13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Some viewers left behind by digital transition

Some viewers left behind by digital transition

Rich Van Wyk/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis - Digital television launched Friday, unfortunately, many viewers got left behind. Their televisions are saying "no signal" when they should be seeing sharper, cleaner, brighter pictures.

For Charlene Davis, the switch to digital TV has been worse than terrible.

"Hell. Hell. It's something we don't understand," the 88-year-old Davis said.

Phillip Davis doesn't understand either, the rabbit ears that worked fine for an analog signal, delivers poor digital pictures - and sometimes none at all.

"I was getting a lot of stations before the conversion," he said.

Since the digital conversion Friday, WTHR has received hundreds of calls from frustrated viewers. Most solutions are simple, a few pushes of the remote menu button sent Charlene's digital converter box scanning the channels and solving the problem.

But other reception problems aren't as simple.

"We've talked to hundreds of people over the last few days. When they move their antenna even slightly, it seems to lock in the signal," said Jim Tellus, president and general manager of WTHR.

When that doesn't work, it may be time to retire the rabbit ears.

"Some people in Greenwood and Greenfield with rabbit ears are not going to work that far away," said Fred Needham of Kings Electronics.

Needham's store is having a difficult time keeping bigger, more powerful antennas in stock. They're all digital, but they are not all equal. Make sure your antenna, or the one you purchase, receives both UHF and VHF signals, or some of your favorite stations may not show up, adding despair to the digital dilemma.

For more help, you can contact the FCC toll-free with questions by calling 1-888-225-5322. You can also find information on WTHR.com and at IndyDTV.com.

Still having DTV trouble?