Hello DEW !you and the wife have that extra mouth to feed yet? Oyea ,they’ve had plenty of time to get it right,the FCC and the other Government offices,but as usual they did it half way.I’ve been digital ready for a number of years and have tried many things. I used to be deep into electronics and just loved it,even built my own TV and the old CB sets.What bites me is that even after buying a new digital set most people will not be able to receive as many channels as they do now over the air,a lot will lose from 1/2 to 3/4 of the over the air channels due to the signal being below the level required to display a digital picture. If the FCC would have required one or two additional RF stages up front on all digital equipment I believe at least 90% of the people affected would have been happy with the change over.As is I think there’s gonna be a lot of disappointed people after the first of the new year.

Good Morning Mr. Carl! You know usually I agree with you, however, it’s not like North America has not had plenty of time to prepare for this. They’ve only pushed the date back three times. Originally it was supposed to happen in 2002, then 2006, now 2009! I mean I’ve known about it since 1999. Of course I’m big into electronics and gadgets too. I mean I can understand your opinion about those of the less fortunate not being able to afford a new TV or a converter box, however I think 75% of North Americans are prepared for the change. Come March of 2009, LCD’s and Plasma’s will be just as cheap as a CRT TV or Monitor!

Maybe we should call it the digital fleecing of the less fortunate. The people watching over the air transmissions get ready to put out a lot more money for things like a converter box or a new TV,then most likely a new antenna and cable and possibly a small RF amplifier on the new antenna to continue to receive the channels you receive now. If you have satellite or cable, no trouble.As long as you continue to pay for them, to watch commercials,you’re good to go.