Using the Web to get ready for the DTV transition

For those who want to prepare for the US' digital TV transition prior to next February, or whose stations are already broadcasting in DTV, a series of Web services are available for applying for and redeeming government coupons toward the purchase of new equipment.

Consumers need to go to different sites, though, to make this process happen.

The online form for applying for up to $80 in coupons per household is located on the National Telecommunications and Information Administration's DTV Web site.

Meanwhile, an independent Web site known as FreeDTVShop.com is now offering what is being billed as the "largest selection of coupon-eligible converter boxes."

Although the NTIA's coupons can also be used in brick-and-mortar stores and on some other Web sites, the sole purpose of Mosquito Production's FreeDTVShop.com is to redeem coupons and provide help to consumers in making the changeover. You can see, for example, how to attach a converter box and what the on-screen display will look like when the box is connected.

John Buchmann, owner of Mosquito Productions, has pledged to donate ten percent of all profits from FreeDTVShop.com's sales of converter boxes to Freedom Calls Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides US soliders on active duty with technology for staying in touch with friends and family through phone, e-mail and video communications.

The NTIA started sending out $40 coupons toward purchases of DTV boxes last month, aimed at "over-the-air" TV households which are still using analog TV sets in conjunction with "rabbit ear" antennae instead of with cable, satellite, or other pay services. Beyond providing an online coupon ordering form, the NTIA provides information about ordering the coupons by phone or snail mail instead.

Also on its DTV Web site, the NTIA explains that consumers in the "over-the-air" category have three different options if they want to continue receiving TV signals after February 19, 2009: keeping an analog TV and using it with a DTV converter box; using the analog TV with a pay service; or buying a TV with a digital tuner.

Many other facts about the impending transition to DTV are available on the US government's Federal Communications Commission Web site.