The End Of Australian Analog TV - Switching Off

Analog TV was switched off in Sydney Australia on Tuesday December 3rd 2013 at 9am. This is the final transmission, and then static.
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[@PropaneTreeFiddy]

The send-off at the end was legitimately sad. The way it plays the classic music, and the black-and-white good-bye sequence, followed by the shrinking CRT dot....I felt part of my history die when it suddenly switched to static. It felt like I was watching the last episode of a canceled show as a child....

[@gl1500ctv]

Agreed, it was sad to watch. I believe us here in 'murica discontinued analog in 2009, and honestly it was time. Hard to justify the use of that wide frequency range for analog when you can pack more digital into the same space (not to mention data use of that spectrum.)

[@smallenginedude71]

Propane TreeFiddy same. it was very hard to watch.

[@mwbgaming28]

very few people watch TV these days anyway due to the on demand entertainment provided by the internet all they had to do is wait for the older generation to... um die off... and then slowly shut down the signals over the course of a few years most people wouldnt even notice and the government could have saved a few billion dollars TV had a good run but in the end, the internet killed it in the same way TV killed radio

[@ikonix360]

Stephen Furr I disagree about it being time to switch off analog. The benefits of digital are somewhat overshadowed by the shorter transmission range and the fact that all analog only tvs were instantly obsoleted without a converter box and made it almost pointless to collect antique TVs. I think digital and analog TV could have co-existed sort of like how analog and digital FM do. I think it was pushed for digital only because there was lots of money to be made by selling off some of the frequency range used for TVs. Someone got filthy rich off of it.

[@Cooe.]

"and made it almost pointless to collect antique TVs." Yeah, because that's not a niche within a niche... *facepalm*.

[@TheHunChem]

That white dot fading away at the end... Damn, it was actually sad :/

[@TheHunChem]

***** End off the broadcast, but not the show. No fucks given.

[@TheHunChem]

***** But really, just think of it. You saw damn history. It was the end of the broadcast that was the TV itself for decades! It happens only once, not more.

[@PeterWalkerHP16c]

+HunChem Thats how the old B&W TVs used to go after you turned them off. Enough + charge on the CRT with a dead yoke to spot the centre. 6cm5, 6al3, 1s2, eht transformers - all gone.

[@Vortmite1]

+BURNINGJUNK 03:25

[@devinty718]

(End of the Analogue world)

[@tobortine]

Excellent. I can tell my grandchildren that I watched the end of analog TV in Australia and when they say "but granddad, you've never been to Australia" - I'll say "yeh, but I know this mad Aussie on the web" ;-)

[@THEtechknight]

"But dad, Whats the web? its the neuron network"

[@MrDuckie00]

tobortine RIP Analog TV 1940-2013 it's been fun even I didn't know we switched to Digtal j was little young

[@jeykies3745.]

Peter Libranti i was born in 2010

[@enriquetitan06]

@@jeykies3745. I was born 4 years before you.

[@leannewalker539]

@@MrDuckie00 i was 0 back then in 2013

[@Keith_Ward]

TV resolution may be getting better but the content is certainly getting worse.

[@AlexChama]

Hence KZbin! Where content is better and the conditions are worsening!

[@Keith_Ward]

AlexChama Thanks for clarifying that!

[@tony714keene]

rely

[@tony714keene]

rely

[@akiren7730]

Truer words were never spoken !

[@DarrenLandrum]

It does feel like the end of an era, though, doesn't it? "Television is dead. Long live television."

[@JSSMVCJR2.1]

Long live the Analog.

[@mwbgaming28]

Television was dead when they turned of the analog signal And its digital zombie corpse was killed by Netflix not long after

[@SerranoECH]

@@mwbgaming28Actually Netflix will have the same path as Blockbuster, that reminds me that they told the radio the same thing that they would also disappear when television arrived but in the end they still exist.

[@mwbgaming28]

@@SerranoECH piracy has made all of them obsolete anyway

[@N0M4dIC1RST]

Damn, I had a little pinch in my heart at the end of the transmission.

[@grayforz-eb9ec]

Numitron me to :'(

[@terrencejones6122]

R. I. P. ATN7 SINDEY 😢😢😢😢💔💔💔💔💔

[@dtozzi2387]

I’m in the USA so this did not affect me

[@JoeDesbonnet]

Love that CRT switch-off effect (where the electron beam keeps firing at the center of the screen after the deflection coils stop). I guess only people still watching analog will remember that.

[@michaelsteinbach5171]

I remember, love that effect. My previous cellphone (Droid Bionic) had (a simulation of) that effect when you locked it.

[@andljoy]

Michael Steinbach as does the nexus 4 possibly an android thing ?

[@TATO10892]

Andrew Joy Yes, that's an Android thing, my Samsung does it too.

[@KuraIthys]

I remember it well... Then again we still have a CRT tv in the house... And up until 3 months ago I still had some CRT computer monitors in use... XD - Granted modern CRT displays aren't nearly as dramatic as the older ones... But you can still see the overall effect...

[@electronicsNmore]

Only drawback to digital TV is when the signal level is reduced to a low/lower level, your screen will freeze, or you will have pixelation/chunks to make the video feed unviewable. This occurs in bad weather with satellite tv, or cable tv. With Analog, even with a poor signal, you can still see something, albeit a poor image.

[@PasiSavolainen]

Implementation of audio packaging is somehow extremely stupid. It starts dropping out before video does and it's the one that's extremely important to not be interrupted. Who cares about couple of missed frames that are blocky, continuous audio is a must.

