Battery Powered DTV For Storm Coverage

By Emory Bryan, News On 6

TULSA, OK -- During severe weather, many people look to battery powered televisions as backup for the latest weather information. That too is changing with the end of analog broadcasting and brings up the question, what can viewers do during a power outage?

With regular programming suspended on analog Channel 6, some KOTV viewers worry they won't be able to watch or listen during severe weather, but a little television can change all that.

2/17/2009 Related Story: News On 6 And CW 12/19 Switch To Digital

"Everybody has been asking, what am I going to do? And this is your only solution right now, this little portable TV," said Cyndi Tyler, Radio Shack Manager.

A 7" digital television is the only battery powered, portable model that's commonly available and it's only at Radio Shack.

Other models are available for sale online for slightly less, but for now, a $199 model is what many people are buying to have a digital TV that works during a power outage.

"It's a product just for that situation, but a lot of people use it for more than that, for entertainment," said Tyler.

Many people have had small televisions for power outages, but none of those are going to work unless there's an antenna connection on it that they can hook to a converter box.

The problem is that converter boxes need power. The relatively new TV solves that problem because the tuner is built in.

The transition away from analog broadcasting took with it the popular 87.7 radio frequency. Some KOTV viewers counted on it and they noticed the change right away.

The News On 6 has had about 40 calls about the transition. They range from technical, why something isn't coming in to our radio broadcast, 87.7, to where to get coupons and a converter box.

To learn whether your television requires a digital converter box and how to make the switch to DTV, visit: https://www.dtv2009.gov/ or call 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009).

Or check out NewsOn6.com's special DTV page.