Clyde Lamoreaux holds an analog-to-digital converter box next to the UHF/VHF antenna display in his St. Ignace store, Lakefront Electronics. All analog broadcast signals are mandated by the federal government to cease transmitting Friday, June 12, to make way for digital television broadcasts. By Friday, June 12, television stations across the country have to drop their very high frequency (VHF) analog broadcast signal to make way for digital television on the ultra high frequency (UHF) band. In the Eastern Upper Peninsula, that means households using antennas to receive free TV may lose some channels, while possibly gaining one other. Households with cable or satellite services will not be affected by the digital switch.

According to new digital broadcast transmission charts for regional TV stations, which are available at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Web site, www.ntiadtv. gov, viewers in St. Ignace and Mackinac Island are able to add regional Fox affiliate WFUP to their channel-surfing patterns.

Because digital signals don't broadcast as far as analog signals, however, antenna TVs in the EUP will no longer be able to receive public access station WCML out of Alpena. The station's transmission range stops just before hitting the southern shores of the U.P. Similarly, residents in Chippewa County and residents in Mackinac County west of Brevort Lake may temporarily lose signal from NBC affiliate WTOM as the station moves its transmission tower from Cheboygan to Goetzville, where it will be able to continue its coverage to the EUP.

Clyde Lamoreaux, owner of Lakefront Electronics in St. Ignace, has been researching the switch to digital for the last two years so he can better understand it, as well as be able to answer his customers' questions.

"If they do everything like they said they are going to, they're going to put everything out of Goetzville," he said. "If they do that and put up a good signal strength out of there, we should be in good shape."

Although more channels may be available in certain areas, free digital TV doesn't come without a price. The government-mandated switch to digital may require some consumers to purchase additional equipment. Televisions more than four years old will require an analog-to-digital converter box to receive digital broadcast signals through an antenna. Converter boxes cost about $50 to $70; newer televisions have built-in digital converters.

The government does offer some relief to consumers having to purchase the converters, in the form of a $40 instant rebate coupon available online at the NTIA's Web site, however, the coupons are only redeemable at registered retailers. Lakefront Electronics is the only retailer in Mackinac County registered to accept the coupons; the next closest retailers are K-Mart, Wal- Mart, and Electronics Plus in Cheboygan, and Sears, Radio Shack, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and Rite Aid in Sault Ste. Marie. All sell the boxes for about the same price.

"When a customer receives the coupon in the mail, there's also a list of authorized converter boxes and retailers," Mr. Lamoreaux said. "I would say I've probably sold a couple hundred so far. It's pretty well peaked out and kind of on a downslope. Now the interest is coming around antennas."

He said many consumers are unaware they may need a new UHF/VHF antenna in addition to the converter box to receive all channels available in the area. Depending on how strong the broadcast signal is in a given area, a consumer may need to update the antenna. The cost for outdoor antennas starts at about $75 and TV-top antennas start at about $30. Neither is guaranteed to work better than the other, Mr. Lamoreaux said.

"It's really just a combination of UHF and VHF antennas. Depending how close you are to the signal and how strong the signal is, an older antenna will work, but it's not working at peak performance," he said. "A lot of people are finding out that 10- to 15- year-old antennas just aren't getting it. It's time for them to be replaced. Most of them aren't happy about it, and I don't blame them."