[@Gnomefro]

Well, whether or not digital TV will freeze depends on the encoding used. If the situation you describe was a problem for a lot of people, they could use progressive enhancement coding where the lower resolution images had ridiculous error correction on them so that they'd get through any kind of "normal" natural disturbance so you'd always have an image, like in the analog case. There are other error correction schemes that can be used to minimize the effect of loss as well, such that the TV could mask the consequences of errors. Like checkerboard macroblock distributions, separating information from blocks with high spacial correlation more in time so that you can be more confident that you have useful data to reconstruct lost data from if part of it is lost by localized noise. Most techniques like that become more effective as the resolution of the TV signal increases as well.

[@gabrielmiller668]

That's one of the reasons why I hate digital television

[@rbeez2004]

Absolutely, digital signal is not a superior product by any means. They killed analog because they needed to free up frequency range for more important reasons. So even the government knows analog is the way to go for a reliable communication signal.

[@jermfanaccount]

when my little brother watches abc4kids when its windy or rainy, i just love watching the tv freak out.

[@HarmonicVector]

Fun Fact: The send-off music just before shut down was Temptation Sensation, from it's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The Gang Shuts Down Analog.

[@kokorolinkrun2943]

OH MY GOD

[@yashiejalil4985]

The Gangs Shut Down Analog.

[@AlexTheLev]

The Gang Goes Digital

[@velikiradojica]

This made me cry.

[@richhourigan9501]

same, i dunno why tho

[@devinty718]

(*End of the Analogue World*)

[@Tide690]

We’re now in the digital world of TV

[@enriquetitan06]

Hey guys, it's alright. Things like these happen sometimes, just like how we feel. You just gotta control how you feel.

[@suckmaballz257]

@@enriquetitan06 there was an attempt to sound inspirational

[@compu85]

That was a nice sendoff at least.

[@ducclol69]

In the US they counted down but I like Australia's switch because it was calm instead of THREE TWO ONE *static*

[@RealCheesyBread]

When television was in it's infancy, the broadcasts would actually turn off every night. Here in America there would typically be three channels. Every night (I'm only 21 years old so I am going off of the stories my grandparents and parents told me) the American stations would play the national anthem, I forget what time they would do this, and then there would be some sort of goodbye and then the transmission would end for the night. I wouldn't be surprised if that gray-scale clip with the Kangaroo was the "goodbye" message Australian stations would play back when they likely would have cut broadcast every night before 24/7 broadcasting became a thing. It makes it that much more touching that they would broadcast that and say goodbye for the last time.

[@scubaspi]

The movie Poltergeist actually has a scene with this occurring. You can find it on KZbin under "Poltergeist TV Scene".

[@tony714keene]

in2005 in Seattle when analog was in the CBS or what I know is also KIRO station and they would do sign off with national anthem.

[@Moroccansun]

You can tell due to the baby Kangaroo being tucked to bed by it's mother

[@tggc1983]

As if Digital was the mother and Analog was the Joey.

[@BeautifulAngelBlossom]

Our local ABC Station in my part of USA. Turn off analog in the middle of newscast .

[@sjheiss]

I admit that seeing it die, to never come back, saddened me a bit. I mean, I live in the US and not Australia, but seeing something so important to so many people for so many years just cease to exist is a momentous occasion. Thanks, Dave, for sharing it with us. :)

[@vk2zay]

The only thing that really sucks about this is how much harder it now is to homebrew a TV receiver for your oscilloscope. :(

[@kaileyhannah1]

The sad music, the baby kangaroo being put to bed, that TV saying goodbye, the shrinking dot, followed by the static. almost makes my want to cry.

[@dtozzi2387]

Australia: Dec 3, 2013 9:00 AM America: Dec 2, 2013 5:00 PM (I was 2 years old at that time in America) so the night background reminds me of it being night in America

[@dtozzi2387]

That static made me scream

[@dtozzi2387]

Started watching this in 2023 (Srry if pinging so much, I’ll stop now)

[@classicschannel.]

​@@dtozzi2387Dominick 😢

[@whitcwa]

As a broadcast TV engineer, I felt only a twinge of nostalgia when our transmissions ceased in 2009. I think I was more moved a few years earlier when we switched from our old RCA VHF transmitters with tetrode finals to an all solid-state transmitter. With the digital UHF channel we use klystrons, yay! We kept our transmitters on for a few weeks as an "analog nightlight" station, running a short video telling people how to convert to digital at home. The US govt gave out coupons for free DTV converters, so nobody had to throw out their TVs.

[@ronjones4069]

In salt lake City Utah when they switched off analog TV they carried live coverage from the transmitter site and they showed the gentleman who had been the transmitter engineer for decades actually throw the off switch. It was actually sort of emotional to see the picture suddenly turn to snow.

[@DoughnutMasterStudios]

I prefered analog over-the-air TV because at the time (something like 2006) I had around 40 channels, and great signal. Today I only have 10 channels with digital TV and most of the time this signal is horrible. If you had bad signal with analog, you were at least able to see something and it was perfectly normal to watch TV with a little bit of static. With digital if you have a bad reception, you won't be able to see much, only flickering images or a black screen. I really miss the old days. Analog might be obsolete, but if you ask me, it's better than digital in many ways.

