TV Converter Box Boondoggle

What television event has more hype than the Super Bowl, hawks more product to every home and is destined to disappoint more than the losing team? The digital television converter box. Television is about to undergo a monumental change from analog to digital signals. Originally scheduled for February 17th, the Senate did reconsider the date for the switchover. For anyone not on cable, dish or wireless, we have been warned for the past year that we need to install a television converter box so we do not lose reception. Up until now those with rabbit ears have had a free ride to many TV stations via their antenna.

The Government made this decision under the Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 for several reasons. First, by switching to digital it will free up more analog signals because digital uses up less space. This is important to companies like AT&T who need the airwaves and bandwidths for computers, cell phones and emergency signals. Second, by compressing the size digitally more channels can be carried allowing several programs to be aired at once or simultaneously. Finally, everyone appears to be in agreement that the picture and sound quality of digital television is superior and more reliable despite the occasional glitch where "tetris" looking squares falling into place around the screen.

The TV converter boxes were made available last spring. Toll-free numbers were given out to request discount coupons good for $40 off a converter box and families were entitled to a maximum of two. The converter boxes start at around $80, so the coupon paid effectively half the cost. I cannot even imagine what this program has cost the government, but I do understand they ran out of them and are now considering extended the deadline for getting them.

The discount coupons look like a wildly colored credit card and are not transferrable. They can be redeemed only once and are also non-refundable. It is up to the customer to decide what model of converter box to buy. This is where the problem arises since no one knows what your particular needs are when it comes to make, model or possibilities for external antenna which you will most likely need as well.

Even with the converter box there are many things which need to be considered. If you live in a small town as I do, the local City administrators may not have cell towers which will accommodate the digital signals in the same way as larger cities. Therefore, the first thing I learned the hard way is that unless you buy a converter box with "analog pass-through" you not only cannot use the box until after the switchover, you may not be able to after that date. At the time I purchased my box last July which was specific to my brand of television, there was only one company making and offering analog pass-through, but more were being created.

Hooking up the TV converter box is relatively simple with similar wires which plug into the set like adding a VCR, but if your television is an older model like mine is, you may need to buy additional cable connections to hook them up. The box should also come standard with something called "power boost" which mine, of course, did not. Radio Shack informed me that with the digital switchover, your standard rabbit ear antennae may not be strong enough to receive the digital signals. When the store suggested a roof-top antenna or antenna dish, I informed them that my building has restrictions on the use of such external appliances. The next logical step was to stroll the isles of our local discount store for portable TV rabbit ears with power boost capabilities. I tried the $20 set which performed less than what I had, then the $50 set which did not work at all and decided anything over that which was out-of-pocket was simply not worth it. In the end, I purchased cable TV and bundled it in a package with my computer.

The local thrift store was so delighted to get my TV digital conversion box, brand new in the carton along with wires and instructions, that I did not have the heart to tell them what a waste of technology it really was. I did write in bold letters outside the box however, "no analog pass-through" just in case someone was expecting great things as I had when they installed it.

The digital TV converter boxes are probably the biggest scam perpetrated upon the US public in a long time. Life marches on and we must be flexible when new technology arrives, but I wish the public information officers had spent more effort on research and development of this product. They certainly had the time to work out the bugs.