Now that the digital dust has settled a bit and all local TV stations have abandoned their analog channels for the new fangled digital replacement channels, there are still many people who are having problems receiving the transmissions over-the-air using an antenna. After reading and listening to all the expert opinions and recommendations, it is no wonder that many people are confused and, in some cases, frustrated. I thought I would add to the dialog and provide some information that may help you if you are having problems getting all the local channels using an antenna. Cable and satellite subscribers can stop reading right now.
While digital and analog over-the-air TV transmissions use essentially the same technology, digital signals are more prone to problems than the analog. Problems with analog TV reception appeared on your TV as “snow” or “ghosting.” Problems with digital signals are much more evident. They result in no picture or sound at all.
No matter if you have a new digital TV or are using a set top converter box, the key to good reception is the antenna. Depending on where you live, you may either be able to use a standard “rabbit ears” antenna or you will need something more sensitive. If you get good reception on all the channels, great. If you don’t, here are some tips.
Make sure that your antenna is designed to receive both UHF and VHF signals. While most digital broadcasting is done in the UHF band, in Cincinnati channels 9 and 12 use VHF. If your antenna has both a round loop and two telescoping rods, it is a UHF/VHF model for sure. But there are many new designs so read the box if you are buying a new one.
Try an amplified set top antenna. This often will do the trick for people living in our area, i.e., about 25 miles from most of the TV transmitters. Keep in mind, though, that amplified antennas and digital signals are strange bedfellows. This might seem counterintuitive, but if you are having problems and already are using an amplified antenna, turn it off. Strange as it is, too much signal is as bad as too little signal. The amplifier almost always helped analog signals but not so digital signals. Always start with no amplifier and then add it if you are not getting the channels.
A better antenna can also help. While there is no such thing as an HDTV antenna, there are many new designs for antennas that make them more sensitive and therefore better for digital broadcast applications. Some of them look nothing like the ones we used in our youth….you know, we attached aluminum foil to them in order to get “Bonanza” to come in clearly. Manufactures like Terk have a wide selection of both indoor and outdoor models.
Speaking of outdoor models... For sure, a good outdoor antenna pointed toward downtown Cincinnati will be your best option. You can get unbiased suggestions for the right antenna for your location at www.antennweb.org. Just type in your zip code and it will give you good advice.
Finally, there are some locations that no amount of amplification or antenna design or height will overcome. I hope you are not in one of these areas but, if you are, cable or satellite are your only options.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
bing.com, No Challenge to Goggle
It is always hard to try to unseat an incumbent be it in the political arena or in business. This is especially the case when the product or service has become part of the lexicon. A great example of this is found in Mircosoft’s renewed campaign to unseat Google as the leading online search engine. Using TV and print advertising, the computer giant is touting bing.com as everyman’s search engine.
There are and have been many challengers to Google over the years. Microsoft and others have invested millions in R&D and advertising only to throw in the towel and change the name a few times. Others survive but barely. Remember “AskJeves.com” now just “Ask.com?”
I did some searching on Google and bing to see what differences I would find. What I found is that there are two big differences and I don’t like either.
When you first sign on to bing.com you are greeted with a very colorful screen with a beautiful picture and fancy buttons. For me that is nice, but just as I really don’t care what my hammer looks like when I am pounding nails, I don’t need eye candy when I am doing a search. Save the beautiful pictures for Facebook..
The second “feature” that I find irritating is Mircosoft’s continued insistence on “helping” me do things. Using some set of arcane algorithms, many Microsoft programs decide what you want to do and then “help” you do it. While you can turn these features off, I still find myself working on a document in MS Word fighting the programs format functions. I don’t need help and if I see that cute animated paper clip one more time I am going to go nuts. I found the same “helps” in bing.
As for actual searching, bing does OK. I found some strange results but essentially the same results came back for searches in Google and bing. The difference was that bing tried to figure out what you really wanted and listed the results accordingly.
I for one will stay with Google. While “bing” is indeed part of the lexicon, I think it will stay that way because of the song “White Christmas” and not for its ability to look up the meaning of “white” or “Christmas.”
