Well fellas, I live a half mile from two different towers and no more than 1.5 miles from my local NBC affiliate.

I recently purchased DirecTV's OTA AM-21 device, so I could get my digital HD locals integrated into DirecTV service. Let's just say that indoor "rabbit ear" antennas aren't going to get the job done anymore. Because of the close proximity of the CBS/FOX and ABC towers, it drowned out the NBC signal. Yes, it would come in, but usually with heavy pixelation, to the point where it was unwatchable, and this is at no less than 50% signal from a tower 1.5 miles away!

Fortunately for me, the house I just purchased still had the good old UHF/VHF antenna hookup outside, and all it took was a wire run to my AM-21 OTA tuner to fix my situation. Now the broadcasts come in flawless.

My next step is to hopefully beef up my equipment, since I live 60 miles or less from 3 other metro areas, and hopefully can pick up their OTA broadcasts as well (esp for NFL games!) For those who have this luxury, it's icing on the cake, however...

I cannot begin to imagine the nightmares this will cause for those without access to outdoor antennas, or where reception is weak due to distance or line of sight. My uncle cannot get ANY of his digital channels to come in without pixelation, off his indoor "powered" antenna, and he's only a 15 minute drive away.

Digital is much stronger I get long distant signals much better then analog ones. Go DTV wish they would have transitioned earlier as they intended too.

This countdown is sooooo lame lets get a life here and quit crying about it!