I'm with Charter Comm for my digital tv signal. I have one set setup with a digital converter while my other sets are analog yet. I would like to buy a simple digital converter off ebay (not hd or dvr type converters) instead of paying a monthly rent on the digital box. Question is: I can find exactly the same box my buddy has on his set on ebay but will it work the same as his or does Charter have to do something to it to make it work right?
I know the plan is to send out coupons for people to buy converters for their sd sets. Something like two coupons per household blah, blah. Will we need a converter for our vhs and dvd recorders as well as our tv's are will we be able to piggyback a recorder/tv off of one converter? I'm just not sure what to expect at this point in regards to what can be done with our old equipment. Thanks for any info.

#1 - the digital converter boxes are going to be OTA (antenna) only - will not work with most digital cable.

#2 - Any ATSC set top boxes that are out there now will only pickup unencrypted QAM - which for most cable operators - means just your local digital channels. The ones that can get the encrypted stuff (most cable-type channels) will need a "cablecard" from your cable company.

Just a note about #1 - I believe that there will be boxes that can handle QAM or OTA, but the point Scooper made was that the coupons are limited to the boxes that ONLY handle OTA.

Thanks for that info!! I'm not looking for the box to recieve channels I'm not paying for but rather to recieve the expanded basic channels I already get plus the guide and ppv options that using the digital converter provides. The model I'm looking for (model my buddy has) is a DCT2224 Motorola. Ebay has a bunch of them for sale and I'm wondering if it will work as I described above without any special coding or cards. Thanks again guys!
I just searched the forum for thr DCT2224 and found some more interesting info. Maybe I should forget about this course of action and see what Charter will have going for the analog/digital conversion:)

Generally those boxes you see on Ebay will not be activated by your cable company because they are "stolen" from another cable company.

OK, this may not have been my best idea:0 lol Thanks to everyone for the advice.
Jeff Sorensen