Monday, January 12th, all the local TV stations in Oklahoma City will be doing a DTV Readiness test to see if you are prepared for the Feb 17th Digital transistion. The tests will be conducted at 6:50 AM, 5:20 PM and 10:20 PM. The test will last 2 minutes so that you can check ALL of your televisions for readiness.

Monday, January 12th, all the local TV stations in Oklahoma City will be doing a DTV Readiness test to see if you are prepared for the Feb 17th Digital transistion. The tests will be conducted at 6:50 AM, 5:20 PM and 10:20 PM. The test will last 2 minutes so that you can check ALL of your televisions for readiness.

In support of the above post: I can't remember on which channel I saw the interview, but as one young lady succinctly put it: "If you aren't ready now, you never will be."

Hear, hear!

I've heard that Obama's people are wanting the digital conversion date pushed back. They don't think the public, especially the elderly, have been completely informed of what's about to happen. And also because the converter box fund is running out of cash so there may be a bunch of people who need boxes, but can't get a voucher.

I've heard that Obama's people are wanting the digital conversion date pushed back. They don't think the public, especially the elderly, have been completely informed of what's about to happen. And also because the converter box fund is running out of cash so there may be a bunch of people who need boxes, but can't get a voucher.

Anytime we have a 'date certain,' there will be people who can't get off their duffs to do what they need to do. Screw 'em. They've been informed; and if they can't act on the information they have, that's on them.

At some point, we have to accept the fact that some of these people won't do what they need to do until they are forced to.

Anytime we have a 'date certain,' there will be people who can't get off their duffs to do what they need to do. Screw 'em. They've been informed; and if they can't act on the information they have, that's on them.

At some point, we have to accept the fact that some of these people won't do what they need to do until they are forced to.

You vastly overestimate the ability of many people out there to understand VCR's, much less what a digital conversion actually means to them. lol I don't think it's a matter of people being lazy so much as it's all just Greek to a lot of folks. You talk to them about this stuff and their eyes glaze over.

If you have no idea this is going to happen, then you are oblivious to the outside world. Most people have someone in their lives that can help them with the transition whether it be a family member, neighbor, friend or care giver. A "drop dead" date is definitely needed to push some to make any kind of change.

You vastly overestimate the ability of many people out there to understand VCR's, much less what a digital conversion actually means to them. lol I don't think it's a matter of people being lazy so much as it's all just Greek to a lot of folks. You talk to them about this stuff and their eyes glaze over.

There has to be a date. Until something happens, many of these people will just do nothing. Will some mentally incompetent people be left behind? Sure... maybe.

Television is not a vital service. It is a luxury. Sometimes, we have to actually do stuff to continue to receive a luxurious benefit. Here, the 'complicated task' involves buying something with a coupon, running two short wires, and putting batteries in a remote control.

If you have no idea this is going to happen, then you are oblivious to the outside world. Most people have someone in their lives that can help them with the transition whether it be a family member, neighbor, friend or care giver. A "drop dead" date is definitely needed to push some to make any kind of change.

Of course there's got to be a definite change date. There's just a concern about whether everybody really understands what's going to happen. Here's a link to a story about the request to delay the change-over: Obama team urges delay in digital TV transition (AP) by AP: Yahoo! Tech (http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090108/ap_on_hi_te/tec_digital_tv_transition)
I just keep thinking about a retired friend of mine who dislikes technology in general. He doesn't have cable or the internet or even a cell phone. We've TRIED to give him cell phones and computers, but he's not interested. Even though he watches tv all the time and has seen the notice about the digital conversion a few hundred times, he really didn't understand that he HAD to change. He kept saying, "I don't want a digital tv." So we sent off for a coupon for him, helped him get a converter, and hooked it up for him. Now, he loves it because the reception is much better than it was with his rabbit ears. lol You know, there's even folks who WANT to stay up with things that don't totally understand all of this. I have another friend who kept insisting that he had an HD tv, when I knew that he didn't. What he had was a digital-ready tv...not the same as HD. It took a while to convince him that what he was seeing was not HDTV.