[@zer0b0t]

Why nobody complaints about the slow speed channel change, analog was real fast :.(

[@Roxor128]

I suspect the reason for that is that the digital tuner can't start decoding the video stream until it gets an intra-compressed frame, and they don't appear that often in the data stream. I think once every second, or something like that. Analogue, on the other hand just depends on the timing information within a frame, so it'll switch channels within a 25th of a second (or a 30th of a second for the Yanks). It's an example of the time-space trade-off in computer science. The digital system is much more efficient in terms of bandwidth use, but you pay a price in that it takes longer to decode and needs very complex circuitry to do so. The analogue system is fast to decode, using much simpler circuitry, but uses a lot of bandwidth.

[@zer0b0t]

Hmm, in theory they could preload a few channels ahead and before the current one to allow sapping fast through them. But of course it takes processor time. I've seen older converters were slower maybe in some years they'll catch up. But for me it's frustrating to see how easy people accepted it without complaints, go find a single complaint about this, you won't. Isn't that weird? People tend to be extremely volatile when someone takes something from them but not this case. Yes they get better image quality (often enough, apparently) and more channels but what about low strength signals? In emergency situations this could make a live or die difference. Ok I changed the subject :| bye.

[@Roxor128]

zerpBot Preloading channels would require either multiple tuners or multiplexed channels. Even so, given the way our current video codecs work, changing channels would still require the decoding of several frames of video data, which takes time. Video codecs tend to use three kinds of encoded frames: I, P and B. I frames are basically like a JPEG image and only care about what's in that frame, while P and B frames are differences between frames. P frames are the differences between the current frame and the last I frame, while B frames are the difference between the current frame, the last I or P frame and the next I or P frame. The types usually go in a sequence along the lines of "IBBPBBPBBPBBPBBPBBPBBPBB" repeated over and over. Given the sequence of encoded frames, picking just one at random makes you most likely to get a B frame in the middle portion of the sequence, which means that to decode it, you need the two P frames its sandwiched between decoded first, and to decode those, you need the preceding I frame. If the decoder's processor is only fast enough to process one frame in the time needed to display one, then assuming all the frames needed are buffered but not decoded, it'll give a delay of four frames before it becomes visible, which at 25fps, comes out to 0.16 seconds, which is definitely noticeable. Multiplexed channels and buffering all data on a given frequency would allow switching channels with the above limit, but only if you don't jump frequencies, in which case, you have to start buffering data from the new frequency all over again, putting you back to slower switching, which given it only happens some of the time could arguably be more annoying than just being slow all the time. Multiple tuners could buffer the data for the current channel and its neighbours, cutting switching time to the above limit, but it would be an inefficient use of parts and power, and it would still be much slower if you don't change channels in steps of one. Constant decoding of the current channel and its neighbours using multiple tuners could get single-jump switching times on par with analogue, given that changing channels would just swap which decoded video buffer gets sent to the screen, while another tuner gets its frequency reassigned in the background, but it would be even worse in terms of parts and power efficiency, as most of the time two thirds (or more) of the work would be discarded.

[@Roxor128]

mPky1 Also a possibility. It would help smooth over spikes in the time the decoder takes to decode a frame. The more frames you have buffered ahead of what's being displayed, the more tolerance you have for a particularly error-filled one needing a lot of additional time to decode. An error-free frame might need 15ms to decode (plenty fast enough to keep up with a 50fps frame-rate), but a badly corrupted one might need 20ms to run through the error-correction algorithms before it produces something the main decoder can handle, giving a total time of 35ms. Without a buffer, you'd have the picture stalling for a frame or two when you receive a single corrupted one (depending on the video frame-rate). It's annoying, but nowhere near as annoying as buffer underruns in audio. For that reason most audio playback programs have a few seconds of audio buffers. I remember MOD4WIN back in my Windows 3.1 days being able to buffer up to 19.8 seconds, and losing as much as half of that when some other program did something demanding and taking about half that time to refill the buffer. ...and I just realised that those 19.8 seconds of buffer would have eaten up about 3.5MB, or nearly half the computer's memory.

[@Roxor128]

mPky1 Well, I was just giving what I thought was likely. It's entirely possible that some systems might be able to do all the error-correction as the signal is coming in. On the other hand, it's possible to use multiple layers of error-correction. CDs use a two-layer Reed-Solomon code. The data is first encoded in blocks with one code. The results are then interleaved into a new set of blocks and encoded again with the second code, and the results of that are put on the disc. On reading the disc, the errors which make it through the lowest one end up distributed infrequently in the the higher-level code due to the interlacing, resulting in errors which are sparse enough that they can usually be corrected. Apparently, the system is strong enough that scratches on the disc tend to make the laser go off-track before they beat the error-correction code. Chances are that digital TV uses something similar, though probably with different codes.

[@Imnotimportant555]

at least they had the tensity to play something that is letting you know that it analog tv is ending. the video at the end before it went dead was nice to relive some memory's for many people.

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

+Dudefoxlive I loved the way they swept it down like the old B&W sets used to do. "We will control the vertical. We will control the horizontal." It's just not the same watching The Outer Limits without a smidgen of snow in the pic.

[@quigon87yt]

Glad you caught this historic moment. This truly marks the end of an era that most of us [older] folks will always remember those days with fondness. Here in the States digital was brought online in 2007 but some analog stations are still broadcasting to this day... go figure.

[@nakayle]

Actually I do miss aspects of analog. It was much easier to analysis problems. Noise, clipping, ringing, compression, about every video defect was easily discerned on a scope or monitor. With digital you have few visual clues- it either works or it doesn't. And if it doesn't work it can take a long time to figure out why.

[@Nimasho2go]

It was really cool to be able to see this happen. I missed it in my hometown here in Canada, as we had already gotten rid of our antenna in favor of satellite tv. Really nice that it got documented.

