Q: Now that it’s been a while since the digital TV conversion, how do I delete channels that I simply don’t want?— Sue Peterson, Lakewood
A: The switch to all-digital, free television broadcasts early last year was to be the advent of a new age.
Crisper imagines, sharper audio, perfect viewing. Even the best laid plans, as they say . . .
A number of consumers like yourself preferred to remain with their long-familiar television sets, many of them able to receive only analog signals — the ones that could go snowy if the antenna wasn’t at just the right angle or if the garage-door opener was acting up.
The industry came up with a set-top box that converted the new digital signal to one the old sets could still read. Sadly, that also meant you lost the programming ability of your VCR — how many still have “12:00” flashing on theirs? — unless you rigged up two converter boxes to the same TV set.
It was a common problem for folks not to be able to see any of the new channels, particularly in the early days of the conversion when some channels were digital and others remained analog.
That issue is solved by simply rescanning for new channels or by deleting the pre-existing channel you’re not receiving and then rescanning. This erases the channel that’s searching for the analog equivalent and replaces it with the digital one.
But if you are having difficulty deleting channels — those you care not to watch, for example — it might also be that your converter box simply doesn’t have that feature.
Many boxes marketed in the early days of the conversion merely had the function to change the signal, but to add or delete individual channels required a complete rescanning.
Most boxes that I’ve researched had at least the capability to “disable” a channel. What that means is as you are surfing through, it simply overlooks those channels you’ve tagged.
The effect is as if you’ve deleted them. Another possibility is the “FAV” or favorites button, which allows you to scroll listings for only those channels you have designated as such. It’s a back-door way of accomplishing the same end.
