Setting up your DTV converter box

Now, that we’re 26 days away from the digital transition, some people who already have their converter boxes still haven’t hooked them up.

WSLS Chief Engineer, Ricky Williams, says he’s gotten calls from those who aren’t quite sure what to do.

“They’re either afraid they can’t do it, or they hook it up and it doesn’t immediately come up,” he said.

So I tried it myself. It wasn’t that bad using the converter box, two R-F cables, and antennae.
We took care of the converter box first. With one cable, screw in one end at the back of the converter box labeled “TV.” The other side of the cable screws into the back of the TV labeled “cable in.”

Next, it was time to set up the antennae. With the second cable, screw in one side to the back of the antennae and the other side of the cable to the back of the converter box labeled “antennae.”

That’s not too bad. But Willams said there are other issues.

“Making sure you got the right kind of antennae, a UHF/VHF antennae, and oriented in the right direction,” he said.

He means just moving around the antennae to find the clearest signal.

But another complaint Williams hears about is people saying they can’t get all their channels on the converter box.

“Making sure you scan your converter box to make sure you get all the channels,” he said.

Now it’s up to you to give it a try.