Friday, June 12, 2009

The End of a Rabbit Ear-a: The DTV Transition Begins!

Welp, Angelenos, the time has come. Are you ready for the DTV era? If not, the Militant hopes you know where to turn and what to do.

Today, various local televisions made the switch and shut down their analog signals forever, at their own specified time schedules. The Militant discovered that KABC had already made the full switch, and in the process, changed the frequency of its DTV channel so that it also no longer works. You have to re-scan your HDTV/DTV's tuner to pick up the new frequency.

At 1:10 p.m. today, the Militant witnessed history as KCAL 9 switched off the analog signal it has been broadcasting since August 25, 1948 (as KFI-TV, then KHJ-TV in 1951), and captured it on his Militant Cam!

Missed it? Watch the YouTube video below taken by the Militant himself to see it happen!





After KCAL switched, he also found his previously-viewed DTV Channel 9-1 was no longer viewable. A simple re-scan brought back KCAL 9-1 at the new frequency. Apparently you're gonna have to do the re-scan boogie for the next few days.

The Militant has been enjoying digital TV since he got the new Samsung HDTV set to replace the old cathode ray tube at the Militant Compound last year. He loves the new sub-channels, and awaits the creation of a few more in the near future. Being that the Militant does not have cable (Paying for TV that shows commercials is teh 'tarded, and honestly, if the Militant had cable, he would be more of a Militant Couch Potato than anything else...).

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

KCAL's switch was so anti-climactic. I saw KLCS' switch at 3 p.m. and really liked it. The analog channel signed off with a montage of its many logos, then POOF, analog gone.

Militant Angeleno said...

soledadenmasa: That was cool! BTW KLCS has like 8 subchannels! The Militant may or may not do a review of the new local DTV subchannels in the near future!

philpalm said...

When the channel name has HD after a hypen it is supposedly high definition. The DT just stands for digital transmission.

After scanning (at a Hollywood location)I found KDOC-HD 56-1 but 9-1 was too weak to come in.

KLCS 58 (58.1, 58-2, 58-3 seems to be a good substitute for 28. Even though 28's station is in East Hollywood why the poor reception?

Militant Angeleno said...

Philpalm: HD = DT; they are interchangeable terms. High Definition means the sharper picture transmitted via digital signals and the 16:9 aspect ratio of the screen image.

As for poor reception, the location of the station is not a factor; it is the location and/or strength of its transmitter, most of which are atop Mount Wilson above Pasadena.

You may or may not have to invest in a stronger DT antenna.

Imee said...

Rabbit ear-a. LOL. Great post!