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/7580/dtvflowchartqf1.jpg

Maybe Obama's team is just trying to keep him from being a one-term president by heading off him being voted out by the AARP when 90% of their tv's go black in February and they don't understand why. lol Seriously, though...it's simple to those of us on here. I mean, it's not really the folks who habituate internet message boards who aren't going to understand the transition, right? I'm emailing one of my friends about this discussion. He went over and hooked up a digital box for a 102 yr. old family friend last night. Her sight isn't that good and she doesn't quite understand why she can no longer use the universal remote with the big numbers on it. My friend has already resigned himself to making some return trips to her house because she'll inevitably pick up the remote control that she's used to, try to change the channel, and be absolutely clueless as to why her signal went away.

Many moons ago, I worked in a consumer electronics retail store.

Trust me... I know.

And for those 102 year old folks, they will NEVER be ready for the transition, but if their screens go black, they will be asking for help. Expect calls to 911. Seriously.

I'm really looking forward to the post-February 17 "my TV don't work" freak-out.

I'm gonna open up a bottle of wine, kick back, tune in, and just enjoy the madness.

I'm really looking forward to the post-February 17 "my TV don't work" freak-out.

I'm gonna open up a bottle of wine, kick back, tune in, and just enjoy the madness.


Assuming that the date stays Feb. 17th. I'm thinking it's going to change. This is being pushed by the cellphone companies and the government. The tv stations are in no hurry to change.

If you don't watch enough television to know the transition is happening, then you probably won't be affected if you get a black screen. Everyone made it quite clear what is happening and if you ignored the warnings tough luck.

KFOR's engineer showed how we could be ready in case of a power outage last night. He held up a small Radio Shack digital tuner battery powered TV and made the statement that a device such as that would be good to have on hand when the power goes out.

What he failed to mention is that the TV he mentioned uses a built in RECHARGEABLE battery and not disposable batteries. So yes, it would work when the power goes out but only for a few hours. Then what?

Myself, I'm all for the delay in the changeover if in the meantime someone
brings out a portable TV that uses disposable batteries. There aren't any available so far and for that reason alone I think making the change could have serious consequences in some cases.

And BTW, those Television band radios will also be useless after the change and if you depend on your NOAA weather radio for detailed tornado tracking info, you're going to be out of luck.

i'll just put this right here... -M

HLW_7wj0iZk

Assuming that the date stays Feb. 17th. I'm thinking it's going to change.

Ah, but it'll still be post-February 17th, won't it?

KFOR's engineer showed how we could be ready in case of a power outage last night. He held up a small Radio Shack digital tuner battery powered TV and made the statement that a device such as that would be good to have on hand when the power goes out.

What he failed to mention is that the TV he mentioned uses a built in RECHARGEABLE battery and not disposable batteries. So yes, it would work when the power goes out but only for a few hours. Then what?

Myself, I'm all for the delay in the changeover if in the meantime someone
brings out a portable TV that uses disposable batteries. There aren't any available so far and for that reason alone I think making the change could have serious consequences in some cases.

And BTW, those Television band radios will also be useless after the change and if you depend on your NOAA weather radio for detailed tornado tracking info, you're going to be out of luck.

You brought up three things I was thinking about with this conversion to digital.

1. Battery operated digital tvs: We take our battery operated tv with us when we go camping, and when I go storm chasing. Weather reports are hard to come by if you out in the woods, most small town radio stations don't really cut the mustard when it comes to warning of serious weather....they're usually pre recorded or the warnings they do give are grossly late.

2. Television band radios: Again another nice thing to have if you're away from town. Regardless of whats on the local radio station you can count on Mike, Gary, & Rick to give us non-stop (sometimes overblown) weather coverage.

3. Noaa weather radio: I hadn't heard that these wouldn't work....if that is indeed the case........Its a serious problem. Has anyone else heard anything on this?????

