TV Converter Box. What to Expect . .

I do not have cable. And since there is only one Cable Company in my area, and it sucks like a Hoover; I will not have cable until a competitor moves into the neighborhood.

Not having cable is not an issue for me. With the internet, newspaper and office chatter, I'm not missing any current events. But what was missing was a clear picture on my TV.

Knowing that all TV sets will not have basic reception after February 2009, I decided to just go ahead and get the converter box. I ordered my coupons from https://www.dtv2009.gov. They arrived within two weeks.

The coupons are good for only 6 months. So, if you have no desire to purchase a new TV, put the card in a place where you can easily access it. According to what I have read you are allowed two per household and they are keeping a record of addresses they were sent to. You will not be allowed to order anymore.

The site allows you to order up to two coupons for converter boxes. This $40 coupon may be redeemed at a variety of stores which are outlined on the sheet sent along with the coupons.

I went ahead and got two even though I only have one TV. At first I couldn't justify getting two and then I realized my dad, at 76 years of age, is electronically challenged (no understanding of internet, ATM, converter box, voice mail . . .) so my greed will allow him to have a clear picture as well.

When I received the coupon I didn't just run out and buy a box. I went on-line to see what the selling price would be. A $40 discount is not impressive on something that cost $500!

The resellers listed on my sheet were Radio Shack, Best Buy, WalMart, and Circuit City. The most expensive box cost $59.99. WalMart had the lease expensive on-line price of $52.97. I opted for WalMart.

Understand, this is very new to the consumer AND the stores selling it. The young man who rang my order thought I had handed him a credit card. When I explained to him what it was he had to call a manager because that was the first time he had seen anyone using the coupon. This started a dialog amongst the other two people in line behind me because they had not seen one either.

The manager rang up my item which left me with a balance of $10.68. The in store price was $49.87. So if you're going to get one you may want to go into the stores to do a price comparison.

Once the sale was complete he then handed me the card back and said, "You can do whatever with this. No one can use it once it's been used ."

Setting up the box was pretty easy; open box, plug in wall, plug into TV, plug TV into converter box - - bada boom bada bing! And you know that was the easiest part.

After getting everything situated I was no longer getting ANY picture. I then read the troubleshooting section of the instructions and realized that I still needed my rabbit ears. My television is 5 years old. Televisions made within the last two years will not need the rabbit ears. The components that make the VHF and UHF work are built into those sets.

Once I attached the rabbit ears I still wasn't getting a picture of any kind. Of course I started getting frustrated and was going to take the thing back. According to the product manual I should have been able to press the menu button and set up my channels. But nothing was happening.

As I stormed off to my kitchen something popped up on the TV. It was a channel trying to come in. I pressed the menu button on the remote and there it was, a list of services that will allow you to monitor the strength of your antenna, set the channels, set up closed captioning, select another language and other options.

Setting up the channels is as easy as pressing BEGIN CHANNEL SEARCH. But, what I find when I set up the channels is that the antenna still works like it did before the box. Depending on the weather or if I'm scratching my foot during a show, if the antenna is not settled on one frequency then the converter box will knock the channel out. I have literally moved the box and rabbit ears around the entire living room (to include the balcony) to get good reception. On a good day I have gotten up to 28 channels; on a bad day, 6. I realize that I now have channels I never knew existed and a few of the primary local channels no longer come through.

So, there you have it, one converter box story. You have 10 more months to get more reviews in order to decide which one you want to go with. I'm guessing there are going to be some incredible after Christmas television sales and the converter box may be marked down to a standard $10. But, for those of you want clarity now, I hope this helps!