I know you didn’t think I would forget our anniversary, did you? That’s right! We’ve been together on this blog for one whole year as of today! So if you are new here, or have come by many times in the past year, let me say thank you and I hope you were able to resolve any problems you’ve had getting ready for digital TV.

This blog was meant to be different from the get-go. It has been an open, bidirectional conversation between you and those of us on the technical end at WNCN. I tried to write each post so that anyone could understand the new digital TV system, and get the most out of it. I tried to mix low tech and high tech subjects in a way anyone could understand. I wanted it to be simple to use and follow along, regardless of how technical the reader was.  I expected the majority of folks to have problems with antennas, which is something we haven’t had to mess with since the sixties decade.

I certainly posted a number of articles on antennas to drive home how important a good antenna is for decent reception of DTV. I even made videos because a picture can be worth a thousand words. I wish I could have done more, but it seems most of you were prepared on June 12th so maybe it was enough! Looking back over the last year, the running theme I posted seems to be K.I.S.S- Keep It Simple Stupid. Don’t over-think or over design your antennas. Keep an open mind, relax, experiment, and have fun while figuring out what this stuff can do. When you do, help your neighbors to resolve their issues. I never meant to throw the sugar coated FCC / NAB messages at you about how easy it is to go digital and I tried to “tell it like it is” in every post.  

I’m not a professional journalist. I’m just a regular engineer that loves a challenge that does not accept failure. I hope I never failed you in the past year. In true TV fashion, let’s review the highlights of this blog over the last year. (OK, my favorite highlights anyway) My first post was “Dude! Where’s my TV?” Hey, I read tech manuals all the time. I never get a chance to read many books for pleasure. Nothing can be more dry that tech stuff, so I chose to punch things up with catchy headlines, country humor, and a writing style that would make Garrison Keillor scream that I was butchering the English language! I’m not a poet, and I know it! We did explore some technical topics last July, but I thought it was important for you to understand how this stuff works.

I declared August as “Help a Digital Newbie Month” and encouraged all my readers to help each other out. And for that matter, actually go next door and meet your neighbors for the first time in some cases. If your antenna fails, you can always make friends and spend time with others! I posted my first video, “A tour of our transmitters” on August 22nd to give you a behind the scenes look at what it takes to transmit television signal to your home. It still remains popular on my You Tube channel even today. September was a busy month with the Wilmington market switching early, but my favorite exchange was with Kyle, the student at NC State who made his own antenna from a busted fan. I told you not to over design your antenna systems!

In October, I turned things over to my readers for a game of “Internet Pumpkin”. I asked the readers to toss me an idea, or pumpkin, and I’d toss a blog post back on that subject. I must say that was the most fun month I had taking on the challenges from you. Gene, from Madison, Wisconsin asked me to explain how a UHF loop antenna works. It remains the number one read posting on this blog, and has been popular worldwide. You never know where a great idea will come from!

In November we began running on air tests to help you identify which sets in your home were not ready for digital. It was also my broadcast debuts in our phone banks during the 6 and 7PM newscasts. (Confirmation I should remain behind the scenes or on the web)

We spent most of December and January getting ready for the big letdown in February, the original date for the conversion. I was not a fan of the delay, but I know it was the right thing to do at the time. I really think it helped in many ways, but it also hurt a lot too. Visits to even this blog went way down after the February date, and folks seemed to be ambivalent about the whole thing. Behind the scenes we all knew the same people that were not ready in February would not be ready in June.

When June rolled around, it was all true. Unfortunately, all the calls we received were from people that do not have Internet access, no computers, and (gasps) had never read my blog! I have said it before, and I will say it again, it was a great pleasure talking to these folks. It’s great to know there are still some good people in the area that appreciate your help, and some of the sweetest folks to talk to!

Now what do we do? I have already changed the title of this blog from “helps you get ready ” to “helps you with” the digital conversion. I will continue to post things as they come up from emails and phone calls from viewers, but the hard work seems to have been finished. Were you ready? Are you still having problems? Let us know. You can always comment here, email us, or call. We are here to help, and will continue to be here as long as you need us.