DTV Conversion

[yorkiesmiles]

Is anyone else frustrated by this DTV Conversion?? Did you know that even though congress pushed the date back to June 12 - they left a HUGE loophole open for TV station owners to ignore the June date?

I am so annoyed -- I have never had cable, dish, etc. -- so when this whole thing came out I wasn't thrilled. My money has been tight, so buying a DTV converter wasn't high on my list - but I did call for a coupon for the converter box at the beginning of January. When I called, they said my name was on the list, but the money for the coupons was gone -- well about 4 days later the news folks started saying all the money was gone

So, I waited to buy a box - in case more $ became available, and then to see if congress pushed back the conversion date. When the date got pushed back, my boss & I both celebrated.

But NOW - the NBC station where I live & the FOX station (which I think the nbc station also controls) are converting anyway on FEB 17!! -- apparently some HUGE loophole allows this. So now if I want to watch American Idol I have to do something!

Not sure which way to go - SO, I'M SEEKING ADVICE:
1) Even though the money was gone for the coupons -- I got 2 coupons about a week ago -- so do I go buy the conversion box - I'm hesitant because I know they say that some people also need to BUY a new antenna - I've also heard there is a difference in the quality of the conversion boxes - that some of the expensive ones aren't as good as the cheaper ones -- DO YOU HAVE A CONVERSION BOX? WHAT BRAND? IS IT ANY GOOD?

2) Do I just go buy a small new TV?? I have no idea about this either -- I think the last time I bought a TV for the house was 17 yrs ago. The one I have works perfectly - but then you wonder for how long. ANYONE HAVE ADVICE ON BUYING A TV IN THE MODERN ERA??

3) I heard a rumor that the local cable station is giving free basic cable until June 12 -- but I'm not sure I want to open that can of worms - because I know they are figuring you'll just keep it. Also, there is nothing on their website about this offer. There are many reasons I have never had cable - course I had it growing up in may parents home, but I just don't need that many TV options, because it's too easy to watch too much. ANYONE ELSE WITHOUT CABLE OR DISH?

ANYONE ELSE IN THIS SITUATION?? ANYONE ELSE HAVE TV STATIONS SWITCHING ON TUESDAY - EVEN IF YOU ARE PREPARED??

[browniesmom622]

I can't help you any we got ours free the beginning of last year, We have it for the bathroom.

[mstrooperwife]

we have directv in our house , but i have a hair shop next to my house and i had that tv just on antenna. well i got my coupon and went online to look at converter boxes because some people locally told me that some of the ones at Walmart has already stopped working.... well i went online (if you want, i will look it up for you and let you know the website) i read alot of reviews on different ones before i commited to buy one. this one i got had alot of good reviews compared to others
well on this site i found one that was 40.01.....so i actually paid 1 cent plus shipping, but it wasn't bad.

well i got the box and hooked it up. box works great, but i had to go buy a digital antenna for it to work better. I got one on TigerDirect.com - Computers, Computer Parts, Computer Components & Electronics for 19.99. it actually lays flat on top of the tv. it made it pick up more channels.

but i'm like you very fustrated with the whole deal because on directv i can't get one of our local channels and with the antenna in my shop, i could see the news everyday, Now i can't get that channel with this box at all. one of our fox stations has already switched over....i think they switched in Dec.

some days the box tells me either weak signal or no signal on some channels which really stinks if you want to watch something. i agree with you. i don't like it at all.

oh and I put all of this on an older tv. let me know if i can help you any way
because i was trying to save money too.

[MeganS]

I'm sorry, I can't help you!

I don't understand this at all. I don't really see what the government cares what kind of TV you are watching?

