ReRe: FCC - cable dual visability

[SteveOrdinetz]

  Scott Fybush wrote:

>If the transition goes as planned, most of Robert's concerns should 
>prove to be unfounded. Next January or February, viewers who use 
>over-the-air analog TV will be able to get $40 coupons that should 
>cover most of the cost of the inexpensive ($50-60) converter boxes 
>that will hit the market when the coupons come out. That leaves the 
>net cost for the box at $10 or $20 per set, which is really a 
>pittance. (Who pays for those coupons? That's the payoff to the 
>public from the auction of the 700 MHz spectrum that's being cleared 
>by analog TV.)
>
>Meanwhile, the TV stations have been building out full-power DTV 
>facilities. There's every reason to expect that Albany stations that 
>are viewable in analog in a place like New Lebanon will still be 
>viewable in digital - and with a much cleaner picture, to boot. (No 
>need to move antennas around, either, as all the market's signals 
>will be coming from a single shared tall tower in the Helderbergs.)

I, for one am skeptical.  Unlike analog, where fringe-are reception 
is possible if you don't mind a slightly snowy picture digital is 
either perfect or non-existent.  Those of us like myself who live 
where there are only a couple so-so signals (and no cable) are SOL 
unless we spring for satellite tv.  In our household we don't watch 
enough to justify the cost.  I also wonder how good the tuners are in 
the el-cheapo converter boxes.  Most digital tuners for analog tvs 
are pretty deaf compared to an old-style analog tv tuner (ie-rotary tuner).