There are and have been many challengers to Google over the years. Microsoft and others have invested millions in R&D and advertising only to throw in the towel and change the name a few times. Others survive but barely. Remember “AskJeves.com” now just “Ask.com?”
I did some searching on Google and bing to see what differences I would find. What I found is that there are two big differences and I don’t like either.
When you first sign on to bing.com you are greeted with a very colorful screen with a beautiful picture and fancy buttons. For me that is nice, but just as I really don’t care what my hammer looks like when I am pounding nails, I don’t need eye candy when I am doing a search. Save the beautiful pictures for Facebook..
The second “feature” that I find irritating is Mircosoft’s continued insistence on “helping” me do things. Using some set of arcane algorithms, many Microsoft programs decide what you want to do and then “help” you do it. While you can turn these features off, I still find myself working on a document in MS Word fighting the programs format functions. I don’t need help and if I see that cute animated paper clip one more time I am going to go nuts. I found the same “helps” in bing.
As for actual searching, bing does OK. I found some strange results but essentially the same results came back for searches in Google and bing. The difference was that bing tried to figure out what you really wanted and listed the results accordingly.
I for one will stay with Google. While “bing” is indeed part of the lexicon, I think it will stay that way because of the song “White Christmas” and not for its ability to look up the meaning of “white” or “Christmas.”
Monday, June 15, 2009
My Radar Is Bigger Than Your Radar
I try my best not to use this weekly forum to express my personal opinions but rather try to offer facts and information to help you cut through the jargon and hype so prevalent with the home electronics industry. With a request for your indulgence I am going to depart from the norm.
A few weekends ago, a series of storms rolled through parts of the Cincinnati / Dayton area. For many of us it was a non event as, other then a few clouds and distant thunder, we were spared the rain and wind. I turned on the TV that evening to see again the “Crying Wolf” world of local TV weather reporting. Each of the local stations was on the air live tracking every drop of rain, every breeze and every glimmer of lighting using enough radar and graphics systems to make NASA envious.
This spring so far has been quite benign as it relates to severe weather. We have had very few storms and not much wind. Perhaps the relatively minor storm of May 30th was indeed “news” because we have had so few.
Perhaps the most telling comment was an exchange on camera between two weather persons. The ‘Chief Meteorologist’ asked the ‘Assistant Chief Meteorologist’ to check with the police department in a suburb and see what damage the storm had caused. He seemed genuinely crestfallen when the answer came back …”none!”
The local TV stations have invested so much money in purchasing these high tech tools, that just like a kid at Christmas who just has to ride that new bike in three feet of snow; they are giddy to use and show off the cool features. “My radar is better than your radar…nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!”
It is not only the weather reporters at the local level. You can see it on the national 24/7 news channels like CNN and Fox. I am sure that the water main break in Fargo is a great inconvenience for our fellow Americans in North Dakota, but does it really belong as a story on the national news with a reporter decked out in waders and raincoat providing commentary. I think not.
With so much information flooding our lives each day, we have to be selective in what we pay attention to. If every time that the sky darkens and rain falls becomes a “Noahesque” calamity, when a real storm hits we are all going to be oblivious to it . Let me know when storms are possible. I have enough sense to get out of the rain, thank you!
A few weekends ago, a series of storms rolled through parts of the Cincinnati / Dayton area. For many of us it was a non event as, other then a few clouds and distant thunder, we were spared the rain and wind. I turned on the TV that evening to see again the “Crying Wolf” world of local TV weather reporting. Each of the local stations was on the air live tracking every drop of rain, every breeze and every glimmer of lighting using enough radar and graphics systems to make NASA envious.
This spring so far has been quite benign as it relates to severe weather. We have had very few storms and not much wind. Perhaps the relatively minor storm of May 30th was indeed “news” because we have had so few.
Perhaps the most telling comment was an exchange on camera between two weather persons. The ‘Chief Meteorologist’ asked the ‘Assistant Chief Meteorologist’ to check with the police department in a suburb and see what damage the storm had caused. He seemed genuinely crestfallen when the answer came back …”none!”
The local TV stations have invested so much money in purchasing these high tech tools, that just like a kid at Christmas who just has to ride that new bike in three feet of snow; they are giddy to use and show off the cool features. “My radar is better than your radar…nyah, nyah, nyah, nyah!”
