February 2008 Archives

We are less than a year away from a big transition. On February 17th, 2009, a big portion of the analog spectrum will end. You may have heard about this on TV or radio. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation going around.

There are 2 issues in play.

1. The analog frequencies for TV stations will expire. The stations will still exist, but they will only broadcast digitally. This will ONLY affect people who get their TV SOLELY through an antenna. If you watch TV via cable or satellite, this will NOT affect you. Don't believe your provider if they tell you otherwise (now they might be changing some of their equipment at the same time, but that's a separate issue). If this change affects you, you will need a converter to take the digital signal coming though the air and convert it back to analog for your TV. Go to the FCC website to get a coupon for the converter. Currently all Chicago area (and Rockford and Milwaukee) stations are broadcasting both in analog and digital. So next year, they will just shut off the analog and keep broadcasting digitally.

As a side issue, digital does not necessarily mean HDTV. All HDTV is digital, but not all digital is HDTV (like squares & rectangles). Almost all shows are now recorded in high definition. Pretty much just some random reality shows and cable/satellite only shows are not in high definition. And those are planning to switch soon.

2. The other issue is our wireless mics. Currently all wireless mics use unused TV frequencies to operate. For instance we don't have a TV station 28 here. So that is one of the frequencies that we use for our wireless mics. If we moved these systems to Lubbock, Texas, we would be in trouble. Their ABC station is channel 28. So churches down there use wireless system with other channels. However, once these analog frequencies get shut off next year, a big change happens. TV channels 52-69 will no longer be available. They are being auctioned off right now to the highest bidder. Companies such as Verizon, AT&T, and Google are bidding billions of dollars for the right to sell devices that use these frequencies. Not only will it be bad to use wireless mics in this spectrum because of interference, but it will be illegal. Thankfully none of our wireless systems are in this spectrum. One of the churches around here will have to replace $30,000 worth of equipment that is within that spectrum. They will basically become boat anchors.

The FCC also wants to sell off the "white spaces" in between the new frequencies to these companies. This would be horrible. If this happens, our channel 28 wireless systems would be unusable. So would all wireless systems. Thankfully Shure and all the other wireless manufactures are talking to Congress about this and the impact it would have on our nation (all TV & film productions, Broadway, live sporting events, political conventions, etc all use wireless systems).

So that is the issues in a nutshell. I hope this wasn't too confusing. If you have any questions, please ask.

Say goodbye to a cramped tech booth. We are expanding!! Beginning the week of 2/25, the tech booth will be expanded back one whole row. We will also add a counter in the back corner. This will give us much needed room, not only on Sunday mornings, but especially for big productions.

We also have a very busy month ahead of us. Women's Conference, Catalyst, Good Friday, Easter, and a 5th Sunday! So hang on tight!

Another week, more stuff. Had to add a 4th row of chairs in the choir loft because the choir keeps growing. Looks like I will have to order some new mic stands for the choir mics to get a better reach.

Didn't have time to hang the Roboscans this week. We'll try again next week. I also start talking with Teri about the kid's musical next week. I'll let you guys know what we need and when.

We're looking at expanding the tech booth backwards one row. Even on a normal week, it can get really crowded in there. I will type up a proposal next week for it to get approved.

Still working on re-organizing the network drive for all the computers. It's a whole lot cleaner right now, and I need to work to keep it that way. Roger is working on the new server and hopefully in a couple weeks we will start installing it.

Well, that's about it. Off to Super Wal-Mart and then small group in McHenry.

Ok, I know right now it's February 1, but hey. Most of you won't read this today. :)

Sorry to report it was a pretty boring week. Just catching up on random stuff and starting to get details for Good Friday.

Sunday for the youth Super Bowl party, we will have high definition. We bought an antenna that will get the signals, a good pre-amp, and a tuner. I tested it this past week and everything works great!

Which if anyone has any questions about the digital transition that is happening next year, just ask. There is a lot of misinformation going around.

Go Bears!!