Digital converter boxes aren’t the cure all, says one electronics’ store owner.

Come February 17, as television stations turn off traditional analog signals and transmit digital only, consumers will need a converter box to watch TV if they don’t have a television with a digital tuner built in, cable or satellite. But there may be a fly in the ointment — how far away you live from the local television stations.

“We have a problem in this area in a sense that we are, distance wise, an average of 60 miles from their tower sites. And because of the transmission signal strength and because digital requires a stronger signal than analog, many of the people that live in this area in Wayne, Pike and Susquehanna counties are going to have severe problems receiving the Scranton stations. Our experience has been that most of our customers can pick up some of the channels, but not all of them,” said Mike Augello, owner of Music and Video Express in Honesdale. Of the six Scranton stations: 16, 22, 28, 38, 44 and 56, Augello says getting channels “22 and 28 have been our biggest issue. We are finding that the only solution is to go to what’s called a deep-fringe antennae to receive those stations.

“The key point is this — if you have purchased a converter box, if you have hooked it up, if you have confirmed the channels that you’re receiving are digital channels, which means on your converter box it will say 16.1, 16.2  and so on ...If you see the .1 and the .2 channels showing up, then you are receiving digital signals and those are the stations and the only stations that you will receive after February 17. If you’re only seeing 16, 22, 28, 38, 44, and 56 or any combination of those, come February 17, you will no longer receive those stations,” he said. 

 Ray Russo, owner of the Radio Shack in Hamlin, says, “the digital box doesn’t guarantee you better reception or more channels. It allows you to continue to receive the channels you’ve always received.” People who’ve settled for watching snowy channels with their antennae before won’t get those channels at all come February 17. “They’re going to have to buy either a bigger antenna or add an amplifier to their existing antenna ...With a digital signal, you either get it crystal clear or you don’t get it at all. With a digital signal, if you’re out of range, it’ll be distorted, you won’t be able to make heads or tails out of the image,” he said.

Amplifiers cost around $60, with larger antennas ranging from $50 to $100, he said. He said they’re not very technical to install, but require a trip to the roof.  

Converter coupon wait-list   
Russo says he’s sold anywhere from 100 to 150 converter boxes so far. Ninety-nine percent of people purchasing them have been using the government issued $40 coupon to offset the cost. Converters range anywhere from $50 to $70, he said.

Anyone currently applying for the $40 converter coupon is being wait-listed since the federal government program is currently out of funding. Russo, who’s applied for coupons on behalf of his customers, says he’s not been given a definitive date as to when coupons will be made available. “I guess they had more of a response than they anticipated when they funded the program ... You’d be surprised how many people still have roof antennas,” Russo said.
According to an article by Leslie Cauley, USA Today, “The government's $1.34 billion coupon program for digital converter boxes ran out of money on Sunday.” At the writing of that article, 103,000 people had already been wait-listed.

For more information on-line about digital TV conversion, see www.fcc.gov and click “Digital Television” at left under “Consumer Center.”