels crystal clear.


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

OK, stupid question......... How would I find out if the little tv in my Outback is digital or analog?









Mark


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## sleecjr (Mar 24, 2006)

It needs to have an ATSC tuner. Look at the model number of the tv and look it up on the internet. NTSC is the old tuner ATSC is the new one.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

mswalt said:


> OK, stupid question......... How would I find out if the little tv in my Outback is digital or analog?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's not the tuner...if you have a cable/sat hookup, you'll be fine. The only reception that is being changed is the OTA (over the air) signal. If you only get signal from the free OTA channels, then you will need a converter.


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## sleecjr (Mar 24, 2006)

Oregon_Camper said:


> OK, stupid question......... How would I find out if the little tv in my Outback is digital or analog?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It's not the tuner...if you have a cable/sat hookup, you'll be fine. The only reception that is being changed is the OTA (over the air) signal. If you only get signal from the free OTA channels, then you will need a converter.
[/quote]

Not all tvs need a converter for use over the air. If it has an atsc tuner you can receive over the air broadcast in hd.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

sleecjr said:


> Not all tvs need a converter for use over the air. If it has an atsc tuner you can receive over the air broadcast in hd.


Agee...

If you receive only free over-the-air television programming, the type of TV you own, either a digital TV or an analog TV, is very important. Consumers who receive only free over-the-air television may view digital programming through a TV set with a built-in digital tuner (integrated DTV) or a digital-ready monitor with a separate digital tuner set-top box. (Both of these digital television types are referred to as a DTV). The only additional equipment required to view over-the-air digital programming with a DTV is a regular antenna, either on your roof or a smaller version on your TV such as "rabbit ears."

As for how to determine whether your television equipment will work or not look for the label or markings on them, or statements in the informational materials that came with them, to indicate that they contain digital tuners. These labels or markings may contain the words "Integrated Digital Tuner" or "Digital Tuner Built-In." "Receiver" may be substituted for "Tuner," and "DTV," "ATSC," or "HDTV" (high definition television) may be substituted for "Digital." If your television equipment contains any of these labels or markings, you should be able to view digital over-the-air programming without the need for a digital-to-analog converter box. (Remember, you do not need an HDTV to view free over-the-air digital programming. As long as your television equipment contains a digital tuner, you can view over-the-air digital. An HDTV is only necessary if you want to view digital programming in "high definition.")

Here is the important part....*








*

*If your television set is labeled as a "Digital Monitor" or "HDTV Monitor," or as "Digital Ready" or "HDTV Ready," this does not mean it actually contains a digital tuner. Thus, you still will likely need a separate set-top box which contains a tuner in order to view programs in the new digital TV transmission standard (which includes HDTV formats) on such a set. If your television set is labeled as "analog" or "NTSC," but is NOT labeled as containing a digital tuner, it contains an analog tuner only and you will need the converter.
*
​


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## hyewalt34 (May 9, 2004)

I am a maintenance engineer at an ABC owned TV station and I would say don't rush out and buy a new antenna just yet. For example, at home, I have a UHF antenna in my attic and it is picking up both VHF and UHF DTV just fine. In my stations case, we have been on VHF Ch. 9 in HD for a couple of years but in Feb. we will switchover to our SD channel which is UHF 30. This channel changing will take place in other markets also. Viewers don't generally seenm to be aware of this because when they do a channel scan the end result may be like us: There TV will show "Ch. 30-1, Ch. 30-2 and Ch. 30-3 but it is actually Ch. 9.

I have used a convertor in the Outback with great results. Remember, with digital, you only need to meet a minimum signal strength threshold to get a perfect picture.

Walter


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## Scoutr2 (Aug 21, 2006)

I have an older 13" TV with analog tuner in the front of the trailer. So I purchased and hooked up a converter box, using the antenna that came on our Outback.

What a difference! Where I used to get 6-7 channels - mostly snowy - I now get 27 channels - all crystal clear.

I got the $40 government coupon and put another $20 with it. Mine is a Zenith. Works GREAT! No need for a new antenna.

Mike


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

Walter is 100% right. Let me add to and clarify what he said just a bit.

Since the 50's and 60's analog stations used either VHF channels (2-13) or UHF channels (14-69). So, back in the days before cable we had to have VHF antennas and, if your area had UHF channels, you needed a UHF antenna too. The most basic VHF antenna was the rabbit ear, and the most basic UHF antenna was the wire loop.

With the switch to digital, these stations will again be using either VHF channels or UHF channels (14-51 only) to broadcast their digital signals. So, you need both VHF and UHF antennas to receive all of the digital stations. Most of the digital TV antennas available on the market _*for those in cities *_are combination VHF/UHF and will work just fine. As you move further and further away from the transmitter, you may need to have separate VHF and UHF antennas in order to get a good signal. You may also need something special if the transmitters are located at wildly different points of the compass from your location. There are a variety of web sites available to help you choose which antenna you need based on how far away you are from the transmitters; start with http://www.antennaweb.org/ For the vast majority of us the simple antennas will work great. To get back to the original question, I believe the Winegard antennas on our trailers are VHF/UHF antennas and will work well with digital transmitters that are at short or medium distance from the trailer (but I haven't tried it myself).

