One Thing You Should Put Off Until Later
We’re all busy these days and sometimes it seems there’s not enough minutes in the day to accomplish everything we need to do. Some things get pushed aside, and possibly forgotten until it’s too late. Then, there’s a mad rush to get it done which wears you out to the point that you put something else off until later.
When it comes to digital television, procrastination can bite you where you are sitting on right now. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their families. Putting the DTV transition thing off until later is not advisable.
The N.T.I.A. and the FCC just went before Congress, not to beg for more money, but to re-spend some money. Basically half of the converter box coupons sent out have not been redeemed. Now this is really our money, and we have a right to use it to defray the cost of converting to digital over the air broadcasting, so what is happening? I’m sure a few coupon holders in the beginning had a legitimate reason; because boxes were hard to come by and consumers couldn’t get them. A few, just put it off until they realized the coupon expired in 90 days after being issued, and it was too late. Others have cable or satellite, and didn’t remember the TV in the bedroom or kitchen was still on rabbit ears.
The N.T.I.A. basically feared they would run out of funds by January, and then a mad rush of procrastinators would not be able to get them. Congress agreed, and they can now make it until the end of the program next March. But that’s it friends, after the program is over, you’ll have to pay full price.
Personally, I wish they had gone a little farther with the program and at least give citizens tax breaks on new HD displays and DVR’s. I was talking to a salesperson at Circuit City in Cary the other night, and I asked him how box sales were going. I was delighted when he said sales were very brisk for the CECB units they sell and they were almost totally out of stock on antennas. I wish I had remembered his name, but if his manager is reading; props to the salesman in the TV Dept. at CC in Cary working last Tuesday night from me! He also mentioned people were buying HDTV’s as well, and both are good news for everyone. I mentioned even if a family buys an HD set, tell them to go ahead and spend the coupons on a converter box.
Look, it’s only 10-20 bucks for the box, and even though a new TV is digital ready out of the box, you may need that converter box later, or someone else may need it. Keep family members in mind that may not have internet access or phone access. Yes, there are many households that do not have either. H.A.D.N.M. in August was all about those people. The ones unable to read my words of sage wisdom and experience.
Even if you don’t need the box now, get it, keep it in the box, and I am certain there will be households in February we will need to get them to. Even if you are using it now, and will buy a new TV Christmas, keep it for later. I’d start a fund right now to build up an inventory of unused boxes for such a purpose, but the coupons are assigned to you personally, and you have to sign when you buy it to prove you are the coupon owner. But please keep in mind, there will be a need to donate boxes at some point.
Another reason to get the box now and experiment is that it is much easier to point an antenna using an analog signal to pinpoint the stations direction. When you open up your box, it is dumb as a box of rocks. A regular TV at least knows where the VHF and UHF channels are, but keep in mind, we’re not all broadcasting on our final channel assignment. The box has to scan each channel to find the digital signals. Remember, NBC 17 is actually broadcasting digitally on ch 55. The box reads the data in the signal, and tells you it is simply 17-1. It does the work for you to keep you from getting confused. When we flip off 17 analog, and turn on 17 digital, your box will simply keep displaying 17-1 as always. It will be totally invisible to you. A re-scan should be performed every month or so in case new signals appear, but be aware it can take several minutes for it to complete the scan. These CECB units are pretty fast as they do not look for analog signals, but some TV sets will take as long as 30 minutes to find all the channels, so be a little patient when you plug these things in.
As far as procrastination, put it off until later.
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