Where are the $40 DTV converter boxes? Apparently not available at most retail stores, so FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is asking that they stock up. The box would be “essentially free” with the government’s $40 subsidy coupon, but Martin has pointed out the boxes are not yet widely available in stores.
In a letter to the executive director of the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition, published on the FCC Web Site, Martin says the FCC found that “none” of the major retail outlets was carrying the box or planning to carry it.
Martin wants stores like Wal-Mart, Sears, Best Buy, Circuit City and RadioShack to at least have one make of $40 converter box on their shelves.
Meanwhile, acting National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) head Meredith Attwell Baker has a little more radical idea: broadcasters should consider stocking digital-TV-to-analog converter boxes themselves give them out free-of-charge to viewers who need them.
According to B&C, Baker suggests broadcasters could put their station logos on the boxes, allowing them to “build brand awareness while they were helping out.”
There are many converter boxes on the market, with more coming. As with any new technology, their quality, efficiency and price vary considerably. So the selection of a converter box will be an important variable to desired digital reception.
For those viewers who have not yet purchased a converter box, Consumer Reports has upgraded their ratings on some of the available converter boxes at: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/televisions/digital-tv-converter/ratings/dtv-converter-boxes-ratings.htm
Here is a quick summary of a lot of models: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/televisions/digital-tv-converter/overview/dtv-converter-box-guide.htm
But a bigger variable is the need for the right antenna where Off-Air TV reception starts.
Viewers should certainly try their old antenna first. It’s true that any of these older antennas will pick up some signals, maybe all the broadcast signals a viewer wants to receive, depending on their location. If they’re getting all the OTA channels they want and some of their local stations aren’t changing from VHF to UHF or UHF to VHF, than they’re good to go.
In order to know if you’ll have the right antenna or combination of antennas, viewers can look up “DTV Tentative Channel Designations for the First and Second Rounds” at
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi…-06-1082A2.pdf and “Third Round DTV Tentative Channel Designations” at http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_publi…-06-1675A2.pdf to find out from what channels local stations will be broadcasting after the transition.
Or go to antennapoint.com for a quick general look at a specific city and those TV stations in close by cities within range of an Off-Air antenna.
While cable and satellite program providers will continue to serve the great majority of homes as the
primary signal source, missing HD local reception, compression issues, rising costs, billing add-ons, service outages, contact difficulties, in-home service waits and no shows have left many of these subscribers looking to FREE OTA antennas as a good alternatives.
It’s correct that antennas can’t tell the difference between analog and digital signals, but there are definitely certain models which have higher DTV batting averages than others. Not all antennas are equally suited for DTV. A percentage of viewers will require something a little more tailored for DTV reception.
With one of the newer and smaller OTA antennas, with greatly improved performance, power and aesthetics, viewers may also be able to receive out-of-town channels, carrying blacked out sports programs, several additional sub-channels or network broadcasts not originally available with analog. And for those with an HDTV, almost completely uncompressed HD broadcasts, unlike cable or satellite.
And if they decide to buy a newer antenna, they should buy it from a source that will completely refund their purchase price, no questions asked, if it doesn’t do the job for them.
Thank you Veronica for posting this item. This is of the utmost importance because in
February 2009 hundreds of thousands (even millions) will be left without TV reception if they don’t get these converter boxes. That will be the real “digital divide”
You mean we’ve been enduring Univision incesant bombardent of “Digital TV” spots for nearly a year now for nothing!?