The deadline for television broadcasters to make the permanent switch from analog to digital is coming soon. But the process has been many years in the making. High definition TV, for example has been around for more than 20 years. But deciding a broadcast standard and figuring out how to make the conversion to an entirely new technology has been costly and difficult. In tonight's "making the digital switch" we look at what we have been doing at this television station to prepare for the February 17, 2009 deadline.
Television is kind of like water in a faucet. Most of us don't think about where it comes from, or how it arrives in our home. But when we turn it on, there it is. Well in the North State, this is where television comes from, at least KHSL, KNVN and the CW-10. And while you might recognize some of the faces in this room.
These are the faces of those who bring you the actual product you see on your TV. This is master control.
"Here in Master Control we actually do in fact control all the signals that go to air."
Dave Sien is the station's chief engineer. He's spent the past five years figuring out how to bring a TV station that began in the "golden age" into the digital age.
"There are several encoders, encoders for high definition here, standard definition here."
They call it upconverting. That means taking existing equipment such as analog cameras, video tape machines and production switchers and making them digitally compatible. Other video sources are already digital, yet must be "downconverted" to be compatible with analog equipment in the control room, ultimately to be converted back to digital it sounds confusing, but it all gets sorted out in this room, which itself has been converted to accommodate all the new HD equipment. Besides the blood, sweat, and probably even a few tears, it's all costing a whole lot of money.
"And eventually what we will end up doing is replacing every piece of equipment in the station with digital friendly equipment and that's where the cost becomes substantial."
"Making the switch from analog to digital from the television station in Chico is only half the challenge. The actual transmission of the signal, at least for Channel 24, takes place here at the Tuscan Buttes east of Red Bluff. For the past two years we've actually been transmitting two signals from here, one analog and one digital from the same tower."
And that means for the past two years this site has included two transmitters, located inside this small building at the base of the tower.
"This is the original analog Channel 24 transmitter that was installed in 1984. It operates on 2 klystrons."
And it's enormous.
"It is a bit of a dinosaur. As you can see it's an extremely long transmitter comprised of several racks and operates on very high voltage, 28,000 volts and 5 amps."
By contrast, KNVN's new digital transmitter looks like a small supply cabinet.
"This uses a lot less energy. It's much more user-friendly to the environment because it isn't drawing so much power. And it puts out a signal that's much sharper and brilliant than anything in the past."
In making the digital switch, the only thing left to do here is to keep that old blue behemoth running until February '09 when Dave Sien will gladly shut it down, once and for all.
