Digital TV Transition: How to Guide and Information

We've all by now have heard about the DTV transition and what we can expect. I have worked in the Cable Industry for the past 10 years as a Cable Service Installer and in Management. I'm here to de-bunk the myths I have heard and sure many of you have heard, and also give you the facts on what will actually take place during this transition, also I will go over how to install a DTV converter box. I have done the work on most DTV sites and will give you a walkthrough on how to find all the info you will need to be DTV ready. The current date for the switch is set for June 12^th 2009 and as of right now the government plans to complete the switch on this date. What DTV means in short is if you don't have cable service hooked up to your house (meaning even if the line to your house is there if you don't have an account with the cable provider in your area) or if you don't have satellite service in your home you will need a DTV converter box to continue receiving TV signal after this date. Now one of the first things you will need to know before purchasing a DTV converter box is if your TV has a built in tuner, if it does you may not need a converter box at all. To find out if your TV has a built in tuner you can check the user manual or if you don't have the manual you can go to DTVTransition.org click on the "Is your TV a DTV?" link and use the web tool there to check for your make and model TV. You can find the Model # of many TV on the back panel or in the user manual. If you find the make and model on this tool you should see a message that says "congratulations your TV is DTV ready all you need to do for the switch is hook up an antenna." This means exactly that all you need to continue receiving off air signal is hook up an antenna, if you're currently hooked up with an antenna you need to do nothing during this switch. Now if your TV is not listed on DTVTransition.org you will need a DTV converter box, now the type of box you need is a little important because you need to make sure it is digital rated. Many manufactures have already listed on the box if it is DTV compatible for your convenience. Most boxes on screen features are similar but depending on your box the menu options could be different from others. However before we get to the box you will need to make sure you have the right antenna. Now depending were you live can greatly decide which antenna is best, for those who live in rural areas such as "the country" as its described popularly and Outdoor antenna is best mainly because if the broadcasting antenna is a great distance from your home such as 35 or more miles away the small indoor antenna can have a difficult time picking up all the channels you could receive with an outdoor antenna. Please note that after June 12, 2009, some stations will be moving to a different frequency band, so you should check whether that is the case in your area before deciding which type of antenna you need. {DTVTransition.org}. there are two types of frequency bands: UHF (Channels 14-51) and VHF (Channels 2-13). Most DTV stations use channels in the UHF band, although some are in the VHF band. So you will likely need an antenna that can receive UHF signals, but if any stations in your area broadcast on VHF, then you will need a combination VHF/UHF antenna. Receiving VHF and UHF requires different types of antennas. If your existing antenna is VHF-only, then you will need to replace it. {DTVTransition.org}. Now even with the right antenna this does not mean you will receive all the channels listed above, mainly because a lot of these channels will be moved to a digital package which does mean without Cable or Satellite service you will not be able to receive those channels. Now the channels you will or wont receive is mainly a local thing depending on your Cable service provider in your area, example is if say Fox or USA networks move to a digital package this would mean these channels would move from off air broadcast and in order to receive them you would need cable service from your local cable provider and one of the cable companies digital boxes. I urge you to check with your local cable provider in your area and check with them because like the company I work for many companies are not advertising which stations will and won't move to a digital package.