One interesting thing that Walter hints at is that the channels the stations are using for digital broadcasts may change after the conversion (i.e. after they turn off their analog transimitters). For example, here in Portland Oregon our PBS affiliate currently broadcasts in analog on Channel 10 and in digital on Channel 27 (on our TV we enter Channel 10.1 to get to the digital channel and via some internal magic* the TV knows to tune to Channel 27). After the conversion to digital in February, this station will turn off its analog transmitter on Channel 10 and will move their digital broadcast from Channel 27 to Channel 10; in theory this move will be completely transparent to me because the magic* inside my TV will change so when I enter Channel 10.1 it will map to Channel 10 not Channel 27. The information on channel allocations and these types of channel moves is available on http://www.antennaweb.org/ .

For me, I found that a simple antenna from Home Depot worked just fine for all of our digital stations, but the caveat is that all of our digital stations in Portland are currently on UHF, and after the conversion some will be UHF and some will be VHF so I will have to reevaluate my antenna choice after all the stations have moved to their final locations. I'm hoping to be as lucky as Walter, and probably will be lucky due to my proximity and line-of-sight to the towers.

Ed

** Deep Background: *The "magic" I mentioned works because the digital stations transmit some information along with the TV program that tells the TV what station it is, the time, the content rating of the current program, program guide information and lots more. This information is called the Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP). One piece of information is the "Virtual Channel" meaning the channel number the station wants to call itself. So, for example, in Portland right now the digital PBS station is broadcasting on channel 27, but it broadcasts a signal that tells the TV that it's Virtual Channel is 10 so the viewer can enter 10.1 on the remote and the TV maps that to Channel 27.


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## hazmat456 (Jul 26, 2007)

H2oSprayer said:


> With the transition of television transmission for analog to digital to meet the 2009 deadline, will the Winegard antennas that we all have in our Outbacks continue to receive a broadcast signal? As we have cable at home, I have not been following this story very much, so please enlighten me. I'm thinking that we will all have one more modification to add to the list this summer.


 yes ....but will your T.V.?


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## hyewalt34 (May 9, 2004)

Ed,

We wish all our viewers were as informed as you are!!!









Walter


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

hyewalt34 said:


> We wish all our viewers were as informed as you are!!!


 Thanks for your kind words. It's really not that hard. The problem is all the misinformation that is out there.

The biggest seems to be that digital TV is the same thing as high-definition TV (there are a couple of posts earlier in this thread that imply that). Far from it. The US is converting from analog TV to digital TV, NOT to high-definition TV. When the conversion to digital is complete, two types of TV will be supported: the standard definition (SD) television and the High Definition (HD) television.

Ed


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## 5th Time Around (Jul 8, 2008)

Ok - Here's my question: In our home we have a new flat panel lcd tv w/ built in digital tuner. Over antennae I only got ABC and some spanish channel. The ABC digital signal goes pixelly and sound cuts in and out. Does this mean I am stuck with satellite or cable? We live about 90 miles from the large broadcast cities.

Would a converter box make any difference? Probably not because the tv is dtv ready.

When we took a small lcd dtv in the camper this summer we had the same issue - that the picture would break apart and the sound in and out.


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## California Jim (Dec 11, 2003)

So how do you tune directly to channel 10.2 on a new digital box or TV? I have been using cable/FIOS and have not been exposed as of yet. In the past you would simply enter channel 10, but now with 10.1, 10.2, 10.3...it seems that you can't go straight to your desired channel. Perhaps they will need to add a "." to the remote control


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## Rob_G (Feb 16, 2006)

California Jim said:


> So how do you tune directly to channel 10.2 on a new digital box or TV? I have been using cable/FIOS and have not been exposed as of yet. In the past you would simply enter channel 10, but now with 10.1, 10.2, 10.3...it seems that you can't go straight to your desired channel. Perhaps they will need to add a "." to the remote control


Actually Jim... my remotes do have the "-" button! When I picked up my new '08, the stock 19" didn't do it, so I picked up a 25". Both have DTV tuners installed by default so the remotes come with the "-" button on it. I can either go right to channel 5 or 5-1, etc. Quite handy as I never use the campground hookups any more. I stick with the digital!

WhiteSoxFan happened to be next to me a couple of weeks back in Jellystone Caledonia, WI. (just out of happenstance... WIERD!!







) He hasn't seen the digital yet and he was amazed. I love it!


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

5th Time Around said:


> Would a converter box make any difference? Probably not because the tv is dtv ready.


 No. Converters are for when your TV does not have a digital tuner (ATSC tuner) ... yours does so you do NOT need a converter box. You need an antenna!

Ed


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## Txcamper (Apr 3, 2006)

We use our regular antenna on DTV with no problem. If you want to spend the money the newer antennas should be UHF only so they should have more gain. The large part of the antenna now is for the VHF with a smaller UHF antenna. Newer ones should just have a larger UHF section.


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