>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Television viewers in Union County ill-equipped for the digital age will not lose their reception early next year.

“Screens will not go white, dark or snowy,’’ Greg Spence, chairman of the Blue Mountain Translator District Board, said Monday night.

The same is true for Wallowa County television viewers.

Still, rumors are circulating that those not equipped to receive digital signals will lose all television reception. Here is the reason for the confusion:

The federal government has mandated that broadcasters switch their TV signals from analog to digital as of Feb. 17, 2009. This mandate will affect viewers who receive their signals from broadcasts and not impact cable or satellite service subscribers.

Television stations must begin broadcasting in digital on Feb. 17, 2009. This means those people receiving their signals directly will need digital televisions or digital converter boxes for their TVs to view the stations’ broadcasts.

Viewers in Union County who receive their signals via the Blue Mountain Translator District and those in Wallowa County watching via the Rural Area Wireless Television system will not be affected for the most part by the mandate. The reason is that the translator systems, which receive signals from stations and relay them to viewers, are “low-power’’ facilities. They are not required to switch to digital next year, said Oregon Public Broadcasting engineer Al Steffler, who is contracted by the Blue Mountain Translator District.

The BMTD recently put out a press release about the digital conversion in which Spence succinctly describes what its subscribers will have to do continue receiving television signals in 2009 — “Simply stated, nothing.’’

Viewers of Oregon Public Broadcasting in Union County will be affected by the move to digital. OPB is not carried by the BMTD but is instead broadcast separately by its own transmission facility. OPB will begin broadcasting in digital early next year. Viewers without digital TVs or converter boxes will not be able to receive it in Union County.

OPB viewers are urged to get converter boxes now so they can be prepared for the digital switch.

The federal government is offering two $40 coupons per household to help people with the cost of converters. The coupons do not have an expiration date, but viewers are encouraged to get them while they are still available, Spence said.

He recommends that people with analog sets purchase one of the following converter box models: Digital Stream DX 8700, Echostar R-40, Philco TB100HH9, Digital Stream DSP 7700T, Magnavox TB-100MG9 and Philco TB150HH9.

Spence said it is important that the converter boxes have an “analog pass-through’’ feature. This allows viewers to switch from analog to digital stations without having to plug in and unplug an assortment of wires.

Wallowa County viewers will not need converter boxes to pick up OPB early next year because its Rural Area Wireless Television facility carries it, Steffler said. Still, some people in Wallowa County will be impacted by the digital switch if they are picking up stations off the air from Spokane. These stations will be broadcasting in digital next year.

Wallowa County’s Rural Area Wireless Television facility carries only Portland channels. Union County’s BMTD carries stations from Portland plus KTVB of Boise.

The BMTD and Rural Area Wireless Television are not going digital next year. But they both will likely be mandated to in the future, Steffler said. He suggests that it would be a good idea for viewers to get prepared to switch to digital. The first step, as mentioned, involves obtaining a coupon from from the federal government for the purchase of a converter box. There is no guarantee that the coupons will be available when low-power translator districts are required to go digital.

Information on obtaining coupons is available at the following websites: www.ntiadtv.com/ceeb and www.dtv2009.gov/lowpower/Default.aspx .

Spence estimates that about 60 percent of BMTD subscribers have analog televisions.

The BMTD has about 1,200 subscribers in Union and Baker counties. Subscribers pay $100 a year.