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Digital TV problems are weird, plentiful

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Richard Mullins

rmullins@tampatrib.com

Published: June 28, 2009

Jerry Ulcek tried everything to get a good digital TV signal to appear on his bedroom TV. Then he found a solution, and I am not making this up.

He jammed a metal paper clip into the antenna socket. And it sort of works, for one station. "Sometimes, CBS is the only station I can pick up on that TV," Ulcek said, chuckling.

This would be merely odd, except for Ulcek's employer, the Federal Communications Commission. He's an electrical engineer, who is tracking signal problems with digital TV in the Tampa Bay area, and they are as weird as they are many.

"There can be pockets of bad reception around town for one station, or within a house itself," Ulcek said.

So much for high-tech digital broadcasting. Sure, it's fine when it works. Digital TV broadcasts can bring in more channels, a clearer image and some cool new features, such as on-screen channel guides that you usually see only on cable or satellite service.

But that's when it works.

I've taken a lot of calls about digital TV in the two weeks since broadcasters unplugged their analog transmission and went to digital only. Digital television seems to have come into the world with a salad bar of weird twists and turns, breakdowns and setbacks. Count yourself lucky if you have pay television and don't have to deal with this.

Nielsen estimates that 2.1 million American households, or 1.8 percent of the television market, were unable to receive digital television signals through the week ending June 21.

Joan Rhodes is among them. She just wants to watch her NCIS and CSI. "I like all those crime shows," Rhodes said. But two weeks into the transition to digital television, and it looks like Rhodes is among thousands of people just out of luck.

She can't receive CBS, likely because she's in Plant City and the CBS station that carries NCIS has its transmitter more than 30 miles away in New Port Richey.

For nearly everyone else, having a DTV converter box perform a "rescan" fixes nearly all problems with TV reception. Rescans force the box to survey all available TV channels for any local broadcasters. (Follow instructions for your particular box.)

The FCC, however, found some stubborn boxes don't like following directions. They need an ominous-sounding "double rescan." That means unplugging the box from the wall, waiting a few minutes. (Staring meanly at it won't hurt), and finally plugging it back in and starting over. That seems to help, somewhat, the FCC says.

In the meantime, the FCC in Tampa is all but begging the local CBS station to apply for new transmitter space in Tampa to "fill in" areas the station can't reach - particularly in the west and south of the Bay area.

CBS officials, for their part, say they know the New Port Richey tower can bring issues, and they're surveying the area and counting complaint calls to try and discern patterns they could fix.

Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919.

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