If you have managed to live a happy, productive life without 292 channels of television, Mr. Frugal salutes you.

You have spared yourself a very sizable cable or satellite bill each month, not to mention the pain of Keeping Up with the Kardashians.

But I'm afraid that rusty old roof antenna or those trusty rabbit ears also mean you must now actually pay attention to the incessant TV announcements about the coming of digital television.

Your frugality has caught up with you.

You will know for sure today. If your TV set goes dark for a few minutes at 6:25 a.m., 6:25 p.m. and 10:25 p.m., I'm sorry, but you're analog, my friend.

I know you have tried to tune out all that talk about digital tuners and converter boxes and such. Mr. Frugal feels your pain – and sees nothing wrong with your old rotary phone, either.

But local TV stations are ganging up on you in today's simultaneous exercise. They will broadcast only in the digital format for five minutes beginning at those three times.

I suspect it's the technological equivalent of a warning shot. Without a converter box, your TV goes dead for good on Feb. 17.

But I have good news. I bought a couple of the converter boxes this week and they were a snap to install.

Of course, it's even easier if you let a grandson or the nice neighbor do it.

We resisted cable TV at our house for a long time. But when the kids moved out, we let a satellite dish move in. It seemed less work than a puppy – or talking to each other.

So with DirecTV tuners in the family room and bedroom, I didn't have to worry about converter boxes there. But the little kitchen TV and the one upstairs in the game room are still hooked to antennas and needed converter boxes.

I had heard that digital TV is finicky and might not work with my indoor antennas. But I'm happy to report that both sets now receive even better pictures than before.

And I get these extra subchannels with nonstop weather radar and constant five-day forecasts. So I may be divorcing Pete Delkus.

Unfortunately, I can't promise that your antenna will work. If you live well outside Dallas or in a low-lying area, you may need a stronger antenna to get the digital signal.

But you won't know until you try, so get started. Frugally, of course.

Begin by ordering two $40 coupons to subsidize the cost of the converter boxes. Using the gift-card-style coupons, my out-of-pocket expense was only about $10 for each box.

You can order the coupons at www.dtv2009 .gov or by calling 888-388-2009.

The biggest downside: The converter boxes add one more remote control to lose in the sofa cushions.