[@smallenginedude71]

now we wait... for PIRATE TV!!!

[@BobyTheDragon]

smallenginedude71 hahaha yes!

[@krisztianszirtes5414]

+smallenginedude71 Pirate radios are for plebs. Let's do imagery!

[@rich1051414]

+smallenginedude71 Pirate TV has been around for ages. My grandmother had pirate satalite when i was a little kid(I am 31 now). They had these fancy descrambling boxes that worked some what to descramble channels for legit customers. Funny part is, the man who sold it to her forgot to mention it was illegal, and she almost got into a lot of trouble years later because of it.

[@marksmediatv7734]

That wont be on air for too long. The FCC will shut it down pretty quickly.

[@beyondbeyond1965]

A VCR connected to a signal amplified connected to another signal amplifier connected to another signal amplifier connected to another signal amplifier connected to an aerial.

[@girlwithaguitar24]

"This service is about to end. Thank you. Goodbye". WTF, why is that making me cry? I'm not even Australian!

[@tggc1983]

Same! I guess it’s the fact Mother Digital was putting Analog Joey to bed forever. Yes, I gave them names.

[@kokorolinkrun2943]

@@tggc1983 Aww, cute names!

[@Daniel15au]

Wow you had such a clear picture for an analogue signal! I'm so used to it being very fuzzy.

[@Wifi_Cable]

Epic ending, I expected it to cut off someone mid-sentence.

[@MrMikey1273]

Interesting to see that in your country. We had our full power analog shutdown in July 2009 and just had the final shutdown of all low power analog stations in July 2021 here in the USA.

[@DobieTanpaw]

The only GOOD thing about the end of Analog TV was the multi-megawatt TV transmitters going off the air and easing up RF congestion for those of us who like to do weak-signal work in the VHF and UHF bands ;)

[@spudhead169]

Yeah, but HF is now swamped with network line adaptor sprogs.

[@MarkShannonroad_videos]

Nice that the station honored it's past with that little animation before cutting power. Here in the states some stations, including the one I worked for, did that while others just powered down in the middle of programming or did a count down on the local news. Some ran a "Night Light" service over analog produced by the National Association of Broadcasters for about 2 weeks. But that's not important.

[@whitcwa]

I have one story about analog which may amuse Dave's viewers. I once spent the night in a hotel on a mountain ridge. The TV didn't get many stations, but I found one and watched a program. There was a commercial which had the wrong audio for the picture I saw. I thought about the master control operator who was going to get chewed out for doing an audio breakaway when he shouldn't have. Then the local news program started and the audio for that was wrong as well. It finally dawned on me that I was picking up the visual carrier from a station to the west and the aural carrier from one to the east!

[@RMoribayashi]

When they did the Analog shutdown here in the US there was a massive sporadic E propagation event. People all over the country were seeing stations 1000 miles or more away suddenly appear after their local channels 2,3 or 4 shut down.

[@magottyk]

I liked the old style cartoon and the black with white dot afterglow. Hadn't realised it was the last day otherwise I would have watched it. Thanks for uploading that.

[@danwalker77]

Nice one Dave! Enjoyed your 'actual' coverage of the switch-off! It happened here in Wellington NZ couple months back I believe.. Cheers and great videos mate!

[@GeorgeGraves]

Wonder how long till they switch off youtube?

[@redsnowdue]

NEVER!!!!!

[@imark7777777]

they will not switch it off, it will just get filtered from your Internet plan unless you pay extra.

[@mwbgaming28]

ahhh the benefits of a VPN

[@myami3733]

it's actually happening now.

[@arandomsomething8562]

The same will happen to the internet some day

[@sidmo2008]

Thanks for sharing that! I'm in London, UK and we lost our Analog last year. I never thought to do this. You may be able to tell from my avatar that I am an "Old Engineer", and I remember BBC1 switching to Colour in November 1969. At the time I was doing a training course at the BBC's Engineering College and we all gathered in the TV Lounge to watch it happen.

[@Aussie50]

It is a bit of a shame to see the end of the Analogue TV era, but to be honest, its past its use by date, too grainy to even watch on modern TV's. CRT TV's can still serve minimal practical use, but to be honest, i will not miss those big heavy lumps either.

[@hdagelic]

But it doesn't have an abrupt cut on low signal :) I've seen this a lot and it's very annoying. I like imperfections, so you can see that there is a nice system working underneath, not just "perfect" picture. But if everybody likes it then we'll watch HD. It could be that the respect for theese systems (the people behind) even made the program a little bit better, and less the "instant rush" thing.

[@VoyageOne1]

I already had an LCD TV given to me by my oldest sister earlier that year so the switchover largely went unnoticed. At best, most domestic analogue TV's could only display 500 lines of resolution - if you were lucky enough to work in a TV station and see a fresh camera feed through a high-end monitor, then you saw what broadcast-quality analogue video could be truly capable of (until DVD's came along). But, who in their right mind would want to go back from 1080p or 2k? Analog TV wasn’t like film or 24-track tape

[@OrbiterElectronics]

Analogue was turned off in my part of the UK 4 years ago now. Can't say I miss it either as I hardly watch TV at all.