There's just a concern about whether everybody really understands what's going to happen.

All they need to understand is that they need a converter box. They don't need to understand the technology or how it works. It's not hard, and as midtowner pointed out, the people that are going to need help are going to need help no matter when we make the transition.

All they need to understand is that they need a converter box.


I think that's part of the problem. I'm hearing that the rebate program has run out of money, so even if folks want a converter box, they can no longer get a rebate to help them with the cost. Folks saying that they should have done it long before now doesn't really help with the problem. It also doesn't help that there are probably a large number of folks who DO understand the transition and sent off for a converter box rebate even though they're on cable/satellite and don't really need the box. By the way...have you read Cox's statement on their website regarding the HD conversion? It says that Cox is commited to protecting their customers for up to 3 years. So even if you've got cable, you're not immune.

By the way...have you read Cox's statement on their website regarding the HD conversion? It says that Cox is commited to protecting their customers for up to 3 years. So even if you've got cable, you're not immune.
What they are saying is after 3 years they are going to pull the digital-to-analog signal conversion that they perform at their distribution center from the cable, it will be a digital level signal. That means you will probably have to to get a Cox Cable converter box (already required for the Digital Cable package) if you have a non digital ready television as the Digital Cable receiver will act as the digital-to-analog converter, you just won't be able to hook the wire from your wall into the back of the TV.

HD broadcasting and the Analog-to-DTV conversion are two separate things entirely, too many think one is related to the other and it is not. Just because broadcasts are going to be in a digital spectrum doesn't mean they will be in HD as some others have noted. The SD broadcasts that are now sent out in an analog spectrum will be switched to a digital spectrum, that means they will still be in SD but just how they get to you television will be at a different radio frequency than before.

It really doesn't matter when they make the change, there are always going to be a group of people left in the dark for anything, they will just have to call someone in a month or a few months/years....a change now is just going to delay when that call is made.

Keep in mind all that they've ALREADY pushed the DTV transition date back at least once. As I recall the original date was something like five years ago - probably more. It got pushed back then because NO ONE was ready, for both technical and financial reasons. Most of those reasons are behind.

If its going to be done, it needs to get done according to schedule. Obama's wailings are just populist rhetoric. I think it would take an act of Congress to move the date again.

Once the dust settles, I do think that what will be missed the most will be the convenience of those small, battery-powered TV's (like those discussed here) that many of us have for storms, camping, trips, power outages, what have you, and most/many of those have no separate inputs for a converter box/external tuner, so on Feb 17th they instantly become junk. That's kind of a waste to me, but there's really nothing to be done about it, I suppose.

I can't fathom that even someone without the slightest technical knowledge won't at least be aware of the fact that *something*, and something *big*, to do with TV is happening on February 17th....but then again, I fix computers for a lot of people who think nothing of visiting every website on earth and then wonder why they get every manner of malware and virus out there, then blame it on the computer....

Amid all the acrimony among various things out there, I find it sadly and ironically humorous that some of the biggest samples of angst seems to be over this DTV converter coupon program expiring and/or running out of money...to heck with the economy in the toilet and jobs disappearing like magicians' rabbits.....

:)

Keep in mind all that they've ALREADY pushed the DTV transition date back at least once. As I recall the original date was something like five years ago - probably more. It got pushed back then because NO ONE was ready, for both technical and financial reasons. Most of those reasons are behind. If I remember right, at one point the transition was supposed to take place once a certain percentage of the population had digital tv's in their home. But it became apparent that the transition may NEVER happen because folks weren't buying digital tv's. It became a circular thing...folks weren't going to buy digital/HD televisions until there was a real need for it and the stations weren't going to start broadcasting HD until the public bought the tv's.


If its going to be done, it needs to get done according to schedule. Obama's wailings are just populist rhetoric. I think it would take an act of Congress to move the date again. Actually, I think it DOES take an act of Congres to move it again. LOL I don't know how much of Obama's request is just posturing considering that his team's request hasn't been that widely reported. I get the impression that they think this is just one more thing that hasn't been handled well so they want to try and do it a little better.

i'll just put this right here... -M


My mom's not that old but if I weren't around, that would totally be her. It's soooo her I sent her the link to watch the video!

