ARLINGTON, Va. - At 11:55 a.m. Friday, ABC 7 completed the transition from analog broadcast, the standard for six decades, to digital, a new phenomenon. It was a moment 11 years in the making for ABC 7 engineers.

With a "3, 2, 1" countdown, technician Sam Jackson pulled the plug and Channel 7 went to snow. After a quick trip to make some changes, technician Will Seymour punched a button, launching Channel 7 on its new digital channel.

With many other stations making the switch Friday, viewers without satellite or cable were scrambling to buy converter boxes and antennas. Nielsen Co. estimated that 80,000 people in the Washington region were unprepared for the switch.

Some with converters were still at a loss. ABC 7 was flooded with calls, e-mails and talkback postings seeking help.

"I've been having problems with my antenna," said NW Washington resident Conrad Moore. "The [converter] box is good, but the antenna won't bring the channels in."

ABC 7 has a phone bank set up to answer questions about the switch. Call (703) 236-9321. It's in operation from noon to 9 p.m. on Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.

At places like Best Buy, the Geek Squad was offering free home installations and explaining that even if you have the converters installed, now that more stations are switching over, viewers must re-scan: a slow process of letting the converter find the stations.

New TVs and the converter boxes have menu options, accessible through their remote controls, to enable a re-scan. 

» local DTV clinics and help

Some people attended free FCC-sponsored clinics around the District Friday, where contractors explained how to hook up converter boxes. They also explained the need to find the "scan" option with your remote and "re-scan" for new channels coming on line.

"You have to push the button and wait," said FCC contractor Maria Hardy. "It takes a couple of minutes."

Some people might also need new antennas, because digital signals travel differently than analog ones. While a weakly received analog channel might be viewable through some static, channels broadcast in the digital language of ones and zeros are generally all or nothing: If they don't come in perfectly, they are blank or they show a stuttering picture that breaks apart into blocks of color.

The shutdown of analog channels opens part of the airwaves for modern applications like wireless broadband and TV services for cell phones. The government reaped $19.6 billion last year by selling some of the freed-up frequencies, with AT&T Inc. and Verizon Wireless the biggest buyers.

The shutdown was originally scheduled for Feb. 17, but the government's fund for $40 converter box coupons ran out of money in early January, prompting the incoming Obama administration to push for a delay. The converter box program got additional funding in the national stimulus package.

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