[@MrPaper-cd3oe]

me either. usually the only time i would MAYBE consider watching it was if the power was on but the internet wasnt (since whenever i can watch tv i usually can just watch youtube on my ipad), and we quit coughing up the 65 dollars or whatever oddballs it was to watch cable tv. we useD (emphasis on the d, hence the capitalization) to use roku, which i have on my bedroom tv (yes i have a tv in my bedroom, but it's a very old flat-screen Element Electronics TV who's had a few of its LEDs broken because it fell twice, first time barely, 2nd all the way to the ground because its meant to be a wall mount but i had to have it turned into a table mount since my tv is right in between 2 windows) but now even though our living room Hisense has roku, we dont use it. we dont really have a need for a tv other than for my Xbox One which is also old (we own a lot of old stuff, like my current ipad is the air 2 from 2014, which is gonna be 9 years old this year, so, happy 9th birthday in advance, ipad.) one time we could only get 1 channel on the hisense which i think was channel 34, i think it was about these people who would go places and document them and their history. sorry for the long comment. bye!!!!!

[@OrbiterElectronics]

@@MrPaper-cd3oe Well that's a proper comment. And please don't apologise as I enjoyed reading it. I would guess there are many folk these days like us who have given up watching TV, there's just never anything interesting on it anymore it seems, even the Christmas films over the last couple of years were pretty lame. And that's a shame as I used to enjoy Christmas telly. Maybe I'm just getting old. However saying that, I thought telly was rubbish when I was a teenager too.. 113 years ago 👀 Anyway that's it! Oh.. But before I go. Happy Birthday to your iPad 🎉😁

[@ChipGuy]

Germany is one step "ahead". They are switching off the digital terrestrial TV now. The encoders, Transmitters and stuff are now start to show up on ebay. Analog TV is turned off completely (terrestrial in 2007 iirc and satellite around 2012.

[@CZghost]

It can't be. I'm pretty sure I can catch RTL signal a little bit over the border in Varnsdorf. Over terrestrial.

[@ChipGuy]

@@CZghost Only programmes that are not aimed on people in Germany. Luxembourg still has some small low power analog terrestrial transmitters. Maybe others have as well. According to Bundesnetzagentur analog tv broadcasts in Germany are not permitted anymore (Frequenznutzungsplan)

[@beckyzwhite]

In the old analog days I always thought the Australian TV picture was superior to what we had back in the US. But now with digital and hi-def it's pretty much a level playing field for all, which is no bad thing.

[@captainkaveh1]

That was sad,watching another sign of golden time of human life has been gone! Transmission ends

[@LegoWormNoah101]

It's only going downhill from there, with the smartphone, KZbin ads, China, until inevitably all human society has collapsed and animals evolve to become anthromorphic and rebuilds society.

[@GeorgeTsiros]

When static came on i felt chills, like someone i know died before my eyes. And i haven't even ever been in Australia!

[@worldgate989]

In the states they gave away digital converter boxes to hook up to old televisions... some people refused to get them because their stubborn. The day the signals ended, they went to walmart trying to get the 'free box' and were denied, 49.95 per box. I found it highly amusing they thought that not upgrading would force them to keep running analog.

[@johnsmith-gk3ek]

***** Now they($uddenlink or the government) want to take those digital converter boxes back. No Shit

[@worldgate989]

john smith Not buying it.

[@johnsmith-gk3ek]

***** Then suddenlink is behind it. Suddenlink has a monopoly where I live.

[@worldgate989]

***** Probably need a bigger anteanna.

[@ikonix360]

worldgate989 but with analog TV I bet he could have received at least one station. Oh I know he needs one of those digital antennas at least that's what antenna manufacturers would have you believe.

[@WhitentonMike]

Ya know Dave, you might be able to clear up some of that snow by cleaning the pigeon droppings from your antenna.

[@EEVblog]

Didn't work for Penzias & Wilson...

[@WhitentonMike]

EEVblog Any plans for the antenna? I suggest a pole mounted pigeon coupe. Only the true Nerd in your neighborhood would get that reference. For extra fun rotate the mast while they are asleep.

[@johndii2194]

The digital signal is still analog so that antenna is still good.

[@imark7777777]

no you need a "digital TV antenna" now. //sarcasm//

[@FourItchyFeet4IF]

In our household we still talk about "warming the set", the set top box takes about as long to boot up as the valve tv set I grew up with took to warm up. I remember as a little kid peering through the grills to look at the glowing valves..

[@salahzayouna]

Historic, thanks for posting this. I wonder how much R&D had been spent on developing the Analog TV since it began, by all manufacturers.

[@salahzayouna]

And sure it had contributed a lot in advancing the Electronic Circuit Technologies

[@tradecollectables2024]

Celebrating 10 years since the analog tv switch off in australia

[@CraigTube]

I wonder who got to throw the switch??

[@Pow3llMorgan]

I hope someone got to sever a fat cable with a fire axe.

[@spetro3387]

Povl Besser reminds me of the intro to the transformers movie

[@Renatodonadio]

They only have to switch off the analog modulator and switch on the digital one, or flip the switch from analog to digital if the modulator is ready for the transition

[@artifactingreality]

It was a plunger they used.

[@ObviousSchism]

I believe that it was done with a huge multi-pole single-throw switch - with one pole for each broadcaster to ensure that they were all switched off in absolute synchronisation.

[@topxe.]

I hate, hate, *HATE* digital TV. Here in the US all the analog is already turned off. Let me just say, it sucks. I used to get 6+ analog channels, now with digital on the same antennas I get 3 channels and they constantly drop out and are barely watchable. Digital is just not robust, especially in emergencies. Good luck getting any signal at all on a portable TV. Sure, I could spend a bunch of time or money making complicated antennas and mounting them up high but WTF, analog worked way better.

