Sunday 1 April 2007

I miss my digital TV

We are stuck in a house without an external aerial. I suspect it used to have one, as there is a suspicious looking outlet in the lounge room, but a quick scan of the roof determines that we don't have one anymore.

I bought some cheap rabbit ears, but they aren't good enough to pick up the digital signal, so our set top box is useless. It either works or it doesn't - the manual talks about a "reception cliff", where the signal drops from good to nothing just like that. We are at the bottom of the cliff.

It's been nearly two weeks now, and our TV viewing has gone to hell. We no longer get widescreen format. The picture quality makes it look like the TV is smeared with vaseline. The sound is attrocious - like the speakers are at the bottom of a bucket. SBS is no more, so Top Gear is off the air. No ABC2 either, so we don't get kids shows all morning.

The worst of it is that we can't record two channels at once, and time slip TV. We'll often start recording at 8.30pm, then sit down at 9pm to watch our favourite stuff with no ads - we just skip through them. That world is lost to us now.

I am waiting for the agent to gee up the landlord about installing an aerial. If he doesn't pull his finger out, I might have to pay for it myself. Such are the buggers of renting.

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