U.S. over the air t.v. to get bigger and better

By Ken Johnston
Editor

There was time when the only television this area received was CBC from Winnipeg. Then in the mid 1970s a tower was erected near Baudette that saw three new channels from Fargo and Grand Forks added.
Then TV Ontario was added. It seemed like the area had hit a bonanza and it was all available free of charge via antenna.
With the recent move to digital t.v. signals the old analog tower near Baudette was facing an uncertain future. But recently the Lake of the Woods County Board voted to pursue upgrading it and committed up to $37,000 towards the projected upgrade cost of $157,000. They hope to access U.S. federal grants to pay the balance.
The county board is already in the process of upgrading the tower and will be running a series of in house tests in the near future. They have to spend the money to get the grant reimbursements.
If all goes as hoped they will not only increase the quality of the signals from analog to digital but will increase the number of channels currently available from the US through the air from three to nine. They would include CBS, NBC, ABC and new would be FOX and PBS channels.
Lake of the Woods County Commissioner Tom Hanson told the Record Monday that if all goes as planned the changes will take place in September. “We are hoping it all comes together where we bring channels in from Blackduck (PBS group) and send them to Roseau and they bring in channels (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX) and rebroadcast to us. If not we have a plan B but we are hopeful plan A will work.”
Older television sets will need digital converter boxes to receive the signals. Most newer t.v.s have a converter in them.
The old analog signals were available on UHF channels. They will remain in those frequency bands and the new ones will be there as well.
The old UHF antennas many local people have on their rooftops will work and Hanson said that in fact the signals may be even better. “We needed to put a 10 amp preamp on the tower to match existing signal strength. We are putting a 50 amp and will run it about 40 amp. So people should get a better signal than now,” explained Hanson.
Lance Lindal of The Source said Monday that both his store and True Value in Rainy River can bring in antennas and digital converter boxes for customers if need be. “I can get them in two days if someone wants them,” said Lindal.
Hanson who also manages Noble RadioShack in Baudette said they carry both converter boxes and antennas.
In the U.S. all t.v. stations converted to digital signals in June. In Canada the change has yet to take place. So why can people with UHF antennas still receive the signals from the three U.S. stations? Hanson said that the County is paying their local cable company to convert the signals from digital back to analog for the time being.
Once the upgrades are made the analog signals will cease. So stay tuned for future updates as this process unfolds.