As many people know, at midnight on February 2009, all analog television broadcasts will cease.  The government (more specifically the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), a subdivision of the United States Department of Commerce) has been running commercials on several networks promoting the conversion and informing consumers of their website which contains more information regarding the switch.

This transition to all-digital broadcasts will affect anyone who uses an over-the-air antenna for television reception (aka “rabbit ears”), and those who do not own a television with a digital converter chip or do not subscribe to a pay TV service.  If you do fall into that category, you will need to go out and purchase a digital converter box.

The good news is that the NTIA is subsidizing the purchase of such converters via a $40 coupon that will offset the [rice of any unit purchased.  Each household can apply for up to 2 coupons, which are good for 90 days after they are mailed.  The application can be found here.  Many retail stores offer different models, with some being priced as such that the price after the coupon will only be $.01 Unfortunately, these converter boxes will not work with most portable televisions, as the majority rely on built-in antennas to receive the signal and do not have RF inputs.  The converters will work with standard antennas, as the only function of this unit is to decode the digital signal, thereby only needing to be placed inline between the antenna and the television. rashes lamictal

You must act quickly, however, as the quantity of coupons available is said to be limited.  There are conflicting reports on the website with the homepage listing December 31, 2008 as the deadline and the FAW section listing March 31, 2009 as the deadline.   Also keep in mind that this is an application, and not everyone is going to be entitled to receive the coupon.  The purpose of the program is to ensure that those households that rely solely on over-the-air signals for television reception will receive the assistance.

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