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Are Over-The-Air TV Broadcasting Signals Changing?

DougM said:
Ok, now you got me curious...
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Your TV has a UHF tuner that includes 70-83; if you scan slowly through that area with the fine tuner do you hit any analog cell activity? ;)

(Looks like most companies shut that off by 2008 or so. I remember discovering in the 1990's that you could in fact listen to nearby cell calls by fiddling around in that area. Have to admit it was kind of amusing to discover that most cell phone conversations seemed to consist of people in their car narrating in real-time where whey were and their likely ETA rather than actually talk about anything that sounded important enough to be worth what cell phone minutes cost back then.*)

*Edit: Digging around maybe it wasn't actually cell phone activity; some of that frequency range went to other types of commercial and public 2-way. Whatever it was it was all depressingly boring conversations.
 
Eudimorphodon said:
Your TV has a UHF tuner that includes 70-83; if you scan slowly through that area with the fine tuner do you hit any analog cell activity? ;)

(Looks like most companies shut that off by 2008 or so. I remember discovering in the 1990's that you could in fact listen to nearby cell calls by fiddling around in that area. Have to admit it was kind of amusing to discover that most cell phone conversations seemed to consist of people in their car narrating in real-time where whey were and their likely ETA rather than actually talk about anything that sounded important enough to be worth what cell phone minutes cost back then.*)

*Edit: Digging around maybe it wasn't actually cell phone activity; some of that frequency range went to other types of commercial and public 2-way. Whatever it was it was all depressingly boring conversations.
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The old cordless phones were not encrypted either so you could listen in on your neighbors if you wanted to.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Problem with the UHF tuner eavesdropping was that you'd get only half of the conversation in most cases..
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The other half will be loudly screamed at the grocery store. I was very depressed when I wound up hearing about 15 minutes of some lawyer's defense strategy because the lawyer couldn't wait to leave the pasta aisle.
 
Well, the mobile phone has engendered a new social custom--not listening to someone yelling into their phone--and ignoring people who are seemingly talking to themselves. Also gives other people an excuse to avoid acknowledging your presence.

O brave new wold!
 
Don't most people just text on mobile phones so there is no actual talking going on anymore. Thery might just call it a mobile music, internet, and texting device these days.

I just looked and no ATSC 3 stations in my area.
 
About a year ago, the local PBS station turned their transmitter in the SE corner of the state to ATSC 3. The change was accompanied by many ads suggesting anyone who failed to receive a signal should watch the Rhode Island stations instead. I have no idea if CPTV is continuing that misguided policy.

All the major commercial networks have trialed ATSC 3 encryption for brief periods. I suspect the entire audience consists of a receiver truck trying to make sure enough of the state would get enough signal to reliably decrypt.
 
Unknown_K said:
Don't most people just text on mobile phones so there is no actual talking going on anymore.
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Could be, but the shouters more than make up for their smaller numbers. Besides, it's harder to text while you're behind the wheel. :rolleyes:
As someone with terrible eyesight, I find that texting on my phone is an exercise in frustration. Heck, I have trouble entering text on a 10" tablet--I keep missing the right virtual key and hitting the one next to it.
My experience with STT on Android (gboard) has been less than gratifying. Maybe newer AI devices will improve the situation.

On the other hand, I have Alexa enabled on several devices (TVs, tablets mostly). It works surprising well as long as you know the lingo. When Alexa misunderstands you, it's an exercise in anger control.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Well, the mobile phone has engendered a new social custom--not listening to someone yelling into their phone--and ignoring people who are seemingly talking to themselves
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This brought back memories of those Nextel push-to-talk “walkie-talkie” cell phones that were strangely popular around the turn of the century. On one hand they were kind of silly, but on the other, well, the fake blue-collar aesthetic at least clearly broadcasted that the person using it wasn’t just talking to the air.
 
I believe that flip phones with keyboards are still made. My wife still uses one. I have a little bare-bones Nokia that I use as an emergency backup--it's new enough that it understands 4G VOLTE and GSMA. It's small and pretty minimal, but cell service here is crap anyway, so it's useful for making and receiving calls. Little keypad on it.
 
Chuck(G) said:
Well, the mobile phone has engendered a new social custom--not listening to someone yelling into their phone--and ignoring people who are seemingly talking to themselves. Also gives other people an excuse to avoid acknowledging your presence.

O brave new wold!
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I've never had a mobile phone. When I want to avoid a conversation, I say, "Just a second, I've got to take this call" and pull out my 1977 Casio MQ-5 calculator and pretend to take a call.

mq5_5.jpg


Some people say, "wow, cool phone" and I say, "yes... yes it is" - and quickly put it back in my pocket without showing it to them.
 
Chuck(G) said:
I believe that flip phones with keyboards are still made. My wife still uses one. I have a little bare-bones Nokia that I use as an emergency backup--it's new enough that it understands 4G VOLTE and GSMA. It's small and pretty minimal, but cell service here is crap anyway, so it's useful for making and receiving calls. Little keypad on it.
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Sure, with number pads, I meant full keyboards like the one I used to use.

91JL+cTDTSL.jpg
 
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