The first scenario I would like to tackle is one that my brother Lee is dealing with. He has an older television set and uses rabbit ears to pick up the few random stations he can get in his area. Since he doesn't watch much TV, he doesn't want to waste his money on cable or a satellite dish. He has seen the commercials about the DTV Transition and asked me what he needed to do so he can continue to pick up the shows he does watch.
The best advice I could give my brother is to go get a DTV converter box, which range in price from $40 to $70. Also because many people who need the boxes come from low income households, the government is offering to pay up to $40 per box to help defer the cost. The $40 would come in the form of a coupon and each household can get up to two coupons. If you would like a coupon, go to https://www.dtv2009.gov/options.aspx and view your options on how to request one. There is a lot of other useful information at this site as well including the different models of boxes available and where to find the boxes in your area. My brother may still have to pay a few dollars, depending on the converter box he chooses, to continue to watch his regular programing, but at least it is a one time fee and not a monthly cable bill. I also think once he gets his box and starts watching the digital cable without the fuzz of regular rabbit ears, he will be happy he did.
Scenario number two involves my dad who already has a digital cable box hooked up to his television. He asked me how the DTV Transition will change how he is currently watching television. I told him it wouldn't affect him at all. For people who have digital cable boxes or just plain cable hooked up to their televisions, the transition won't even be noticed. Since their television is already coming in the digital form, cable and satellite viewers are not required to get a digital converter box or any other new piece of equipment to make the transition. The exception here is for those people who still have a television in the house not hooked up to cable or for those people whose satellite provider does not offer local channels and they are using an antenna to receive those channels in an analog form. In those instances, a digital converter box will be needed as well.
The last scenario is my story. I have a new television I bought less than a year ago that has a digital tuner built into it. I currently have cable, but have wanted to switch back to rabbit ears since cable is expensive and I don't have much time to watch TV while going to school. Since my television has a built in digital tuner, I am not required to get a converter box to pick up digital channels. I am able to just hook the antenna up to my television and I will be able to pick up all digital channels being broadcast in my area. I have attempted to do this already with mixed results. Look for a recap of this experiment in my blog later this week.
On a side note, I have added some blogs I am following that involve other people who are following the DTV Transition as well to my site. They may help you understand the transition a little better. Check them out--I'm sure they would appreciate the visit!
No comments:
Post a Comment