Do You Have Your Free DTV Converter?
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As of February 17th, 2009, you will have to have a DTV Converter if you have a television that has rabbit ears on it. However, if you head over to DTV Transition, you’ll be able to get a lot more information.
the era of analog broadcast television in the United States will end as the nation’s full power* television stations complete their transition to an all-digital system. While this change will mark the end of the traditional analog method of broadcasting over-the-air television, it won’t signal the end of free broadcast television, and your favorite broadcast programs and local television stations will still be available.
If you currently receive analog television over the air or via an antenna, you’ll need to take action to continue watching your favorite stations. TVs accessing “pay” television service such as cable or satellite aren’t likely to be affected by the switch.
The good news is that if you head over to the DTV Transition website and fill out a form, you’ll receive a coupon for a DTV Converter absolutely free. You may as well not spend your money if you don’t have to, right? I personally ordered two of them, and ended up paying about $20 each. I then used the coupon to send to my parents, so they’ll be able to get one, as well. Details for the program:
A digital-to-analog converter box receives digital over-the-air signals from your antenna, converts them to analog and sends the signal to your existing analog television set. These boxes, which are expected to cost between $50 - 70 will be available for purchase in 2008. Beginning on January 1, 2008, U.S. households can request up to two coupons valued at $40 each. Each coupon can go toward the purchase of a single set-top converter box that will allow you to continue watching FREE over-the-air television on an analog set.
If you have an older television that still works, you should definitely get yourself equipped with the Converter before you need it. Thanks to this coupon program, you won’t have to spend much money… if any at all.
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6 Comments
Peter
July 16th, 2008
at 6:54am
We missed the deadline on our cards - they expired a day or two before we were ready to use them. Personally - I can live without TV and this only affects those who still just watch over-the-air programming. Anyone with satellite or cable will not be affected (unless satellite/cable goes out, of course).
Still, lowest cost converter I saw was $10 more than the coupon, so you’ll still pay something. And lowest cost does pretty much mean the most basic functionality.
Luke Wallace
July 16th, 2008
at 11:53am
I got two convertor boxes as well. I got the Zenith DTT900 and the RCA DTA800, and both are pretty good, for different reasons. The buttons on the RCA are bigger, and it seems to be more sensitive to the digital signals, which is weird because I use the same antenna in my attic for both. I like the Zenith because you can set the aspect/zoom ratio for each channel separately, but the buttons are much smaller, and a little hard to read.
Both have the same audio/video outputs, and the picture quality is identical as far as I can tell. I picked up two different ones just in case one ended up being better than the other, or if hacks were ever found for either of them, I would have at least one hackable box.
Both are a good deal. Wal-mart was the only place I could find the RCA one, and it was around $10 after using the coupon. The Zenith is being sold in more places, but it’s $20 after using the coupon.
kevoc2008
July 16th, 2008
at 4:58pm
I prefer the RCA DTA 800 digital converter box than the one you got. The RCA DTA 800 has been said by CNET and consumerreports.org to be better one than two other DTV converter boxes, which are the Magnavox and the Insignia/Zenith. I tested The RCA DTV box against the Insignia DTV box because my friend bought one. We tested with the same antenna. The RCA DTV converter gets better signal than the Insignia DTV converter box. If any of you are getting one, I recommend the RCA DTA 800 converter box.
Jose
July 17th, 2008
at 11:46pm
I don’t get it….lol
sbushfan11
July 20th, 2008
at 4:16am
We got our coupons but haven’t bought the converter boxes yet. So thanks for the video and comments from Luke Wallace and kevoc2008. We probably go with the RCA DTA800.
Satellite TV & Radio
September 25th, 2008
at 1:56pm
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