If you own an old television set and haven’t made your request for one of those $40 coupons to help you buy a digital converter box, you may be seeing a lot of snow on your Sony after Feb. 17, even if you request a coupon today.

The problem could apply to as many as 10,000 households in the Providence-New Bedford television market.

The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced that its coupons program has run into a cash flow problem.

People who requested vouchers for the boxes this week are now on a waiting list which, as of Monday, was roughly 103,000 names long.

They will only get their coupons as already delivered coupons expire.

About half the coupons that have been ordered have gone unused.

The converter boxes, which range in price from $40 to $80, are needed so older TVs can recognize over-the-air signals when stations switch to digital broadcasts next month. Cable and satellite television subscribers will not be affected.

The creation of the waiting list prompted Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch to issue a statement yesterday warning consumers not to fall for conversion-related scams designed to charge people far more than the cost of the box itself.

“As frustrating as it is that the federal government has failed to adequately fund this initiative, it will be worse if consumers become victimized by scams in the days leading up to the switchover,” he said.

There are no firm statistics about how many Rhode Islanders are threatened by a sudden lack of reception.

NTIA spokesman Todd Sedmak said yesterday that about 57,000 households in the Providence-New Bedford television market rely exclusively on analog antennas, according to the Nielsen rating service.

Among that group, there have been 47,000 requests for one or more coupons, he said.

“That leaves you up to 10,000 households that need to make sure they have done something, or do something: converter box, cable, satellite or a new TV,” said Sedmak.

People who have televisions that are not hooked up to cable or satellite — TVs the NTIA likes to refer to as “untethered” — may also request as many as two coupons, which is why NTIA has handed out 192,000 coupons in the region so far.

As of yesterday, 69,421 have been redeemed, said Sedmak.

Bart Forbes, another spokesman, said the agency had been pushing people to request their coupons by Dec. 31.

People who beat last month’s deadline will get their coupons on time, Forbes promised.

It’s not known how much inconvenience the new waiting list will actually cause.

Sedmak said, “About 350,000 coupons expire each week, so that money goes back into the till to kick out [new] coupons,” which are redeemed when the converter is purchased. The coupons are good for 90 days.

But if people “don’t think they’re going to get their coupon before February 17, they have to consider their other options,” he said.

The $1.34 billion set aside for coupons was raised from the federal auction of broadcast frequencies that will be freed up once the conversion to digital is complete. Over-the-air digital TV signals require much less bandwidth than traditional analog signals. Ready for digital?

Starting Feb. 17, television stations will switch from broadcasting analog to digital signals. Here’s what you need to do to make sure your TV will still work:

•If your TV is hooked up to cable or satellite, you don’t have to do anything.

•If you use an antenna to receive free TV stations, find out if your current set can receive digital signals by going to www.dtvtransition.gov. If your set can’t receive a digital signal, you can either buy a new TV or purchase a converter box.

•Your can get information about and apply for the government’s $40 discount coupon for converters at www:dtv2009.org or by calling (888) 388-2009.

gemery@projo.com