Socialview.org:

Thanks for the review of digital-to-analog converter boxes. It was an excellent start on a tough topic. In fact, there is so little out there, that I was surprised to see your site listed somewhat down on the search engine listing.

However, I wonder about the other units that are on the government list. Also, I wondered why there isn't a listing with those that do have pass-thru rather than those that don't. Analog pass-thru is a big plus and should have always been listed as a "Pro" item. In fact, I would just list all of those first, and the ones without last.

Thanks again.

Author's Repsonse:

Thanks for the feedback...

I looked at it more from an "investment prospective"... parts suppliers (mainly chips), and whose products are on retail shelves. You are correct that there are many more products out there that have been certified which were not detailed in this piece; only very few of those are even being actively sold to consumers or have nailed up distribution relationships with retail stores.

Analog pass through is a pretty important feature (least from now until the cut over) and it has even been a highly suggested feature by NTIA, but why few vendors chose to implement it remains a mystery. If you look at this from an investment perspective however, analog pass through is insignificant because from a buyer's perspective either the product is available for purchase or not. Since a majority of the currently available products don't support it, and it's only available on otherwise lower rated currently available options, this feature is not enough to overcome other shortcomings.

Louis R Briones

There is going to be a major problem with having this converter boxes, due to the fact that most of the Apartment Associations, and Home owner's Associations will not allow consumers like myself to have used with an "Over-The-Air" Rooftop Antenna claiming that these types of antennas are real Eyesore, which to me doesn't make since what so ever.

When trying to use a pair of rabbit ears, or a amplified Terk antenna, we come to find that these antennas of this type failed to faction within these type of buildings. Most of the folks that live in some kind of apartment dwelling are for sure going to be left out of the realm, for not having access to the television and radio airwaves. This something that the government does;'to think about.

Someone from the FCC should forced the Apartment Associations and others to install come kind of a "Rooftop" antenna, so in this way when these converter boxes are used, these receivers will faction properly.

Author's Response:

Thanks for the feedback.. Having rented recently, I'd agree with you... and this probably falls into UNSERVABLE areas.

One "better" option over Terk (which are notoriously terrible) is a Winegard antenna which has a powered high density HDTV antenna (SS-2000). While HDTV quality might seem like overkill, the sensitive to receive HD would certainly help your ability to operate a standard def digital tuner such as a DTV Converter Box through walls, etc. Note you don't have a lot of options, so this might be your

http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=SS-2000

From: Donna Koone
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2008 6:23 PM

We have two analog televisions that are not connected to our cable supplier and thus need Digital Converters. I purchased an RCA converter box and after installing one I get the message - no signal, unable to tune to this channel. Both of these televisions have indoor antennas, but they are UHF/VHF/HDTV compatible. What is my next option? (We live in a rural area)

All of the information that I have read and heard on the television newscasts indicates that all you have to do is buy a converter box, hook it up, and you will be ready for the switch over. However, things are not working that easily for me since the converter box is not receiving a signal. It would be much simpler to just replace the analog sets, but financially that is not an option at this time.

Also, we currently receive local channels on our television sets that are connected to our cable supplier, but we

also have an analog antenna that we switch over to during inclement weather if our cable reception is unable to transmit (during heavy rain, etc.). After the digital switch over takes place next year, what option will we have available if our cable reception is unavailable?

Author's Response:

Traditional indoor antennas just are not going to pull in the signal you require to get past the annoying “no signal” issue you are reporting. Rabbit ears worked well for very small screen analog TVs as they required very little signal to display an acceptable signal. In the case of digital, you need to invest in either a quality indoor “powered” antenna (suggest Winegard SS-2000 ~ $70), or get a decent house antenna such as a Winegard HD7082P which runs about $90 – both prices are through a discounter but retail for either would be around $100 or more.

It would have been nice if the FCC would have forced stations to all go to UHF as you could have bought a single quality UHF antenna to pull all of them in. However, since over the air stations can now spread across both VHF and UHF you really need a pretty big antenna to do a decent job across all available spectrum where over the air stations could reside. If you paid less than $100 (retail) for your antenna, I would not be surprised you aren’t getting enough signal.

Also, keep in mind your DTV’s tuner may also be the problem. It has yet to be reported that the RCA had a better than average tuner (meaning average or worst would require MORE signal to obtain an acceptable picture). I’m waiting to see how the Microtune tuners perform as no real test results have come in from them (available from Sansonic and EchoStar), but in the mean time your best bet is either buy a better than average house antenna or return your DTV Converter for one with a more sensitive tuner. Hope this helps?

Gene Leclerc
Sent: Sunday, April 13, 2008 8:35 PM

I think there is a federal law regarding rooftop antennas and they CANNOT be banned. I notice someone mentioned the following:

"most of the Apartment Associations, and Home owner's Associations will not allow consumers like myself to have used with an "Over-The-Air" Rooftop Antenna claiming that these types of antennas are real Eyesore, which to me doesn't make since what so ever."

I'm pretty sure you can put up an antenna and no one can stop you based on federal law.

Author's Response:

Section 224 of the Telecom Act states that a utility or local exchange carrier "shall provide a cable television system or any telecommunications carrier with nondiscriminatory access to any pole, duct, conduit or right-of-way owned or controlled by it." However, it does not conclude that the FCC has the authority to open rooftops for antenna placement.

It gets worst:

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 preempted local regulations, particularly zoning regulations, which prohibit telecommunications antennas subject to exceptions where reasonable health or safety regulations are involved. Nonetheless, in many cases, special zoning variances, building permits, FCC licenses or other governmental approvals are required for the installation and operation of a telecommunications antenna. The tenant will want to have its obligations, particularly the obligation to pay rent under the lease or licensee agreement, conditional and effective only upon the tenant obtaining the necessary approvals. While a reasonable period of time must be allowed for this process, the property owner must protect himself/herself by setting a definite deadline by which: 1) the tenant can exercise its right to terminate; or 2) the tenant must begin to pay rent - approvals or no approvals. While setting a deadline might not result in rent actually being paid on time, at the very least, the existence of the date can institute a dialogue between the landlord and the tenant about the status of the approval process and the project in general.

I'd never thought about this until you said it, so I looked it up.

Bill C.S. Ho
Sent: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 4:38 PM