On Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:07:28 -0500, Ann wrote:

These maps show the both the individual stations' analog coverage areas
and new DTV coverage areas. For example three fringe VHS stations I
now receive have cut their coverage areas (and changed the pattern) -
which explains why I don't/won't receive their UHF digital signal.

"Map Book of All Full-Power Digital Television Stations Authorized by the
FCC"
http://www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets/

This looks like a useful thing, until you look at the choices. They
are only the biggest cities. Where I live, the stations come from
smaller cities, and they are not on the list. Once again, us rural
folks are ignored. That's my major gripe about DTV. Anyone in medium
or large city can buy a converter and brag how they got more stations
and (supposedly) a better picture.

The rest of us in small cities or rural areas are either losing
channels or not getting any. Or else we get constant dropouts and
blank screens. I never much complained when I'd get periods of snow
and sometimes almost full picture loss on analog. I could always at
least still hear the sound and continue with the program I was
watching. It was rare it would get so bad that I'd have to leave that
channel. I very much hate the ALL or NOTHING signals of DTV. Either
it works perfectly, or the station is blank. That is more than
annoying. THen there are those screen breakups, where it looks like
someone made a jigsaw puzzle out of the picture. Also very annoying.
Much worse than screen "snow".

What really irks me the most is that they call this "progress".
Progress is when something gets BETTER and/or EASIER to use. This is
NOT progress. And for those who think the picture is better, I
honestly dont see any difference (when I do get a signal). Sure, its
a perfect picture, but half the time there is no picture at all. I've
gotten a "perfect" picture on analog tv too, and when it's not
perfect, its still watchable most of the time. If *I* was the person
to make the choice of what IS progress, I'd choose ANALOG. The reason
is simple. When I'm watching a football game, I want to watch that
game. If the screen gets a little fuzzy, I can still see the game.
But when a DTV signal goes blank, I'm finished watching the program.

Once again, the city folks will seldon have blackouts (signal loss),
so they will be happy and brag how great DTV is, but us rural folks
(who are the least likely to have access to cable tv), will be left
out in the cold, with a tv that only works part of the time and at any
moment can just lose signal in the middle of an important program.

I dont have access to cable, and doubt it will ever happen in the near
future. Satellite tv is extremely expensive around here. So, as far
as I'm concerned, I will be left with a worthless tv, converter or
not.

Jim