Old antennas cause complaints in digital TV test

Problems with old-fashioned television antennas were the most common issue among residents of Wilmington, a city that volunteered to switch to digital broadcasting more than five months before the rest of the country. The troubles foreshadow the difficulties that viewers nationwide may face. It was clear that an ambitious public education campaign had paid off. Of the 172 calls that came in, only a few were from people who were unaware of the transition, said Connie Book, associate dean of the School of Communications at Elon and the lead professor of the research project. "Virtually everyone was aware," she said. "But being aware and doing something about it are two different things." Antenna problems were the No. 1 issue, Book said. "People were saying 'I'm not getting a picture' and they had a converter box," she said. "And we had to say 'your antenna is not powerful enough, or you don't have one, or it's pointed in the wrong direction, or the height needs to be raised.'"