I live in metro Detroit and can pick up 9 HDTV channels over the air.

I have a Pinnacle Systems PCTV HD Stick TV Capture Device for my Windows Vista Computer . I have a SHAKESPEARE Omni-Directional Marine TV Antenna System and I get better resolution, although smaller screen, than my HD TV at home. I may buy a small HD TV when the prices come down. But this set up works fine for now.

Our marina now has wireless internet, so I am well set for the time I spend on the boat at the marina.

I also can hook up an I-pod, or SD card or jump drive into my boats radio and stero system.

The UBS port in the radio allows me to hook an external hard drive with my music library on it.

With the high gas prices, time at the dock will be more enjoyable. :d/

I bought the admiral a gadget that plugs into a cigarette-lighter plug and takes either a USB or SD memory card and transmits the music contained thereon to an FM radio. I know this sounds weird, but she travels on business a lot, and she can plug the thing into any rental car and have her own music along. We can convert any CD to the MP3 format and put it onto the card, and the whole thing fits in a pocket.

Should be able to use it on the boat, too. Last trip I installed a stainless cigarette lighter socket, $15 ripoff from West, so I could charge the cell phone, and it should work through the radio with no changes to my current setup:

http://www.cyberguys.com...ail.asp?productID=11877

Now this is even stranger: I just got a new Nokia 6133 cellphone, with a 2 GB mini-SD card, and IT will transmit music over Bluetooth. So all I would need is the Bluetooth to radio adapter. I should give it a try.

Al,

Seems fine to me - but I have lost a lot of my high-frequency hearing. I understand that there is a loss in quality in going from CD to MP3 files. Liz, who is very musical and has excellent hearing, can hear the difference. The Crew can't be peeled away from MP3 music, so I guess it works for teenagers.

Doug

Karl -

Thanks for the info. I use iTunes to convert to MP3, and like everything Apple it just does stuff without telling you what's going on. Should be OK with the pair of 6" (magnetically shielded) speakers that I have installed in the boat. I don't know about the FM link but FM is pretty good fidelity and should be as good as the speakers or MP3 encoding. I'll let you know how it sounds when I get a chance to try it --

While we are on this topic, I would like to put a TV antenna up, and I was thinking that since most (Analog channel 2 in central Florida is now digital channel 11) of the new digital stations are UHF, wouldn't it make sense to use a UHF-only antenna? Should be smaller, since they are sized by wavelength. I was thinking of one of those flying-saucer things with an amplifier in it. Anybody have experience with this stuff?

Doug

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I paid $150 at my local boating supply store.

Works great for over the air HD

I don't yet have an HD (off boat) on it yet. Not quite

From my local electronics store they are only selling off part of the VHF band. VHF will still be used. I think the following is accurate. They will drop VHF Low which is channels 2-6. You will still need VHF reception for VHF High (7-13). However these channels are closer in frequency to UHF and may or may not work on a UHF antenna. Or I'm completely off. Even the geeks at the store told me they thought they wouldn't need VHF anymore but they found out differently. So I am pretty sure that you still need VHF.

John

All stations, Karl, won't be going to HDTV -- they will be going to digital. If the current schedule holds, that will take place next Feb. It will probably be delayed because stations can't get the equipment fast enough and there aren't enough tower riggers to install the digital antennas.

On the new channel assignments, stations will be able to squeeze in multiple channels by compressing the digital info. That is a potential bonanza for a TV station that now will be able to have mutiple channels. However, if they go HD they won't be able to broadcast all those channels because HD takes up more bandwidth -- it's fatter and thus doesn't leave as much room in the signal pipe. Stations will have an interesting dilemma/option: Have more channels and potentially more revenue or HD and give the audience stunning pictures.

Right now, many stations are broadcasting 16:9 (widescreen) digital signals. In our market (Washington, DC), all the major stations have multiple channel digital output. NBC's local station does its regular broadcast on digital channel 4-1, Weather Plus on 4-2, a shopping channel on 4-3. The educational station has 4 feeds.

If you have a new TV set with a digital tuner you can get them...or you can use those analog to digital converter boxes that the government issued $40 discount coupons for. The picture quality is amazingingly good. HD is even better.

OK I admit I'm not the brightest bulb. Am still a little cornfused. I've got about 7-8 dock I store my boats on tat I sell, Inow plug in old tv's and leave them on day and nite just so people think some ones on board. Is there going to be a cheap box to plug each one into kinda like the rabbit ears I sometimes now use, that pick up 6 channels? Also have Dish on boathouse, but some docks are down the road 900 ft or so. Sorrydog

if you're getting 6-8 stations with rabbit ears on the boat now, that setup should be ok for the future with just one addition, the digital converter box. They are running about 60 to 80 bucks and, as Doug noted, you can get a coupon from the govt worth $40. Actually, 2 coupons.

I just helped a friend install one last wk. Easy job. Tip: buy a converter that has an analog pass thru. Some markets have low power stations that will remain analog past the Feb 09 deadline. With the pass thru you will be able to receive these stations until they, too, must go digital.

As I noted, in our market, some stations already have a digital signal. Much better picture, especially the ones that broadcast that digital channel in widescreen (16:9). Once you see the picture, you'll want to go out and buy a new set. Of course, if you do buy a set with a digital tuner, you will not need the converter box.