Last day for Digital TV converter box coupons (Stop paying the MSM)

www.dtv.gov ^ | Dec. 31, 2008 | ConservativeMind

[ConservativeMind]

I encourage everyone to stop spending money on television subscriptions, as these simply help the liberal media to survive.

A good antenna and one of these converter boxes will get you all the local stations, plus new HD and Standard Digital stations (including 24-hour weather and other stations now only broadcast in digital where available), on your older televisions.

My family has done this, and switched to DSL internet from cable internet. We now have more stations than what we had under basic cable, with no monthly costs!

Please drop by the website below and get your coupons. This is the last day to do so.

[ConservativeMind]

Hmm. People don’t need the boxes if they have cable, because cable translates the new digital signal to analog for you, but everyone is due two coupons is so desired. It sounds like the website is “dumb” on this, so tell the site you don’t have cable and get your coupons.

[dilvish]

Of course they aren’t really channels. They’re sub versions of CBS or whatever. There’s stuff on cable I want, not getting rid of it.

[ConservativeMind]

Consumer Reports rated some of the available Coupon Eligible Converter Boxes, here:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2008/11/ratings-of-dtv.html?resultPageIndex=1&resultIndex=1&searchTerm=converter%20boxes

I bought the Channel Master mentioned, online. It makes for an incredible picture on my old set, and the HD stations just look perfect.

[ConservativeMind]

Quick-reference information on these converter boxes from Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_CECB_units

[GOPJ]

Same was the student loan program works - schools rake in the cash and then adjust the "student contribution" requirement to get the gravy.

In the old days the press would have done an expose of college rips offs - but today? Same bed.

[Hostage]

What kind of antenna do you have?

I am intrigued to dump cable/Satellite as I have no use for 75%+ of the programming they offer.

It would be nice to delete an extra monthly bill and just get weather, locals, PBS etc. Although I enjoy the business channels I can most times get livestreams on those.

[ConservativeMind]

Where we are, we needed to get an indoor antenna. We settled on this:

Winegard SS-3000 Amplified Indoor UHF/VHF Antenna

http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-SS-3000-Amplified-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B001DFZ5II/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1230761149&sr=8-2

However, this one had slightly better reception, but was top-heavy and fell three times in the first day as I was moving it:

Terk HDTVa Indoor Amplified High-Definition Antenna for Off-Air HDTV Reception

http://www.amazon.com/Terk-Amplified-High-Definition-Antenna-Reception/dp/B0007MXZB2/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1230761149&sr=8-1

For an external antenna, this seemed to have the best reviews:

Antennas Direct DB2 Multi Directional HDTV Antenna

http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-DB2-Directional-Antenna/dp/B000EHUE7I/ref=pd_bbs_6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1230761149&sr=8-6

[TruthWillWin]

You get a $10 piece of equipment for your $40 PLUS the gubermint's $40 (rounded). And $10 is being generous.

Most dealers that sell them have a wholesale cost of over $40 for the converter boxes. A typical converter box with analog pass through costs $44 and retails for $59-$69. You are wrong calling the boxes a $10 piece of equipment.

[TruthWillWin]

I made this one a few days ago with coat hangers and tinfoil:

How to build a UHF HDTV Antenna....CHEAP!

Instead of putting it in the attic I put it in a large pot in the back yard. Get all the local digital channels in HD. Signal strength is 52-70.

[Lady Jag]

Thanks! You saved me a bunch of time!

I let my coupons expire before remember I wasn't just giving up the laundry room TV, I was negating the usefulness of the AC/DC TV we use in power outages!

[narses]

+

Freep-mail me to get on or off my pro-life and Catholic List:

Add me / Remove me

Please ping me to note-worthy Pro-Life or Catholic threads, or other threads of interest.

Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment

Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

[ConservativeMind]

If you only got one coupon, you are still able to order one more.

Even if you used or wasted your two coupons, it is legal to have a friend give you theirs, and I have the email from them to assure this is okay.

[ConservativeMind]

You can find the Channel Master online now for under $50 (really “under $10” after the coupon discount is applied from Solid Signal, here:

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?prod=CM-7000&main_cat=03&source=googleps

Shipping is about $9 more. However, Best Buy has a few of the others which work with the coupon, for under $40, so you can get one of these type of boxes for almost nothing, once you have the coupon gift card(s).

We have an S-Video port on the back of our analog television, so I connected an S-Video cable. It may be this that helps make the picture so great looking, but prior to buying this one, I tried the low-rated GE from a friend. The GE couldn't find as many channels and had a decent, but definitely less detailed picture, and didn't show the HD channels in the letterbox format, for some reason.