In cooperation with the F.C.C, we will participate in the national analog shut-off tests on Thursday, May 21 at 7:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. The tests will last 5 minutes. Sets receiving a digital signal will have no interruption; those that do not will see a graphic telling them how to prepare for DTV.
We will also take part in the St. Louis market-wide tests on Thursday, May 28 at 5:25 p.m. and Friday, June 5 at 12:25 p.m.
If you’re uncertain whether or not you are prepared for the June 12 transition, tune in for any of these DTV tests on Channel 9.
We pull the plug on our analog transmitter June 12 at 23:59:59.
Will the changes to the KETC tower be complete by June 12? Angela mentioned in a much earlier post that the height would be increased “some time after” the original February deadline. I’m in St. Peters with a giant UHF antenna and can only get KETC at night… sometimes.
The changes to KETC’s digital antenna will be made in July 2009. In February, KETC was granted an extension by the FCC to make modifications to our broadcast tower during the summer. As it stands, July is the target month. I will post an entry as soon as the changes have gone into effect.
If you haven’t already tried Antenna Web (www.antennaweb.org), you might put your address into its mapping system to find out if you are using the right antenna for your location. Strange as it sounds, if your antenna has too much power you might also have reception trouble.
I was getting a great signal from you until last week. Are you broadcasting on reduced power? I am using a rooftop UHF antenna and am out in New Haven, Mo. We now get no digital signal as of about one week ago. What’s changed??
thanks
Bob
Bob,
We have not reduced power, but you’re not alone in this problem of signal dropout. Some viewers lost us (and other digital stations) as a result of high winds and severe storms. Others because of blooming trees. All of these environmental factors can disturb the digital “line of sight” signal, to the point of dropout.
As frustrating as this is, the good news is that the problem is usually temporary. Your digital television or converter box might just need to be rescanned. Try entering our UHF channel “39″ into your digital remote and give it a second to load up.
If you find that your channels go out any time there’s bad weather or a gust of wind, you might double check that your antenna is aimed in our general direction. Our tower is at Highway 55 and Butler Hill Rd.–more southerly than most of the other broadcast towers in town.
Best of luck!