It's this simple.

I remember when I first heard about the government mandating the change from analog to digital broadcasting. I remember hearing about these new televisions that everyone would need to buy or they wouldn't be able to watch anything on tv anymore.  I thought that was crazy.  Our television was still new, it wasn't an HDTV, and I couldn't imagine that it would just stop working for us one day. This change over was still 5 years away so I wasn't too worried about it. 

In 2006, I was doing fairly well for a newly single mother trying to support her fractured family and I was able to afford the 'rent to own' living room.  This included a wonderful 62in HDTV.   I had Dishnetwork satellite.  I was set for the digital conversion coming in 2009.  A year later, I wasn't in that position any longer.  The living room was gone, the satellite was gone, the tv was gone and I was back to the 20 inch NON-HDTV in the bedroom.  Or one of the three 13 inch tv's that belonged to the girls. Now what was I going do for entertainment when the change over occurred? 

Then I heard about the gift cards from the government, or if you would rather call them 'plastic coupons', for $40 towards digital converter boxes.  So I signed up for two and when they came I went out and bought my converter boxes.  Now this is supposed to be so simple.  Hook the box to the cable/antennae in on your tv, and hook up an antennae to the box.   Yeah right.  If I read one more time that all you need are rabbit ears, I think I'll scream.  For several months, my rabbit earred antennae was hanging out my window on the garage doors.... TRYING to pick up the best signal.   One day I might get 4 channels, another I might get 2, on a great day I would get 5.  And ONCE I actually picked up the digital channel 63, and my daughter got to watch a cartoon channel for a few hours. YAY!!  When I moved the tv to the living room so everyone would stop hanging out in my bedroom, I had to run the cable and antennae out the front door, but it was making it hard to shut the door all the way.  So my antennae has been every where in my living room.  On top of the book case, the tv, the table in the corner, hanging upside down in the window.  Just anywhere that it would pick up a signal.  Then suddenly last night...I get one channel.  Without having moved the antennae.  Just channel 23....a basketball game.  Sorry I'm not a fan of televised sports, that's not going to do.   I had to take the converter box off, and watch a very fuzzy show on 4/29 (which by the way, my converter box will NEVER pick up a signal for no matter where I put that antennae).  Then another fuzzy show on channel 8.  When the news came on....I went searching for a solution. I still could not get any other channel except 23 on that box.  I tried hooking it to the old satellite cable hoping for just a little boost.  Well the boost was there, in that 23 stopped pixelating so much, but still no channels.

Finally. I took my old cable with the power plug that attaches to it, removed the rabbit earred antennae and hooked the box into the wall outlet.  Now this thing had never worked before.  My house does not like becoming an antennae, but I wanted something on that tv other than 23 and I was at my wits end to find a solution.    Suddenly I had more channels.  But for some reason, I can't get both 59 and 8....it's either one or the other. grrr.   And they tell us it's so simple to use the DTV boxes.  Yeah right.   

When I get back to 40 hours a week working......Dishnetwork is coming back to my house!