Earlier I was unconcerned about the analog cutoff on June 12th as I had been watching digital channels for several months already. However, I was surprised that two major TV stations in my area ABC-WJLA and CBS-WUSA switched their broadcasts from UHF to VHF on 6/12. This was disappointing because while I received their channels during the transition, I am now having difficulty. I did not notice the problem right away as most other channels continued to come in just fine.
It seems the point of the transition period was to allow people to prepare ahead of time by making sure they can pick up the digital stations. I do not see the logic in stations switching from powerful UHF signals to weaker VHF signals at the last moment. I’ve spent some time repositioning a couple different antennae, in fact accidentally bumping my head on the mantel at one point. I will post again once I reach a good solution.
I am not the only one disappointed with the DTV switchover. Rob Pegoraro is covering the issue for the Washington Post:
Worse yet, the two local stations to move their digital signals from UHF frequencies, which worked well in all of my tests, to the VHF slots once occupied by their analog broadcasts — ABC’s WJLA and CBS’s WUSA — now have severe reception problems…
Neither of these results come close to the Federal Communications Commission’s estimates (WJLA, WUSA) of their post-transition coverage. I am not alone in this predicament; since Friday, I’ve seen similar reports in my own e-mail, on Twitter, frequently vituperative comments on each station’s site, and in the AVS Forum’s discussion of Washington/Baltimore DTV reception.
Update 08/19/09
The headache has gone away. I previously had a version of the Silver Sensor antenna without rabbit ears. After ordering the Terk Technology HDTVi VHF/UHF HDTV Indoor Antenna
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