DTV amateurish question(s)

[jlochey]

Hi everyone!

I'm a rank amateur in the FM world and mostly enjoy this hobby with portable equipment.

That being said, I started to think about getting into DTV DX'ing.

My understanding is that from now till when analog is shutoff, a person can do some analog TV DX'ing with portable equipment. i.e. little portable TV's, etc.

But what is the future of DTV and portable equipment?

Is it possible to do DTV DX'ing with portable equipment?

And what about the future of portable TV's in general? Will they be available?


Thanks!


John

[Robert Grant]

Yes, it is possible to DX DTV with portable equipment. It is a little more challenging than DXing analog television when portable, since you need to catch a DTV station "alone on it's channel" to identify it. Use some sort of directional antenna, if possible.

The biggest problem now is the availablity of portable DTV receivers. Portable DTV sets have yet to reach the market. The "official" reason is the high current drain of DTV receivers, with resultant short battery life (this actually IS a valid issue at this point), but another reason may be that retailers might not want you to own a portable DTV. That could get in the way of more profitable pay-per-view sales on handheld video telephones.

At this time, I only know of one brand of DTV converter box (Winegard) that offers a battery pack.

So, for now, us DXers have to improvise. Some DTV boxes (Sansonic, Zinwell, and -some- Access HD) use an external AC-DC power supply with a jack connection, for which a battery pack can be rigged (at the user's risk!). Other DXers have used DC-AC power inverters, allowing the use of home (AC power) DTV boxes in a parked car. USB dongle/software driven ATSC receivers for laptop computers might work, too.

Rob

[jlochey]

Rob,

Well, it sort of sounds bleak, but I'm sure that products will eventually come to market. It seems like just a matter of time...

Thanks a lot for your great explanation!



John

[CasualOTAer]

The biggest problem now is the availablity of portable DTV receivers. Portable DTV sets have yet to reach the market. The "official" reason is the high current drain of DTV receivers, with resultant short battery life (this actually IS a valid issue at this point), but another reason may be that retailers might not want you to own a portable DTV. That could get in the way of more profitable pay-per-view sales on handheld video telephones.


What about units such as the Accurian 7" Portable Handheld TV (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2855063&cp=&sr=1&kw=7-inch+lcd&origkw=7-inch+lcd&parentPage=search) at Radio Shack?

Actually, if OTA watching is only 17% of the market in the US at present, maybe mfgrs don't think there is a big demand for portable DTVs. Personally, I'd like to see one of those portable DVD players offer a built in ATSC tuner option. That'd be a nice unit to have for traveling!

Here's some reading re: current drain - http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=121862&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1116829&highlight

[CasualOTAer]

What about units such as the Accurian 7" Portable Handheld TV (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2855063&cp=&sr=1&kw=7-inch+lcd&origkw=7-inch+lcd&parentPage=search) at Radio Shack?

Actually, if OTA watching is only 17% of the market in the US at present, maybe mfgrs don't think there is a big demand for portable DTVs. Personally, I'd like to see one of those portable DVD players offer a built in ATSC tuner option. That'd be a nice unit to have for traveling!

Here's some reading re: current drain - http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=121862&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1116829&highlight

Since I wrote the previous reply, I've discovered that some of those portable DVD players (~$100) have A/V inputs, in addition to their A/V outputs. I guess folks use those to do things like play video games on their portable players.

This raises the option of feeding the composite output of a CECB into a portable DVD player. Presto - compact portable LCD DTV. Some converter boxes are fairly small and might pair well with such a player. This setup has the advantage of also playing DVDs when you want that.

[Jim1348]

You guys may get a kick out of this. In one of my upstairs rooms I have a Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 730 http://reviews.cnet.com/Cambridge_SoundWorks_Radio_730/4505-6466_7-21222564.html?tag=txt that I bought as a refurbished unit on Ebay several years ago because I wanted something with RDS. More recently with very good reviews on the
Sony XDR-F1HD http://reviews.cnet.com/radio-tuners/sony-xdr-f1hd/4505-7866_7-32987435.html?tag=mncol;lst I picked up one of those and feed it into the Cambridge. The Cambridge has both front and rear auxiliary inputs, so when I was adding a Zenith DTT901 http://reviews.cnet.com/tv-hdtv-tuners-receivers/zenith-dtt901/4505-6487_7-33178359.html?tag=mncol;lst converter box to the Samsung TV/computer monitor I decided to take advantage of dual active outputs. The Samsung is just fed with RG-6, so that allows me to use the composite output to the Cambridge. I find it quite handy to power up the Cambridge and select either HD radio from the Sony or TV audio from the Zenith.