Digital to analog converter box...

Not sure if you are attempting to answer my question about HD reception with rabbit ears. If so, this is the information I read and why I have the concern. Your answer doesn't address this.

From https://www.dtv2009.gov/FAQ.aspx



From http://www.antennaweb.org./

Currently I'm just using cheap indoor antennas as I'm in a suburban area. If you are further out in the country you will want a good rooftop antenna. In either case, make sure to use shielded coax (RJ-6 or better) all the way from the antenna to the receiver. Many cheap antennas these days come with unshielded coax - avoid them if possible.

Digital to analog converter box


So we can expect the coupons to be available sometime in July? (snicker snicker)

Dear God.

Just get cable or satellite or an antenna with a digital TV.

Figure it out.

I have 100 year old guns that I can still get ammo for.

It won't be that difficult for you.

Digital to analog converter box
Well, cjhs, that's what I'm trying to do. Sorry if I seem a bit stupid..

The $40 coupons are starting to be delivered. I just got mine in the mail this week. Been looking at the websites to see which of the 34 qualified converter box brands and models are available and what the reviews of them have been.

The flyer that comes with the coupon lists only three major retailers and says there are hundres of smaller retailers currently accepting coupons.

The big three are Best Buy, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart.

I looked on their websites to check things out. Here are links to what is available and how they've been reviewed by recipients thus far. Prices range between $50 and $60. Looks like only 5 of the 34 qualified boxes are currently available.

Magnavox at Walmart $52.97

Thompson RCA at Walmart $52.97

Digital Stream at Radio Shack $59.99

Zenith at Radio Shack $59.99

Insignia at Best Buy $59.99

It's easier to just buy a new TV. You can get one for $100 and that's real cheap.

I am not finding this new A2K simple to understand, so I know I have not replied in a timely manner; however, having received the coupons months ago, and got a box at Best Buy, the tv gets most of the HD channels. I think there is some interference with some signals, due to other buildings, so I do not get all the channels I got with the analog signal. I think I will just read more books! Thank you for the input everyone.

If your situation is similar to Australia, then your $60 converter won't give you HD! It will just provide you standard definition digital channels. HD boxes are available, but they're priced in the hundreds.

My converter box gave us additional channels and a much clearer picture. It is well worth it to get one.

picked one up, works pretty good, but will need a better antenna

A good antenna is key. I bought two before it worked right.

canada doesn't change until 2001, but living on the border we get mostly american stations, however we don't watch enough tv to make cable or satellite worth the price

should be 2011

Let me clarify this, and some other things.

The <=$60 converter boxes, like all digital TV tuners, do have the ability to receive HD channels. They just downconvert the HD to SD on output. This is an important point, since a lot of programming is only being broadcast in HD, but will still be watchable on SD-only sets. E.g., all of the major broadcast network affiliates in NYC (CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, MyNetwork, CW, PBS) are broadcasting in HD *only*. If you are concerned about being able to see the full HD resolution on an HD set that doesn't have an up-to-date digital tuner, then the cheap converter boxes won't do it for you. But if you're only concerned about being able to receive all of the channels in SD, including the HD ones, then any digital tuner will do.

As far as the distinction between "digital" and "HDTV" antennas, forget it. It's a marketing scam. Any antenna capable of receiving a digital TV signal will give you HD, whether it's marketed as HD or not. A digital TV signal is a stream of bits. The bit rate is fixed and determined by the 6MHz bandwidth. No matter whether the frequency is carrying an SD channel, an HD channel, or several subchannels of HD and SD combined, it all has to be compressed down to 19.38Mb/s. The tuner receives the bit stream and picks out the bits that relate to the subchannel you're trying to receive. Either you receive the whole bit stream or you don't. Whether some, most, or all of those bits are carrying an HD picture has no effect on the antenna's ability to receive the bit stream.

Well, you're different to here. We've got dedicated HD channels, and the cheap digital boxes just give you a message "no service".

For those in the US, Perl's description is correct. Note that if you are used to getting analog signals, you will be astounded by the quality of the digital signals converted to analog. The ghosting problem is completely gone. I had an 20 year old TV I was experimenting on and the result was amazing.