Digital TV

[Larry Sochrin]

Might as well ring in from Brookline Village. Actually, we have a  
master digital antenna in my very large condo complex.  But  
periodically, I'll get the bad signal or no signal message,  
especially on channel 2 (WGBH), both versions, but sometimes  
elsewhere. Playing with connector cables sometimes helps. But  
occasionally, doing a rescan (add a new channel) nearby will bring it  
back in.  So that raises a different question, which is what would  
cause a station that was coming in perfectly fine to suddenly need a  
rescan?  I split the antenna into two different brands of converter  
box, and each one of them needs the rescan when this happens.  Other  
times, things correct themselves and then it disappears again.  And  
occasionally, when a picture breaks up some,  I find that physically  
shifting myself makes it better or worse.    And that's not to  
mention the fact that since I didn't want to buy a DVR/TIVO, I bought  
two different converter boxes that have event timers built in. As a  
result, I have to program both the converter and the VCR to record a  
program, and, of course, sometimes the converter boxes decide not to  
obey my programming.  But in fairness, when things are working, the  
image is better than it was prior to digital.