Dragged Into the Future

Not a Technophobe!

I'm really not a technophobe. I build my own desktop computers, run Linux on them, and as a consumer, I've got an iPod touch. But when old stuff continues to work well, there are times when I can't justify replacing it with new stuff.

Cellphones are a case in point. In 1999 I bought phones for us; they were dual-band, which back then meant they worked on both analog and digital (CDMA for Sprint) networks. We aren't heavy cellphone users, but they were good for long-distance calls (minutes included), and toting around for emergencies, including the rental car flat tire in Chattanooga. It would be fun to have a smart phone, and I can envision trying my hand on a small app for Android, but I can't abide the expensive voice plus data plans that the cellular carriers mandate for those devices. I'd use the features of a smart phone just a few times a year, and when I'm within range of a WiFi signal, the iPod touch can do email and web browsing. So when I replaced my StarTac last August, I picked T-Mobile's pay by the day plan and an $80 phone. The Samsung T-369 has a camera, slide-out keyboard, and other features, and best of all, with pay by the day, I'm spending about $100/year as opposed to $320/year on Sprint, even though that was still a good deal compared to most current plans.

Change Notice

But sometimes change is thrust upon us. Our current TVs, VCRs, and new Magnavox DVR have been working well, despite the fact that most of this equipment is between 5 and 23 years old. The main television is a classic 35" from 1987 that is still going strong.

Like King Canute, I know that many things are beyond my control. However, not only are all things impermanent,

we have no control over the schedule. A letter arrived in late February which shows that the digital tide is lapping at my feet: Wide Open West (WOW) is converting their analog Basic Cable channels to digital in three phases (March, April, May). All analog equipment will require a digital to analog converter, or DTA (digital terminal adapter), to be rented from WOW, in order to function. (The local stations will continue to be available in analog, but anything you think of when you hear the words "cable TV" will not be.)

The Dilemma

The first words out of my mouth were "Oh no." With three analog TVs, three VCRs, and one DVR, disruption was inevitable. As the family technologist, it's up to me to find an acceptable solution. So what are the problems with the DTA solution?

• the VCRs can no longer switch between channels automatically; someone must stand there with the remote for the adapter.
• the DVR, even though it has a digital tuner, must rely on the adapter for Basic Cable because the digital signal will be encrypted, whereas analog is not.
• Multiple DTAs are needed -- I ordered four on Feb. 25th -- each with a power wall-wart that must be plugged in, and a remote to operate it. Talk about clutter!

You may wonder why we have three VCRs. We do a lot of time-shifting, to record while we're away and to avoid commercials, and we've done it for a long time. There's a VCR for the main TV, a VCR we inherited as part of a TV/VCR combo from Joan's mother, which is handy when recording schedules conflict, and a VCR for the basement.

For the basement? We ride our bicycles on rollers in the basement year round, and especially in winter, so that we aren't painfully starting from zero fitness every spring. Riding your bike for 45 minutes or so while staring at the wall is a superlative definition for boring; so for years we've taped movies on an upstairs VCR and carried the tapes down to the basement.

Here is a peek at the video setup in basement, where we ride the rollers.

The Conversation

All of the above I derived from previous knowledge, Mr. Google, and the WOW "Buzz" blog (now defunct). Now it was time to call WOW and speak to a Customer Service Representative (CSR) to clear up details and see what suggestions or alternatives WOW could offer. I called WOW on Feb. 28th, and it went something like this:

Me: I explained my situation with the VCRs.
CSR: Yes.
Me: [after a pause] I asked what WOW was doing for people in this situation.
CSR: [Chuckle] Wide Open West won't do anything for you.
Me:  Well, then, what do you suggest that I do?
CSR: The only thing you can do is upgrade to WOW Digital Cable and our DVR.
Me: How much would that cost? And won't I be on digital service anyway, because my basic cable will be digital after this transition? Won't I just need the DVR?
CSR: No, you have to sign up for Digital Cable. That's just the way the equipment works.Your Basic Cable is analog now, you see, but that's going away because of the FCC mandate.
Me: [rolling my eyes] This is an FCC mandate rather than a business decision?
CSR: Yes, the FCC has ordered that analog service is going away. It's not Wide Open West's decision.    
Me: [skeptically] Uh-huh. Well, will you please tell me what the Digital Service and DVR costs?
CSR: I haven't had a chance because you've been interrupting with all these questions.
Me: [losing my composure] So it's my fault?
CSR: It's nobody's fault ... the Digital Value Service and a DVR would be an extra $15/month.

Me: I see. Also, I was wondering, can you tell me how to test my digital adapters before the conversion takes place?

CSR: Tune it to one of the channels. The basic cable channels are 11-13 and 23-99.

Me: OK, but I'd like to test the digital adapters before the basic cable channels become digital.

CSR: All you have to do is tune it to a basic cable channel, like 44.

Me: [giving up] OK, thank you, I guess that's all the questions I have for today.

There are two points to make right away. First, the conversion is strictly a WOW business decision, to free up bandwidth for more digital channels, more HD channels, and faster Internet service (we'll see). There is no FCC mandate except the for cessation of over-the-air analog broadcasting a year and a half ago. WOW confirmed this on their own blog.