It is not only the weather reporters at the local level. You can see it on the national 24/7 news channels like CNN and Fox. I am sure that the water main break in Fargo is a great inconvenience for our fellow Americans in North Dakota, but does it really belong as a story on the national news with a reporter decked out in waders and raincoat providing commentary. I think not.
With so much information flooding our lives each day, we have to be selective in what we pay attention to. If every time that the sky darkens and rain falls becomes a “Noahesque” calamity, when a real storm hits we are all going to be oblivious to it . Let me know when storms are possible. I have enough sense to get out of the rain, thank you!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Real Books Anytime and Anywhere
The digital era is replete with promises that never quite get fulfilled. Remember the predictions that every home would one day have a library of CD Rom discs that would provide information from how to cook a pot roast to how to fix a leaking faucet? Never happened. How about the vision of a small army robots cleaning the bathroom or cutting the lawn? Still waiting? There are some recent developments that may make the prediction of radical changes in what we read and how we read it come true. I am not referring to electronic readers like Kindle™ that I wrote about a few weeks ago. This new technology provides a much more attractive reading experience.
A New York based company, On Demand Books LLC., has been developing a system that allows books to be printed on-demand. Founded in 2003, the company has developed and patented a machine that can print and bind a single book in a matter of minutes. The machine that looks like a standard office copier, albeit a bit larger, is connected via the internet to a database of millions of titles.
While having books available on line is nothing new, the reading experience of holding a bulky viewer or, worse, trying to read long passages on a small PDA or cell phone screen has kept the numbers of users of electronic readers quite limited. Like it or not the bound paper book is indeed very efficient and comfortable.
It is estimated that there are some 23,000 locations in the US that sell books; about 6,000 are book stores. For all of these stores, and even the behemoth online provider, Amazon.com, one of the big issues is “inventory.” What to stock and what not to have on hand. With thousands of titles coming available each year the problem gets more and more pronounced. A dozen copies of a book on the shelf gathering dust does not money make!
This new technology allows the placement of a kiosk with the Espresso Book Machine™ almost anywhere. A customer, in the space of a few minutes, can be provided with a printed copy of just about any book. The price of the on-demand book is very close to the price of a book printed in the traditional manner.
Right now there are only about a dozen of these machines in operation. Priced at over $100,000, they are not inexpensive. The company is still negotiating with publishers and authors for rights to offer various books. Authors and publishers should like this technology as it helps them protect their copyrights.
So some day soon when you are going to the beach and are looking for a good book, your choices at the local drug store might be a lot broader.
A New York based company, On Demand Books LLC., has been developing a system that allows books to be printed on-demand. Founded in 2003, the company has developed and patented a machine that can print and bind a single book in a matter of minutes. The machine that looks like a standard office copier, albeit a bit larger, is connected via the internet to a database of millions of titles.
While having books available on line is nothing new, the reading experience of holding a bulky viewer or, worse, trying to read long passages on a small PDA or cell phone screen has kept the numbers of users of electronic readers quite limited. Like it or not the bound paper book is indeed very efficient and comfortable.
It is estimated that there are some 23,000 locations in the US that sell books; about 6,000 are book stores. For all of these stores, and even the behemoth online provider, Amazon.com, one of the big issues is “inventory.” What to stock and what not to have on hand. With thousands of titles coming available each year the problem gets more and more pronounced. A dozen copies of a book on the shelf gathering dust does not money make!
This new technology allows the placement of a kiosk with the Espresso Book Machine™ almost anywhere. A customer, in the space of a few minutes, can be provided with a printed copy of just about any book. The price of the on-demand book is very close to the price of a book printed in the traditional manner.
Right now there are only about a dozen of these machines in operation. Priced at over $100,000, they are not inexpensive. The company is still negotiating with publishers and authors for rights to offer various books. Authors and publishers should like this technology as it helps them protect their copyrights.
So some day soon when you are going to the beach and are looking for a good book, your choices at the local drug store might be a lot broader.
