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Clearing up mixed signals(Palm Beach Post, The (FL) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Feb. 17--Precisely one year from today, TV broadcasters will switch from analog to digital signals. If rabbit ears roost on your television or a TV antenna sits atop your roof, read on. If you subscribe to cable or satellite TV, you can stop reading. This doesn't apply to you. Information about the government-ordered transition taking place Feb. 17, 2009 -- and whom it does and doesn't affect -- is plentiful but confusing. Just ask Ena Simmonds, a retiree from West Palm Beach. "I was talking to someone who was under the impression that what happens in February 2009 only applies to people who have satellite TV," Simmonds said. "There are people who are not going to get the picture." Consumer and industry groups have been getting the word out to avert a meltdown when the lights go out on analog television, potentially leaving viewers staring at each other instead of the tube. For instance, a government Web site, www.dtv.gov, offers reams of background to bring consumers up to speed. They can even order $40 coupons to cut the price of a converter box for the digital signal to work with their analog TV. Even so, there's a mixed bag of survey results about how well consumers are absorbing it. The National Association of Broadcasters says 79 percent of Americans are aware of the changeover. But a report last month by Yonkers, N.Y.-based Consumers Union found three-quarters of the people it surveyed were clueless about what the transition means: Fifty-eight percent said every TV in America needs a converter box to change the new digital signal back to analog. Almost half believed every TV would have to be a digital television, and one-quarter thought they'd have to pitch their old analog set entirely. All of these answers are wrong. "These are major misconceptions," said Joel Kelsey, a policy analyst with Consumers Union. "They could all cost consumers money if they're spending it on equipment they don't need." To make matters worse, consumer groups conducted "secret shopper" surveys in 10 states including Florida and found that sales clerks at electronics and discount stores tried to persuade shoppers to buy a new TV when they didn't need one, said Brad Ashwell, consumer advocate for the Florida Public Interest Research Group. "I didn't pick up that they were trying to be malicious or to deceive me but that their manager hadn't told them how to deal with this question," Ashwell said. The transition to digital television affects a very specific group of people. It doesn't affect subscribers to cable or satellite TV. The signal that comes through the cable or satellite line already converts digital signals back to analog. Subscribers will notice no change next Feb. 17. However, 40 million U.S. households, by one estimate, may use rabbit ears or an antenna to watch local over-the-air broadcast channels for all or some of their TVs. For each TV, they will need a converter box that's about the size of a mini DVD player to change the new digital signals back to analog so they won't have to abandon their old sets when broadcasters make the switch. There are 36 converter boxes that will do the trick and 250 dealers certified to sell them. The government's Web site offers a locator of the closest stores. Best Buy, Wal-Mart and RadioShack are stocking them. The boxes cost from $40 to $70, depending on extra features and styling. They will include a remote control, parental controls and closed captioning capability. The federal government is offering discounts on those boxes. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration says it has received 230,000 applications from Floridians for coupons to cut $40 off the cost of a box. Two $40 coupons are available per household through www.dtv2009.gov or (888) DTV-2009. The coupons should reach households in late February or early March. More than 4.7 million coupon applications have been made so far, and the government has a budget for about 33.5 million of them. Consumers have 90 days from the date on the coupon to cash it in. "If they're going to wait until Christmas to make a decision about a television, they need to keep that in mind," said Todd Sedmak, a spokesman for the telecommunications administration. Even with the transition to digital broadcasting, people still will need rabbit ears or an antenna to pick up the signal. Once they get it, the converter box should be installed between the line coming from those devices and the TV. Unfortunately, the box may not be enough in some cases. Centris, a Los Angeles-based research firm, found gaps in broadcast reception around the country, even with the converter box. Terrain, trees and buildings could degrade the signal, especially if the antenna is a set of rabbit ears, said Centris Senior Vice President Barry Goodstadt. The trouble might not be as bad in flat South Florida. Still, if consumers are intent on buying a box, "they should do it early," he said. "There are digital signals out there already and they can test it," Goodstadt said. "They may find they want a rooftop antenna." The transition from analog to digital has been under way since 1996, when Congress passed new telephone and television regulations. The government wanted to free up additional broadcast spectrum that broadcasters now occupy for analog television transmission. The change to digital signals will allow the government to give some spectrum to police and emergency services around the nation for better communications in disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. Some of it will go to bolstering broadband Internet capability in rural communities. The rest of the freed-up airwaves is being sold to telecom companies to add new wireless services such as the ability to pay wirelessly for a soda from a vending machine with a captured signal from a cellphone. The government has raked in $19 billion from auctioned-off spectrum. Broadcasters, the government and the media are dispensing a mind-numbing amount of information on the digital TV transition, and it can be daunting for viewers to keep it all straight. Ozzie Shelling, a retired IBM employee who has followed news of the digital transition for more than a year, said last week he thought he'd need a converter box even though he's a cable TV subscriber. "There was no doubt in my mind. I already went to the Web site to get the coupons," Schelling said. "So now I don't have to get anything?" Staff researchers Michelle Quigley and Melanie Mena contributed to this story. 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