[SBE] Reno's DTV Experiment

[Adrienne Abbott]

We went through our first station analog shutoff today and the good news is
that so far, it appears most people in our area are prepared for DTV.
Overall, KOLO-TV, the ABC affiliate in Reno, received very few calls today
about their early analog turnoff. Very few calls were taken at their call
center and website, and very few calls went into the call center set up by
the Nevada Broadcasters Association for today's analog soft-turn off tests.
Altogether, there have been maybe a thousand calls for the entire state,
some of which have already been resolved by return call to viewers who
simply needed to re-scan their converter boxes. Other viewers have antenna
problems that they will need to resolve and still others told us that they
had not yet received their government coupons and didn't have their
converter boxes as a result. (I haven't received mine yet.) We had virtually
no calls after 4:00 PM PST when Oprah normally airs, which indicates to me
at least, that the Oprah fans took the DTV education campaign to heart. We
will know more tomorrow after we (NBA) begins drilling through the data by
zip code, but at this point it appears that only 40 percent of the calls
were from Northern Nevada or Reno area viewers while 60 percent were from
Southern Nevada, where all the stations are still operating an analog
signal. All in all, it appears to be good news tonight.

Adrienne Abbott

Field Engineer

Nevada Broadcasters Association

nevadaeas at charter.net

 

 

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From: sbe-bounces at sbe.org [mailto:sbe-bounces at sbe.org] On Behalf Of Jon
Frank
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 6:18 PM
To: sbe member discussion mail list
Subject: Re: [SBE] Proposed Analog Shutoff Extention

 

There are many stations out there with analog systems running on the very
edge because, with the impending shutoff date, it was not worth investing in
repairing the hardware.  If the cut over date is moved until the middle of
June this will put some of those stations at a severe disadvantage during
the May ratings sweeps. If their analog equipment gives up before the new
deadline, and their competitor's does not, they will be cheated during a
very important book, at a time when sales revenue is critical.

 

This whole thing is idiotic.  Broadcasters tried their best to warn the
government that a major change in technology, such as the adoption of a
digital TV standard, would take years to implement.   Congress, however,
could only see what they could auction the spectrum off for, with little
regard for the viewing the public.  Now they want to change the
implementation date? Besides failing equipment, think of all the stations
who have booked tower crews to complete new DTV antenna or transmitter
installs based on the February 17th transition to digital. Try changing a
tower crew commitment or equipment delivery at this late date.  

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From: sbe-bounces at sbe.org [sbe-bounces at sbe.org] On Behalf Of Joseph M. Davis
[Joseph.Davis at RF-consultants.com]
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 4:28 PM
To: 'sbe member discussion mail list'
Subject: Re: [SBE] Proposed Analog Shutoff Extention

Actually, any analog TV station can now reduce power or cease operation
without prior FCC approval, since it is within 90 days of the transition
date.  No license mod, no fines.  See the Third Periodic Review:

 

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-228A1.pdf

 

Joe Davis

 

Joseph M. Davis, P.E.
Chesapeake RF Consultants, LLC
Radiofrequency Consulting Engineers
 <http://www.rf-consultants.com/> http://www.rf-consultants.com/


 

 

 

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From: sbe-bounces at sbe.org [mailto:sbe-bounces at sbe.org] On Behalf Of
McGlothen, Darryl
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 4:11 PM
To: sbe member discussion mail list
Subject: Re: [SBE] Proposed Analog Shutoff Extention

 

This is more likely the pervue of the legal eagles, but you can't turn on a
transmitter until you have a license from the FCC. If you must run at a
lower power than your license specifies, you must apply for a modification
to your license. It stands to reason that if you want to turn off your
transmitter before the FCC mandated cut-off date, you would have to apply
for a license modification or face possible fines by the FCC. 

 

Just a thought...

 

Darryl

 


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From: sbe-bounces at sbe.org [mailto:sbe-bounces at sbe.org] On Behalf Of
A9xw at cs.com
Sent: Monday, January 12, 2009 11:00 AM
To: sbe at sbe.org
Subject: Re: [SBE] Proposed Analog Shutoff Extention

In a message dated 1/12/2009 12:55:09 PM Central Standard Time,
akilgore at wrvm.org writes: 





Can't analog TV be dropped voluntarily before the required drop-dead date? 



Pull the plug when ever you want, just make sure the FCC says you can. 

Henry 

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