You brought up three things I was thinking about with this conversion to digital.

1. Battery operated digital tvs: We take our battery operated tv with us when we go camping, and when I go storm chasing. Weather reports are hard to come by if you out in the woods, most small town radio stations don't really cut the mustard when it comes to warning of serious weather....they're usually pre recorded or the warnings they do give are grossly late.

2. Television band radios: Again another nice thing to have if you're away from town. Regardless of whats on the local radio station you can count on Mike, Gary, & Rick to give us non-stop (sometimes overblown) weather coverage.

3. Noaa weather radio: I hadn't heard that these wouldn't work....if that is indeed the case........Its a serious problem. Has anyone else heard anything on this?????

What does radio have to do with it? We're only dealing with digital television signal. I think the post you're referring to may have been talking about those combo TV/radio/weather radio that may or may not run on crank/battery power. I suspect the radio functions will still work, but the TV part will not. But since I decided not to buy one of those after hearing about the digital switch, I can't be sure. If you have just a weather radio, it will continue to work as usual.


I think that's part of the problem. I'm hearing that the rebate program has run out of money, so even if folks want a converter box, they can no longer get a rebate to help them with the cost. Folks saying that they should have done it long before now doesn't really help with the problem. It also doesn't help that there are probably a large number of folks who DO understand the transition and sent off for a converter box rebate even though they're on cable/satellite and don't really need the box. By the way...have you read Cox's statement on their website regarding the HD conversion? It says that Cox is commited to protecting their customers for up to 3 years. So even if you've got cable, you're not immune.

The rebate program has run out of money, but since the coupons have a 90-day expiration, you can get on a waiting list for someone else's coupon. A lot of those coupons are floating around out there, unused. In fact, here's a really good article on this very subject: DTV: It's the antenna, stupid - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com (http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/01/dtv-its-the-ant.html)

Likewise, if you get a coupon, you should not put off using it.

I am one of those who has cable and decided to get the converter box anyway. Ever heard thunder and ran into a problem where the Weather Channel was running "Storm Stories" and even Gary wasn't running his mouth? Two of the local broadcast channels have dedicated weather channels now. That's one reason I got the converter. Another is for when the cable is out, and the last reason is for when I get disgusted and turn the cable off forever, whenever that may be. Cox does a pretty good job with customer service compared to other cable companies, but they're not perfect and I think you make my point with that 3-year "protection" statement you found on their website. They're already moving channels from the analog side over to the digital side, one at a time.

To clarify, NOAA radio will continue to operate on your present device. TV Band radios will not work after the switch.
With NOAA the problem is they don't track tornados like the 3 major television stations do and the only things available to replace the old style portable TVs are the Radio Shack / Best Buy models with rechargeable batteries. Sure you can get by for an hour or two but not when the power is off for a longer period.

In fact, here's a really good article on this very subject: DTV: It's the antenna, stupid - The Red Tape Chronicles - MSNBC.com (http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/01/dtv-its-the-ant.html)
Actually, that is an opinion piece with a bunch of half truths in it.

Yes, old fashioned "rabbit ears" are going to be worthless, but most are anyway unless you live within a few miles of the tower. I have a 12 year old cheap Radio Shack roof antenna, it picks up the DTV signals fine even though it had broken tabs and a tree has grown into it breaking all the rods off on one side, it still works. I do have a new one in the garage for when I relocate the Directv dish and antenna when the house is re-roofed. I use it for the sub-channels and until about 6 months ago the NBC affiliate here still didn't have their HD signal on Directv (they pulled it from Time-Warner Cable for a few months here) and my HD-DVR can record off the OTA.

