The shutdown of U.S. analog TV service on Friday appears to have gone relatively smoothly, but as expected, a lot of viewers are having problems getting the stations they want.
The problems have ensnared even the technologically sophisticated.
Wally Grotophorst in Hamilton, Va., got a “digital” antenna for his digital TV last year. But on Friday, he lost the Washington-based ABC and CBS stations, channels 7 and 9, which he could pick up digitally before the transition.
That’s because those stations, like dozens of others, switched their digital signals from the UHF frequency band to the VHF band as they cut their analog signals Friday. But Grotophorst’s antenna, like many others branded as “digital” and sold over the past few years, was designed only for UHF stations. Nearly all TV stations were using the UHF band for the digital broadcasts until Friday.
“This moving down to the VHF spectrum was news. The stations didn’t advertise the fact,” Grotophorst said.
He’s now regretting that he recycled his old rooftop VHF antenna.
“The station did warn viewers about this change but not everyone got the word,” said Bill Lord, vice president of news at ABC7. “The station has made the switch and there is no going back.”
There are TV antennas that can receive both UHF and VHF bands. In the indoor version, these have long extendable poles — the “rabbit ears” — for VHF reception and a loop for UHF.
Brett Whitten, a technology consultant in Philadelphia, lost the ABC-affiliated Channel 6 for the same reason. He was unsuccessful in attempts to improvise a VHF antenna out of wire, helped by instructions he found online.
According to a Monday evening newscast, that station was talking to the Federal Communications Commission to see if it could increase its output power. That could help with reception, at least for those who have…