RE: [VAL] TV Antennas and the future of TV

["David Tidmore" <dtidmore@xxxxxxx>]

Bob, 
Your post was something of a catalyst, but not the reason.  As a EE and
someone who drank the HD KoolAid almost 5 years ago, I have stayed current
of what was happening.  I had been thinking about posting on the matter,
especially since Congress is now debating a hard cutoff date for NTSC. The
original legislation called for a cutoff date of Dec 31, 06 OR whenever 85%
of a viewing area could receive OTA ATSC (whatever that means), whichever is
later.  Now that Dec 31, 2006 is not that far off, Congress now sees that
the 85% clause is killing their desire to get back the spectrum and sell it.
The proposals now on the table range from removing the 85% rule, but keep
the 06 date to a new date somewhere in the future (Dec 2009 gets a lot of
talk).  An earlier date most likely will involve Federal subsidies for lower
income households to buy a converter box, while the later dates will most
likely leave the cost totally upto the buying public.  

Why is this important to RVing and Airstreaming?  Well take a look in most
Airstreams (vintage or newer) and you will see a TV and many will also have
satellite dishes.  All of that technology is currently in flux so anyone
buying anything new should know about what is happening.  Go right ahead and
pass my post on to anyone you feel is also knowledgeable. What I posted is
what is happening yet, few in general population know what is about to
happen.  BTW, I am all for the conversion to ATSC.  The quality, even at the
lowest resolution is far better than anything people see today.  The pain
will there and there will be many who question the reasoning, but just as we
have suffered through countless new generations of cell phone technology, we
will get through the conversion to digital TV. 

david