Armed with my government-issued $40 coupon for a TV converter box, I traveled to the digital frontier and have returned with this tale of caution: The nation's transition from analog to digital television is not going to be easy.

Sure, when the nation's full-power TV stations begin broadcasting solely on the digital spectrum next February, many of the 87,000 families in Maine who rely on over-the-air television will enjoy a "clearer picture and more programming options," as the government promises.

But a significant number of people will also be staring helplessly at snowy screens. This will be especially true for those elderly people who are socially isolated and for families living on the outskirts of TV signal areas.

If you have cable or satellite service, the Big Switch is not going to affect you.

But for the rest of us, this is a big deal. These analog frequencies have been in use since the 1930s, and this is the television industry's largest technical undertaking since the introduction of color.

I was actually looking forward to this. Call me a dreamer, but I wanted reception that would be as good as cable TV without having to pay for it. So, since nearly all of Maine's television stations are currently broadcasting digital signals, I decided to buy a converter box and get an early start.

My colleagues think I'm a flat-Earther for not having cable TV. I prefer to think of myself as frugal. Anyway, I don't want to run a cable wire to our TV room, located on the third floor of our 154-year-old brick house in Yarmouth.

We bought our TV in 1999, so I know it's an analog set. Most TVs bought before 2007 are.

Before I began all this, I saw the digital transition as an excuse to dump our old set and buy a flat-screen TV. Alas, the frugal me had different ideas. Converter boxes -- which allow analog TVs to use digital signals -- are available for as low as $59. Also, the federal government is spending up to $1.5 billion to give every American household with analog televisions up to two $40 coupons toward buying a converter box.

The government is pushing digital broadcast because it wants to free up the spectrum for use by emergency responders. Wireless phone companies also have pushed for the change. These companies bought up large chunks of the spectrum at auction, so they can expand and improve their phone and wireless Internet services.

My digital journey began in January, when I logged on to a federal government Web site, www.dtv2009.gov [1], and signed up for my coupon.

It arrived a month later with a list of local stores that sell the boxes and a 90-day deadline to buy one before the coupon expired.

I bought my box. I had wanted a box that would allow for both analog and digital signals, but the clerk assured me that all the local stations are already broadcasting in digital.

I later learned that WPFO (Channel 23), Portland's Fox-affiliated television station, broadcasts only in analog and plans to switch to digital at 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2009. Also, two low-power stations in Bangor, WBGR and WFVX, are now broadcasting only in analog.

So don't make my mistake. Buy a model that allows analog signals to pass through it.

Anyway, I hurried home with the converter box, plugged it into my television and the set-top amplified antenna. I programmed the new remote that came with the box. I gathered the family around the set and turned it on.

Nothing.

The signal was not strong enough for any channel. That's the deal with digital. You either get a perfect picture or a black screen. Analog is more forgiving. Sure, the screen may have snow or shadows, but you can still figure out if the "American Idol" contestant has a chance.

Maybe being situated 11 miles north of Portland was the problem? I lent my converter box to a friend who lives on Munjoy Hill. He didn't get anything, either.

Adding to the frustration, I have an acquaintance who lives down the street who can get all the digital stations with just a set of ordinary rabbit ears.

GOING FOR A BIGGER ANTENNA

Back to the store, where I bought a $32.99 indoor antenna that had the word "digital" on the box. But that didn't help at all.

So I upgraded to a $49.99 model. This one looks like a rectangular piece of hollow plastic.

I got Channel 13! Yes!

But nothing else.

Also, I made the switch just before my wife's favorite "CSI" show came on. The picture kept pixelizing and freezing during the key autopsy scene. I had to stand up for the duration of show and aim the antenna just the right way to capture the signal.

Fortunately, I had stumbled upon a Web site, www.AntennaWeb.org [2], which shows where to point an antenna, based on your home address. (For our location, it says the antenna should be pointed northwest to north.)

The next day, I brought the antenna back. The sales clerk disappeared into a back room and returned with a large box containing a $79.99 omnidirectional antenna. This one is a fat plastic disc, about 18 inches wide and 5 inches thick. My wife shook her head when I lugged it into the house. Not wanting to install it on the roof, I plopped it behind the TV and switched on the converter box.

It worked. I got channels 6, 8, 10, 13, 35 and 51. All crystal clear, just like cable!

In addition, two stations -- WCSH (Channel 6) and WMTW (Channel 8) -- feature an additional channel that broadcasts round-the-clock news and weather. (Digital technology gives TV stations a bigger "pipeline" to transmit more than one programming stream.)

And there's more.

Using the remote that came with the converter box, I am able to read the programming schedule on each station. Just like cable. All for free, except for my investment of $99.98, plus all the gas I used driving to and from the store.

But my experience got me thinking. I'm not technically savvy at all, I admit. But there are lot of people in Maine who are even less so. What's going to happen to them after the Big Switch?

Chevy McCloud, manager of the Falmouth Radio Shack, told me that nearly a quarter of the people who buy converter boxes are coming back to the store looking for help because they can't get a picture. He said customers in North Yarmouth and Cumberland, for some reason, are having the toughest time getting a signal.

He said he's worried about how the elderly residents at OceanView, a nearby retirement community, will cope with transition.

"It's not going to be easy for them," he said.

Indeed, senior advocates fear the same thing. The AARP worries not only about technical obstacles but also about electronics stores possibly taking advantage of confused elderly consumers to sell them expensive televisions they don't need.

BROADCASTERS TRY TO HELP

Also, many families who live at the outer edge of broadcast signal areas and now receive low-quality analog signals will likely lose their access to free over-the-air television, said Suzanne Goucher, president of the Maine Association of Broadcasters.

The association's new Web site about the digital transition, www.dtvforme.com [3], is a great resource.

For example, a Falmouth resident posted a complaint about the inability to get a digital signal, despite having purchased a large antenna.

In response, WCSH engineer Dave Mundee writes that terrain, not signal strength, is the problem most of the time. He explains that digital signals bounce off obstacles like buildings and trees.

"In the analog world, that scenario would create ghosting in the video, and you might accept some degree of that," he writes. "In the digital world it might cause pixelizing or no signal at all."

David Munster, owner of David Munster's TV in Portland, has set up a TV with a converter box in his Forest Avenue store. He doesn't mind walking people through the process.

But he worries that hordes of panicky customers will descend on his store next February and demand he fix a problem that he had nothing to do with creating.

He said people should buy converter boxes soon and hook them up so they can begin the trial-and-error process, starting with a small antenna and buying bigger ones until they get a picture, just like I did.

Denial, he said, is not going to work in this case.

"If they are watching TV on rabbit ears, they will have to come around to it," he said. "Whether they want to or not, they will have to do it."