What do you need to do ?

Stations will stop using analog signals on Feb. 17

What you need to do to be ready for the DTV changes depends on how your TVs in your home currently receive broadcast signals.

Most of us get our signals in one of three ways: from a cable provider, from a satellite provider, or over-the-air through a rabbit-ears antenna or on-roof antenna.

If your TV is connected to cable or satellite, the DTV changes will not affect you. If you are connected to a rabbit-ears antenna or an on-roof antenna, you may need to act.

If you have digital tuner in your television, it is a digital TV, and you will be able to continue to watch television without doing anything extra. One easy way to identify a digital television is to look for one of these logos:

  

But if you have an older TV with only an analog tuner inside, you will need to choose from three options, whichever works best for you:

1. Buy a new TV that has a digital tuner (HDTV is not required).
2. Subscribe to your local cable provider or get satellite service installed at your home.
3. If you still want to continue your free over-the-air channels, you will need to purchase a converter box.

Each analog television in your home will need its own converter box. Converter boxes are now available in many stores across the country. These boxes generally cost between $40 and $70.

Depending on where you live, you may want to check into whether some of your favorite television channels are “low-power” stations. The DTV changes will not impact those stations. You will need to look for a converter box that has the feature “analog pass-through” to keep watching your favorite stations.