Now that the basics have been covered, I want to eliminate one myth now. I get asked a lot by customers I visit that have cable service to there home just don't have a digital box, now if you have cable service to your home and have a cable cord from the wall outlet to the back of your TV you will still receive TV service after the transition; you are in fact "good to go" as they say. However, you may lose some channels if those channels move to a digital package and you do not have a digital box. The myth is if you have cable service through your cable provider you can receive the digital package channels through your DTV box if you have one, this is false the digital channels offered in a digital package or bundle as it's called by some cable companies can not be accessed through a DTV box you would in fact need the Digital box offered by your provider which in short means, if you have cable service just no box and want to receive digital channels offered in a bundle from your provider you would need to call your provider and upgrade to a digital package. Now with that said, once you have your DTV box and antenna actually installing this combination can be a bit confusing for some, you can go to DTVTransition.org to download a complete instruction guide or you can follow these steps as I will list each step how I install these boxes everyday. First you will need 1 cable cord most DTV boxes come with 1 cable cord in the box. However, the cord supplied is usually a thin cord called RG-59 wire I myself recommend purchasing a RG-6 cable wire because it is a more reliable wire, RG-6 wire can be picked up fairly cheap from your local wal-mart or any electronic store. If your antenna does not have a built in wire on it that can be hooked up to the back of your box you will need a second cable cord. I will cover hooking up both kinds of antennas, if your antenna has a wire on it take that wire and on the back of your DTV box you will see 2 ports on it one that says antenna in and one that says output to TV or antenna out. First take the cord on your antenna and hook it up to the port on the box that says antenna in. Once this is done the other port that says out to TV hook your cable cord onto it and the other end of the cable cord will hook up to the back of your TV set. Now turn your TV to channel 3 and you should see the start-up screen if you don't your box may work on channel 4 check this channel and if you still have snow and no picture re-check your connections to insure your box is hooked up like instructed above. One way to quickly check is look at the back of the DTV box and if there is a small selector switch that has 2 options that says ch3 and ch4 were ever the switch is on is the channel you will need to turn your TV to. If your antenna does not have a built in cable cord and just a port were a cable cord can hook to, all you need to do is take that second cable cord hook it up on your antenna and to the port on your box that says antenna in then hook up to the rest of the box like stated above. Another way is to hook up the from the DTV box to the TV is with what's called RF connection witch is three color coded ports and unless your familiar with RF connections or know somebody who is I recommend hooking your box up the way stated above. If you are going to be hooking your DTV box up through a VCR, DVR or DVD recorder for recording purposes you can go to www.DTVTransition.org and get a instruction guide on how to do this, Because this can be a little difficult and lengthy to explain in writing.

Once your DTV box is hooked up and your ready to scan for channels some DTV boxes scan automatically whereas others require you to scan for channels manually this is were I recommend referring to your DTV boxes instruction manual on how to scan for channels because each box sets up differently and you will need to scan for channels before your ready to enjoy watching your new digital TV. If you find the instruction manual difficult to understand you may want to call a friend or relative to assist you in this, if you don't have anyone to call you can always e-mail me with your make and model box and I can assist you with scanning your box for channels.

One last thing in closing I'd like to inform all the readers of this is that LPTV which stands for low-power television. Low-power television (LPTV) stations are not required by law to switch to all-digital broadcasting on June 12, 2009. LPTV stations, which include smaller stations and "translator" stations that boost a signal's strength at distances far from the main station's transmitter, may continue analog broadcasting after the transition to digital. {DTVTransition.org}. Now what this means is certain converter boxes have an analog pass-through feature and what that does is converts the digital signal into a format viewable for analog TV sets. If you purchased a converter box without this feature and would like to watch LPTV programming, you will need to either unplug the converter box to receive the analog signals transmitted by these stations or install an "antenna splitter" device that hooks up to your box and TV set. {DTVTransition.org}. Unfortunately because I am currently employed in management with a national leading Cable Provider I cant go into detail how to install a Antenna splitter device, I can however tell you they are fairly simple to install and can be purchased at any electronic store and for a pretty reasonable price. If you'd like to learn more about LPTV you can go to www.DTVTransition.org or by going to www.LPTVAnswers.com.

In short I hope you find this guide useful and again I encourage you if you have any trouble at all with this transition as far as questions about the transition or more info on how to install a DTV box please email me and I will get back to you with any answer I Can. If I don't have the answer myself I will find it for you or direct you to the place you can get more answers.

Retailer Best Buy has an installation video available for download at www.geeksquad.com/services/dtv.aspx. Broadcasting & Cable Magazine's DTV Transition 101, "Hooking up a DTV Converter Box," video can be viewed at: www.broadcastingcable.com/flashVideo/element_id/2140255354/taxid/31763.html. {DTVtransition.org}