The second point is that WOW's DVR is an odd beast. Yes, it has two tuners, so you can record conflicting or overlapping programs. On the other hand, they advertise up to 50 hours of recording time, whereas my single-tuner $250 Magnavox DVR has up to 620 hours of recording time. The phrase "up to" means how much a device can record at lowest quality/highest compression; at highest quality, my DVR can record 103 hours, a 1:6 ratio compared to the "up to" number. If I apply that ratio to the WOW DVR, I calculate an abysmal, difficult to believe, 8 hours at the highest quality setting! Plus, as with almost all cable company DVRs, the user interface is considered extremely clunky.

So at $180/year, plus tax, I'm not seizing on the WOW solution of Digital Cable plus WOW DVR. Although it is more trouble than we encounter now, I'll start with the DTAs and see how it works out. With up to four recording devices, we can record up to four no, three (see below) different Basic Cable channels while we are away, even if each device is locked into one channel. Fortunately, at least half of our viewing is on the broadcast channels.

The DTAs arrive, with a Surprise

Yesterday, March 7th, the four DTAs were delivered. Each is in a slick box.

Inside, the contents, including the DTA itself, a remote (infrared) plus 2 AAA batteries, an IR (infrared) extender (in case you don't want the DTA to be visible), coax cable, wall-wart and power cord, and a small bit of adhesive velcro.

The DTA itself is petite.

All the connections are on the back. There is no power button, it is always on, unless unplugged. Each DTA draws about 4 watts and is warm (not hot) to the touch.

The remote is blessedly uncomplicated.

Connecting the DTAs was straightforward: cable in, cable out, set the switch to Channel 3 (Channel 4 is a real channel here). When each DTA was powered up it would search for cable service and not find any (per status messages on channel 3). An activation is needed; armed with my WOW account number I went to the activation web site, when all DTAs were connected and powered up, and clicked on Activate. Within 15 seconds, the TVs had a signal!

But ... but ... I discovered that the DTAs do not have pass-through. That is, the channel that they forward to your TV or recording device on channel 3 is the *only* signal that they forward. My VCRs and the DVR all have pass-through; that is, although they tune in a single channel to record, they also have one output that is the original, untainted cable signal with all the channels. This is how they can record one channel while you watch TV on another channel: switch the TV to the pass-through signal, and all the channels are available to the TV as if the VCR/DVR wasn't there.

The DTA doesn't do that. Not even for the local broadcast channels.

Well, that shoots a gaping hole in the usefulness of the DVR, so I removed the DTA from the DVR input. It is imperative that unattended recording of the broadcast channels can take place. What about the basic cable channels? When they are converted to encrypted digital, the DVR, having no DTA, won't be able to decipher them. The DVR will be dedicated to broadcast channels, and the VCRs, each with a DTA, must pick up the slack and be used for basic cable channels. Joan and I will have to post a channel-switching schedule so we don't forget to re-tune the DTA for the next basic cable channel that we want to record. Perhaps we can dedicate one or two of the VCRs to a particular channel, but we certainly can't have one VCR per channel. It turns out that we are extremely fortunate to have multiple VCRs!

Side note: WOW states that they are contractually obligated by the content providers to encrypt any digital signals, supposedly to reduce piracy, except for the local broadcast channels, which are available in unencrypted digital, technically called "clear QAM." My DVR can and does tune in the clear QAM channels -- but it cannot if the DTA is on the line.

And here's our new remote lineup: DVR, VCR, TV, and DTA remotes.

To be fair, the DTA remote can, with a few minutes effort, be instructed on which TV code to use. It then can control the TV's on/off and volume/mute, and it perforce also controls the channel. So the most common uses of the TV remote can be done with the DTA remote.

And Now ...

... the DTAs are installed, and we're waiting for the three transition dates, March 28, April 25, May 23, hoping that there will be no further upsets. Because there is semi-official word that a whole-house DVR is in the works for WOW, we're hoping for good news later this year. With a whole-house DVR, recording on VCR tapes might no longer be needed. (There will still be lots of existing tapes to play back, including a library of the "top 100" movies that my father taped for us a few years ago.)

What would I say that WOW did well in my experiences so far?

• the digital converters are inexpensive (first two free until Jan. 2013, others $2/month)
• the digital converters install easily and activate quickly 

What would I say that WOW could have done better?

• more advance warning. Our neighbors, for instance, who were out of town when the letters arrived, had three weeks notice before the first conversion.
• a more sympathetic (or at least congenial) and, especially, better informed customer service representative.
• an optional (even at higher cost) DTA that offered pass-through capability.
• delay the conversion until the WOW whole-house DVR is available. (I realize this one is reaching for the sky.)
• Make technical information easily available for those of us in charge of technology planning for a household. A web page with more info on the DTAs and on the clear QAM channels would be most helpful, guys!

Somehow the cable companies always manage to give the appearance of overlooking their basic cable customers. This may be a side effect of the race to compete for big dollar customers that want movies on demand and such, but it's unfortunate and discouraging. I will say that, from my research, Wide Open West does on average appear to be doing better than most others in their customer service. It's not just my opinion, check out the ratings on pages 26-27 of the February 2010 Consumer Reports. But there have been some omissions and missteps in the initial rollout of the digital conversion; I have my fingers crossed that the actual switchover will be smooth and uneventful. Knock on wood.

So I've been dragged a mile down the road into the future. We hope there are no more ruts, potholes, or washed out bridges before we reach the next stable technological ecosystem. Our salvation will be if the whole-house DVR can liberate us from both VCR recording and DTAs at a reasonable cost.

Maybe we'll even replace our almost 24-year-old TV this year. After the dust settles.