Are You Ready for the DTV Conversion in February?

With just under two months remaining before the national switch to digital-only television, it's important to determine now whether or not you're going to need a new receiver box - on February 17, 2009, all television sets that use an analogue method of receiving their signal will no longer function. If you're an American using a rabbit-ears style receiver, or any other form of analogue receiver, then you need to act quickly - although the federal government is helping to fund the transition by way of $40 converter box coupons, they are quickly running out of funds for these, and say that it's important to request your coupon before the end of December if you want to receive the coupon in time for the day of the transition in February. As they are processing almost 1.5 million requests for coupons each day, they anticipate that in order to receive your coupon in time, you will need to have requested it by January 1.

Forty-one million of the $40 coupons have been requested, and seventeen million of those have been redeemed at retailers throughout the country. The government says that it has enough remaining funds for only 33 and a half million coupons, however, although they may secure more funding for more coupons should it prove necessary.

How do you know if you need a digital converter box? The easiest way to tell is to look at your television; if it has a set of rabbit ears, then it's likely that you'll need a converter box. You can also examine the antennae itself; on the information panel on the bottom it should inform you whether or not it receives digital or analogue signals. If it's the former, you need a converter box. You don't need one of the converter boxes, however, if you subscribe to any cable or satellite television providers, or if you receive your television signal over the Internet. If you have a newer television, there's a good chance that it has a digital tuner built directly into it - your owner's manual will be able to clarify this for you.

The converter boxes are available at most major electronics retailers, and can be found for under $40 - the value of the government coupons - and range up to about $80. Although many electronics retailers have trained their employees in explaining to consumers how the transition will work, the best place to visit before making your purchase is the official DTV transition Web site, which can be found at http://www.dtv2009.gov/.