Prepare for the Analogue Television Shutdown

Well, if you’re in Sydney then you should hopefully be prepared for the switch off of old analogue television signals across the metropolitan areas this coming Tuesday, December 3rd. However, if you’re not sure then here are a few things to check out:

  1. If you have an older television then it may not support digital television signals at all – if this is the case then you will need to purchase a set top box for each of these televisions,
  2. Your existing antenna may not be optimal for digital television reception. Whilst most will work just fine in areas with stronger signal you may have problems in areas with weaker signal particularly if you have a smaller antenna. Analogue television would have been watchable with a bit of static or loss in picture quality but digital transmissions can be completely unwatchable without sufficient signal. You may consider investing in a larger antenna to mitigate this issue.
  3. Some digital channels may not be broadcasting on full power until the analogue channels are shutdown (such as the ABC). If you’re having problems with specific channels then they may improve after 03/12/2013.
  4. If you’re going to replace a television, consider taking your old television to an eWaste recycler such as TechCollect. Help the environment by preventing potentially toxic materials from ending up in landfill.
  5. Investigate other content consumption options such as ABC iView, QuickFlix, NetFlix, Hulu or YouTube. Perhaps a more extreme option but for the more technically savvy out there it could be easier to cut the cable and ditch the antenna and just grab content from online only.

Don’t let it until the last minute to be prepared for the switchover!

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