The Linear Canvas

On February 17, all full power broadcast TV stations will be shutting down their old style transmitters and turning on a new one. The new transmitter will be a digital (computer) signal that will not work on many older TV sets. Even some TV’s bought in the last five to ten years are not capable of receiving the new broadcasts. Some that are capable may just need reprogrammed.

There are two ways of upgrading your TV if it needs it. If you have a standard TV, you can use a Digital TV converter. If you have a monitor or a computer, you will need a digital TV tuner. Part of the cost of the digital converter is covered by a $40 coupon available from the government. The ones I have seen have had an antenna input, antenna output, and video/audio connectors. That means even the digital converter can work in many applications including computers and monitors. Just don’t expect high definition until you buy a new TV. To obtain the coupon for the converter, go to https://www.dtv2009.gov or call 1-888-388-2009.

The bottom line is that if you have an outside antenna or rabbit ears on your TV, you need to do something before February 17, unless you want to give up watching TV forever. If you have cable TV or a satellite dish, you should be alright. If you have cable and your picture goes off on your local channels after February 17, you need to call your cable company. They obviously dropped the ball.

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I have almost always been in a business related to TV since I was sixteen. I started working for Hobart Francis at Francis Radio and TV, an RCA dealer in London, Ohio then. I worked for him on and off for about eight years. Later I got into cable television. I have pretty much been a cable guy in one form or another ever since. I worked as a microwave television broadcast engineer for a number of years.

I’ve always been interested in video hardware. I still enjoy hooking up video systems. The complexity of systems I have built ranges all the way to QAM digital. I am an expert at analog television and distribution networks. Currently I help construct modern bi-directional coaxial networks, but I would have to say most of what I know was originally inspired by one thing.
The TV.

I had a Zenith baseband video/audio system in the 1980’s that was built out of individual components, like a home stereo system. It was all standard audio component size too. I believe that is the niche Zenith was trying to fill with it. They wanted to replace mid-grade audio systems and begin to integrate audio components with video gear. Not a bad idea. Maybe a little too ahead of its time.

It was a line of  TV’s that Zenith made for a short period called VHT, for Video High Tech. It had a baseband  cable ready tuner, a baseband video/stereo audio /RF switching unit, and a separate 19" RGB monitor. The retail price of the Zenith components alone were about $1200, and that was about 1984.

It also had it’s own stereo amp and speakers. It had many standard audio amp features, but was only about 25 watts per channel. I used my higher powered stereo for the TV usually. Later I bought a surround decoder and used the Zenith amp with it. I probably had close to $3000 in the whole system in the end.

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EMR (Electromagnetic Radiation) is a dangerous by-product of our wireless age. I have been a Radio Frequency (RF) Engineer for over fifteen years and have been exposed to microwave (MW) EMR on a fairly regular basis during that time. The same precautions that RF professionals take are also advisable for people who are exposed to EMR from consumer products.

EMR safety is an often ignored issue because of the ease of use that wireless products allow. But EMR is a lethal component of products like cell phones, wireless phones, blue tooth accessories, WiFi network hotspots, and wireless television broadcasting. Long term usage studies are beginning to show a cause and effect relationship to serious illnesses related to EMR exposure. European Union countries currently advise parents to not allow cell phone use by children and young adults, based on the heat generated by MW radiation from the phone’s antenna.

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