Digital Switch Over - Free to Air in an Emergency
Monday, January 19th, 2009
Free to Air in an Emergencyby Sammy Satellite. The digital switchover is now a mere month away and one of the biggest questions I’ve received is “What will happen to my portable analog television?” We all watch Satellite TV but still millions of people and many of Sammy’s readers have a small portable TV that we use when camping or in case of emergency. In the mid-west, when the bad weather hits and everyone heads for the basement, will have a way to stay informed after February 17, 2009? Battery-powered analog televisions are able to receive over-the-air free digital programming, but they must be connected to a digital-to-analog converter box and a separate broadcast antenna. The battery-powered analog television must have an “antenna in” port in order to connect it to a digital-to-analog converter box. Sounds simple enough but wait, it’s an emergency and the power is out. Now what? Ultimately, you need to find another source to feed power to the digital-to-analog converter box. The TV runs on batteries, but the converter box needs electricity from the wall. Fortunately, you do have a few options. These include external power sources with rechargeable battery packs, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), car battery adapters, or small power generators. There are also a few manufacturers that offer a separate battery pack for their converter box. One of them, the Winegard Battery Pack, allows you to run your Winegard converter box using 6 D cell batteries and will run for about 18 hours. The other option, the one that will probably cost you the most money, is to shell out for a battery-powered digital television. Look for models that are marked with words like “Integrated Digital Tuner,” “Digital Tuner Built-in,” “Digital Receiver,” “DTV,” “ATSC” or “HDTV.” Your local electronics store has probably received this question as often as I have so that would be a great place to start if you plan to toss the old analog and move up to a digital portable TV. The last emergency you need during an emergency is to be out of the loop so don’t forget to keep a battery-powered radio with your emergency kit so you can pick up news and weather bulletins. or If you aren’t a member but you need the latest working autoroll BIN files and keys to get your receiver back up now then Sign up with N2News below: |
|
1 Month Trial Membership |
|
|
|
 |
1 Month Free to Air Receiver Files and
Lifetime Membership |
|
|
|
|
