The Examiner went with a story this morning about how the FCC is worried that too many people in the D.C. metro area still haven’t heard about the digital TV converter box program. Seems a little tough to swallow at first, considering the sheer amount of promotion it has already received compared to virtually any other government program. But the FCC is especially concerned about seniors, people with disabilities, minorities, the very poor and non-English speakers, which makes a bit more sense.

I’ve had my two converter boxes for several months now, so in order to perform my required amount of shilling for government handouts to big media civic duty, here’s the story of how it all went down:

Step 1: I went to this web site and filled out the forms to apply for two $40 coupons good toward digital converter boxes. I have two non-HD analog TVs in my house, and two is the maximum number of coupons allowed per person, so that worked out.

Step 2: About a month later, I got my coupons in the mail. They look like the ones in the photo above.

Step 3: I went to Radio Shack to buy two converter boxes and one new antenna (I already owned one pair of rabbit ears). Turns out the converter boxes cost $60 each, and the antenna ran me about $20. So the total cost, with the coupons, of my digital TV conversion was $60. Predictably, the people who work at Radio Shack had trouble with the simple task of running my credit card to process the transaction, which led them to run it through three or four times, which led my bank to put a hold on my Visa check card without me realizing it, which led to some difficulty paying my bar tab that night. So, maybe try Best Buy. There’s no real difference between the two brands of boxes available at Radio Shack and Best Buy, and they cost the same.

Step 4: Set-up was very simple once I got the boxes home. The free digital broadcast picture is surprisingly high quality on my old TV set. The additional broadcast channels, like extra weather channels, Local Point, and the new one that plays a ton of old Wagon Train and Knight Rider episodes, are pretty sweet as well.

Have you already converted, or do you plan to? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Photo by christaki