Switch to digital crosses some signals

The conversion from analog to digital broadcast signals created some unexpected complications for some businesses relying on the old analog broadcast frequencies.

On June 12, television stations converted from analog to digital broadcasts. Along with that, the remaining analog signals had to be divided among emergency radios and wireless radios for churches, theaters and other businesses.

Steve Bertani, managing director at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, discovered the wireless analog microphones the theater used for its productions were broadcasting on the same frequencies as the band that was now being used for emergency broadcasts.

“When the Federal Communications Commission decided on the conversion, we had no idea it would be affecting our microphones,” Bertani said. 

Employees at the Lyceum Theatre were concerned that the shared analog microphone signals would interfere with their productions. With the conversion, the analog signals their microphones broadcast on would no longer be able to fit between the analog frequencies used for emergency communications.

“That’s our product, the shows. We have got to have things working correctly,” Bertani said.

Bertani said the theater had not forecasted or budgeted for altering the microphone frequencies on their old equipment, and they had to resolve the issue during the final week of the “Hairspray” production to make sure the new system would be up and running before the opening of “Annie.”

“This forced us to get new microphones, and we basically had to throw out our old ones,” Bertani said. 

This pushed the theater to go into “emergency fundraising” mode to gather $12,000 to purchase 12 new microphones, which Bertani said was the minimum needed for the production of “Annie” that was about to kick off. 

Through appealing to board members, supporters and the public, the theater raised about half the money it needed in the first 24 hours of fundraising. After 36 hours, it had raised the full $12,000 to buy the new microphones.

“It was pretty overwhelming that just within a few days we got a lot of that money,” Bertani said. “With everything going on with the economy, it was amazing how fast the donations came in.”

County officials said they have avoided most issues of interfering signals in both the emergency management radio system and 911 frequencies. 

“We have analog and digital radios, and we have not had any issues,” Sedalia-Pettis County Emergency Management Director Dave Clippert said.

James Theisen, Pettis County’s director of technologies, said the 911 system has experienced some bleed-over since the conversion, but most have been minor and easily fixed. The county had a problem with wireless microphones broadcasting too close to the 911 system, causing some minor interference with incoming calls.

“Once we realized what the problem was, we asked them to change their frequencies and then we had no problem,” Theisen said. 

Mark Plexico, store manager at The Vox Box in Marshall, a store that rents audio equipment, said the transition has been confusing for many of the store’s customers. He said the store itself was not affected much because it had been preparing for the transition for more than a year. However, the business had to dispose of much of its old analog equipment in preparation for the conversion.

“You can’t buy them anymore, and you can’t sell them,” Plexico said. 

He said manufacturers, churches, schools and theaters would likely be most affected by the changes.

“Manufacturers are looking at different ways of doing things,” Plexico said.

Many questions remain about the future impact of the transition, he said. “I don’t know what might happen down the road,” Plexico said.

Rick Kaplan, spokesman for the FCC, said people do not need to throw away their old analog televisions or radios in response to the conversion. Instead, residents can obtain coupons to install converter boxes to pick up the new broadcast signals.

“The converter box converts the digital signal, so the television will understand the analog signal,” Kaplan said.

Local station KMOS-TV, which broadcasts from Warrensburg, is hosting mobile DTV clinics to help consumers cope with the switch.

Residents may visit the DTV Walk-in Center, in Room 16 of the KMOS-TV studios at the University of Central Missouri’s Wood-Martin Building. The center is open 4 to 8 p.m. Fridays through July 31, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekends through July 26. In addition to visiting the center, people may call toll-free at 800-211-6972 or e-mail questions to dtv@kmos.org.