conversion to digital tv. is everyone ready?

[phesina]

I have one of those old TVs! And a converter box and a new antenna, and I've been hooked up for a couple of months now.

This way sucks. When the picture is there, it's gorgeous, much clearer and in better color than the old way. But.. note I said "when" it's there.. The picture starts to break up into little squares or go black and the sound goes off.. It can come back, but then it goes off again.. I have to move the antenna around all over the place, which is just as likely to make things worse as better. If I change the station, of the few that I can get (fewer than with the analog), the new one usually needs another move of the antenna. And of course, none of them stay the same for that station from one time to the next.

I gather that the main problem is I am too far away (40-50 miles?) from the stations, and the metal framework of my apartment building also screens out some parts of the transmissions.

I really don't watch TV.. I just have it on when the news is on while I'm doing other things, so I can pick up on what's going on out there and have some idea of the weather.. That's why it matters much more to me to have the sound than to have a better picture. So it isn't worth my while to spend a lot more money for cable or whatever, besides which I keep hearing that they're raising their rates and what a pain in the a$* Comcast (the monopoly for this area) is to deal with anyway.

Grump, grump, grump...