Monday, June 1, 2009
"Getting There' Fun with a GPS
Summer is quickly approaching. Kids will be out of school, and with any luck, the folks at Exxon will show a bit of restraint with gas prices. For many, after a year’s hiatus, the summer road trip may be in the cards. In days gone by, loading up Fido and the kids, after making sure that the old “Chev” is working properly, used to be about all you needed to do in order to be ready for that trip to Aunt Esmeralda and Uncle Otto’s house at the lake. Oh, you may have stopped by the local filling station to pick up one of those free road maps. Yes I said “free.”
Finding that “free” road map may be harder than finding gas for less than $2.50 per gallon. Instead many of us will rely on a GPS unit to get us to our summer fun spots.
GPS or Global Positioning Satellite technology has been with us for many years. Once a pricey option for high end automobiles, the units have become much more functional and compact. Some connect to a lap top while others can fit in your pocket. Of course you can still get them installed as a factory option in about any model of car.
Over the years I have owned two GPS units. The first one was a very early model with a postage stamp sized back and white screen displaying very simple graphics. Most recently, my wife gave me a new pocket size model that has a large color screen, and enough navigation features to guide an aircraft carrier. The model I have even “talks”, giving directions as we drive. (Since you can choose the type of voice and language, I selected a woman’s voice with a British accent. It makes me feel a bit continental as I drive to Columbus.)
Portable models start at about $100 and go up from there. You will be surprised at the features that are incorporated into even the most inexpensive models. Here are a few things to consider when buying a GPS unit:
Make sure that it can be updated. Most have a USB connection that allows you to periodically connect with the manufacturer’s web site to download updated information. Since roads, new businesses and attractions are stored in the GPS, you want to make sure you have the most current ones. You don’t want to find out that the gas station you were counting on, and the GPS indicated was just over the next mountain, is no longer there.
If you are going to use the GPS on a bike or while walking, make sure that it has settings for that use. The scale and sensitivity is different for use in slow moving vehicles or walking than it is while driving on an expressway.
If you are going to use the GPS on a bike or while walking make sure that the internal battery has adequate life.
Go with one of the major manufactures like Garmin® or TomTom®. They both put out very good products and have good customer support.
Finally, if you do get a GPS, play with it while walking or in your own backyard. When you first get it and use it in your car you will be tempted to watch that little screen more than the road. Better to look at that semi slowing down in front of you than the neat graphic on the GPS.
Finding that “free” road map may be harder than finding gas for less than $2.50 per gallon. Instead many of us will rely on a GPS unit to get us to our summer fun spots.
GPS or Global Positioning Satellite technology has been with us for many years. Once a pricey option for high end automobiles, the units have become much more functional and compact. Some connect to a lap top while others can fit in your pocket. Of course you can still get them installed as a factory option in about any model of car.
Over the years I have owned two GPS units. The first one was a very early model with a postage stamp sized back and white screen displaying very simple graphics. Most recently, my wife gave me a new pocket size model that has a large color screen, and enough navigation features to guide an aircraft carrier. The model I have even “talks”, giving directions as we drive. (Since you can choose the type of voice and language, I selected a woman’s voice with a British accent. It makes me feel a bit continental as I drive to Columbus.)
Portable models start at about $100 and go up from there. You will be surprised at the features that are incorporated into even the most inexpensive models. Here are a few things to consider when buying a GPS unit:
Make sure that it can be updated. Most have a USB connection that allows you to periodically connect with the manufacturer’s web site to download updated information. Since roads, new businesses and attractions are stored in the GPS, you want to make sure you have the most current ones. You don’t want to find out that the gas station you were counting on, and the GPS indicated was just over the next mountain, is no longer there.
If you are going to use the GPS on a bike or while walking, make sure that it has settings for that use. The scale and sensitivity is different for use in slow moving vehicles or walking than it is while driving on an expressway.
If you are going to use the GPS on a bike or while walking make sure that the internal battery has adequate life.
Go with one of the major manufactures like Garmin® or TomTom®. They both put out very good products and have good customer support.
Finally, if you do get a GPS, play with it while walking or in your own backyard. When you first get it and use it in your car you will be tempted to watch that little screen more than the road. Better to look at that semi slowing down in front of you than the neat graphic on the GPS.
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