[@stupidystu]

We had to buy Mum a new tele. I wouldn't have minded if she could see the bloody thing. Blind as a Bat, but she likes to listen to it. Hell, she's worth it.

[@imagoatbah]

This was surprisingly dark and existential, that whole walking along the beach thoughtfully, then the going to sleep thing, the fade out animation, and then just eternal static...

[@HDXFH]

kid you not, HDTV's are now becoming obsolete, in favour of Ultra HD, Smart LED, Projectors and the like are already killing off flatpanels!!!, still a waste of money though, TV is crap, nothing but Commercials & repeats!!

[@GrnArrow092]

Such as the speed of technology, man. That reminds me of when HDTVs were new to the scene and cost $5000 and up. I can remember that when I bought my HDTV 3 years ago that I was just happy that it can serve as both a TV and a computer monitor. I hear ya about modern TV being crap. That's why I rarely watch it. I'm too busy watching youtube videos. That's where my entertainment comes from.

[@MarkShannonroad_videos]

This is true. From working in TV in the states the Chief Engineer was talking about the cost of upgrading to Ultra HD, including a new transmitter. Why? Because the current equipment will be incompatible with the new standard. Still wondering why the FCC went with ATSC over DVB-T. DVB-T is more robust. ATSC sucks. Rant mode off now.

[@whitcwa]

It will be quite some time before we switch to Ultra HD. OLEDs are promising, but have burn-in issues which need to be solved. Use a DVR to skip commercials.

[@Footrotflats251]

Chris W fuck it I'm gonna stay with 1 tv until there is no way in hell it can ever be used (still got a CRT tv)

[@reticulan5]

Right on brother, what's the point of having Ultra HD and other improvemnts if there is only Informercials and idiotic lifestyle programs. What happened to all the movies both recent and classic, the wonderful documentaries. Oh yeah you have to pay for them now. Oh well back to watching those blasted Twistasaw and Shark Vacuum cleaners. I wonder which girl will win the batcholar, I think I'll go back to reading books.

[@MrwhopperGaming10]

If any of Fortnite players are here, Fun Fact: the Big Bang event actually happened 10 years after analog tv in Sydney shutoff. And even the end event reaction was legit the perfect part of the event to mark 10 years. It showed legit the same tv shutoff as the animation in the Sydney shutoff and I never knew that until now. Epic really did it at perfect timing

[@xennelul]

I was expecting a lady in a night gown crawling out of the TV set.

[@hankus253]

I just got used to the fact that TV pictures were no longer round, now you tell me its no longer analog... what's the world coming to.. LOL

[@DaedalusYoung]

Let them also switch off the digital tv, it's all crap anyway. The best entertainment is on KZbin.

[@anthonychrisbradley]

Daedalus Young yes, I'm sure someone on KZbin could come up with something as good Breaking Bad or The Wire.

[@sgmedia8372]

yeah but the problem is there will be no shows to watch.

[@ronster1703]

Breaking Bad and The Wire were the WORST examples you could've picked, because all episodes of both are available for purchase in SD and HD quality on KZbin.

[@SuperBloxTube]

Virgin Media has KZbin, but the controls to me are crap.

[@onks1796]

youtube’s crap now we can’t watch our shows without getting copyright striked or paying

[@davidsradioroom9678]

An historic video for sure. I was unable to record end of analog TV in the US, because it was much more gradual. I liked the video.

[@Falcrist]

Very strange and cool moment. Thanks for sharing! :D

[@GrnArrow092]

We switched over to digital here in the US back in 2009. I grew up with analog TV like everyone else. I'm not sure if I'd ever miss analog TV since to me, TV is TV no matter what signal is used. The only drawback is that it's now rendered devices made before the transition completely useless. Things like those older mini TVs with a 9" screen for example.

[@miicooperamiilbokirbycoop3835]

3:50 That Made My Cry In Joy

[@MagikGimp]

I love how they did that. For some reason I never saw what happened here in the UK. I'll have to check that out some day.

[@sc0tte1-416]

Canada did this a few years ago and I lost my free cable. Netflix, KZbin and you know what for me now.

[@Matt_Aquila]

I haven't watched Aussie TV in years thanks to the very same things you just mentioned ;)

[@Salmagundiii]

The best video about this sort of event was the one from a station in the Midwest (US), where the live video feed was actually of a beat reporter who got to press the off button. Someone was taping the analog signal, so she presses the button and the screen goes to static. Unfortunately the station DCMA'd it and it was taken down!

[@Bushougoma]

Wow we had our shutdown in the US 4 years ago. Thought the Aussies had done this way before us. Since we like to drag our feet over here.

[@pufero1]

Same here on spain and funy how fast the spectrum was sold to mobile phone companys and nothing left for open internet wirless. I hear on usa they gona leave some frequencies for internet wirless but no idea how it end . a 800 MHz will rocks on range no like the crapy 2,4Ghz.

[@JasonMikelsons]

The US turned off analogue nationwide in 2008, where as Australia switched off region by region starting in 2010 with rural areas and Sydney was the final region to be switched off on the 3rd December 2013.

[@Bushougoma]

Jason Mikelsons While the original date was sometime in 2008 for the US shutdown the government delayed it for some reason till sometime in 2009 can't remember the exact month. At least in the northeast US where I live.

[@vwestlife]

Analog TV is not totally off the air in the USA. Low-power TV (LPTV) stations are still allowed to use analog until September 1, 2015. There are some analog LPTV stations on Channel 6 acting as FM radio stations (because Channel 6's audio carrier is at 87.75 MHz, which can be picked up at 87.7 on an FM radio), but it is unknown if these stations will be forced to convert to digital (and thus lose their ability to be received on FM radios) or if a waiver will be granted for them.

