TechnoBabble

Last week at a church function, I was approached by one of my fellow parishioners’ asking me about the upcoming Digital Transition. After my usual spiel about converter boxes and digital transmitters, he said, “How are you going to turn it off?” “Turn what off?” I answered. “The transmitter” he responded. I then went into the procedure of turning a transmitter off and before I got two sentences in he said, “No, no. How are going to sign off the analog transmitter for the last time?” I paused a moment and then said, “Oh. I don’t know. Haven’t thought about it.” We have been so busy trying to make it happen; I haven’t even thought about that moment, at 11:59 pm on February 17, 2009 what will be on the air to signal the end of an era.

 

The obvious answer is Seinfeld (if it is still scheduled as the 11:30 pm program) will end. We will do our normal top of the ID graphic that is required by the FCC, the analog channel 8 transmitter will go off, the UHF channel 35 digital transmitter will go off and the new digital channel 8 transmitter will come on, with that same ID graphic still on and then King of the Hill (if that program is still scheduled for midnight) starts. Life goes on. In my almost 30 years of broadcasting, 16 of it at WGHP, I have had the honor of turning on and off many stations/formats in that time. Guess that is why I haven’t thought about it so far.

 

In 1979, while in college, I started a campus radio station. It wasn’t anything fancy, just a station that broadcast through the AC wires in the buildings so it didn’t require a license from the FCC. At the time, it was the highlight of my life, though little did I know…..

 

In 1984, at my first full time job at a small AM/FM station, we swapped frequencies on the AM station with the other AM station in town. At noon on the day of the change, during the noon newscast, we swapped frequencies. It was my job to turn off the transmitter at the old transmitter site and to make sure it couldn’t come back on since it was located at the other AM station in town. At the appointed time, the signal was given, I reached up and turned off the old ancient Raytheon AM transmitter. The radio I set up to hear my transmitter come on the air played static only. Five seconds go by. Ten seconds go by. Fifteen seconds go by. Thirty seconds go by. Still nothing but static. I am now freaking out since I am 3 miles away from my transmitter site and I am the only station engineer! Forty-five seconds later, the static is replaced by the station owner’s voice saying, “Are we back on yet?” When the station owner hit the ON button, good ole' Murphy was there and the circuit breaker for the transmitter tripped. Luckily the Program Director had enough sense to check the breakers and found it and reset it and turned on the transmitter.

 

One year later in 1985, I was working for a different radio station that was moving their studios and FM transmitter site. The old transmitter site was turned off at midnight and the next day at 3 pm the new transmitter site and music format started. As the new station hits the air, I am standing on the control console table dodging the DJ as I complete the wall installation of the speakers. There is NEVER enough time to get it all done!

 

In 1989, I am now in Greensboro getting ready to sign off Country 102, WBIG for the last time. It is 5 am and those who haven’t heard that the country format is dead expect to hear “Billy Buck and the Waking Crew.” All they hear is the overnight DJ say his good byes as I am at the transmitter site north of Greensboro and when he finishes, I punch the transmitter off and static. Nine hours later, I am completing the reconfiguring of the studio for the new format, 102 Jamz, WJMH with TV cameras ready to capture the first instant of a new station. As the time comes, I find myself behind the control board finishing up some last minute wiring the Program Director wants before we go on. With seconds to spare, I hit the ON button on the remote control for the transmitter north of Greensboro and the static in the control room speakers go away as the Program Director makes the announcement of the new format.

 

We fast forward to April 29th, 2002. It is 5 pm on this Monday. After spending the weekend installing the new low power digital transmitter with my boss Ross Mason and fellow station engineer Marty Doty, we are ready to turn on WGHP-DT channel 35 for the first time. The 5 pm ID comes on and I turn on the digital transmitter. Neil McNeil begins the FOX8 5 O’clock News totally oblivous to the history that has just been made.

 

Four years later, we are now getting ready to turn on a new transmitter site and on March 31st 2006, we are turning on the new channel 8 transmitter and tower, the same one that in just 3 short years will be converted to a digital channel 8 transmitter for that date with destany, February 17, 2009. As 4 o’clock approaches, I let my boss, Ross have the honors of this turn on as I turn off the old channel 8 transmitter site.

 

Six months later, on August 24th 2006, I am once again at the controls of a new transmitter as we turn on the full power channel 35 digital transmitter. At 11:35 am, I hit the antenna switcher that will switch the transmitter from the dummy antenna to the real antenna. The transmitter excites the antenna and 1 million watts of power hits the airwaves. I remotely turn off the low power channel 35 transmitter and no one really notices the difference.

 

Now I am once again in the middle of a major change where I will once again be in a sequence of turn off/turn on. Technically I know how it will be done. What happens on air is yet to be determined, but with new FCC rules on educating the public it may be more than just a legal identification.

 

As the traditionalist that I am, I would love to see a 30 minute recap of how we got to 11:59 pm on February 17, 2009 and then ... the switch. But of course, I will be watching just like everyone else. But as usual, I will be at the transmitter site, punching the buttons. Making it happen. My place in the universe, I guess.