If you do not have cable or satellite, you should have something better than a rabbit ear level antenna and they aren't that expensive. If you can pick up UHF channels with what you have, you shouldn't need to change. All but Fox and the PBS channel here in Austin are all UHF, so you needed a decent one anyway.

Actually, that is an opinion piece with a bunch of half truths in it.

I'm sorry...thanks for helping me out. I couldn't tell the difference between a news article and an opinion piece. Thanks for setting me straight.

I normally use DirecTV, so I only switch to an over-the-air antenna when the sat goes out (usually for weather updates during heavy storms). The rabbit ears work just fine on my TV with a digital converter box and I'm at least 12 miles away from the nearest tower. I'm at the top of a hill though and the antennas are nearly line-of-sight.

BTW, I have a spare converter box if anyone needs one...for a nice profit of course. :tongue:

i dont have cable or sat, just regular bunny rabbit old school tv. i got the converter box about a month ago and i get most channels fine, but i can't get channel 5 (ABC station), the tuner doesn't pick it up when it does a search.

i live in norman, not sure if that has anything to do with a broadcast range or not. the digital works fine, sometimes it does that scramble and studder thing. the signal seems to be affected by cloudy days.

anyone able to get channel 5 that has one of these new boxes?

I live downtown and also can't pick up channel 5 on rabbit ears. You shouldn't have a problem if you run an outside antenna. You should be able to get one of those at your local Radioshack. It's a weekend project, but well worth it.

If your HOA doesn't allow aerials, you can just stick it up in your attic. The nails and such do block some signal, but it's better than nothing. Also, if you're in Norman, point the thing North.

well thats interesting. I could pick up channel 5 fine with out the converter box, with just rabbit ears. but i was curious if anyone picked channel 5 up with the converter box.

That can happen, the digital signal (which the converter box picks up) may not travel as far as the analog signal (which the TV picks up), much of that is how much power the station is putting to the signal. The fall off is greater with the digital signal, you either get it or you don't. Although, you shouldn't have that much trouble since all the transmitters are all out in the antenna farm area east of Broadway Extension between Wilshire and the Kilpatrick Turnpike. I wonder if KOCO is running the DTV signal at full power, I know my parents have trouble getting their DTV signal with their newer TV's and they live three miles east of Lake Overholser, the rest come in fine.

You can try Antenna Web (http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx) to figure out what antenna would be best.

Channel 5 broadcast it's digital signal on the same channel as Lawton's ABC station broadcasts it's analog station. So channel 5's signal is limited to the South and West (Norman, Mustang etc).

After Feb. 17 this issue should be resolved as the Lawton station will no longer be broadcasting on that channel.

If I'm interpreting this table correctly,

List of television stations in Oklahoma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_Oklahoma)

after the transition, in the Oklahoma City viewing area, channels 9 and 13 will be abandoning the frequency that they are currently using for digital broadcasting and will begin digital broadcasting on their legacy analog channel.

If this is the case, does anyone know when that is supposed to happen?

If this happens, the people that I have helped become digital ready (like the woman in mmm's YouTube video) are going to suddenly lose channels 9 and 13 and will need help rescanning the spectrum and finding the channels again.

The switch may be delayed to June 22nd. That is only 4 months.

http://www.koco.com/digital-tv/18552316/detail.html

Really great article. Now, take a look at the side effects of Obama's push to delay...

KWTV just answered my question below.

There was just now an announcement that KWTV 9 plans to cease analog broadcasting at 1:00 PM on February 17. After reminding antenna viewers of the requirement of a converter box, they added that those OTA viewers with converter boxes <or> digital TVs would need to rescan to find the digital channels. I hope that KETA 13 transitions frequencies on February 17 as well.




If I'm interpreting this table correctly,

List of television stations in Oklahoma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_Oklahoma)

after the transition, in the Oklahoma City viewing area, channels 9 and 13 will be abandoning the frequency that they are currently using for digital broadcasting and will begin digital broadcasting on their legacy analog channel.

If this is the case, does anyone know when that is supposed to happen?

