I just got back from a trip to Best Buy to pick up an Insignia converter box, only to find out that my coupon had ZERO money on it!!! The clerk ended up calling an 800 number and speaking with someone who was going to try and re-charge the coupon and I'm supposed to go back to Best Buy and try again tomorrow. (the person on the phone couldn't guarantee that it would work - only that they'd try to see if they could do anything) So, I may be out $40 here! Argh!!! How Frustrating!

Has anyone else had this happen or had any other issues with their coupons??

I used a coupon at Circuit City with no problem. The salesperson said it was the first one he had seen and seemed pleased that there was no problem getting it to work. He said their system treats the coupon like a gift card.

I purchased the cheap Zenith box, took it home and it worked. It found about 9 stations in the Denver area using an indoor antenna. Three to four came in pretty well. A few others were erratic. Some were too weak for a picture. Nothing was so exciting as to make me a digital TV convert. It just worked. I expect better results when the all digital stations are relocated to the mountaintop.

Don

I requested two and have never received them.

I requested two and heard nothing either.

Either way, that just ain't right! Hope they straighten this out for you...

I just went ahead and got the Insignia box to use in the barn and paid full price...haven't got the coupons yet. I should have applied the first day I guess!
I am a complete convert to digital TV as viewed on analog CRT sets. The difference in the quality is unbelievable when comparing digital vs. analog reception with an indoor antenna. Even the best analog reception I got with an outdoor antenna and rotor is not as good as DTV. The signal strength indicator on the Insignia and on-screen guide, volume and remote control features are all a plus too.

When viewing the converted digital picture on an analog CRT set I don't see any of the pixellation or motion artifacts I have seen on flat panel sets.

Here is a video I made in the barn of the Insignia with a Zenith Chromacolor II console. The chromacolor II still needs a little work on the chroma as the color sync isn't always there but it behaved well for the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooNonQG3n2s

I requested two and got one also, wonder how they decide who gets what?

I haven't gotten any coupons or convertor boxes yet, cos all my TV's are hooked into cable, and my new HDTV card in my computer allows me to watch the HD channels.

I too have grown very fond of the signal strength meter. It allows me to see the exact strength, rather then by guessing from looking at the picture.

An outdoor antenna, even a homemade one just a few feet off the ground seems to work the best for HD signals.

Oh, and I get three public TV channels now. One HD and two SD channels. More programming variety. :) (though the SD channels are compressed a bit too much...)

I got mine, and used one last night at WalMart. I got the RCA with RF and Video Outputs. I haven't hooked it up yet, but I will probably later today.

There was a slight problem with the coupon, but it was due to the clerk not knowing how to use it. A manager came over and pushed a button, and all good.

That's a scary thought about the coupons arriving depleted... Hey, if they can do it to your bank account, they sure can do it to the government. There's probably a foreign internet fraud ring hard at work on it! Two $40 coupons x 250,000,000 people? Lot of dough to steal!

I got an iTunes gift card for my birthday, but it had been cashed in Jakarta, Indonesia a week before it was bought :( . Apple did make it good right away, and said it happens all the time.

Charles

I got mine a week or two ago and they expire May 29.

I don't remember when I applied, maybe a couple months ago.

But supposedly they are timing distribution with retail availability and marketing.

In fact, when I went into Radio Shack today they had none on display just a little generic plexiglass placard announcing the change at the cash register. The clerk said they didn't have Zeniths in yet. They may get a shipment next week. Later the manager said they did have them. And they were in the back storeroom.

from consumerreports.org: (http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2008/01/dtv-converter-b.html)


To get your coupons, you can call a toll-free number, 1-888-DTV-2009, and give them your name and address. You can also visit a website, www.dtv2009.gov, to apply. The last day to request coupons is March 31, 2009, but there's no guarantee they’ll be available at that late date if funding for the program runs out. The coupons are good for 90 days, and the federal government is supposedly timing coupon distribution to coincide with retail availability of the DTV converters. Many leading retail chains, including Best Buy, Circuit City, Kmart, RadioShack, Sam's Club, Sears, Target, and Wal-Mart, have been certified to participate in the coupon program.

I got my coupons last week and I just bought one box for now, a Zenith brand at Circuit City, no problems and I kept the card. Next week, I'll get Box #2 when my pay is bigger. IIRC, they are probably mailed out from Portland, Oregon, at least that was the return address is. I did apply on January 1st.

The Zenith box is a good one, IMHO, I get 17 channels here in the Pittsburgh area and I'm using a set of Rembrandt rabbit ears from 1959 my parents got at a wedding gift then. My "TV set," a Commodore 64 monitor from 1984. I took out the dead VCR for an NTSC tuner and now I'm using the monitor strictly for ATSC. The farthest stations from me is WATM, channel 23 from Altoona, PA and WWCP, Channel 8, from Johnstown, PA. Both have breakup but the Altoona one, sometimes comes through OK. I'm scratching my head on that one, never got Altoona before.

