Direct TV has a nice digital television converter box, called DTVPal, which you can purchase to receive your over-the-air, free TV channels and “no”, you do not have to subscribe to satellite service to get it.

Like all converter boxes, DTVPal will take the digital signal from your antenna and convert the signal for use with your non-digital TV.

But this box also comes with a few perks: it’s easy to set-up, using an on-screen set-up guide and it comes with the familiar Direct TV programming guide. You can even set your TV to automatically tune-in to a specific channel at a specified time – all this with your free, basic channels.

You can order the box from DTVPAL.com for $60 and it even qualifies for the $40 government coupon program.

All television stations will go digital on February 17, 2009. Remember, if you subscribe to cable or satellite, you will not need a digital converter box.

For more information on DTVPal, the government coupon program or digital television in general, just log-on to KBTX.com/digitaltv.