| The countdown to Digital TV conversion is here. We got my mom's conversion box hooked up. All of a sudden her analog TV which was never that clear, looks like it got a shot of HD cable. The difference is dramatic. Plus each channel now has one, two or three channels so it really does seem like she has basic cable all of a sudden. The only problem we had was that she then couldn't get the Flint station she wanted so I got her an antenna from Digital Terrestrial (model DB2). It's really made for outdoor use but it's small and compact and works great indoors. Their site has a list of all stations and what frequency they really broadcast on. Interestingly almost all digital TV stations are broadcasting in the UHF band now so you no longer need to worry about both VHF & UHF reception. I ordered my two conversion coupons just because I could, before realizing that they expired. And, anyway, I don't really need them. So I gave one away to somebody at work. I might use the other one to buy a converter box. I could use it as a backup or as a way to watch live TV on the offchance that I want my HD Tivo to record two programs while watching a third. In the news today, Obama is making noise about postponing the transition... "With coupons unavailable, support and education insufficient and the most vulnerable Americans exposed, I urge you to consider a change to the legislatively mandated analog cutoff date," wrote John Podesta, co-chairman of Obama's presidential transition team, in urging Congress to push back the deadline. He did not specify for how long. Seems like somebody should point that it would do our nation good to shut off the TV for a while. There are other things to do -- take a walk or read a book perhaps. Obama should just let it go forward. He can continue to blame the previous administration if it's a botched transition and get it over with. I think there's more important things for the government to worry about than our uninterrupted flow of Infomercials. |