My next box will go on my 1964 Sony B&W TV and will use a bow-tie UHF antenna for more of a minimalist approach. B-) I'm satisfied with the Zenith brand, I know the Zenith of today is not the Zenith of old, but hopefully some good karma rubbed off and I got a good box.

A friend of mine told me that Wal-Mart now had a $49 converter available. I'll be checking it out next time I go. I'm not going to bother with a coupon. Uncle Sam doesn't need to know how many TV sets I have in my house or my address. If it works, I'll be hooking it up to my VCR so I can still tape shows.

My RCA was $49 at WalMart, and they also showed a Magnavox for $49 (out of stock at the Simi Valley store). I don't mind if Uncle Sam knows how many TVs we have, but I won't tell how many guns, all of which we acquired before the Brady Bill and all it's paperwork ;)

Charles

I have not yet received any DTV converter coupons here. If this is supposed to have been done starting after the first of the year, I think someone must have dropped the ball somewhere, somehow. If I have to apply for these converter coupons, that would explain why I haven't received mine as of this late date. If an application is required, how does one go about applying for these coupons? :scratch2:

I have digital cable at the moment, but if the rates go much higher (for what Time Warner Cable calls Digital Classic service; I do not have movie channels such as HBO, Cinemax, etc.) I may consider getting a DTV set-top for my RCA CTC185 and leaving my 19" Zenith in the bedroom as it is (I currently only use that set as a backup to the RCA and to cross-check when I have trouble with my cable--and as a replacement for the RCA when the latter eventually dies). I don't know how good my digital reception will be in this area (at least 35 miles from Cleveland TV transmitters); analog reception with indoor antennas (no outdoor antennas allowed in the apartment building where I live) is fair to poor at best on two VHF channels (5 and 8), no reception whatsoever on channel 3, but the UHF stations (19, 25, 43, 55, and 61) are much better. That's for analog stations. Who knows what the digital reception will be like out here? Most folks around here either have cable or satellite; there are a few houses with outdoor antennas (many of which are falling apart by degrees with every bad windstorm that comes along), but most of them are just sitting on their masts, unused. One antenna on a house near my apartment has been blowing around in the wind as long as (or likely longer than) I've been here (eight years), many of its elements missing and a 3-foot long (more or less) stub of 300-ohm twinlead is hanging from the antenna. The bowling alley down the street from me is still using a rather large fringe-area antenna on a rotor for its televisions, but I feel this will be replaced by cable next year unless they have switched to HD flat panels with ATSC tuners by now.

Oh well. Perhaps after February 19 next year, when the analog stations go off the air for good, the cable rates will be more reasonable. I certainly hope so, as antennas do not work well in this area (for television; the irony, however, is that FM radio reception here with indoor antennas, even on my vintage FM radios, is great). I'm considering going to basic cable (local channels only) if the rates go through the roof after the DTV conversion and using my DVD player and VHS VCR for alternative programming--the cable channels aren't as good as they used to be, IMO. Time Warner Cable, the cable operator in my area, has assured all its subscribers that they will not have to do a thing after 02.19.09--the company has converted all its systems to full digital and is ready to do whatever is necessary to give their subscribers uninterrupted service even on analog sets, including headend conversions of digital broadcast channels to analog if need be.

I requested two and have never received them.

Same here.

I have not yet received any DTV converter coupons here. If this is supposed to have been done starting after the first of the year, I think someone must have dropped the ball somewhere, somehow. If I have to apply for these converter coupons, that would explain why I haven't received mine as of this late date. If an application is required, how does one go about applying for these coupons? :scratch2:

Jeff, you do need to apply for the coupons. Here you go:
https://www.dtv2009.gov/Options.aspx

Tom

Jeff, you do need to apply for the coupons. Here you go:
https://www.dtv2009.gov/Options.aspx

Tom

That's what I figured, but wasn't 100-percent certain. Thanks for the link; I'll file it for future reference, if I decide to go back to OTA television reception.

Ok, I did the submission and was denied with the right of appeal via a text box for my claim.

What happened and why is there denials? I did the submission both ways with cable and without cable.

Dave A

Ok, I did the submission and was denied with the right of appeal via a text box for my claim.

What happened and why is there denials? I did the submission both ways with cable and without cable.

Dave A

I filled out the application last night. Checked the status a few minutes later and it said I was denied. Checked again this morning and the status had changed to approved. Now, I wait to see how long it takes to get here.

I requested two and have never received them.
When did you apply? (Most people getting their coupons now applied on the first day of the program, 1/1/2008.) Also, have you been back to the Web site? You can check your status there.

I requested two and have never received them.

Same here.

I applied the first day, and just got mine last week. As far as denials, the address could be a flag. I don't know how they check, but if it looks like they already approved a coupon for your address, such as if somebody else who lives in the house, or for those in guest houses or apartments with one address for several people, there might be a problem. A friend had that happen, next he applied in his cat's name and added a "B" to his address and got approved.

Charles

I applied for coupons on Jan. 10th and haven't received them yet.

The website says that coupons will not all be sent at once. Which makes sense to me. Retailers are not going to stock hundreds of these things. One store that I phoned said, "Yes, we have four in stock."

