Want to Sound Off About Your Expired Converter Box Coupons?
Have your $40 converter box coupons from the U.S. government expired? Are you waiting for congress to legislate a change which will allow for re-application of the converter box coupons (Which still hasn’t happened as of 8/25/08)?
TVConversionHelp has decided to make a special Expired Converter Box Coupon Complaint Thread for frustrated coupon holders to voice their opinion. You can view the thread by clicking here, and if you would like to post your response, you must register to the forum first.
The most common reason we’ve seen in emails are:
- There aren’t any converter boxes available at local stores
- The expiration date was too soon for you to make a decision on which type of box to purchase
- You didn’t pay attention to the fine print that explains the expiration date of the coupon’s
Whatever your reason may be, we want to hear about it! If we receive enough complaints, we will forward the web address of all the complaints to U.S. Congress and State Representative’s offices.
Startling FCC DTV Hurricane Plan for Handheld TV Owners
One of the nagging problems with the switch to digital television is the lack of options available for handheld and mobile TV owners. There just isn’t any workable alternatives available for users of these devices; so what does this mean after the digital transition date of February 17th, 2009? Most analog handheld and mobile TVs will be rendered useless.
What about the consumers that depend on these devices for news or information during an emergency or power outage?
And once the entire country goes digital, none of the stations will be allowed to switch over to analog, even if there’s an emergency.
The above quote is from a National Public Radio station, which echoed comments from FCC Commisioners at a recent town hall meeting.
I’m going to open the comments section below this post for users of handheld and mobile tvs to voice their opinion. Your comments will be monitored (usually takes a day) before they’re posted, but I’d like to get some public opinion on this story.
Update: 11-19-08
There is now a “portable” converter box on the market which may allow for consumers to convert their analog televisions for digital television. Check it out here: Winegard RCDT09A - First Battery Powered Converter Box Available Soon Read Reviews about it here: Winegard RC-DT09 Converter Box
Recent DTV Questions: New DTV but bad digital reception? Converter for VCR?
Queston #1: New DTV but bad digital reception?
Hi,
We recently purchased a new Digital TV and currently use it with rabbit ears. We get pretty good analog reception. We DO NOT have cable. Whenever we switch it to the digital channels our digital reception stinks and is very intermittant (NO SIGNAL) or very pixilated. When the changeover comes in Feb. will we have to get cable in order to get good digital reception?
Mags
Answer: Hi Mags, unless you live more than 125 miles from a broadcast tower, it’s highly doubtful that you’ll have to get cable.
You may have to invest in a powered antenna ($15-$25) to see if that helps with reception. I suggest purchasing one from a store that has a good return policy just in case the antenna doesn’t help. TV reception can be affected by trees, buildings, and weather so you may want place your antenna in a location to avoid for such obstructions.
I had a situation quite similar to yours before I added a powered antenna to my DTV. On my setup at home, I purchased a brand new high defnition Mitsubishi 1080P flat panel television set with a built in digital tuner (no converter required). When I plugged the TV in I was quite shocked to find that it only received half of the digital channels available without an antenna.
After doing some research, I found that the television broadcast tower was located less than 10 miles from our house! I went online and purchased a $40 antenna, and after hooking it up, 95% of the channels were now coming through. So I sent that antenna back, and purchased a heavier duty antenna, and haven’t looked back since.
Let us know what you decide to do when you get a chance.
Question #2: Converter for TV connected to VCR used to watch VCR movies Only?
have a T.V. set that will only play VCR’s, no channels- i keep so the grandkids can have each their own program- will i need a converter box for that one? AM getting one for the t.v. that recieves channels. thank you - sally
Answer: Hello Sally, great question!
If you only use this television for viewing VCR tapes, you will not need a digital converter. If you should ever decide to upgrade to a DVD player you still will not need a digital converter box either.
The only instance where you would need a digital converter box would be if you were using the TV to view television broadcasts/channels over-the-air (through an antenna).
Thanks again for visiting and let me know if you have any other questions,
Jay
DTV Forum - Join the Growing Community
With the recent amount of questions pouring in about DTV and the digital transtion, we here at TVConversinhelp have decided to open a new website: DTV USA Forum
Join for free, and participate in the growing community dedicated to sharing information and resources related to digital television to the following topics:
DTV 2009 (The Digital Transition) - Ask questions or comment on the switch to digital television in the following categories: Government Coupon Questions, Converter Box General Questions, Converter Box (Reviews - Ratings - Specific Questions), DTV Reception, and anything else related to DTV.
Cable and Satellite Providers - Discuss and/or ask questions about your cable or satellite provider (such as Cox Communications, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Direct TV, Dish Network, Insight Communications, and all other cable and satellite providers…)
Television Sets (DTV, HDTV, etc.) - Are you thinking about purchasing a newer television set? Get information and advice from this section on the many different types of television sets (such as flat screen televisions - LCD or Plasma - or if you’re considering a more traditional television like a rear projection crt or dlp type set, we’ve got you covered)
Home Entertanment Equipment - With the many different type of DVD players and audio home entertainment equipment on the market, it can be quite confusing to make a choice! We have a whole section of this part of the forum dedicated to video games (ie: Wii, XBOX 360, PS3, PS2, etc.) as well.
Television Show Chat - Chat about your favorite ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, or any other favorite network television show.
How do I connect a converter box to a TV with screws on the back?
Mark recently posted a question:
We have an old tv that we have used “rabbit ears on”. The antena wire “rabbit ears” are
attached to the tv with two screws on the tv set.The converter box we just bought is to “plug” into a set with RCA Connections. Is there another addapter plug we can buy?
Hello Mark, and thanks for visiting,
After days of searching, I think I’ve found a solution for you!
The type of screw type connectors that you have on the back of your analog television are called 300 ohm leads. I believe you can purchase a Coaxial Cable Push-On Balun 75 - 300 Ohm Adapter (Here’s a link to one, I haven’t verified this actual shopping site, so buyer beware, but I’m sure you can find one at your local radio shack or online retailer (Here’s a link to an online retailer that sells one http://www.summitsource.com/coaxial-cable-pushon-balun-75-300-ohm-adapter-with-quick-f-connect-matching-signal-transformer-balum-75300-ohm-p-5650.html)
You’ll want to connect the converter to the coax connection on the adapter, then connect a 300 ohm flat wire stripped or wire spade lugs under screw terminals on the adapter and then on the television and tighten.
Let me know if this helped!
Jay
