Beware the FCC Digital Converter Box Coupon Program

"We're talking about the U.S. Government, here"

It's been a nightmare trying to get converter box coupons. But what did I expect. This was a government-run program after all. Should I have really thought it would go smoothly. And now Congress is close to extending the Analog cut off to June 12 (whatever that means).

While I don't agree with Barack Obama that the conversion itself should be pushed back a few months so that the FCC can regroup, I do understand why he asked for it, the FCC Converter Box Coupon Program is a mess. It ran out of funding and many people who need a converter box may not get the government assistance (in the form of a $40 coupon card) they expected.


I started last May. I went to the web site, applied for my cards (you can ask for up to 2 per household) and waited. And waited. And waited. They finally showed up at my house and I noticed at the time that the issue date was about 30 days prior to the day I received it. While I didn't give much thought to it at the time, I only had 90 days to use them and 30 of those days were gone. I kept saying to myself, in a quiet voice in the back of my mind,k "I need to stop by Radio Shack and pick up that converter box". Well that time passed and I never did it.

So those expired. Then I applied again using a friends name who didn't need them. I told her they were coming and to let me know when they arrived. After a few months I asked her about them and she said she "thinks" she got them. More weeks passed. She finally gave them to me and they had already expired. So there's another set of coupons gone.

So my last resort was talking to a friend of mine at work. She was telling me that she applied for them even though she didn't need them but wanted to give them to some underprivileged folks she works with outside of work. Her intent was in knowing that these folks didn't now much about the conversion so she wanted to be able to explain it and hand them the coupons. When I told her what happened to me she immediately offered to give me one of hers.

So there, I finally got one. I went to Radio Shack and talked to them about a converter box. It was all a big rush and I thought the gentleman said that "this box would be covered by the coupon" meaning I would just pay any taxes.

When he rang it up he said "That will be $24.50" or something like that. I said "WHAT?". He then explained that he meant the coupon was "applicable" to this converter box, not that it would cover the entire cost except tax.

So I said that I wanted to cancel the transaction and see if I could find a converter box for cheaper. He said he couldn't void the sale because in ringing it up he had to put the coupon number in the computer and there was no way to void it. So now I was stuck paying an extra $24.00 for a converter box. And I couldn't return it either. Well, I could but I would lose out on my coupon discount. I'm not sure I understand it all but again, it's the government we're talking about.

So this ridiculous coupon program is being extended because it ran out of money. Well if you consider how many coupons they "accounted" for that were never used, I'll bet they never ran out of money. It's all on paper. I called my U.S. Representative, Chellie Pingree. I got an aide of some sort name Antoine. I asked how Ms. Pingree was going to vote on the extension bill. The Senate already approved it. He wouldn't tell me how she would vote. He did ask me how I wanted her to vote and said he would relay that to her but he refused to tell me how she intended to vote. Why can't I, as a constituent, ask how my representative, or congress-person, is going to vote on an issue? Isn't that a simple question? But then again, we're talking about he government here.

Obama asks Congress to delay the digital conversion?

"Is the FCC Conversion Extension worth it; and is the FCC program for converter boxes really out of money?"

I'm not sure it will do any good but Barack Obama asked Congress to delay the conversion to digital for a few months. This came on the heals of the revelation that the FCC has run out of money and coupons for the digital converter boxes leaving untold numbers of consumers in the lurch.

However, will it matter? The current time frame is that all regular broadcast television stations must cease transmitting their analog signal on February 17, 2009. However, this does not prevent television stations from ending their analog transmission EARLIER than that. In Southern Maine, Channels 35 and 51 (MyNetwork and the CW) have already ceased analog operations last September. MPBN (Maine PBS) and NHPTV (New Hampshire Public Television) ended their analog transmission on January 11, 2009. You see, many TV stations don't want to wait to the very last day to end analog and the FCC has encouraged stations not to wait until the very end.

So even if Barack Obama convinces Congress to "extend" the conversion, it will take a miracle for Congress to understand exactly out what they are voting on and what effect it will really have. Can TV broadcasters still convert early? Is there some edict that says TV stations CAN'T cut off their analog signal? Do stations that already cut off their analog signal have to turn it back on? And what about stations who have been waiting for the conversion date so that they can do a "flash cut over". This is for TV stations who came into existence after this digital road map was plotted out back in 1996. This extension, from what I can tell, is only going to result in it costing lots of people, lots of money. Huge expenses are involved in either keeping analog AND digital going at the same time. And for cell phone providers and others who need the bandwidth freed up by shutting down analog signals now have to wait 4 more months to take advantage of it. The expenses involved in this are endless.

