Thanks, Larry. Good advice.
Been wondering how you were doing.

Go to the message   #384 at
 http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/WGSF_TV/message/384
where Dan and I briefly discussed the impact on the TV translator for Channel 31. 

For those who may not know - in February 2009, all standard TV broadcast stations will go off the air, and television broadcasting will shift to digital.  (Except for some low power, as noted)
Most of the 'regular' TV stations now broadcast in both formats. New TV receivers come with a digital tuner, which receives all the new digital broadcasts. Note that digital does not mean HDTV - that is a definition of the screen quality. So - our newest TV gets the new channels off-air (no cable, etc. here) It is just digital format, which costs about the same as any old TV, and about half of what a higher definition format TV (HDTV) costs. Still looks pretty good, though: we are close enough to Columbus to get good off-air signals.
But Larry is right - if you are on cable or dish, the company will provide the converter.
Remember the old UHF converters? History repeats itself - sort of. Converts a new channel/format to a signal that can be viewed on an old style TV.
     Hope everyone has taken time to check out the "New" WGSF web site:
http://wgsf.oldgleaner.com/
( For the truly adventuresome - the base domain is     http://oldgleaner.com/   )
Mr H


Larry and Shelley wrote:

Hey, Bill! How ya doin'! Check out www.dtv.gov for answers. Time Warner can also help you. If you are hooked up already to digital tv, via cable or satellite, you don't need to do anything. If you receive by air, then you need a converter. The federal government is issuing $40 certificates (2 of them) to help with that purchase if you need one.
Looking forward to seeing you at the next WGSF reunion.
Larry Wilson
---- Bill Clifford <clifford1950@...> wrote: 

LELAND: CAN YOU OR ANYONE ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS ON HDTV? I HAVE AN RCA COLOR SET, ABOUT 10 YEARS OLD, WORKS FINE. I AM HOOKED TO TIME-WARNER CABLE INCLUDING DIGITAL CHANNELS AND MY ROAD RUNNER SERVICE. DO I NEED TO BUY SOME OTHER CONVERTOR BOX OR A NEW HDTV WHEN THIS CHANGE OVER HAPPENES NEXT FEBRUARY? I HAVE BEEN TOLD BY DIFFERENT PEOPLE I DON'T NEED TO MAKE ANY CHANGES. OTHERS TELL ME A NEW HDTV. AND STILL OTHERS A NEW HDTV AND CONVERTOR BOX.
DOES THE CONVERTOR BOX FOR MY DIGITAL CHANNELS COVER EVERYTHING?
ANY HELP OR GUIDANCE IS APPRECIATED.
BILL CLIFFORD