04-22-2009, 02:59 PM
You won't be watching HD with the converter box, but you can get a guide. With your TV's tuner, you'll get HD, but not a guide (unless your TV has one built in). You could get an HD tuner (not a converter box) to get HD AND a guide, but that'll be more than $30. Either way, the stations should stay put. I'm sure someone will tell me if I'm wrong.
edit:
After rereading your post, my answer applies to an OTA signal. That's all a converter box will do. There's no QAM tuner in the $30 boxes. If you get a more expensive HD tuner that does have a QAM tuner in it, I suspect you'll have the same issues. I don't know of anything that will follow your cable provider's channel reassignments. My comment above about the guide in your TV refers to the possibility that your TV does not have a guide for the QAM tuner, but might for OTA. I'd be surprised if it did (mine doesn't) but I don't know your TV.
edit:
After rereading your post, my answer applies to an OTA signal. That's all a converter box will do. There's no QAM tuner in the $30 boxes. If you get a more expensive HD tuner that does have a QAM tuner in it, I suspect you'll have the same issues. I don't know of anything that will follow your cable provider's channel reassignments. My comment above about the guide in your TV refers to the possibility that your TV does not have a guide for the QAM tuner, but might for OTA. I'd be surprised if it did (mine doesn't) but I don't know your TV.