Turns out that getting ready for the big digital transition, set (for now) to go off three weeks from today, involves more than simply updating your TV, buying a converter box or making sure your cable or satellite subscriptions are up-to-date.
Consumers also have to contend with old VCRs, problematic reception and cable companies whose schedules don't quite jibe with everyone else's.
For months now, broadcast TV stations have been heralding the changeover from analog to digital, through commercial spots, news segments, even special programs like the one that aired last night on Maryland Public Television. Notices in post offices and other government offices have been telling people what they need to do to be ready for Feb. 17. There have been two tests of the digital broadcast system, on Dec. 17 and Jan. 15, during which TV owners could see if their sets were ready for the transition.
A handful of additional questions have come up, however, including:
What about my old VCRs or DVD players? Will they be affected?
Yes, if you use them to tune your TV and don't have a cable or satellite connection (that is, you use the channel selector on the VCR or DVD player rather than the TV). The same thing applies to them as applies to your television: If the devices don't have a digital tuner and aren't connected to a converter box, they won't be any good after Feb. 17.
Of course, you'd still be able to use your older machines to watch DVDs or VCRs. You just won't be able to pick up the broadcast TV signal with them.
I'm connected to a cable system, but when the broadcast stations ran their tests, a message appeared on my TV screen telling me I wasn't ready for the transition. What gives?
Here's betting you live in northern Anne Arundel and have Broadstripe as your cable provider. If, like Broadstripe, your cable company is not yet set up to receive the digital signal from the broadcast stations, you're going to fail the test. But Broadstripe spokesman Frank Scotello promises, "Once Feb. 17 comes, we will be all prepared."
Once the changeover is made from analog to digital, will I receive the same stations I've always received?
Maybe. Maybe not. It's possible the digital signal may not get through to the same areas the analog signal did; you may have to align your indoor or outdoor antennae differently to get the best reception. And people who live on the other side of a mountain from their broadcast stations' transmission towers, or who live deep down in a valley and have always had trouble tuning in their TV stations, may have the same troubles.
