Analog to Digital February 17, 2009

My brother Ritchie is a great dad! He's always thinking about things to make his children happy when they come to stay with him and he's guaranteed to take them to parks or the zoo or some play place. He loves his time with them and wants them to be happy. This week he and I went by Walmarts and cashed in his two government coupons he had so that he could get a digital converter for each of his children's bedrooms at his house. On their old analog TV's with the converter box and an antenna they now get twelve to thirteen channels and these channels come in just as plain as any TV hooked up to Cable or Directv or any of the others you can think about. He does have Dish network I believe at his house (They don't offer FIOS yet in his neighborhood.) but he only has it hooked up in his family room and living room. So the kids have been watching tapes in their rooms or watching a fuzzy analog station. He's excited to see what they think when they come next weekend.
I got to thinking last night that I wondered how many people knew about from commercials or otherwise the coupons that the government is giving out. After all they are the ones mandating that the television stations do this so it is only fitting that they help curb the cost to the consumer. Two coupons are allowed per address/customer. The coupons are worth $40 each and look like a credit card and are used like a credit card. They can be used at several stores around town. My brother and I took them to Walmart's and they cost $49.97 before the coupon and $9.97 each after the coupon. Now you do have to pay the tax on the total cost before the coupons so expect if you get both that it will run around $27 for the two of them. All you need at this point is your analog TV and an antenna either outside or an indoor one. The converter box goes between the antenna and TV and it comes with a remote control so you can change channels. This is going to be a good idea for anyone, even those with cable because what if you have an analog TV and the storm takes out your cable (because you don't have FIOS either) - then your analog TV with this box would still get channels in theory. It also will come in handy if the financial crunch comes along and you need to remove the cable company to save cost. Either way... I advise you get at least one to have for need of the future. The WEB address to sign up is: https://www.dtv2009.gov/

The conversation takes place at midnight on February 17, 2009. So time is growing short. Get yours today!