Observations 28 JAN 09

I just measured an average 7.5 inches/19 cm of snow in the back yard.

Tuesday, I woke up with horrible congestion, a sore throat, and an upset tummy. The reports of accidents due to the initial blast were also not encouraging. I called in.

Today, the weather event is over, the temp is up 10 degrees F from yesterday, and I've cleared off my steps and car. Max discovered that the snow was above his chest, at points, so he willingly came in for his treat. I've been cleaning up inside for two days...

I've started my taxes.

All the major STL TV stations put up a DTV Roadblock Monday night at 1825. Congress or not, they are unlikely to pay two power bills after 17 FEB. KNLC has already switched, and WRBU has done so (kinda sorta unofficially). I predict a lot of "transmitter failures" and "technical difficulties" to occur between 17 FEB and June.

If your strapped, and have to choose a converter box from Wal-Mart, get the RCA. The Magavox tuner is quite poor. That's why Wal-Mart has the RCA's sold out, and lots of Magnavox's.

For ten bucks more, you can have a Zenith DTT 901, or it's equivalent Insignia counterpart at Best Buy. The Apex for sale at Best Buy has a quite rare S-Video out, and nearly as good performance as the Zenith. It also has better captions and program guide. The Apex's only drawback is the same as the RCA's: You can't update channels. You have to rescan them all. If you live in an urban area, this is not a big problem. Rural viewers will want the Zenith's reception advantage.

The Apex has a feature that geeks drool over besides the S-Video- a signal meter that includes both absolute signal strength, and signal quality (S/N ratio). This allows you to hunt around inside your house (or point an outside antenna- break down and spend the money) for the best placing of the antenna.

Circuit City has sold off all the good stuff. What's left are empty shelves, or unsalable/too expensive items. The converter boxes were the first to be sold out, I wager...