How many of you are going to be without TV after tomorrow (June 12)?

I have an analog television -- never had cable or satellite.

I haven't got a coupon for the converter box/antenna and even when it comes, I'm not going to rush out to buy them or a new set altogether.

Can you go without television for a while?

memberships.. I know I can do it.. I don't watch much t.v. at all.

I just don't watch it all that much, probably less than five times a year. I haven't even applied for the coupon. I've watched House a couple times, and even that was in the background, but beyond that, there has to be some major news event (and I mean on the scale of an election, or 9/11, or the new millenium, and yes, that last one is probably realistically within the last 50 times that I've turned on my TV to watch anything at all).

but I know I could do without it (and be happier for it) - I was without for a 12 year span until I needed a VCR to watch tapes for a class I was taking.

Don't really care. I do have cable, but it comes with the apartment. And no, I can't get a rebate......I tried

In fact, I plan to have the TV on the moment the transition occurs, and videotape it.
After 60 years of analog TV, this is really quite an event!

I won't really miss it...

After my big tube blew after 14 years and it kind of sucked. I just got a kick ass 52" Sharp LCD HDTV and finally upgraded to DirecTV HD. It's an incredible difference, particularly with sports.

:envy: :envy: :envy: :envy: :envy:

I've got all the party favors as well.

and when my computer blew on top of that, I discovered I was something of an artist. Now that I have basic cable (that I rarely watch except maybe to catch President Obama on CSPAN) and a computer, I'm just a useless blob. :(

writing in earnest. I have been without it at times in the past, and got a lot more "stuff" done.

Of course, with the computer as my time-waster of choice now, maybe nothing will change, lol.

:rofl:

I don't think I'll miss it much tomorrow.

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Somewhere along the line, I got addicted to the pain.

:rofl:

~

I can get all of what I need on the internet, and I don't feel like paying an additional $30/mo or so to occasionally watch 2 or 3 channels.

Besides, I waste enough of my time already. Another distraction is the last thing I need!

it doesn't appear to do anything whatsoever and I can only assume it is broken. And I threw the receipt away before I realized this. Money is too tight these days for me to buy another at full price, so I will just have to do without tv for a while. Sigh. No great loss.....

The instructions had everything in bold cept one little thig. Really I think they did it on purpose.

no signal detected or some such crap, so I've got nowhere to go. I even tried randomly pushing buttons. Nada.

There has got to be something like your DVD player on the channel you want to be on. I actually stumbled upon it by random choice. Not sure what I did but it worked momentarily so I knew it would work at which point I reread the instructions.

box to work?????? Is that what you are saying?

I don't need one of these converter boxes myself, but I have learned... the long, mom way... how to diagnose some problems:

1) Take your box to someone who already has a working one and swap them. If there's a signal, it has to do with your setup, and not the box. If there's no signal, obviously, you need a new box.

2) disconnect any and all other devices from you TV except the converter box and the input (cable, antenna, etc.)

3) Turn your antenna if you have one. Slowly. My mom had me do that last Thanksgiving. There was a very light drizzle and a flat, gray, cloudy sky. I turned it little by little until we got the signal, and the range of degrees for that signal was very narrow. Think of it as , "now, I get to point my antenna as accurately as a DirectTV dish or I don't get a signal." Disclosure: she lives in a semi-rural area three miles outside her town.

4) Reset your TV to default, factory settings in its menu if you have those options. You'll probably want to reconfigure it anyway once you get a signal, so this isn't a big deal, but there may have been a setting that got inadvertently changed that makes it not find a signal. Also, check to see what signal mode your TV is in; many newer LCD and plasma models have a "PC" mode or other display methods that may not agree with the box if they're being accessed or used in any way (possible even with a cable box).

Good luck. Hope this helped....

I have no idea how to "reset my tv to default" or do anything else fancy with it. I inherited it 10 years ago and Gramie had thrown away the instruction manual for it (and those damned things are always Greek to me anyway).

