When the FCC mandated digital television for the American public, there were more TV stations than channels available to make the transition to digital smoothly, so they let the "full" power stations convert first (June 12, 2009 was the end of analog broadcasts for full-power TV stations). There were about 1750 stations to make this transition. Now its time for the low-power stations to convert...6600+. Though the FCC has yet to set a deadline for this transition, they have opened the door by asking for stations to begin applying for Construction Permits fort digital low power stations, which includes PBS Hawaii's translators on Kauai and Hawaii.
Our equipment to transition our over-the-air broadcasts to digital has started to arrive and once I hire a contractor to install the receive and transmit antennas, the transmission lines connecting the translator to and from the antennas and installing the translator itself...PBS Hawaii will be completely in digital...ahead of any FCC schedule and broadcasting our HD signal to the entire Hawaiian Island chain.
When do I expect to accomplish changing out 6 translators on Kauai and four more on Hawaii? If the weather holds out, it should all be completed sometime in mid-January, 2010. So all of you viewers with analog TV's will need to get a new digital TV or a digital-to-analog converter box to watch our over-the-air signal. In addition, it might be a good time to check up on the health your UHF antenna and coax cable, making sure that there is a good solid, corrosion free connection at the antenna and to your TV...more to come once I start installing the translators...
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