[phfgkl]

At least one of our stations is advertising, and they're stilll going through with it this month, which is fine with me. I'm sick of seeing the thing going across the tv all the time. We've had over a year to get everything taken care of. We have directv on one tv. but, then we bought 2 HD tvs for the bedrooms, they don't have anything hooked up to them, but, since they're new tv's they will work fine when they finally get this conversion over and done with. My friend on the other hand ordered boxes for all of her tvs(she probably has 10 of them) and she hates them, she can't record anymore like she used too. It's all a PITA if you ask me

[Sunnie]

In the town I live in they converted in November! We have basic cable which did not require a box. We have 5 tv's in the house. 1 week before they converted to digital, they told us we needed to have a box on each TV and we cannot use the ones that you buy anywhere. We had to get them directly from the cable company. The first one was free but we have to pay an additional $2 per month for each of the other tvs. Then they came out to install them and only one TV worked for about a month and two more visits to fix them. I seriously am considering changing to directtv. We thought we were ok with having cable.. but it seems any cable company can convert any way they want and go figure that mine would have a "company specific" box that we had to get. so now I am paying the same for "rental" each month ($8 for 4 boxes) as I would have paid for each box one time to own it.

[yorkiesmiles]

Well, I was out today & did peak at some TVs - just trying to figure out if I should just buy a new TV & then not hassle with the box - but I don't think I want to cough up that kind of money

I agree Megan - I do not understand why the government did this & why there is so much control over it.

It's just crazy because the only people I hear that are happy are people who have direct tv

[francis53]

Well, even though we have DISH tv, I did get the converter box, an RCA cheap one with the coupons. It works fine with a regular antenna in my house. We also have an HD tv with the built in tuner and a dvd recorder with one built in and my computer has a digital tv tuner that came with it. So there are lots of ways to get the tuner. I am able to pick up all 14 of the digital stations that we get here in central Ia. with all the tuners with just regular old rabbit ears type antenna. I don't know why anyone would say you can't record with the converters, you just have to have it hooked up thru your vcr or dvd recorder, I record stuff all the time off my antenna tvs. I think you might like the converter more than you think you will, you will get more stations, like channel 5 has a 5.2 that is retro tv shows, and channel 11 gives you 3 different ones. I can't watch those thru Dish. I just wish they would just do it and be done with all the crawlers going across the tv screen, I am really getting sick of that. Good luck with getting it all hooked up!

[mstrooperwife]

you know they did explain why they were doing this and it made alot of sense. they said analog takes up alot more airwaves in the air........digital doesn't take up as much space. so when there is less space it makes cell phones and other things in the air waves pick up better. maybe we'll see an improvement on cell phone reception in certain areas hopefully. i think i explained this right.

[Sunnie]

yes you explained it right. when I worked for the government I worked directly with the frequency management that "rules" the bandwidth. Digital takes way way less bandwidth and bandwidth is at a premium

[DukesMommy]

My parents use direct tv in the living room, but in my room we have been using my tiny tv with an antenna because we can't afford cable now, and there isn't any room for our bigger tv.

We put in for one of the coupon things, but haven't gotten it yet because I guess they don't have enough money. I don't know if any of our stations are going to be cut off early, but that's annoying that they are doing that. We don't watch the tv in the living room at all because my parents pretty much live in front of it, so if it goes out then thats it because we can't afford anything else right now.

I don't know any differences between the boxes or anything. But I do think it's absurd that they force us all to have to spend that much money on something when the cable companies, etc probably have more money that anyone else right now. It's all just another gimmick for them to get more money IMO.

[Erin]

The digital transition is a good thing. This page explains why it is necessary: The Digital TV Transition: What is DTV

The switch has been authorized since 1996. I've known about it for years. When we bought a new TV 2 years ago we knew we needed to get an HDTV. TV's have been available as "DTV ready" for years so that they could be operated without a converter box after the switch. Digital signals are clearer and they allow the networks to broadcast multiple signals. Our NBC here is channel 5, and we have 5.1 and 5.2 - so NBC has TWO channels. One is the regular NBC and one is devoted to weather and special broadcasts (like the showed the raw feed from the Blago impeachment trial). I think ABC has 3 channels. PBS also has extra channels which is awesome because one of them plays a bunch of good cooking shows. We have been waiting for the switch because some of our stations have lower power and they are boosting their signals today to compensate!

