Well I finally hooked up the "new" converter box to my antena.
The picture is pretty poor. The picture and sound often freeze (I've seen that on my daughter's hdtv). Now do I have to spend even more money on a hd antenna? This new law sucks!

It may be time to cave in & get cable

Can't afford it. I'm a Realtor and no one is buying houses.

Completely agree---new law sucks! Supposedly it might not be put into "effect" until June or something...just what I heard! Not only is it a horrible picture, but you have to use 2 remotes for it! STUPID government. UGH

cable freezes too
at least Time Warner does

Well... there's a couple of things to keep in mind about the whole DTV changeover-

- The stations haven't gone to full power yet, and they won't until mid-February or even later, being that our new President is trying to delay the changeover day for some reason. So you're bound to get some not-so-good reception for the time being.

- The kind of antenna you have and use will determine the quality of reception you get. I've found that the outdoor antennas work the best as they seem to pick up the most in the way of signal, while the "bunny ears" units you get at Wal-Mart or Target tend NOT to do as well.

There ARE exceptions, though- some companies sell "powered" antennas, which have a signal booster built in. They're a little more expensive, but they work better than run-of-the-mill bunny-ear antennas.

There are also stand-alone TV signal boosters available that also do pretty well. Channel-Master makes one that I particularly like, as it'll boost your signal by up to 30 dB. Just connect them between your antenna and your DTV box and you're all set.

- Living near mountains will pretty much screw up your reception. Dunno why this is, though- those living on flatter neighborhoods just seem to get better reception.

It also helps to live within ten-to-twenty minutes of a TV station too, as you'll get a stronger signal, for obvious reasons.

You first mistake is the new law isn't about HD(or Hi-Definition) TV, the new law is all the TV stations are switching from Analog, to Digital. . .

welcome to the new world......they have only been warning u about this for over a year.

And you'll be getting more warnings for another four months, as prez Obama just mandated that the DTV changeover be pushed back to June or July.