[@imark7777777]

over here in the states we had Comcast during the transition, they were actually cold calling customers saying that they needed a Comcast converter box ( cable box + rental fee + service ) and if you did not have one your tv would not function after the cutoff date. thankfully we A. dropped Comcast and B. got DTV converter boxes already. they also dropped analog channels off of their system slowly, and then started requiring cable boxes and then began dropping off all the channels on the cable boxes LOL. we were also moving at the same time to an area without Comcast and much to my surprise? when we went to drop our box off there was a line out the door of other customers doing the same. I was in Walmart one day and i had to explain that analog TV did die, but broadcast Ant TV did not.

[@NininininimoCP]

Analog is still going over here in brazil :)!

[@NininininimoCP]

Tylore Rogers Because it is. In fact ALL the TVs (except one) are running on analog.

[@NikolasOldSchool]

Vrabb Não sei onde moras camarada, mas aqui em SC quase todas já são digitais. E no brasil, já houve muito tempo atrás uma redução no espectro, os canais do 60 - 69 foram removidos. Abraço!

[@BastetFurry]

Tylore Rogers Because i suspect they don't have the resources to switch over?

[@NininininimoCP]

Bastet Furry They have, In fact we do have digital but we just don't switch entirely they have both on ;)

[@shawn1320]

+Vrabbers We will closed it in Malaysia on 2019.Can't wait how it looks.But analog still exist here.

[@MistaGoodbytes]

I live in the UK where the last analog TV transmission ended around 2012. Whilst there are now far more channels available most of them are home shopping networks. The picture quality is also softer than the old analog signal with the exception of the HD channels (most of these are broadcast by BBC with only a couple of commercial stations available). I would like to see more HD channels & less home shopping channels :)

[@neodonkey]

its rather ironic that you say analogue is crusty and then when he videos the random noise on the TV you can see the noticeable artifacting in the digital video afterwards this is because no lossy codec can adequately code random noise. Analogue may not have had the best stability or crispness but in terms of information content it was higher than the lossy video we get today (and shannon proves that).

[@MattMerkle]

Actually there's no reason lossy codecs couldn't encode random noise, it's just a matter of bandwidth. If you were to give a digital broadcast the equivalent bandwidth of an analog station's radio bandwidth, it'd look damn near pixel perfect, and it'd be doing it in HD with surround sound.

[@tripledonkey]

***** Yes, but one of the reasons for the switch to digital was not more fidelity, but more stations. We have the same thing in the UK with DAB radio - broadcast in definitely crusty 128Kb and often less of Layer 2 (yes,2) MPEG audio. It sounds like a dogs breakfast. By turning the quality into a market you were always going to get a quantity over quality problem. True lossless digital video would look freaking awesome, I've no beef with digital itself.

[@bjtaudio]

Its not really gone, I kept my tv and I have a transmitter, re-transmitt any channel(s) you want around the house for the fun of it. you can still get modulators and set for each channel, re-combine the signals and out to the antenna, but at low power of course. You can tap into the house coax too, have a closed coax system...so it's never dead.

[@TheAverythomas01]

What a graceful ending.

[@microyoshiplus939]

That was a bit nicer than what happened in the UK. It just went from picture to snow in a second!

[@niznikb]

One thing I find disturbing about digi TV replacing analogue is that while analogue is (to my knowledge) royalty/patent-free technology (at least today), DTV is largely based on proprietary codecs. If commercial stations choose to use them, that's fine by me, but in many countries (mine included) there's public TV which is now also only available in digital. And they're financed from our taxes, tv lincences, (mandatory) subscription fees, etc. I don't like my tax money being used by the gorernment to force everyone to finance selected private entities that happen to own patents on the technology that we all must use if we want to watch TV. Imagine if all the road signs were encoded and you had to use special decoding glasses (only available from single company) to drive. That's basically what today's DTV is: public service available only to those who will pay for proprietary technology. That's not fair (to say the least)! BTW. I don't watch TV :P Anyway, love your videos. They've inspired me to renew my interest in amateur electronics (which I regretfully dropped some 10+ years ago). Cheers!

[@Anon5381]

When they shut down the last analog TV station in Vancouver BC they were still using vacuum tubes. I was lucky enough to know the technician and I got some historical articacts.

[@BMSWEB]

We still have Analogue TV here in Melbourne . . well for one more week ;)

[@gerjaison]

In that case here's my suggestions, do a similar video as Dave on all channels switching off at the same time.

[@BMSWEB]

Gerjaison OK that's a done deal :) Will do a video like this next week :)

[@gerjaison]

Good! look forward to it mate! Historic moment! :)

[@DantalionNl]

here in holland there not even talking about stopping analog transmissions yet, however analog signals travel trough kabel in holland and not trough air.

[@BMSWEB]

Wow, I wonder how long they'll keep it going. Do many people still use analog in Holland?

[@unfa00]

That final transmission was fantastic.

[@RetroRepair]

Funny that most people don't have any sentiment for analog TV. Guess I'm just a saddo!

[@mspysu79]

***** In England that is your second "Turnoff" the first was when the old 405 line TV standard ceased broadcasting on January2 1985.

[@FirstnameLastname-co6rq]

Not at all mate. Most people who grew up with analogue will miss it in some way or another. Especially if you're a bit nerdy. I love digital, but considering 3/4 of my life was spent in front of analogue, it is a bit sad to see it go.

