[Las Vegas Dave]

“The frequencies will all be UHF”.
Almost 100% correct BUT the upper frequencies will still be in use. (See link at the bottom of this reply for channels in your viewing area).

An example of what Seattle’s channel 9 is doing:
Is KCTS 9 currently operating in digital?
Yes. All Seattle television stations, including KCTS 9, are currently operating in both analog and digital formats. KCTS 9 operates digitally on UHF channel 41 (remapped to appear on your receiver as channel 9). KCTS 9 will return to our VHF channel for digital operations after the transition after February 17, 2009.

In the Cleveland viewing area we will still have channel 8 on the upper VHF frequency, (the lower frequencies may be auctioned off). A standard VHF/UHF antenna or even rabbit ears will work depending on how far you are from the broadcast towers, but you will need a digital TV, HDTV, or the U.S. Government coupon for a converter box (if you do not have a coupon or have an expired coupon, you will need to go to a waiting list, the allocated monies are gone). http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx is a great site to find that information, the TV antenna installers use it. (For example, where I live from the broadcast towers are almost all @ 230/231 degrees on the compass from my house, so I would not need an antenna rotor. But if I also wanted to pick up the our of town broadcast stations IE: Toledo, Akron, Youngstown, Detroit Mi, London, Ontario, or Erie Pa. I would need a rotor AND “larger” antenna with the best gain rating.)

If you have cable or Satellite TV, you will not need a converter box for now, but this may change in the next few years for Satellite TV, but I am not sure about cable.

If you want an education on antennas go here:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html

For channel designations, go here:
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-138A2.pdf

[djf]

I thought the government had already decided that the VHF bands were going to remain open, so they could give them to GPS or whatever sometime in the future?

Damn. I halfway understand this stuff and my head still hurts...

[Molly T.]

I have a big old satellite dish, am going to buy a digital TV for the counter in kitchen. Right now I have one of the little boxes on the analog TV on the counter and a box on the console analog TV in the living room. What do I have to buy in order to get back my ability to buy “ala carte” digital programs , at least so I can get programs on the new counter TV in the kitchen that I'm getting next week. I refuse to buy into the Dish or Direct TV programing packages, as I won't watch even a fourth of the programs in the pkge.

The last 4 ch. I've been able to get these past few months pulled the plug and have shut down analog programing.