JohnR66 wrote:

I suspect the only people who really should be ****ed are the ones who
already had a good quality, high mounted antenna and are having trouble
getting the signal. This should be very rare. Second are the people who will
have to upgrade their antenna, get a higher mast and upgraded feed line.
This can be costly if professionally installed.

Andy writes

I think you are incorrect....

In my area, stations have been broadcasting digital signals together
with the old analog signals for over a year.,

I have one of the free $40 digital converter boxes, so I can watch
either the
old analog signal or the new digital signal, as I choose....

The digital signals have a better picture quality, although I am
using
only an old standard definition color set.

Each analog channel, in addition to the analog signal has an
additional
three digital channels,.... so I get three times the number of
channels without
any detrimental effect.....

For instance, the old channel 12 analog is now 12.1 , 12.2 and
12.3 and
separate programs are transmitted on each.

When the analog signals are ended, each channel
will be able to broadcast FIVE digital standard definition channels,
or 2 or 3
high definition channels (I forget which). The choice of programming
is , of course, up to the station, but in all cases it will be the
same or
better, or more numerous....... a business decision.

So, with NO loss of quality, and with no change in the antenna,
after
February 17th , using my $40 decoder box (which the government
paid for and I got it for free, as can anyone) I will have more
channels,
a better picture, and additional features, since the decoder boxes
have
"guide", "signal strength" and a bunch of other built-in features
that the
old analog system doesn't have...

The only requirement is that I plug in a cheap , free, converter
box OR
buy a new TV......

Don't worry about antennae ---- if you get a decent signal now, you
will get
a better signal in the future, since the digital processing is more
efficient
than the analog.

If you get a really bad signal now, you will still get a really bad
signal, which
might not be able to be processed........ But the customer really
needed a
fix for that anyway, and maybe a higher, or larger, or rotatable
antenna
will help....Maybe not.... but there won't be any change in their
need.....

NONE of my above discussion applies to cable, or satellite
signals.
They do not change at all....

By the way, this stuff has been advertised and talked about for
the last
three years. Someone would have to be in a coma not to know about
it.
I got my first FREE digital TV converter box about a year or so
ago....
THAT has been advertised for a year and a half, and they started
accepting
applications for the free coupon in january 2008.

If one googles " D T V converter box " they can learn all about
it.


Andy in Eureka, Texas

PS I now have several converter boxes, which I have compared, and I
like the RCA one very much. I do not like the Magnavox one
very
much.....