If you soon see a 20-foot television rolling through Baldwin County, don’t freak out. It’s not your next door neighbor coming home from the Spanish Fort Best Buy store, hoping to one-up your new plasma screen.

The massive gadget, which will stop in Mobile Dec. 12-13 and then Pensacola and Fort Walton Beach Dec. 20-21, is known as the DTV Trekker, part of the National Association of Broadcaster’s DTV Road Show, an effort to get the word out about the upcoming high definition conversion.

The unit is traveling 95,000 miles throughout the country (600 locations in 200 markets) to help educate TV viewers about the transition from analog to digital TV.

All analog TVs that are not connected to a converter box or a pay television service such as cable or satellite will need to be upgraded by then in order to continue receiving a TV signal.

Nearly 200,000 Alabama households, and 637,410 households in Florida, which rely solely on over-the-air television signals will be affected by the end of analog broadcasting on Feb. 17.

Angie Malone, DTV Road Show spokesperson, said that time is definitely running out.

“The February date is set in stone, and is extremely important for people who rely on an antenna for information,” she said.

Those who don’t make the transition will lose access to late-breaking news and weather reports from their local stations. Malone noted many elderly people still receive their television signals over the air, and they need to visit the Road Show and learn how easy it is to make the update, or have someone do it for them.

“People who have cable or satellite may have a friend or neighbor who needs assistance,” she pointed out. “We hope they’ll help them.”

There are currently more than 80 different types of analog-to-digital converter boxes available at online retailers and their brick-and-mortar counterparts. Malone said one might make a good Christmas gift.

The federal government is still making available discount coupons for HDTV converter boxes, and applications will be available at the Road Show.

Malone said each local broadcaster has access to three to four channels now because the digital spectrum is much more efficient. Some outlets are adding programming on those channels, including WEIQ in Mobile, the Alabama Public Television station and PBS affiliate.

She said, “A lot of people don’t understand they will get more channels.”

Around 93 percent of stations that are going digital are already simulcasting, and a few in experimental markets have already shut down their analog transmitter for the last time.

“Consumers need to learn about the steps they can take to upgrade to digital before it’s too late,” Jonathan Collegio, vice president of the DTV transition unit at the NAB, stated in a press release. “As broadcasters, our goal is to ensure that no American loses television reception in February 2009 due to a lack of information about the transition to digital. The DTV road show provides a fun and engaging event for families to get the information they need to prepare for the switch to digital television.”

The DTV Trekker is the centerpiece of the road show, and features scrolling messages about the DTV transition. The road show also includes kiosks that provide demonstrations of the difference between analog and digital signals, educational literature and fun games consumers can play to win prizes.

“It’s very hands-on,” Malone said. “It’s a grassroots campaign. When people come up to us, we can give them information about the basic hookup and how to link their VCR or DVD player.”

Two DTV team members will travel with the road show to answer questions consumers may have about the transition to digital television.

Malone added, “We want to make sure to get into these cities near rural areas to get the word out.” She noted Walmart is an excellent place to stage the Road Show in most cases because so many people shop there, and the retail giant carries both RCA and Magnavox brand converters.

According to federal law, all full-power television stations nationwide must turn off their analog signals on Feb. 17, 2009 and broadcast exclusively in a digital format. To continue receiving free TV reception, people that rely on over-the-air broadcast programming on analog TV sets must either purchase new television sets with built-in digital tuners, purchase converter boxes that translate the digital signal into the analog format for older television sets, or subscribe to a pay TV service like cable or satellite.

DTV Road Show Schedule for southwest Alabama and northwest Florida 

• Dec. 12, 4-8 p.m., Walmart, 685 Schillinger Road, Mobile.

• Dec. 13, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Mobile Convention Center at Christmas Gift Emporium.

• Dec. 20, Noon- 4 p.m., Walmart, 2951 S. Blue Angel Pkwy., Pensacola.

• Dec. 21, Noon- 4 p.m., Walmart, 748 Beal Pkwy. N.W., Fort Walton Beach.

For more information about the DTV transition, visit dtvanswers.com, the official Web site of the National Association of Broadcasters' digital television (DTV) transition campaign.