AboutChris Bushman Expertise I have been an amateur radio operator for about 36 years.
Experience In real life I manage a small motion picture film lab in Hollywood. I've been a fireman, a teacher of English in Okinawa, a personal computer tutor.
I am an Advanced Class Ham radio operator using my originally issued callsign WB6EEQ. I have operated for extended periods of time from Okinawa (KR6FX & KR6OP), Texas (K5VXG), and Mississippi (K5TYP).
While in the Air Force, I was a Manual Morse Radio Intercept Operator.
BS Zoology, UC Davis
Member, Society of Motion Picture/Television Engineers http://www.smpte.org/ - Member, American Radio Relay League http://www.arrl.org/ - Member, Quarter Century Wireless Assn. http://www.lockport-ny.com/radio.htm - President, Zen Nippon Airinkai, So Cal Chapter http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Chris_Bushman/ - Member, Maltose Falcons Homebrewing Society http://www.westval.com/mfalcons/ - Alumni, American Brewers' Guild http://www.abgbrew.com/
Expert: Chris Bushman Date: 1/21/2008 Subject: FREE TV NEXT YEAR
Question I UNDERSTAND NEXT YEAR THERE WILL BE NO MORE FREE TV. YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY A BOX FROM THE GOVERMENT TO GET FREE TV.IS THIS TRUE CHRIS. WERE DO YOU GET THE BOX FROM AND HOW CAN YOU MAKE YOUR OWN.I DON,T THINK IT FAIR FOR THE PEOPLE ON LOW INCOME. JOSEPH
Answer Yes, Joseph, it's sort of true. In a little over a year analog broadcast TV signals will be shut down. They will be replaced by digital signals. There will still be free TV, but it will be delivered slightly differently.
If you have cable TV you don't have anything to worry about, this will only affect those of us who still use antennas.
The problem is that old style broadcast TV uses up a lot of frequency space. The digital signals use just a small fraction of the space.
The conversion boxes are supposed to cost something like $40 to $80 and will easily attach to your existing TV. They will be sold by local retailers, not the Government.
No, I don't think it's fair either, but there is something you can do about it to make it easier. There has been a fund set up by the Government to distribute coupons that will help pay for the box. I think the coupon is supposed to cover something like $25-30. You can request a coupon on line by going to...
https://www.dtv2009.gov/
My guess is, that if you are patient and you shop around, it will cost you almost nothing.
