Digital Dialog

KHET Transmitter Power Upgrade Postponed

What can I say...the increase in power for our Honolulu transmitter was scheduled for the end of September, but has been postponed due to FCC licensing concerns.  PBS Hawaii applied for a power increase in July and usually these applications are granted quickly, but due to a FCC monitoring station located nearby, more studies had to be conducted and several agencies of the FCC have to approve the application before it can be granted.  So the upgrade to our transmitter has been postponed to the first quarter of 2010...pending approval from the FCC.

CAUTION: SLIPPERY ROAD AHEAD - PBS HAWAII IS MAKING IMPROVEMENTS

CAUTION: SLIPPERY ROAD AHEAD - PBS HAWAII IS MAKING IMPROVEMENTS

UPDATED - Sept 18 - 10:20 AM

Beware: Program Schedule Changes

Our upcoming upgrade to our Master Control System will be very demanding and while we know this upgrade will very possibly inconvenience our viewers, the work is necessary to make improvements in the way we deliver programming to you.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE CHANGES OCTOBER 26 – NOVEMBER 2

The PBS Hawaii automated master control center is really the operational “heart” of our television station. This is the area that never rests – taking in satellite feeds, upconverting, downcoverting, ingesting programming content and delivering your favorite shows to your home. It’s more complicated today with multiple channels and now multiple platforms for Standard Definition and High Definition broadcast delivery. We are upgrading our operation so that we can better manage and deliver these multiple streams of content.

We’ve very pleased to tell you that this “heart” of our operation is about to go through an extensive upgrade -- let’s call it a heart transplant. This is a major undertaking that only a handful of PBS stations across the country will attempt. In another market, the station just signed off the air until work was completed. PBS Hawaii has decided to stay on the air and limit the amount of inconvenience to our viewers as much as possible.

Our program schedule from October 26 through November 2 will be impacted. We’ve had to rearrange programming and in some cases temporarily take a program such as BBC World News off the schedule. This particular week the resources we normally use to bring you your favorite PBS Hawaii shows will not be available to us while this “operation” is underway.

We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. We know this year has been a challenge for all of us. It all began with the national DTV transition and now we are in the final stages of work related to this milestone in broadcasting.