The DB4 looks nice in terms of capture area and I do see more of that type going up around here as more people get OTA DTV. I did investigate the local frequency assignments and the VHF stations on CH 9 & 13 are currently broadcasting DTV on temporary UHF assignments but after Feb. they will be going digital on their legacy channels - so some of what folks in this area see now will be changing in the near future, and depending on where they are they may need to change antennas again.
The stations that were already on UHF channels deployed DTV on channels near their legacy assignments and it looks as though they will be staying on the new channels after the transition. 16 will be on “real” channel 17, 28 on 29, 34 on 31, and so on. Interesting also (at least to me), a couple of those stations have analog broadcasts with 1.6 and 3 MW ERP and post transition will retain lower transmitted ERPs of 100 & 250 KW if the data I have is correct. The engineers at one of those stations are probably thankful for that - they have had a number of transmission line fires in the winter when the towers collect ice.
My HDTV is a 32” Westinghouse from Wal-Mart. That was what Santa Claus could afford last year and is closest in size to the 26” one eyed monster it replaced. It is only 720p and the refresh rate could be better, but it renders a 1080p football game or NASCAR race without any pixellation, and also renders split signal analog 480p from the DVD very nice - crisp edges and smooth motion, and when the source file has a proper 16:9 native aspect ratio it's a pleasure to watch. S-video is slightly less good and 480i from broadcast or single hose analog video isn't good at all - the graphics chipset probably doesn't have the power or codespace to do much with that, but that's not what I bought it for.
I have signed up for my converter box coupons. Should be something out there that’ll be fun to experiment with.
You are right, the channels are all moving around. Locally, most want the UHF channel assignments since it takes a smaller antenna and can be usually inside the house. Our local stations say they are going to stay on UHF, all but one VHF, that one the FCC has designated an emergency channel.
I doubt it will be all figured out by the switchover date, even the stations I talked to were unclear what was going to be finalized. It used to be VHF was the prized stations, now it seems they all want to be on UHF.
I am still somewhat active on 2M but my HF gear and tower are in mothballs. I like the keep the 2M running because of the hurricane problems around here.
I was told that some of our local channels will up their ERP after switchover, to boost their coverage area. That's good, because a couple channels could use a boost. I had helped a local station engineer out as he tried to determine the power required to reach our area -- He said he needed FCC approval to boost their signal.
The converter boxes are OK for what they are, but don't expect much. The features are government issue. I have the Digital Stream and it has Dolby sound, and a half decent program guide. It does picture scaling, but it is designed to drive a 4:3 set not HDTV.