Created: 05/18/2009 10:44 AM KSTP.com | Print Story By: Art Barron

BARRON: Get ready for TV history

We are less than a month away from a historic moment in broadcast tv history.

Friday June 12th is the big day your older analog tv set will not receive over the air broadcast signals.

If you are hooked up to satellite or cable, no worries. But unless you have a converter box and depend on your antenna whether it be rabbit ears or an outdoor antenna you'll probably want to get a new tv. Many "digital ready" sets are inexpensive. You can find good bargains out there. Avoid "hand me downs" If you are at garage sales, you'll want to avoid analog only sets. Unless you only want to use it for playing old VHS or DVD's, or have a converter box, it won't even be worth the dollar in your pocket. You'll end up having to drop it off at one of those electronic collection sites.

So why is the switch over taking place? It will free up some of the broadcast spectrum for public safety communications (police/fire/rescue). It will also allow for greatly improve video and audio transmission. Not every tv station will make this transition.

The June deadline does not apply to low powered stations or LPTV. The FCC will figure out a date on those at a future time.

Some stations have already made the switch, and the transition has been smooth. We have information on our homepage here.