I understand that people are frustrated, but they have been advertising the Feb 17th date forever. I know the box is $40 and no one wants to spend $40 on one, but we've known about this for YEARS. The DTV takes up so much less of the spectrum and frees it up for other things. Start watching for more cell companies to start offering high-speed internet. Our "high speed" (yeah right) internet options are so bad that I welcome some more choices. Also, if they ran out of coupons it was only recently. Last summer my parents got a coupon and we were able to get them a converter box for like $10. Sorry to anyone who waited but this was in no way a surprise. We had plenty of notice.

DukesMommy - why don't you add a 2nd room on the DirectTV? Ours is only $5.99 more a month for a 2nd room. Also, the converter box has nothing to do with the cable companies. You ONLY need a converter box if you use an antenna with an old TV, no cable, no dish. Anyone who uses cable or dish does not need a converter box.

Also, most TV shows are available online for free anyway.

[Sunnie]

Originally Posted by Erin

The digital transition is a good thing. This page explains why it is necessary: The Digital TV Transition: What is DTV

The switch has been authorized since 1996. I've known about it for years. When we bought a new TV 2 years ago we knew we needed to get an HDTV. TV's have been available as "DTV ready" for years so that they could be operated without a converter box after the switch. Digital signals are clearer and they allow the networks to broadcast multiple signals. Our NBC here is channel 5, and we have 5.1 and 5.2 - so NBC has TWO channels. One is the regular NBC and one is devoted to weather and special broadcasts (like the showed the raw feed from the Blago impeachment trial). I think ABC has 3 channels. PBS also has extra channels which is awesome because one of them plays a bunch of good cooking shows. We have been waiting for the switch because some of our stations have lower power and they are boosting their signals today to compensate!

I understand that people are frustrated, but they have been advertising the Feb 17th date forever. I know the box is $40 and no one wants to spend $40 on one, but we've known about this for YEARS. The DTV takes up so much less of the spectrum and frees it up for other things. Start watching for more cell companies to start offering high-speed internet. Our "high speed" (yeah right) internet options are so bad that I welcome some more choices. Also, if they ran out of coupons it was only recently. Last summer my parents got a coupon and we were able to get them a converter box for like $10. Sorry to anyone who waited but this was in no way a surprise. We had plenty of notice.

DukesMommy - why don't you add a 2nd room on the DirectTV? Ours is only $5.99 more a month for a 2nd room. Also, the converter box has nothing to do with the cable companies. You ONLY need a converter box if you use an antenna with an old TV, no cable, no dish. Anyone who uses cable or dish does not need a converter box.

Also, most TV shows are available online for free anyway.

This wasn't true in our case. Our cable company requires a digital convertor box. I have had cable from this company (the only one in town btw) for over 20 years. I have never needed a box because I had basic cable without the movie channels etc. NOW I need THIER converter box. The only thing this box is for is to convert the analog to digital and our cable company converted to digital in November. And the cable company made it hard for us because the boxes ytou can purchase with the coupons will not work for us. We had to have the box that was designed specifically for our cable company and of course for 5 TVs I pay and extra $8 per month for the boxes. I got 2 coupons in the mail too and used them to go in the motorhome so I can get digital on both tvs.
I only had to pay $9.99 each for them.

[LuvMyPrinceKobi]

I do not think it is as big of a deal as others, obviously. It's not like February 17th just "snuck up"...they've been advertising this for a LONG TIME. We have Dish, so weren't affected, but my bf's mom just uses an antenna, and she has 4 TVs, so she had us order 2 coupons for her. She's had them up and running for months now, not even a slight bit of hassle....

It could have been worse, the gov't could have said no one is getting coupons and you get to buy the $40 boxes yourself...so I really don't see what the issue is. JMO

[Nikki+2]

Originally Posted by Erin

DukesMommy - why don't you add a 2nd room on the DirectTV? Ours is only $5.99 more a month for a 2nd room. Also, the converter box has nothing to do with the cable companies. You ONLY need a converter box if you use an antenna with an old TV, no cable, no dish. Anyone who uses cable or dish does not need a converter box.

Also, most TV shows are available online for free anyway.

I beilieve this is true only if your cable company broadcasts in digital already. Fortunately, ours does but it sounds like not all do and that's why the box might be required even if you have cable.