Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Your DTV Antenna and DTV Viewing Schedules: And, Yes---I *STILL* Want My DTV---*DAMNIT*!

I created a Blog in 2009 not to specifically blog, myself (obviously), but to be able to help a friend with hers (navigating the Blogger.com site; how-to tips, etc.).


Thus, it started out with a fairly, innocuous topic: My zeal for the 2007 re-make of “3:10 To Yuma.” I’d stated it was my “most favorite” Film, but I should’ve been more accurate in my qualification of it: I’m not obsessed with it; it’s just that when I wrote that inaugural piece in 2009, it was, in fact, *the only thing* (let alone, Film-wise) truly, worth watching on my dreary, cable t.v. line-up (and Showtime, of course, is sans commercial interruption). I’d scroll through the Guide, past all the crummy “reality” show droppings on E!, Bravo, VH-1; the re-runs of HISTORY Channel shows (worth watching) but still, I’d seen them all before, so, if I saw that “3:10 To Yuma” was on "SHO," I’d go to it, no matter where, duration-wise, in the Film, it was running; a Film is a collaborative act of creativity (documentaries, per se, no matter how well or artistically presented, are still a form of journalism; reporting). With a fiction-based Film, one can *always* find something interesting to discover with repetitious viewing (lighting, framing; a subtle, brilliant turn of an Actor’s phrase, how a musical soundtrack is employed, etc.). I’ve probably got a list of at *LEAST*, fifty-hundred *other* Films which I adore just as much as this one, with the brilliant “The Mystery of Rampo” (Mayuzumi-Okuyama; 1994) being the first title to pop into my head, followed by “Barry Lyndon” (Kubrick; 1975), “Rashomon” (Kurosawa; 1950), and…well, you get my drift.

So, what makes me get into "a Blog mood" on January 25, 2011---after last month’s, sweet, little, Santy Claus verse? Well, I figured it was *about time* I weighed-in on “the DTV experience,” post-July 2, 2009.

I still want my DTV: Byte-for-byte, it is infinitely more value-packed than anything either the cable or satellite packages have to offer.

So, without a DTV Guide, in hand, to see what is scheduled for broadcast, one need only go to the Web (AOL Television has a great resource):

http://tvlistings.aol.com/listings/state/city/provider?zipcode=&elicit=non_auth_location

Pop in your ZIP; click “Next” then ignore all of the cable and satellite company providers listed; scroll down to the “Broadcast” radio button (this will take you to a page with your nearest, big city broadcasting location---in my case, it’s “Los Angeles”); click into the button, then click “Save.” And voilĂ ---there’s *your* local schedule; if you’re using IE as a browser, go to the toolbar above; click on the yellow star w/the green arrow (next to the word “Favorites”) to bookmark your personalized Guide atop as a readily-available page.

This t.v. schedule service is probably, the *only good* thing I can say about “AO-Hell.”

In re “radio buttons”: A “radio button” has nothing to do with radios, like you listen to, but rather, refers to a little “circle” thingie that you can click into in order to answer “Yes” or “No” or whatever in a computer program/format you’re working in.

I can’t emphasize the importance of purchasing a good, digital antenna, and my choice was the PHILIPS MANT950. For my location, in Orange County, California, the best compass orientation for the antenna is 334 degrees.

To find yours, go to:

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

And click on the “Choose an Antenna” button; pop in your address and answer all radio button questions; click “Submit” and verify your address location on the Google map which will come up; click on “Continue” to go to the next page; scroll down and there’s your personalized, “Stations” page which lists each DTV channel and all other pertinent information, including the all-important, specific, compass orientation in which to have your antenna positioned for optimum reception.

You also need an adequate DTV converter box; check “Fry’s Electronics” or whatever outlet in your area provides the best variety of choices (I’ve got an “Insignia” AKB36157101; w/remote control [all converter boxes will have one---running on either AA or AAA batts.])

Debate continues in re needing a converter box when dealing with “new” televisions vs. old, tube-analog ones; my advice, get one, anyway, for your sleek, new, flat panel t.v. made in China, because, while, in theory, you ought “not need” a box, I’ve observed differently insofar as pixilation occurrences, etc., and the internal DTV technology is not consistent in them (the flat panels); a converter box is only a $40 to 50 investment, and, remember: Unlike a cable box, you will *OWN* this piece of equipment and not simply rent it (to the tune of 1,000s of dollars over the course of one-two decades).

*Scan daily*: It takes less than a minute and new DTV channels seem to magically appear in the DTV schedule line-up without preamble monthly, if not weekly.

The newest entertainment channel to pop up has been “Antenna TV” the byline of which, is, “Vintage…without the funny smell.” Owned by Tribune Broadcasting (Tribune Co. – Chicago), it is a cross between the ancient and seminal version of cable’s AMC (when it was "American Movie Classics") and Nickelodeon’s “Nick at Nite's TV Land” but with less and better (less annoying than cable’s) commercials.

http://www.antennatv.tv/

“Antenna TV” began its life in the L.A. area on DTV channel 5.2 (supplanting "this" Channel, which moved next door to 5.3) on January 1, 2011 with a wonderful 10+ hours marathon of “The Benny Hill Show.” After being sufficiently prepped with Mr. Hill’s unique comedic and musical virtuosity, we were then treated to The Three Stooges (with Curly) and their awesome, musical comedy Short, “Woman Haters.”

*THANKS* Tribune Programming Dudes: You *ROCK*!