To KFMB and KGTV (Feb 20, 2009)

I Give Up on KFMB and KGTV (Feb 19, 2009)

Can't Receive KFMB, KGTV, or KSWB? (Feb 19, 2009)

If on your DTV receiver you tried erasing your DTV settings, rescanned, and still can't get the digital TV signals, chances are, you're in a signal obstructed area such as behind a hill, building, or in a valley.

I can receive the signals coming from a hill near Tijuana and Rancho San Diego, but Mount Soledad is tricky as I'm behind a mountain.

If you bought a digital to analog converter, and still can't get any or all of the digital signals, and you have rescanned for signals, then you're in a signal obstructed area.

Or the model of the digital to analog coverter might be to blame for having a poor sensitivity rating. A higher rating (the lower the number the better) would allow you to receive more channels.

You could try buying a rabbit ear antenna (the one with two long steel rods) to pick up the VHF signals 2-13. Many of the so-called HDTV-ready antennas can pick up only the UHF channels 14-69, but not 7-13 or even 2-13. The Silver Sensor, for example, is designed only for UHF.

Amplified antennas might work, but effectiveness of picking up signals vary with each model, and some cheaper ones might work better than more expensive models.

Your only alternatives for the time being are to unfortunately subscribe to cable or satellite TV service. Cable carries the channels in analog as well as digital. The analog TV channels are VCR-friendly so you can tape the shows while you're doing something else. The satellite delivered channels require another kind of recorder if you want to record your shows, and that may come with an additional monthly fee for the service. Yikes!

Another alternative is to mount a rooftop antenna, but that's a very costly alternative, and it's possible that you may still not receive any or all of the DTV signals.

Your only other alternative is to move house to a location where you can receive the signals clearly.

For more questions, log into hdtv.forsandiego.com and ask the participants for help on this mattter.

What the local stations should be doing in the meantime is to collect information on reception of their digital signals, and petition the FCC to allow them to boost their power to a more reasonable level like 360kw for VHF high (7-13) or at least 2500kw for UHF. The local stations should apply to the FCC to construct signal boosters (same-frequency repeaters) around their reception area to fill in gaps in signal coverage.

KFMB-DT and KGTV-DT Report (Updated 11:00am Feb 18, 2009)

Before today, I was getting KGTV-DT when it was on 25 and broadcasting at some 300kw. Now at channel 10 and some 72kw, I'm not getting KGTV-DT at all.

Channels 7 and 25 DTV Off The Air (Updated 12:07am Feb 18, 2009)

Channel 69 Now a Nightlight Station (Updated 12:00am Feb 18, 2009)

This channel will no longer be airing broadcast television signals due to the FCC reassigning channels 52-69 to other uses.

The digital signal for KSWB continues on its permanent channel assigment at 19. Regular programming will be seen there instead of analog channel 69.

Channel 8 Analog Off The Air (Updated 12:00am Feb 18, 2009)

Sometime overnight, the digital signal for KFMB will have shifted from a low power channel 7 to a full power channel 8.

I can get a weak KCAL 9 from Los Angeles for the time being.

You will need to rescan your digital TV tuners to get KFMB-DT at its new location sometime after its digital signal moves to channel 8.

Channel 10 Analog Off The Air (Updated 11:30pm Feb 17, 2009)

During its 11pm newscast, I had twop TV sets on. One analog only TV was tuned to 10. The digital TV was tuned to 10.1 (25 actually). During its 11pm newscast, a reporter covered the analog shutdown live on the two channel 10 signals. The camera was in the control room where the switches to turn off the analog transmitter resides. When we saw someone shutting off the analog transmitter on the air, the analog channel 10 signal disappearred, while the digital channel 10 continued to cover the analog shutdown.

Sometime overnight, the digital signal will have shifted from channel 25 to channel 10.

You will need to rescan your digital TV tuners to get KGTV-DT at its new location sometime after its digital signal moves to channel 10.

What the Analog Channels Forgot To Do... (Feb 18, 2009)

The Death of Analog Television has come. WMTV-NBC 15 in Madison shut down its analog transmitter on February 16th at 11:59 PM Central Standard Time, and in doing so, ending the era of smacking the back of your television to get good reception.

Analog Sunset Update (Feb 18, 2009)

KGTV analog 10 signs off at 11:30pm Feb 17. Channel 10 ran a countdown timer on the lower-right hand screen during its 11pm newscast. KGTV-DT moves into channel 10 shortly afterwards.

CHANGE: XETV's analog signal will not flip to Televisa 9 (Galavision) because the SCT told the station so. The CW and syndicated programming will continue as usual on analog 6 as well as digital 23.

At midnight Feb 18, KSWB analog 69 will flip to a seven-day nightlight station dispensing news and information about the DTV switch.

KNSD and KUSI will continue running analog through June 12.

KPBS will continue to run analog through early April.

Analog sunset parties are happening all over America at various places.

At 1am or later, you need to rescan your digital TV tuner so that it can receive KFMB-DT and KGTV-DT on their new physical channel locations.

Clear Channel Can't Get The News Right (Feb 18, 2009)

Summing Up The Historic TV Switchover Date (Feb 17, 2009)

After midnight Wednesday, KFMB-TV's analog signal will no longer be on channel 8. In channel 8's place is KFMB-DT, which is moving from channel 7.

Also, KGTV's analog signal will no longer be on channel 10. In channel 10's place is KGTV-DT, which is moving from channel 25.

KSWB-TV will cease broadcasting analog on channel 69 in March, but will end Fox programming before midnight Wednesday On Wednesday, KSWB-TV will become a nightlight station and air a 30-day temporary notice about the digital transition. KSWB-DT will stay where it is on channel 19.

The following will not happen as rumored: I'm leaving this paragraph up as a reference. XETV's analog channel 6 will no longer broadcast English-language syndicated and CW programming. On Wednesday morning, XETV's analog channel 6 goes Espaņol when it switches to the rumored Televisa channel 9 (Galavision) network. XETV-DT channel 23 will continue to broadcast English language CW and syndicated programming.

KPBS-DT is on channel 30, its permanent assignment. KPBS-TV will cease broadcasting analog on 15 sometime in early April.

KNSD-DT is on channel 40, its permanent assignment. KNSD-TV will cease broadcasting analog on 39 on June 12.

KUSI-DT is on channel 18, its permanent assignment. KUSI-TV will cease broadcasting analog on 51 on June 12.

On June 13, KNSD and KUSI will become nightlight stations for 30 days, then cease transmissions.

Mexican TV stations (ones that start with an "X") are not regulated by the U.S.'s FCC government agency. The Mexican government will tell their country's broadcasters when to end analog transmissions.

The low power TV stations are not affected by the digital switchover deadline. Some will be launching digital companion channels in the future.

Cable and satellite subscribers are not affected.

Owners of television sets that can get digital signals are not affected.

Owners of TV sets connected to antennas are affected only if they cannot tune in digital TV signals.

Switching to DTV (Feb 17, 2009)