[@jfaria]

***** As far as I know, Teletext still works in DVB-T and DVB-S.

[@giammyzanna]

I was born in 1994 but I miss analog tv... Here in italy they just switched off without any end transmission thing like in Dave's video and most American tv stations, that was really bad.

[@FishKungfu]

Very cool that you captured that historic moment!

[@olaniyi570]

Analog radio will probably be next to be extinct and I will miss it alot more than analog tv.

[@killernoob756]

I think Analog radio will still be around for a while, still so many cars out there only with an analog radio

[@ikonix360]

olaniyi570 I believe analog radio will be around for a long time still. Some FM stations put out both an analog and digital signal. The analog receiver still works and the digital receivers can be used as well.

[@1ebutuoy2]

"Some of the noise you see on your tv is from the cosmic background radiation." Yes, but very damn little of it. The CBR represents just a few degrees above zero kelvin while the thermal noise in your tv is much higher.

[@daniel_danet]

We've witnessed the end of an era...

[@mrmisterman999]

a shitty era

[@mrmisterman999]

how so?

[@tggc1983]

All the programming today is complete crap! I don’t care if I have an HD picture, like, it’s just a picture.

[@curtchase3730]

The death tribute to analog tv touched my heart. LOL. I, too, watched our local stations here in the states say farewell to analog. I was ready though, even took advantage of those govt rebate cards that could get you a converter box for a US$ instead of the typical $40.00US for retail purchase. Now our cable company has also eliminated their analog signal they used to provide for local tv, forcing you to rent their version of a converter box for around $5.00 a month! Now even your so called "cable ready" sets are obsolete! I could go on an on, but will cease my transmission of analog words here! BTW, most of the noise and snow on an old tv is not cosmic energy, but mostly generated in the tv itself by the RF amplifier stages in the tv tuner. Thanks!

[@Moviesxp]

3:53 r.I.p analogue 😭😭😭😭 but that ending was so cute

[@markoprskalo6127]

Our childhood memories

[@LuckyMTS]

I know bro☺️

[@brettvella9388]

pretty happy that you recorded this, cheers!

[@ericsbuds]

wow!! i love looking at the weather map of austrailia!! its like looking at the other side of the planet!!!

[@realgroovy24]

ericsbuds Here in New Zealand we see it every day same with other small pacific islands and I bet they see our weather map too I think the same as what you think when I see other places around the world!!

[@Jamesnov1970]

Our Analogue has been off here for many months now. (Newcastle NSW)

[@softwarejedimaster]

I shed a tear on this event (yea an analog tear!)

[@nounoufriend]

Just found your channel love the content , recording the Analog switch off was great its like something dying keep up the good work

[@thekaiser4333]

TV sucks. They should have switched it off altogether.

[@wolfy9005]

Now we just need to get our hands on the old broadcasting gear for a teardown tuesday

[@Razor2048]

Instead of putting up a phone number, they should have put a link to a twitter page for people to complain about the loss of their analog service :)

[@DMack6464]

I actually remember watching that, was somewhat glorious...

[@RobThePlumber]

It happened here in Canada a couple years ago. You can get a free digital box from the Canadian government for over the air television. I miss analog, lol. Love your videos!

[@lolman123401]

Free box? Where?

[@lolman123401]

I had to buy one too for my RV

[@myfunrandomvids]

why get the box when the newer flat screens have the digital tuner built in.

[@lolman123401]

crt.

[@catdumpling]

i think Canada did it around the same time we did in the US. we didn't get "free" boxes, but the US gov gave out one coupon per person that covered up to something like $40 of the cost. most of them ended up being free anyway...especially for people like me who just grabbed the cheapest one WalMart had. i still have a CRT TV that works fine and i don't care enough about television to bother spending money on a flat screen until this thing bites the dust. the one thing about digital TV that i find a bit ironic is that i now have to adjust my stupid antenna more than i did with analog TV! my apt building has a house antenna, but it won't pick up several stations, so i'm stuck with a ridiculous-looking pair of rabbit ears. i _should_ get one of those square, flat antennas and run a coax cable to my bedroom, but i'm torn between doing the work and that whole "not caring much about TV" thing i mentioned. hmmm, maybe what i should do is make my own flat (wall-mount) antenna. given that this is the EEVBlog channel, it might be a fitting project. i could probably harvest some of the parts out of my current antenna and reuse those. hey Dave, maybe a home-brew DTV antenna would be an easy and fun project video!

[@gorak9000]

I like how they used the curb your enthusiasm music at the end!

[@tggc1983]

It’s actually called It’s always sunny in Philadelphia.

[@tmc200527]

If they ever remake Poltergeist the little girl will be sitting in front of a blue screen. Not as scary

[@KSITREVS]

That was surprisingly interesting to watch!

[@HDXFH]

I do miss the Vintage TV sets though ;-(, I did make up a small pirate Analog TV station to use with my TV Collection ;-)

[@Footrotflats251]

what channel??

[@Footrotflats251]

please do a video on it

[@navysealuk8755]

pretty cool never got to see the cut off in the UK i was working thanx for filming it

[@StewMan46]

I love how he describes the static as "cosmic background radiation"😂

[@CZghost]

Well, it essentially is. If there was no cosmic radiation, the spectrum would be pitch black, our receivers would simply be silent and completely blank, you wouldn't know if the station is just silent or there is no signal.

[@StewMan46]

@@CZghost Wow, that’s very interesting

[@theinfoone]

here in California when they did it it went like this "and in today's news *frost loud noises and beeps then just snow