Maybe June 12, 2009?

Well...it looks like Congress is doing what we sent them to Washington to do. Fix the economy and save us all from buying houses we cannot possibly afford?

No...of course not. We sent them to spend even more of our grandchildren's and great-grandchildren's money. With the way they are throwing money around - do you think we will ever pay off the national debt? Looks like it is over $10 trillion now give or take a few hundred billion. Think about that...what could I do with the rounding errors in the federal budget these days.

Seriously....Congress might be working on saving us. But, not before they save our TV. Really... The switch to digital TV has been coming for years and years (since 1996), and the date of February 17 was set in 2005. This past week - it looks like the government blinked - and changed the analog switch off date to June 12.

If you aren't prepared - the delay might be a good thing for you. Apparently - digital TV converters are in short supply. I actually got one of the government $40 coupons last spring/summer - almost too soon. The coupons have a 3-month expiration date - and the converter I wanted to buy, DTVPal, had not been released for sale when I got the coupon. It finally was available for purchase online about two weeks before my coupon would expire.

DTVPal

With the Feb 17 date approaching, I ordered my second coupon and intended to purchase another DTVPal, but it is also know as the TR-40 CRA. The Dish Network people sell a couple different versions - but I bet they are probably all the same thing. I mean really - what is an enhanced digital tuner? I couldn't find any specifications that said I would get much better reception. With digitial TV - there is no 'snow' - you either get the signal or you don't.

This time - Dish Network's online ordering website would not allow me to purchase a converter box, since I already had bought one from them. Not sure of their logic...but a call to them worked, and I ordered my second converter on January 14th. Now - three weeks later and it has not arrived. I guess they are having supply problems.

TR-40 CRA