No More DTV coupons left

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haklesup
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No More DTV coupons left

Post by haklesup »

So I am a little late in requesting but when I applied today, this is the reply from the DTV2009 website

"IMPORTANT:
We have determined that you are eligible to participate in this program and your coupon application has been approved. However, because program funding is not currently available, you will not receive coupons unless more funding becomes available. If program funding becomes available you should receive your coupons in the mail."

Good thing I don't really need one. I mostly use cable.

Was this scheduled to end Jan 1 or is it just my bad timing? I naively assumed it would last unitl Feb 17th. Only mention of a last day to order on the website is contained in the button graphic on the home page only not on the apply or wheres my coupon links
Bigglez
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Re: No More DTV coupons left

Post by Bigglez »

haklesup wrote:Was this scheduled to end Jan 1 or is it just my bad timing? I naively assumed it would last unitl Feb 17th.
You have to think like a government to understand
how these programs are administered.
(1) Estimate need. (2) Design program (3) Deploy program
(4) At end of program fix problems (usually unforseen at (1))

I doubt the program was perfect. The folks involved
were breaking new ground (a similar program has
never been attempted AFAIK).

I'm not very sympathetic with the 15% of US households
that need this program (because they only have OTA
TV reception by choice or necessity). It is encumbent
upon all persons to look out for themselves and their
family - not wait for big government to step in.
Wasn't this republic founded on self-reliance?

It is unreasonable to expect the bloated and slow
Federal Govmt to handhold every citizen.

The program could have been done better, they didn't
ask me, and hindsight is 20/20.

There is probably a surplus of hardware boxes, and
retailers with redundant inventory will unload them.
Some retailers are already accepting 'expired'
coupons at face value.

Some time in March I'm looking forward to "reverse
engineering" one or two for my own curiousity.
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Chupa
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Post by Chupa »

I haven't really been keeping up with this whole thing as Ive always had "cable". Are they makeing TVs now to accept the new digital signal off the shelf? How about those little hand held TVs?
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Bob Scott
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Post by Bob Scott »

Canada won't switch to DTV until Aug 31, 2011. I have not seen any DTV converter coupons here and there are none planned as far as I know.

None of my dedicated TVs are DTV capable, but they are on cable so it won't matter. You have to live in a place like San Jose to use an antenna. They have enough OTA broadcast stations there to make getting rid of cable attractive.

I wonder if conversion to digital will have an effect on reception. If you are in San Jose and have a fringe antenna on the roof, you can pick up CH 3 in Sacramento with a slight amount of "snow" in the analog signal. Will it still be receivable? Will Ch 3 change transmitter frequency?
Bigglez
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Post by Bigglez »

Chupa wrote:I haven't really been keeping up with this whole thing as Ive always had "cable". Are they makeing TVs now to accept the new digital signal off the shelf? How about those little hand held TVs?
Here's an earlier thread on DTV.

All CRT based TV sets for sale have DTV tuners
(if in doubt look for the DTV logo).

All Flat Panel and projectors TVs have had DTV
tuners for a few years.

The Jury is still out on portables, as I haven't
been shopping for one I haven't noticed any
for sale.

My collection of antique TV are all analogue.
Although running my 1958 Philco Predicta "Holiday"
from DTV has a perverse appeal!
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haklesup
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Post by haklesup »

AFAIK, there still is no standard for portable reception of DTV. The standard HDTV signal is not suited for reception by a moving antenna. Multipath and other interference correction algorithms in the recievers only work for stationary TV sets.

There is talk about a parallel DTV system for portable devices but it may never come about if the telecom companies hijack the standard for transmission to paid receivers via WiFi standard and/or G3 phones instead. Look for development in this area in the coming year or two as the reallocated analog TV frequencies start getting used. Don't expect it to be free although it may be. I expect congress to be weak on portable DTV being free OTA like standard DTV particularly since such a plan would cost taxpayers money and make little for service providers. Advertisers are unlikely to pay extra for portable DTV ads. I haven't been following developments closely enough to predict.

