Digital Television (DTV) in Kalispell

Here we are, four months after the much-publicized "DTV Transition" and to be completely honest, the situation is still extremely confusing for many people. This is largely because it was intentionally confusing. There are multiple kinds of broadcast television service - full power, Class A, Low Power (LPTV), translator, etc. Only full power stations were required to transition. Additionally, cable companies are not under any federal obligations regarding what system they use in their system.

Thus, on June 12th, a large number of analog television stations remained on the air! The ads proclaiming that "all TV is going digital" were never anything but lies (or at the least, the very constrained world view of city dwellers representing the major television stations). It was a campaign of misinformation created by the nation's full power TV stations who represent the vast majority of broadcast television viewing in the United States. All of THEIR TV was, indeed, going digital.

Here in Kalispell, we only have one full power station - KCFW 9 (NBC). This is the only station in Kalispell that was required to go digital and the only one that was on-air June 12th. KTMF (ABC) and KPAX (CBS) are full power stations out of Missoula that serve Kalispell through low power translators that were allowed to continue broadcasting in analog (and continue to do so). Additionally, PBS and TBN reach Kalispell via low power translators that continue to broadcast in analog.

By choice, KTMF and KPAX have launched digital translator stations (on RF channels 19 and 15, respectively) in Kalispell that also provide FOX and The CW (because you can put more than one video feed on a single digital RF channel thanks to digital compression). These were launched after June 12th, and a simple rescan of your digital TV or converter box may be all it takes to receive these channels. TBN has applied for a license to flash-cut their station to digital but has not done so yet, and I am unaware of the local PBS affiliate's future plans for their Kalispell translator. This means that if you wish to receive PBS or TBN at this time, you will continue to need to view these channels in analog. Your setup will determine how to do this, but if you need assistance with this setup please email me and I'll be happy to help you out!

This sounds great, but what if you've done a rescan, and all you're getting is KCFW-9, or if you're not getting anything, or if you're getting picture breakups? It's all about the antenna. Digital signals will provide a perfect picture or an unwatchable picture. If you had an analog picture with static, you will generally have a perfect digital picture as long as the static wasn't so bad as to render the picture almost unwatchable. If you had ghosting (technically known as multipath interference), you are in a much worse position. Ghosting is the enemy of digital television - it confuses the 8VSB receiver that American digital television uses. If you currently have an indoor antenna, and your issues are with KPAX and KTMF, I strongly recommend trying the famous Silver Sensor antenna- this antenna, currently sold by Philips - is the antenna that was used to prove to the FCC that 8VSB digital reception indoors was possible. Unfortunately, this antenna is designed for UHF band reception and is not designed to receive the VHF band where KCFW is located. However, for most people in Kalispell, KCFW is strong enough even a bare piece of copper wire will work fine to receive it, and thus all five stations will come through a Silver Sensor antenna.

If this antenna doesn't prove adequate, or if you'd rather have answers than randomly try things, then toss me a message and I'll be happy to provide you help with your DTV reception troubles - including site surveys (to determine what you can expect at your house) and dual analog/digital setups (to receive TBN and PBS in addition to the digital channels) - at mark@comicexpressions.com