Schwartz said their problem is most likely not the box, but other hardware.
Some Minnesotans, including Lyon in south Minneapolis, have complaints about the reception with their converter boxes. I'm on the oxcart trail next to the information superhighway." A furniture restorer by trade, Pittel has no computer. Pittel also complained that his calls to a toll-free number usually end with a recording asking him to go to the NTIA website or call back later.
Shoppers can also order boxes by phone or online, he said.īut the NTIA website shows that lots of coupons expired before being used - nearly one in six of the 18.4 million coupons sent out - some probably because people decided to buy new televisions instead, and some because, like Pittel, they ran out of time. and will be prepared to redeem coupons," Forbes said, "That's what the stores told us. Pittel said his father-in-law encountered a different problem: He wanted to return a converter box that didn't work well for him, and the store refused to refund the value of the coupon.Īt the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), the government office set up to run the box coupon program, spokesman Bart Forbes said all its limitations - including expiration dates and a no-refund policy - are spelled out in the papers that come with the coupon and on the program's website at Asked about the program's news release that promised participating retailers "will have converter boxes for sale. spokesperson said Friday that all the company's local stores currently have a "sufficient supply." Calls by the Star Tribune to random Best Buys and Wal-Mart stores in the metro area indicate what shoppers are up against: One of six Wal-Marts had the boxes one of five Best Buys did. "It's not going to be as easy as hooking in the converter box and, voilà, you've got it."Īfter Pittel's failed search close to home, he expanded it to the Twin Cities, but the Best Buy store he visited had no converter boxes either, he said. "It'll take some work to adjust," said Les Schwartz, an instructor in telecommunications engineering at Minnesota State Community and Technical College in Wadena. But getting there could mean a lot more than the box - possibly $150 to $200 more for a new antenna, an amplifier, a rotor and a new connector cable. And technicians say everything can work out, eventually. "If they're not even available, what's the point of the coupons?" Pittel wondered.įederal officials said the coupon program works fine, if people just read all the rules upfront.
#BEST BUY TV ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER BOX FULL#
Then he noticed that his coupons had 90-day expiration dates - now past - so he will have to pay full price for the boxes that usually run between $50 and $60. He hoped to buy two, using the $40 coupons offered by the government to every U.S.
Pete Pittel looked for months in electronics stores near his home in Brandon, about 140 miles northwest of the Twin Cities. "If cable were in my budget, this definitely would drive me to it," said Steve Lyon of south Minneapolis, whose through-the-converter-box picture sometimes breaks up, stalls or disappears altogether, along with the sound.įor now, the problems have driven him from the small screen to the even-smaller screen: He watches TV on his computer.Īt least Lyon got a box. households - not counting lake cabins and fish houses - that get their signals over the air will need converter boxes.įor some Minnesotans who have tried to convert ahead of the crowd, it's not going well. But an estimated 13 million to 19 million U.S. Viewers connected to cable or satellite service aren't affected by the switch. 17, the airwaves are to be swept clean of the old, analog broadcast signals to make way for new, digital signals so clear that viewers who have high-definition TVs will spot freckles on their favorite broadcaster's face. Remember the old joke about a disappointing restaurant? The food was so bad - and in such small portions.Ĭomplaints about converter boxes that are supposed to carry old TVs into the digital age sound about the same: You can't find them anywhere - and they don't work.
0 kommentar(er)
