Star Valley television to be affected by digital change
By News Release on Sep 17, 2008 in Afton, Alpine, News, Star Valley Ranch, Thayne
As most people have heard, the FCC has mandated a change from analog to digital television broadcast service. The change has been in the works for several years, but will become final on February 17, 2009.
The first phase was for all TV broadcast stations in the United States to construct digital transmitter facilities. The new facilities are now operational and working alongside the existing analog transmitters.
In February, all stations have been mandated to shut down their analog transmitters and broadcast just digital signals.
Only people who receive their TV signal from an antenna will be affected by the upcoming change. If you get your TV service from a cable company or satellite service, the change has already been made and nothing need be done on your part.
If however, you receive your TV from an antenna, your service will be completely lost. You are encouraged to not rush out and buy a digital TV or “converter” box because they won’t help.
The new digital TV transmitters operate in a different frequency band than the old analog transmitters. Due to this change, Star Valley community translators will not be able to receive the new digital signals to feed into the translators. The digital signals sent from TV stations will not be able to reach the translators, because they don’t travel as far as analog signals.
So basically, those of you who get your TV from an antenna, you’re just plain out of luck come February 17.
Loading ...
Josh Henry | Sep 19, 2008 | Reply
So are they ever going to add some translators along the way to carry the signal that will reach star valley?
Joe Brown | Sep 23, 2008 | Reply
This story seems incomplete. There must be some plan to solve this problem. How about a post from someone who operates the current translators? Can they pick up a signal from Jackson as opposed to Idaho Falls or Pocatello? How many translators serve the valley?
Brad Kovach | Sep 23, 2008 | Reply
I did some research on this. If you can get signal, it will work. Digital signals either work or they don’t. There is no middle ground whatsoever. By digital signal, it means that it is composed of a 0 or a 1. In signals, that manifests as on or off. I’d be willing to bet that people in Alpine would be able to pick up a signal.
Also, the other cool thing is that the signal can be piped over the Internet and translated so “carrying the signal” won’t be necessary. Unfortunately, the Internet version won’t be as high of quality because it will be compressed and will lose a small amount of detail.
Erin (Erickson) Cutchen | Sep 24, 2008 | Reply
Or you can get a converter box. However, I’m not sure if that will help if the translators aren’t updated as well. If you are getting television from a satellite service like Direct TV, or DISH, you are OK. On http://www.ksl.com is a link about DTV to answer questions you may have.
Brenda Whitby | Sep 30, 2008 | Reply
Brad! Where are you not? Hey, so what do you mean by the internet version? Broadband? Will public t.v. be available free through the internet? I’ve tried to research this for the last few months, as I have rabbit ears with converter box, and it seems like digital does have many benefits, which, to me, seems like it should make it easier to reach our valley…
Who are “they” that help Star Valley get free t.v?
Brad Kovach | Oct 6, 2008 | Reply
My point was that they won’t have to install a serious of ACTUAL relays from Idaho to Star Valley to get the signal over here. They can just stream it over the Internet where it’ll be put at one relay that you can all use. In other words, they won’t have to use a series of relays strung across the mountains to get the signal here. They can just get it to Star Valley and then broadcast the signal.
You are right, though: THE BENEFITS OF DIGITAL TELEVISION ARE HUGE. Now all over-the-air television will have quality of satellite television without the expense.
Also, as I have already stated, either you have 100% reception, or you don’t. Digital signals carry 0′s or 1′s. They don’t have variances in voltage, etc. There will be perfect audio/video quality if they can get SV ready in time.
Also, since SV may or may not get digital TV in time, people should still get their converter boxes! It’s going to be very difficult to get them as the deadline approaches (because people are lazy). The government is making a heavy subsidy of all converter box purchases, too.