Don't Touch That Dial

Niki
Thank your federal government.

We adopted Digital TV as soon as we got the coupon in June or July. The converter works with rabbit ear antennas. There is one MAJOR PROBLEM with digital signals. If the signal drops below a certain threshold no information is sent to the TV. WE HAD MAJOR PROBLEMS RECEIVING WEATHER RELATED WARNINGS DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS because sound and picture information gets lost. Analog TVs just pop and hiss with some distortion of the imagine and can give plenty of weather related information because if you cant see it well you can at least hear it. Not so with digital signals. Also in bad weather the signals are weaker. We noticed significant problems with high wind and rain. No amount of adjusting the antenna will relieve us from the blue screen produced by the converted box. We had to switch back to analog to find tornado track information. This summer there will be no analog signal to switch back to during tornado warnings. I am very worried that people will be killed by bad weather because they will no longer have access to life saving storm tracking information due to poor digital signal strength. We only live 4 miles from the TV transmission towers.

davej...thats exactly what happened to me and I wrote them to send new ones with an explantion that my son had died and my life got kind of all mixed up. Their reply "to bad no refills" So how can they be running low on funds? I know I'm not the only person out there that did not get to the store quick enough. Running low on funds my ars, this is government Ripping us off once again

Mark I agree. I hardly watch TV any more.

It's just amazing how ignorant most of the people posting here are. Very few people don't have any kind of cable at all (basic cable you can get for almost $10 a month in a lot of places), and for those that don't have cable but are furious that they might have to pay $40 to continue to get FREE television... it's not government subsidized, it's a local service. You might as well complain that because you don't have a TV, it isn't fair that you don't get to watch TV, get over it. If by 2009 you don't have a TV that has a digital tuner, the rest of the population shouldn't be penalized by a lack of progression because you still want to use an antiquated system. I don't hear complaints from people who bought their computers in the 90s that they can't run Vista, it's part of progression, it's what keeps our economy running, and there are some great things that are coming from it. I wonder how many of these people complaining are actually thinking it's bad for the bigger picture, or they're just angry that they have an old junker TV and are so self involved that they don't really care if it's good for the economy, the government, and the American people as a whole.

I find it strange that in a "free market economy" such as yours, you get vouchers to affray the cost of switching over to a better system. We didn't in Australia!

We have been in the process of switching to DVB for about 3 years now, with the switch off to happen in 2009. There have been few problems, mostly due to good planning from our government agencies. Most problems are related to stupid home-owners and their antiquated antenna systems. A simple and cheap upgrade sorts that one out.

I think this is just another way for the cable companies, TV manufacturers and all those involved in this industry to make more money. If you live out in a rural area -- as my parent do -- most likely they are going to have to purchase what is call a Smart Antenna to either be installed on top of the house or an indoor antenna. A person who does work on their house got his converter box and had to install such an antennae. She purchased her current TV in 2005 and has a converter box out of the 3 local channels affiliates for ABC, NBC (which has always been a week signal even if you lived next door to the place) and CBS -- she can only see 2. So for those living on a fixed income this is going to cost more money then what they have. We have toyed with getting them Direct TV but we're going to wait and see what happens with this change over. Truly, it's all about the BOTTOM LINE.

David, What planet are you from where you get basic cable for $10 a month. The additional fees and taxes are more than $10 a month alone.

Somebody explain to me why my tax money goes to pay for those boxes anyway. Update people, join this century and pay your own way.
Sign me irritated and over taxed.

The government is forcing people to change so they have to help sub someway. $50 a box is alot of money for some people.

David, You can still use your computer if you don't have VISTA. Talk about ignorant. People can't use their TV without the converter box. Man think before commenting.

I agree with others like Bob - We get HD over the air with an old roof antenna
that we have in the attic - we purchased a new tv when our old 1973 one finally bit the dust. If I had known what kind of great HD reception I could get I would have purchased one sooner.

In response to the question if you can reapply: yes, you can reapply but no, they will not send you more coupons. Same thing happened to me; received coupons but they had expired. Reapplied but was denied; appealed and was again denied.

Idiots. This is still free TV. The format in which it is being broadcast is changing. You don't need to be plugged in all the time.

Do your research before posting something that will create a feedback loop of confusion.

What about all of the televisions that will be getting thown in the garbage by people who just don't want to deal with converters and don't want to pay to get rid of the old sets? Did the government think of this? Why didn't they have a program to handle disposed of tv's? We are going to have an environmental mess with along with this scandalous debacle !

The real problem is that when a atation goes digital it "reduces" its foot print (lower power broadcast). Those individuals living in "fringe" areas will be living in "dead" areas. I just happen to live in an area that is mid way between two broadcast areas. I was fortunate in that I could replace my antenna and raise it. Some may not be that fortunate.

Cable TV in this area is minimum of $60 (plus taxes per month). Considering the content that is a lot of money per year for for a very poor product.

Bandwith was just a guise to pass this legislation that was obviously bought by cable companies and electronics manufacturers. It is a ridiculous and expensive waste just at a time when people can least afford it!

We get free digital high-def TV through our old roof top antenna, with more channels than before and the picture is crystal clear. We also have two older TVs that we connected to the converter boxes (the antenna connects to the box and the box to the TV). We've never had such great reception. The folks around here with DishNetwork and DirecTV will still be receiving an analog signal for the local stations, so we're better off with the antenna in that regard.

Nobody is saying TV isn't free. They're complaining about buying converter boxes and if the signal is a little low you get no picture at all compared to analog which may be a little fuzzy but in an emergency you still can see and hear whats going on.

Mike,
This is not free tv. The cost of the converter box is not fully covered by the coupons and the coupons are subsidized with our tax dollars. The converter boxes consume electricity which you pay for as well.