How NBC 17 will make the big switch
At midnight, we will throw a switch that will turn off channel 17 analog, and turn on channel 17 digital. At the same time, our current digital signal on channel 55 will be turned off forever. But converting a TV station to a different frequency is a bit more technical than flipping a switch. We will have to take some smaller steps leading up to the big event that requires quite a bit of work.
The analog transmitter on the right is actually four transmitters, each developing 60 K Watts 
of power. We can run them one at a time, or any combination of three if we need to service one of them. What we will do is shut down two of them in late January, and convert them to digital. That means our analog system will be at reduced power for a few weeks, but should not pose any issues except our near the edge of our coverage area. That’s another reason to have a good antenna now to minimize reception problems at that time. We will certainly wait until the last possible minute to do this, and alert you prior to it the best we can. If you have already converted to digital, you’ll have nothing to worry about as the digital side will not change until 2-17, and this only affects analog viewers waiting until the last minute to get their converter boxes. That’s another reason we urge you to go ahead and get your digital box now.
Our schedule is this:
- Equipment has been ordered and will be delivered in December.
- Late January, half the analog transmitter will be turned off and converted to digital on channel 17.
- We will be testing it off line, and may throw the switch overnight to take measurements and check performance.
- February 17 at Midnight, it hits the air for good, and the other half of the transmitter will be converted to digital the following weeks. That gives us a main and back-up digital transmitter system.
Pretty simple, right? Well, at your house when we switch the digital to channel 17, you should have a much easier time receiving the signal. You will need to re-scan your channels at midnight, or first thing when you wake up the 18th. These digital receivers in your house will not know we changed until you do. That’s another reason to get used to the menus on these receivers and do the scan-scan!
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Comments
They actually are planning a broadcast version of ebay for the surplus equipment in the United States. These units can have another life in other countries.
Tim from Beulaviile here again. I know that we will be able to tune the lower band frequencies better,but once analog is gone for good and stations no longer have to devote energy to pushing both a digital and analog transmitter will we see an increase in some stations transmitting power?
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Russ, What happens to the channel 55 digital transmitter? ebay?