On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 11:06:14 -0800 in sci.electronics.repair, UCLAN
wrote,
C) No retailers with *any* boxes within 50 miles of me.

Same here. Suburb of Los Angeles, CA.
Not exactly the middle of nowhere.

I wonder...could one hook one of these boxes up to his VCR to record an
analog version of a HDTV signal?

Sure, if you can actually get one.