So if you look at the real dollars involved, this extension was not looked at carefully. And when you consider who many digital converter box coupons were issues (and on the books) but never used, was the FCC really out of money for this program?

I guess we'll see.

Am I really ready for Digital TV?

Are you sure you know the Truth about Digital TV and High Definition with an Antenna?

Doug Finck, from WPXT in Portland, ME, said in an email to me "our biggest challenge is not in communicating to the public that we are switching to digital...but the issues about reception"

Doug has been a long time supporter and recently shared the following information which I found most helpful in explaining some of the basic truths about digital TV.

"1. It's all about the antenna. An outside antenna will probably be necessary for many people. The type of antenna, however, is an issue because of the fact that there will be a combination of UHF and VHF digital stations and the viewers will need an antenna capable of receiving both types of transmission (or two antennas).

2. The more powerful and antenna is, the more directional it is. The more directional it is, the more critical it is to point it toward the transmitting antenna for the station they want to watch. Someone living in Lewiston will have to point their antenna in three directions; north for WCBB and WPFO, southwest for WCSH, WMTW and WMEA, and southeast for WGME, WPME and WPXT.

3. Consumers have to understand the need to manually enter all channels WHEN THEIR ANTENNA IS POINTED TOWARD THAT CHANNEL'S TRANSMITTING ANTENNA. Auto-scan is a waste of time and should be ignored or defeated. In the real world, a viewer will have a powerful, directional antenna. They will have to point it toward a specific station's transmitting antenna then enter that station's digital frequency (not the station's analog/marketing channel) to save the station. Then they will go to the next station, move the antenna, enter the digital number and save it. This process will be the only way to get the digital tuner to "see" all of the channels (assuming the viewer can actually get enough of a signal from each station to actually get the picture).

4. Rotors will allow one antenna to be aimed at all of the channels. Multiple antennas (with each one pointed in a specific direction) will also accomplish the same goal (getting the maximum signal from each station). But remember, in this market you're going to need both VHF and UHF receiving capability to get all of the stations!

As far as the cheap converter boxes are concerned, they are designed to downconvert digital signals to be displayed on an analog TV. The tuners are fine for doing that and all of the converter boxes are of equal quality and value. If by more expensive, you're talking about a $150+ box, you're not talking about a converter box, you're describing a digital tuner. There's a huge difference in price, quality and functionality. If you're just looking to buy a digital converter box to be used with an analog TV, buy the cheapest one you can find."

I asked some additional questions regarding whether or not existing TV stations would use continue to use their temporary UHF channel numbers or go back to their regular numbers (the ones the public knows them by). Here was Doug's response:

"Our digital channel is and will remain, 43. Stations will continue to market and refer to themselves by their old analog channel numbers as a way to reduce confusion to viewers. Our move with WPME from digital channel 28 to 35 (our old analog channel) was done for technical reasons (to allow us use the existing channel 35 antenna which is mounted at the highest point on the tower).

Several of the other area stations will be moving back to their analog frequencies (primarily for lower electric power costs), but most will not. This is going to be a confusing issue as viewers try to tune into specific stations and don't know the "real" channel numbers.

WCSH - Analog channel 6...digital channel 44. They will not be moving and even though the digital tuners will tell you that you are watching channel 6, it will actually be receiving that signal on channel 44.

WMTW - Analog channel 8...currently digital channel 45 but they will be
moving back to channel 8 for their digital broadcasting on February 17th.

WGME - Analog channel 13...digital channel 38. They will
not be moving and even though the digital tuners will tell you that you are
watching channel 13, it will actually be receiving that signal on channel 38.

WCBB - Analog channel 10...currently digital channel 17 but they will be
moving back to channel 10 for their digital broadcasting next week.

WPFO - Analog channel 23...they will switch from analog to digital broadcasting on
February 17th, but will remain on channel 23.

WMEA - Analog channel 26...they will switch to digital channel 45 (the current WMTW channel) on February 17th so the tuner will tell you that you're watching channel 26 but it will actually be receiving channel 45.

As viewers have to manually add and delete channels they will need to understand this concept and know the real channel numbers for each station."

Many thanks to Doug for all of his input. We appreciate that he has always been as passionate about getting information out to the public as those at the Maine HDTV Forum.