Procrasinators, beware: it is now officially one year before current analog TV signals will cease to be broadcast. That means if you have an old-fashioned rabbit-ears TV, you won't be able to receive any signal on it a year from now. If you're planning on buying a digital TV between now and then, no problem. But if you're planning on keeping your old TV(s), you'll need a digital-to-analog converter box to receive broadcast signals.
These digital converters can cost $70 or $80, but the government is giving away free coupons to help defray the cost of the converters. Just go to their Web site, www.dtv2009.gov, and fill out the information. Each household can request up to two coupons. Make sure to read the fine print, though: I've heard that the coupons expire a few months after their issued, so once you get the coupon from www.dtv2009.gov you'll need to buy your digital converters relatively soon after, or the coupon becomes worthless.
The www.dtv2009.gov Web site is experiencing heavy delays, because there's been a lot of publicity about the coupons because of the one-year countdown to the end of analog broadcasting. If you can't get through on the Web site, you can try their phone number:1-888-DTV-2009.
Engadget has a good article explaining the intricacies of the switchover to digital TV and what consumers need to do.
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