D Peter Maus wrote:

Smokey wrote:

It will be interesting to hear the wailing from the TV broadcast industry
and its advertisers after a huge audience is eliminated by forcing the
insane HDTV nonsense down our throats in 2009.

snip

If you're receiving your TV over the air, converter boxes are
available, with federal subsidies, and coupons for as little as $40.

snip
It's going to be, largely, a non-issue.

I sympathize with the O.P.; say goodbye to reliable reception while in
motion; say goodbye to _any_ reception in poor multipath areas; say goodbye
to portable reception without using an insanely power-hungry approach
(and so far no mfg. is addressing this market -- what with smartphones,
etc. it isn't attractive) and say goodbye to reliable emergency television
communications (you would need to do a site survey just to set up
an emergency receiver). sarcasm This spectrum grab is a fiasco and it is sad
that the general public hasn't revolted but the twenty percent or so
who need OTA reception are just an inconsequential minority. /sarcasm

Michael