If this happens, the people that I have helped become digital ready (like the woman in mmm's YouTube video) are going to suddenly lose channels 9 and 13 and will need help rescanning the spectrum and finding the channels again.

Any update on Congress approving the delay or same date?

Any update on Congress approving the delay or same date?

It passed the Senate. It's up to the House now.

I hope it doesn't change. I'm ready. I've been ready. I'm sick of seeing the PSAs for it. As someone else pointed out, if you don't know about the change, you don't watch enough TV to be affected by it, anyway.

Another great example of government efficiency.

"Television airwaves" is another category we could save billions of tax dollars if the government left it alone.

I'm sure we the people could figure it out.

KTOK Radio 1000 is reporting that the United States House of Representatives has defeated a bill to extend the deadline for the DTV transition.

Unless something else changes, the transition will happen as scheduled.

I wouldn't expect the house's defeat of the delay to be the last we've heard of it.

The thing is, is that in June there are still going to be plenty of people not ready. There have been reports that bunches of converter coupons that were sent to citizens have gone unused. We're never going to have 100% readiness. The best way to get people ready is to switch and when their TV goes blank they'll realize the transition was for real. This thing has been postponed a handful of times in the past decade anyway.

We're never going to have 100% readiness. The best way to get people ready is to switch and when their TV goes blank they'll realize the transition was for real.

That could be very dangerous to a congressman's hopes of maintaining his office. Never underestimate the power of old folks who have all day long to phone their congressmen and to write letters to the editor. :LolLolLol

If I were a politician, I’d recognize that grandpa Simpson is going to find something to be unhappy about and he might as well be pitching a fit about his TV next month instead of closer to the next election.

On the other hand, a delay is likely to increase apathy just as the “boy who cried wolf!”, Those who are convinced that it will never happen will become more convinced, possibly with good reason.

Of necessity, stations have been abandoning their analog signals nationwide as a result of transmitter or transmission line failures in their analog equipment, as these expensive components are not economical to repair or replace for the short time before the transition. These analog cut-offs have been accomplished without major issues. I read where television stations in the entire state of Hawaii, have made the transition and have ended analog broadcasts without a great deal of anguish amongst the populace.

The reality is that the February 17th date was set as a grace period for everyone to make final preparations. Television stations nationwide are consuming vast amounts of energy and paying the resulting astronomically high electric bills to keep two very high power transmitters running until the analog transmitter can be powered down. The analog transmitters, transmission lines and antennas in many cases, are old and have suffered from deferred maintenance while priority has been given to installing the digital counterparts. Scarce and tightly booked tower crews have been scheduled to make any necessary adjustments to the antennas and feed lines. Canceling them and then rescheduling them will be a scheduling and financial nightmare. All made worse by the problems presented as a result of Station A not being able to broadcast digital or full power digital until Station B vacates the frequency that they are using.

People have ordered coupons, gone from store to store, in some cases for weeks to find a stock of converter boxes, connected them - or purchased digital high definition televisions in preparation and have been watching digital television for months. All because the powers that be have been adamant that. "this is it folks".

I regret that there will be a few, and I believe on balance, a very few people who are so detached from Society that they have no one in their lives that can help them install a converter box and scan for the channels who will not understand what has happened. I have a couple of retired friends who are involved in “meals on wheels” that prepare food and deliver it to the elderly and infirm daily. There is no reason why concerned retirees cannot do the same for those truly in need of help with DTV.

I have a couple of relatives and neighbors who are DTV ready – or at least as DTV ready as one can be until the change actually occurs, but they will need a little help rescanning their tuners after KWTV 9, KETA 13 and 46 (Daystar) complete their flash-cuts back to their old analog frequencies. Right now, according to the table I looked at today, all three plan to cease analog broadcasts and flash-cut their frequencies on February 17. I’d like to be able to plan so that I’m in town when it happens.

I say let's pull the plug, start working the resulting issues, and get this behind us.

I still think they should have scheduled the cutover for the 31st of January. You know people would have gotten off their duffs if they thought the Super Bowl was at risk.

