Gov't: TV coupons are in the mail

yup I dont qualify either for we have cable I cant see anyone now adays with out it but am sure my neighbor still us the anttena on their house and use phone for dial up for their puter.

I have cable to so I don't qualify but my mother in law only has an antenna so she will need one of those converter boxes. She dosen't have internet so I will have to ask her if she would like me to sign her up for a coupon they are selling the boxes for $49.88 at Walmart so with that coupon she could get one for about $5. Not bad.

They are really getting started early. I suppose that way they are sure that everyone has had a chance to get one. Thanks for the heads up. I sure wasn't expecting it to get started yet.

Actually, even these boxes will not help a lot of people when they stop broadcasting tv in analog and go over to only digital broadcasts. The latest studies that have been been conducted on this are showing that more than 6 MILLION people in the US alone will HAVE to subscribe to cable or satelite or they will lose the reception of some or ALL of the local channels that they currently get. The only other option is special large rooftop antennas that MIGHT be able to pull in a strong enough signal to be watchable. Digital signals degrade more easily than the analog signals and they do not travel as far. They are more easily interfered with by simple things like hills, trees and walls. AND, while you can still watch a weack analog signal, weak digital signals are unwatchable - they either "freeze" or go to a blank screen.

Thanks so much for this. I've been wondering how to avoid buying new t.v.s.

With the conversion to hd these analogs are needed....and they are very expensive as well. I am thinking that the cable and satelite companies will probably up the bill because they can.