If you mail coupons in a staggered fashion, then the shelves will not be stripped bare if, say, 1000 coupons are sent on the same day to Seattle or San Francisco.

What would make you crabbier -- waiting another couple of days for a coupon, or getting in a fistfight with some other frantic shopper over the last box left in Kansas City?

:-)

Phil Nelson

I just signed up; I tried to be tricky-some of my mail I still get at a post office box I use for work. (that was my only address for many years) It denied the request, because it "knew" that was a business. It has a provision for an appeal but I just went ahead and ordered them with my home address. (yes, okay, I admit...I was trying to con the system into giving me 2 coupons and my wife 2 more. I can't have any fun! :) )

I used a coupon at Circuit City with no problem. The salesperson said it was the first one he had seen and seemed pleased that there was no problem getting it to work. He said their system treats the coupon like a gift card.

I purchased the cheap Zenith box, took it home and it worked. It found about 9 stations in the Denver area using an indoor antenna. Three to four came in pretty well. A few others were erratic. Some were too weak for a picture. Nothing was so exciting as to make me a digital TV convert. It just worked. I expect better results when the all digital stations are relocated to the mountaintop.

Don


Hey Don! I am in Colorado as well :banana:


Still have not recieved any coupons yet :scratch2:

I bought an Insignia from BestBuy sans coupon and they seem to work quite well.

I can get 2,4,6(2),12(3),20,31 all great!

Cheers :beerchug:

Wonder where my coupons are :scratch2::scratch2:

If you have already submitted an application for the coupons, you can check your status at this link:

https://www.dtv2009.gov/CheckStatus.aspx

The schedule for mailing the coupons is as follows:
Your Application Approval Date Targeted Mail Date
January 1, 2008 2/18 – 2/29/2008
January 2, 2008 3/3 – 3/14/2008
January 3 - 6, 2008 3/17 – 3/21/2008
January 7 – 13, 2008 3/24 – 3/28/2008
January 14 – 30, 2008 3/31 – 4/4/2008
January 31 – February 16, 2008 4/7 – 4/11/2008
February 17 – 24, 2008 4/14 – 4/18/2008
February 25 - March 6, 2008 4/21 – 4/25/2008

*Note that coupons do not expire until 90 days after they have been mailed. Note also that coupons are being mailed via Standard mail (not first class mail), with delivery expected around 2-9 days from the mail date.

Got mine yesterday. It took about a little over a month give or take a few days.

I plan on going for the boxes either tomorrow or Monday.

update: I received my coupons today. I had signed up the 2nd week of January.

My earlier application is still denied. Applied again. Denied again. Something about a business address. Made the appeal. Stay tuned.

Dave A

Hey: I went with my other coupon to ANOTHER WalMart last night, and they let me keep the spent coupon as a TV collectible!!!

About the business address: I believe that is why it would be denied. Best bet is to re-apply with a residence address, then give your business address for mailing. I have a PO Box, but gave my actual address as where I need the box. Other friends with PO Boxes have also gotten the coupons OK, but NOT at business addresses. And that includes those "Private mail box" stores, like MailBoxesEtc and The UPS Store. Even though they claim your personal address is anything you want to call it, it's still at a commercial street location. Real PO Boxes at a US Post Office seem to be fine.

Charles

Hey: I went with my other coupon to ANOTHER WalMart last night, and they let me keep the spent coupon as a TV collectible!!!

About the business address: I believe that is why it would be denied. Best bet is to re-apply with a residence address, then give your business address for mailing. I have a PO Box, but gave my actual address as where I need the box. Other friends with PO Boxes have also gotten the coupons OK, but NOT at business addresses. And that includes those "Private mail box" stores, like MailBoxesEtc and The UPS Store. Even though they claim your personal address is anything you want to call it, it's still at a commercial street location. Real PO Boxes at a US Post Office seem to be fine.

Charles

Don't know about the business address issue but Circuit City let me keep my coupons because just in case if the converter box goes bad or whatever, if I need to get a refund, they will recharge the $40 on the coupon and give back whatever money I paid to cover the rest of the cost for the box. I don't anticipate anything going wrong, I got the second box on my 1964 Sony B&W portable, it does have a good picture, B&W digital "HDTV," who'd thunk of that? :D All the HDTV stations are on UHF here in the Pittsburgh area until the analogue transmitters are shut off, some will go back to VHF at least the outside market ones will so far as I know so right now, a dinky 50 cent bowtie antenna is working on the Sony.

Got tired of waiting and we have more tv's than coupons coming so we bought an Insignia at BB and a Magnavox @ Wally World. They both work infreekincredible as far as we are concerned. The picture is as good or better than we ever got on Directtv or Cable. Before pluggin these things in the picture was terible on the few stations we got here in the sticks. Now we get 50plus channels.:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:: banana:
Don't know if I put enough dancing bananas, but that is just how awesome it is in my book. We get channels we did not get on satelite or cable. Well worth the money at full price. Perfect picture!:thmbsp:

There are a few digital channels I get OTA that I don't get on cable as well.

An example is OTA I get three PBS stations whereas on cable I only get one.