By Mark Wineka

mwineka@salisburypost.com

The broadcast industry and federal government have tried to inform the public that television stations will stop sending analog signals next year and start sending digital television signals only.

It means that homeowners depending on rabbit ears on top of their television sets or large antennas on their roofs to gain television reception will have to make a change by Feb. 17. Otherwise, they won't be receiving a television signal.

Plenty of publicity has been generated about this evolution in television. That said, Salisbury city officials still anticipate some residents will not have received the message and will be wondering what happened to their televisions when Feb. 17 arrives.

"We know there's going to be problems," said Mike Crowell, information technology services manager for the city.

"The more we can get the word out, the better we'll be."

In September, the city of Wilmington served as a test program for the changeover from analog to digital. Even with extensive advertising about the day of the change, many people were not ready.

Crowell said by mid-afternoon of the first day of the Wilmington switchover, the city had received 75 calls from people asking what happened with their televisions.

Mayor Susan Kluttz said it's important for citizens to spread the word and, if they know someone who might be affected, to let them know of the change coming so they can be prepared.

Salisbury City Councilman William "Pete" Kennedy previously had asked city staff to give a report about the change in televisions broadcasts.

Jason Parks, the city's Webmaster and the person who programs Time Warner Cable's Access 16 channel, went over some of the information Tuesday.

By law, all high-power television stations are required to upgrade their broadcast technology by Feb. 17, 2009.

Parks said the digital television or DTV technology has many advantages over analog.

Analog has been the traditional broadcast technology since television's inception. It's older and less efficient, and it will end for good Feb. 17.

DTV is more efficient and flexible. It's already available — all the television stations serving Salisbury, for example, already broadcast digitally, Crowell said.

But digital television will be the only way to send television signals over the air starting Feb. 17, as the analog system is put to rest.

Parks said digital television allows viewers to enjoy higher quality picture and sound, offers more programming options, frees up airspace for use by emergency response personnel and provides opportunities for viewers to interact with their televisions, using options such as on-screen program guides.

Televisions connected to a pay service are already prepared for the changeover.

Also, televisions with built-in digital tuners are ready.

But televisions that receive a signal over the air and do not have built-in digital tuners are not ready.

How might you know whether your television has a built-in digital tuner? Look for the words or abbreviations "digital tuner," "integrated digital tuner," "digital," "DTV," "HDTV" or "ATSC" on the television set or in the owner's manual.

Televisions are not necessarily prepared if they have phrases such as "digital ready," digital monitor," "HDTV monitor" or "HDTV ready."

For those people not ready, their options include buying a new digital television set, signing up for a pay television service or installing a converter box.

People who want to keep their old analog sets will have to buy converter boxes, and the government is offering converter box coupons.

The coupons are available on a first-come, first-served basis. A person can receive up to two $40 coupons, which expire after 90 days and are good on select converter boxes only. Parks said every analog set in a house would have to have its own converter box.

For more information, visit the Web site at www .dtv2009.gov or call 1-888-DTV-2009 to apply for the coupons.

Parks said there are advantages to getting ready for DTV now. If you still rely on an antenna to receive your television signal, you will still need one after Feb. 17, Parks said. More information is available at www.antennaweb.org.

Access 16 will be airing several public service announcements regarding the transition in coming weeks.

The city of Salisbury's Web site also has a link to more information.

The irony about Tuesday's presentation was that people who will watch a recording of the council meeting on Access 16 are already paying for television service and are ready for the era of digital programming only.

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