If I were a politician, I’d recognize that grandpa Simpson is going to find something to be unhappy about and he might as well be pitching a fit about his TV next month instead of closer to the next election.


That's true for some of these folks, but the reason I brought that up earlier is because I belong to an organization that has a lot of retired folks in it. Many were business owners or executives when they were working, so they know how to organize, they know how to get things done, and they have plenty of time to devote to those purposes.
Just out of curiosity, what do you expect will change once we do the digital changeover? How will your life be better? I understand the costs to the local stations regarding operating two transmitters. That's not what I'm talking about. Are you looking forward to having all the subchannels available? Are you hoping for more HD content? Or are you just tired of hearing about it and are ready to get on with it?

I wouldn't expect the house's defeat of the delay to be the last we've heard of it.

The thing is, is that in June there are still going to be plenty of people not ready. There have been reports that bunches of converter coupons that were sent to citizens have gone unused. We're never going to have 100% readiness. The best way to get people ready is to switch and when their TV goes blank they'll realize the transition was for real. This thing has been postponed a handful of times in the past decade anyway.

The "unused coupon" thing touches a nerve with me. I'm quite sure lots of people tried to use their coupons, but by the time the government mailed them they often had far less than the normal amount of time to do so. The fact that they had something like a 90-day expiration is ridiculous in the first place.

The problem was really compounded by the fact that the stores could not keep the converter boxes stocked. WalMart told me they were selling easily a hundred a day from one store, so they'd only be on the shelf about a day or two, then they were gone.

My mother ran into this problem. Her coupons expired and I had to get a friend to order some for her.

And how many people think that the manufacturers of these converters hiked the prices up knowing that we'd be getting a forty dollar discount? The RCA box was the only one that was remotely affordable at 50 dollars.

Anyway, this is just your typical government stupidity in action.

The "unused coupon" thing touches a nerve with me. I'm quite sure lots of people tried to use their coupons, but by the time the government mailed them they often had far less than the normal amount of time to do so. The fact that they had something like a 90-day expiration is ridiculous in the first place.

The problem was really compounded by the fact that the stores could not keep the converter boxes stocked. WalMart told me they were selling easily a hundred a day from one store, so they'd only be on the shelf about a day or two, then they were gone.

My mother ran into this problem. Her coupons expired and I had to get a friend to order some for her.

And how many people think that the manufacturers of these converters hiked the prices up knowing that we'd be getting a forty dollar discount? The RCA box was the only one that was remotely affordable at 50 dollars.

Anyway, this is just your typical government stupidity in action.

You're laying blame at the feet of the wrong people.

1. Most all coupons have an expiration date.

2. I just looked up BB and found two for $50 and one for $60.

3. Not being able to keep them in stock is a fault of the manufacturers and the retailers. Not government.

You're laying blame at the feet of the wrong people.

1. Most all coupons have an expiration date.

2. I just looked up BB and found two for $50 and one for $60.

3. Not being able to keep them in stock is a fault of the manufacturers and the retailers. Not government.

True on #3, there's plenty of blame to go around.

The whole thing stinks though. The expiration was too short. Now they have to spend thousands more to add computer programming to their system to keep track of and re-issue expired, unused coupons and all that stuff.

It's just typical government, just like everything else we hear about lately. They try and put together a "stimulus package" for our economy; we've got people starving to death and losing their houses and their life savings, and some idiot in Congress is putting pork into the bill pertaining to condoms. News flash: We've already been screwed, I think it's a little late for condoms.

Gee, maybe they'll issue coupons for those too, with an expiration date and only two allowed per household. I can hardly wait!

I went to the Going out of business sale" at Circuit City a couple of weekends ago and they had a stack of about 50 converter boxes. That was just at one store, this "transition" has been going on for a few years, if people were really that interested they could have done it well before the deadline got close.

