We are once again in one of those special situations in which SE Michigan has a TV-viewing advantage over the rest of America.  While the West Coast complains about tape-delayed NBC coverage of Michael Phelps’ first gold medal, Michigan viewers have two networks to choose from - NBC and Canada’s CBC.

Of course, Olympics coverage is not the only reason to watch the CBC.  The network has excellent documentary programming, interesting news broadcasts, odd curling and Calgary Stampede coverage and, my favorite, Hockey Night in Canada.

But you will still need your analog TV to watch it come February 2009.  Canada is not requiring its television broadcasters to shift to digital signals until August of 2011.  So, if you buy a conventional digital converter box,  you’ll get “no signal” if you turn to Channel 9.

http://www.accesscomm.ca/access/docs/Microsoft_Word_-_digital_conversion.pdf

This is actually a big deal in our area.  My father is one of the local holdouts from cable TV.  He still uses a rotating outside antenna for his television.  And it works extremely well.  He is able to pull in analog signals from Lansing, Kalamazoo, Cleveland and Bowling Green.  My dad is also a regular viewer of the CBC and TVOntario, Channel 32.  He also receives Canadian signals from channels 16, 18, 32 and the French 54.  My dad probably has over-the-air television choices comparable to my basic cable package in Adrian.

Most of those American broadcasters will be out of range come February.  Digital signals just don’t reach as far as analog.  The digital picture might be crisp, but for long-distance transmission, we’ll miss analog.

Our first attempt at installing the digital converter box at my dad’s house was a failure.  We were in the middle of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.  When we installed a conventional digital converter box, we realized that dad would have to physically disconnect the thing every time he wanted to watch hockey.  Dad mouthed a few choice words and told me he wasn’t going to make the transition:)

So, after a little research, I found that we needed an analog pass-through digital converter box.  This type of box allows a viewer to change from digital to analog signals by pushing the “Power” button on the converter box remote control.

These were not easy to find.  I went to about ten stores in Monroe, Marquette and Green Bay.  Some stores were out of the converter boxes.  Others had the digital-only boxes.  Finally, I went to Best Buy in Ann Arbor and picked up an APEX analog pass-through box.

After installation, my dad can now move from digital to analog signals with relative ease.

Is the analog to digital conversion good for over-the-air viewers in the Monroe area?  Well, my dad now gets three PBS channels from Detroit and Toledo, but he loses the PBS station from Bowling Green, OH.  His TV signals from Detroit and Toledo are slightly more clear than they were before, but he’ll also lose the opportunity to watch out-of-market NFL games from Cleveland and Kalamazoo.  It is slightly more difficult to watch Canadian TV, but it may be possible to receive more Canadian analog signals once American analog broadcasters leave the scene in 2009.

All things considered, it’s probably a wash.

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