KUAC Makes Unusual Digital Switch

Alaska station goes from UHF to VHF
By Glen Dickson — Broadcasting & Cable

After full-power broadcasters accomplished analog operations on June 12 and acclimatized into their final agenda TV (DTV) assignments, one of the aboriginal allegation was that stations with VHF approach assignments were experiencing far added accession problems than their UHF counterparts.

Reception issues were decidedly accustomed in Eastern cities like Philadelphia and New York, area the cardinal of stations in abutting adjacency meant that VHF stations had to abbreviate their ability to abstain arrest and were generally larboard with signals clumsy to access into accommodation barrio for accession on baby calm antennas.

The FCC has back accepted ability increases to a cardinal of VHF stations, and let others about-face their agenda assignments to accessible slots in the UHF band. Raycom Media, for example, has switched WLOX, its Biloxi, Miss. station, from VHF to UHF operation, and affairs to do the aforementioned at its Jackson, Miss., station, WLBT, abutting month. And WCPO Cincinnati wants to move from its accepted VHF Ch. 10 appointment to UHF Ch. 22, alike admitting the Scripps Television base has already accustomed a ability increase.

“We’re still award areas area the agenda arresting is not adequate and is not actuality accustomed at all,” says Mike Doback, VP of engineering for Scripps.

But at atomic one station, KUAC Fairbanks, Alaska, absitively to move in the added administration to break its accession problems. The accessible anchorperson absolutely switched in backward September from a DTV appointment on UHF Ch. 24 to VHF Ch. 9, its antecedent analog home, ability a “rechannelization” action that appropriate it to go off-air for six days.

Using funds from a Corporation for Accessible Broadcasting grant, KUAC spent $1.1 actor on a new Harris VHF transmitter and ERI manual band and antenna, which were installed in a deeply accommodating action advised to booty advantage of Alaska’s abrupt window for acclimate accessory to belfry work.

The Fairbanks bazaar never had a UHF base until stations began broadcasting DTV. So back KUAC began broadcasting DTV on Ch. 24 in 2004, it didn’t apprehend abounding admirers to accept the able UHF antenna appropriate to accept the signal. The base additionally had a almost low-power allocation for UHF of 79 application ERP (effective broadcast power), and absolutely went on-air at a accountant ability of 69 kW. Initial tests showed accession problems at a ambit of alone 11 afar from the transmitter.

But with almost 28% of the bazaar relying on over-the-air account instead of pay-TV, affluence of homes were already able with roof-mounted VHF antennas, decidedly those residing in the “bush” communities on the bound of the market. Fairbanks additionally doesn’t accept a lot of big accommodation barrio with admirers relying on calm antennas. Added important, the ability costs of active a higher-powered UHF transmitter weren’t achievable for a accessible anchorperson like KUAC.

So the base filed a appeal with the FCC several years ago to about-face its DTV appointment to its old analog position at Ch. 9. While that appeal was granted, it was alone at an able broadcast ability of 3.2 kW, which KUAC feared would still aftereffect in advantage issues. So it after asked the FCC to aerate its ability to 30 kW.

That appeal was accepted in backward March, but due to account issues, scheduling with vendors and belfry crews, and Alaska’s acrid bounce weather, KUAC wasn’t able to barrage DTV on Ch. 9 on June 12. The complaints from admirers affected to await on Ch. 24 for account abounding in, as homes in the alien ranges of the Fairbanks bazaar were clumsy to accept the DTV signal.

“We had hundreds of calls,” says KUAC Director of Engineering Keith Martin. “We knew it was activity to happen, but there was annihilation we could do about it. We had aggregate in the works to fix it, but the timing was pushed out to September.”

So KUAC formed with Harris, its prime architect on the project, to get the appointment done afore the continued Alaskan winter set in and with minimum abeyance to on-air operations. Besides installing a new transmitter, antenna and manual line, the tower’s foundation had to be reinforced, and new guy affairs and guy piers installed. The aggregate of the appointment was done in a week, amid Sept. 13 and 20, and the base was off-air from Sept. 14 to 20. Luckily, the acclimate cooperated.

“The anniversary we had was in the 50s, so it was perfect,” says Nathan Smith, affairs administrator of manual for Harris.

KUAC did abundant association beat to active viewers, including ads in bounded newspapers and e-mail blasts, and a aftereffect annular reminding them to rescan their advocate boxes or agenda TVs to acquisition the base on Ch. 9. Although KUAC had planned to be off-air until Sept. 23, it resumed operations part-time three canicule earlier, and anon started accepting buzz calls from blessed viewers.

As Martin puts it: “The appulse wasimmediate.”

KUAC’s UHF-to-VHF success adventure is absolutely unusual, says John Howell, administrator of installations for Harris. The aggregation is currently alive with about 150 stations to advance their DTV coverage, says Howell, but best of them are attractive to aerate their power, including several VHF stations in the Plains states. Those stations attractive to about-face assignments are “predominantly activity from VHF to UHF,” says Howell.

According to the FCC, of the 79 abounding ability television stations requesting a approach substitution, 22 stations asked to change their approach allotments from a VHF to a UHF channel. Less than 10 went from UHF to VHF.

The problems suffered by high-V stations like WCPO Cincinnati are somewhat ironic, says Scripps’ Doback, as several years ago stations with a high-V appointment anticipation they would “be in heaven” because of the accepted aggregate of acceptable arresting advancement and low ability costs.

“It’s alone now that we’ve begin out the planning factors were apparently amiss in agreement of how abundant ability you charge to carbon analog service,” says Doback.

Raycom’s VHF accession problems in Biloxi and Jackson were primarily due to adjacent-market, co-channel arrest issues that prevented the stations from broadcasting at a aerial abundant ability to carbon analog coverage, says Chief Technology Officer Dave Folsom.

“It’s not an allegation of VHF,” says Folsom. “There’s annihilation inherently amiss with VHF. It’s aloof easier to accept interference, because it goes out further.”

Tags: broadcasting, DTV, Harris transmitter, transmitter, UHF, VHF

This entry was posted on November 1, 2009 at November 1, 2009 and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.