I do think the short time the coupons are valid is a bit stupid, they should have expired until the middle of this year. If there were two allocated per household, then someone got mine. I never tried to get them but I have satellite so I didn't "need" them but if they did I can buy one on my own.

The poor little blue-haired old lady is at it again!

Spike Feresten Takes on the DTV Delay | BC Beat | Blog on Broadcasting & Cable - 10809 (http://www.broadcastingcable.com/blog/BC_Beat/10809-Spike_Feresten_Takes_on_the_DTV_Delay.php)

True on #3, there's plenty of blame to go around.

The whole thing stinks though. The expiration was too short. Now they have to spend thousands more to add computer programming to their system to keep track of and re-issue expired, unused coupons and all that stuff.

It's just typical government, just like everything else we hear about lately. They try and put together a "stimulus package" for our economy; we've got people starving to death and losing their houses and their life savings, and some idiot in Congress is putting pork into the bill pertaining to condoms. News flash: We've already been screwed, I think it's a little late for condoms.

Gee, maybe they'll issue coupons for those too, with an expiration date and only two allowed per household. I can hardly wait!

You're not gonna make me feel sorry for people that overextended themselves on a house or owned 2 houses because they thought it be fun to flip and who thought credit was the answer to everything.

I live in a house I can afford and don't use credit. I am not feeling the effects of the economic downturn.

Maybe instead of an economic stimulus package we should get people an economic education package -- "Gov't. was never meant to be our daddy and bail us out when we make stupid decisions. Credit isn't magic...at some point you have to pay the piper."

You're not gonna make me feel sorry for people that overextended themselves on a house or owned 2 houses because they thought it be fun to flip and who thought credit was the answer to everything.

I live in a house I can afford and don't use credit. I am not feeling the effects of the economic downturn.

Maybe instead of an economic stimulus package we should get people an economic education package -- "Gov't. was never meant to be our daddy and bail us out when we make stupid decisions. Credit isn't magic...at some point you have to pay the piper."

I agree with everything you're saying! The thing that is killing so many people is stock market fraud; that's what wiped out the savings of so many people, people who "did everything right" according to the rules of investing and diversification, but still lost huge sums over the past twelve months. It's hard to play the stock market "game" when it's rigged with lying, cheating, stealing CEO's and brokerage firms.

I too, have no sympathy for people that bought 500k houses on a 200k budget. My main complaint (among many) is putting pork on all these bills lately. It's insane.

Anyway, about those converter boxes. As of 11am at WalMart on Santa Fe and Danforth, they had about 14 Magnavox ones left on the shelves. If you need one, hurry.

It looks like Congress just voted to push the transition date back to June 12th.

Assinine. Completely.

I agree this delay is assinine, all we have heard for the past 1--1 1/2 years is that "change is coming". On June 12th, there will still be several not ready and asking for more time.

But then again, when has, the Federal Goverment ever met or kept a deadline.

Here's what I'm wondering....Cox's website says they're committed to feeding standard def signals for at least the next 3 years. Okay...then what? Is that going to be the end of standard def or is there a good chance they'll extend it beyond that? Will everyone who is currently on cable and have been told over and over that they don't have to do anything for the transition suddenly need digital tuners or have to upgrade to digital cable?

Assinine. Completely.



Completely.......Part of the problem is "people" are buying the boxes with the coupons then.....are you ready for this?

Taking the boxes back to the store so that they can get the full refund for the $40 plus whatever they may have paid for the box? Please tell me this is untrue? Anyone?

:ohno:

Here's what I'm wondering....Cox's website says they're committed to feeding standard def signals for at least the next 3 years. Okay...then what? Is that going to be the end of standard def or is there a good chance they'll extend it beyond that? Will everyone who is currently on cable and have been told over and over that they don't have to do anything for the transition suddenly need digital tuners or have to upgrade to digital cable?
More than likely that will be what is required. Cable companies have always pushed their own converter boxes.

Reportedly, KFOR has announced that they're killing their analog signal on 2/17 as originally scheduled. Hopefully the other local stations will follow suit.