My tv is a CRT, circa 1995.

know from seeing some PSAs that the rabbit ears won't work with the converter box.

You need to go buy a new special antenna that will work with it.

Check out the FCC website, I'm sure they have all of the specs.

I have a 50" plasma in the living room. My network tv is over the air for free with an antenna, but I am able to view a lot of video online on my computer using my 28" HD monitor. I also have a Roku box attached to my plasma and my old tv that I can watch thousands of streaming videos from Netflix as well as being able to rent streaming movies online from Amazon.

I know some very conservative Pentecostals who do not believe in having a tv and they are very holier than thou about it. Watching or not watching tv is simply a choice and it doesn't make anyone better than anyone else in spite of the attitude that some have. It's all about choice and as Democrats we are supposed to like choice, aren't we? I mean choice without judging others for their choice.

As far as the coupons go there has never been any need for any kind of rush. I got 2 coupons last October and for many months now I've enjoyed a great picture on my old 19" tv and get twice as many channels as before, including 3 PBS channels. So it is entirely possible to have an analog tv now that works well without having either cable or satellite.

and to be honest, I can't watch it all, all the time, but I do try. No, I couldn't last very long without the Glass Teat, and without all the stuff I do enjoy on it. :)

:-)

I don't watch enough tv to warrant cable or satellite. Have one small digital tv and one bigger tv with a converter. Neither works terribly well (don't get some nearby signals, and some stations I do get freeze every minute or so.) I am told that some signals will be stronger after the conversion, and that the signals will work better. I will be out of town during the switch. I have no idea what I will find when I return. I may be soon going pretty much without - but again I don't watch that much in the first place.

didn't work - I guess because we are so far away from the station. So, we've had no teevee since Feb, and it's been great.

We read, listen to music, get Netflix, and we're good with all this.

I dont miss it at all. I would miss my PC tho.

so far

analog tv. didn't bother to get coupon. the *only* thing I'm concerned about missing is the weather. Not that they're ever terribly accurate, but it is important for me to know when a nor'easter is headed this way so I can be sure to have the barn set up in hunker-down mode. I'm hoping the online weather will be more reliable than it has in the past...

Money that would be spent on a converter is more drastically needed for daily living. I don't think I'll miss it, since I barely watch TV anyway.

until I can afford one, and maybe by then I won't care any more. I think I will get more done without it.

Unfortunately, none of the conversion options offers only one channel. Wish someone would let me pay, like, $5 for JUST PBS.

I do have cable, so I'm ready. But there's absolutely NOTHING on in the summer. Now that Office, 30 Rock, House and 60 Minutes are in re-runs ... NOTHING.

Well, Bill Moyers and Now.

else if I had a choice. Have old Analog TV's with basic(a waste) cable. Frankly, I'd rather have a good book. I can't use a antenna because I am at the base of a hill and quite close to a neighbor. Years ago, I can remember my husband going up on the roof to rotate the darn thing, From what I hear, the new ones are just like the old. I wish there was some kind of a tall telescoping TV antenna that I could attach to the house from an attic window and then raise it up over the roof line. If I knew it would work, I'd send Comcast running.

I have no idea what channels I'd get north of Boston with Analog TV and a converter box. The antenna thing is still the issue for me.

and it gets me by. i haven't had cable for more than a year now and i don't miss it much.

As of mid-day, one set got nothing.

The other got the same very few stations they got before conversion (even though supposedly all we need in our location is a set top antenna). Even those were breaking up today - including the Jesus channel which has never broken up before - I don't think digital transmission likes cloudy, rainy weather.

Since the Jesus channel was still in its former location (rather than having moved to accommodate NBC), there may still be hope.

rebate coupons were $40. Target had boxes on sale last week for $40. My cost? $2.60 in tax.

I didn't care for the whole mess, but I waited until prices came down, and no big deal.