When the nationwide tour of the DTV Road Show stopped in the North State last week it was a non-stop barrage of questions from local TV viewers. "How do I know if my TV is digital or not?" "Do I need a converter box?" "How do I hook it up?"
Angie Malone: " A lot of them are scared of technology, they don't know what it means for them. After they visit with us and the roadshow crew they realize that it is a positive thing. When you upgrade to digital, not only are you getting better sound and better pictures, but you're getting better channels and more channels for free."
With just four weeks remaining until the North State makes the digital switch now is the time to take action. I decided to bring a new converter box, along with Action News chief engineer David Sien, and pay a visit to self-described DTV procrastinator Brian Haley of Chico.
Alan: "There's your TV, why don't you tell us a little about what your television situation is." Brian: "i've got just the rabbit ears and whatever I get, I get."
And what Brian gets with his analog TV and rabbit ears isn't much. Some stations are fuzzier than others. Some stations don't come in at all. But regardless, they'll all go away when the analog signals are shut off permanently. And so we've brought Brian a digital-to-analog converter box which allows him to receive a digital signal on his analog TV.
Dave: " Okay Brian, first let's hook up the audio/video leads in the back. Just match up the colors." Brian: "just plug them right in?" Dave: " Uh huh. Then these will plug right in to the tv. Again you just match up the colors, yellow white and red."
Now the converter box becomes the tuner. Rather than changing channels on his TV, from now on Brian will select the video source his converter box is plugged in to and then change channels on the converter box. And as it turns out he gets even fewer channels with the digital signals that with the analog.
Dave: " There's a lot of issues with just rabbit ears that people tend to forget as people move around in the room the signal may vary. If you have a computer in the room it's liable to interfere."
And digital signals simply do not come in snowy. Either it's strong, or it doesn't come in at all. If you want to see all the digital channels available in the North State, you will need a roof-top antenna. And, with the help of John Campbell of Campbell Distributing in Chico, we've got brian covered.
Brian: " There's 12 there." Dave: " There's Channel 12. The CW Network. There's channel 24. There's accuweather. There's 30. My 21. So you've got a whole hoop of channels now."
And now Brian Haley is ready to start a whole new life as a bona fide couch potato.
Brian: " I'm used to watching fuzzy channels. I'm used to watching stuff come in and out, having to adjust the antenna constantly." Alan: " And some channels you haven't been watching because you haven't been getting them." Brian: " I didn't know half these channels existed."
You can expect to be pleasantly surprised too.
