NTSC shut down in 2009

[drh4683]

This has been a topic brought up on this forum every so often. that had an article in the chicago tribune discussing the shut down of NTCS transmitters on 2-17-09. Im an OTA viewer by choice and being a vintage TV collector, this is quite dissapointing. Ive read discussions about the "digitial to analog" converter box that will supposedly be available beginning in 2008 to consumers. Does anyone have any information regarding this converter box? Will this work like a cable box, simply set the TV to channel 3 and tune the channels throught the converter?
I don't know about you, but for me, having the TV on channel 3 all the time just isnt very interesting.
From my understanding, I can still use my outdoor TV antenna to receive the HDTV broadcast?

Needless to say, I will miss tuning through the channels with the mechanical tuner!