Anyhow, what I really want is a device the size and price of the analog set top boxes but with an ATSC tuner and VGA output. To get that now I need to spend several hundred on a full featured set top box and then another $60 on a component to VGA converter.
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Janitor Tzap
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Post by Janitor Tzap »

No you don't.

Here's a ASTC Tuner with VGA output.
http://www.provantage.com/kworld-kw-sa2 ... WRD01K.htm

As for a portable DTV.
Radio Shack sells a few.
http://www.radioshack.com/family/index. ... nder+10%22
But, I tested the one that they had on demo.
The reception was poor at best. :sad:


Signed: Janitor Tzap
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haklesup
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Post by haklesup »

I hadn't seen the Kworld converter. It is what I want but I can wait for its price to crash a bit first.

As for the others, I think I was equating portable with mobile. Those ATSC portables may not work as well if you are moving in a vehicle as opposed to sitting on the beach. As far as reception goes, were still getting used to the new coverage and stick antennas don't seem to work well with DTV. Can't tell what these come with but they do feature 1/8" antenna inputs.
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jwax
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Post by jwax »

You need one of them fancy fractal antenies! :grin:
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lepooner38
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Post by lepooner38 »

works well for digital tuners:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw
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jwax
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Post by jwax »

lepooner38- Welcome to the forum, and thanks for that link!
How does the bowtie work for you?
John
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reloadron
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Re: No More DTV coupons left

Post by reloadron »

haklesup wrote:So I am a little late in requesting but when I applied today, this is the reply from the DTV2009 website

"IMPORTANT:
We have determined that you are eligible to participate in this program and your coupon application has been approved. However, because program funding is not currently available, you will not receive coupons unless more funding becomes available. If program funding becomes available you should receive your coupons in the mail."

Good thing I don't really need one. I mostly use cable.

Was this scheduled to end Jan 1 or is it just my bad timing? I naively assumed it would last unitl Feb 17th. Only mention of a last day to order on the website is contained in the button graphic on the home page only not on the apply or wheres my coupon links
I probably know 100 people who got pairs of those coupons. I am thinking about 3 to maybe 5 of them actually receive actual over the air television. I wonder where the coupons went? :shock:

Ron
Bigglez
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Re: No More DTV coupons left

Post by Bigglez »

reloadron wrote:I probably know 100 people who got pairs of those coupons. I am thinking about 3 to maybe 5 of them actually receive actual over the air television. I wonder where the coupons went?
After ninety days they go to the landfill or recycling.
The coupons expire. Have no residual value.
reloadron
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Re: No More DTV coupons left

Post by reloadron »

Bigglez wrote:
reloadron wrote:I probably know 100 people who got pairs of those coupons. I am thinking about 3 to maybe 5 of them actually receive actual over the air television. I wonder where the coupons went?
After ninety days they go to the landfill or recycling.
The coupons expire. Have no residual value.
They were using them to get converter boxes. Boxes they had absolutely no use for.

Since we have cable I never bothered. Additionally the new TV doesn't need one. There are only 2 televisions in the house. The link to the bow tie antenna has me curious. I may build one just to see what reception is like in our area. Relatively flat and pretty much a good line of site to the transmitters about maybe 10 miles away.

However, I have read a few stories about people in the fringe areas between Akron & Cleveland who get nothing. I can see this entire thing getting ugly. I have an aunt in NJ who has been sending the FCC mail. I told her to look for black helicopters above their property.

Ron

Actually heard about the out of coupons this morning on the news.
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evahle
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Coupons

Post by evahle »

Hi! I got two coupons early on. I kept one and gave the other to my brother. I use my little 13" TV at work for break time. In our area(city<50k), we only have had 2 main stations. With the convertor and a set of rabbit ears, I now get 6 stations, which are much better quality. The difference is, instead of the picture getting snowy when the antenna is aimed incorrectly, it just drops the channel altogether.

Anyway, I figured out that the additional stations are really extra channels that the main stations are using. Example: channel 10 now has 3 channels. Really great for work!

evahle :smile:
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