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Show County updating TV Reception sites Grant Seaman suggested simple cinder block constructions. Parsons said, "Good buildings help- most reception problems come up during bad weather and a building can provide necessary shelter for a technician while he repairs or adjust the translator." The other engineers who made recommendations to the commissioners com-missioners were Douglas Nielson, a translator utilization engineer for the University of Utah's KUED, and Carlyle Johnson, local television engineer and operator of the Parowan translator site. In a unanimous decision the Iron County Commission decided to update the television reception site used by Parowan and Paragonah by buying new UHF equipment after hearing the recommendations of four TV specialists at their meeting last week. All county sites presently use VHF equipment but the experts explained that new developments in the translator tran-slator field have made the UHF equipment very reliable and economically reasonable. According to TV engineer Kent Parson from the University of Utah, UHF costs have dropped from an approximate $15,000 per station to about $5,000 per station. County commissioners have been concerned over television reception problems in Parowan and Paragonah since lightning struck that translator site last fall. Commissioner Jim Clark said,"We have had so many phone calls from the people living in Parowan and Paragonah that we have to do something." The engineers said that reception problems throughout the county are caused by the overlapping of reception signals in the VHF system. Parson said,"I realize tha people don't like to change but UHF has lots of advantages-power line noises and other things don't effect it the way they do VHF." He said that UHF's disadvantages in the past have been corrected with its reliability and economy now being comparable to VHF equipment. Parsons also said that the state is studying television reception and would like to have at least six stations available in southern Utah. Commissioner Clark was concerned about costs to citizens who do not own televisions capable of receiving UHF signals. Parsons said that costs to most people would be $20 for a television converter f rom VHF to UH-F UH-F channels. Parsons also pointed out that television sets built after 1967 can all receive UHF since manufacturer's have been required to produce sets capable of receiving both UHF and VHF signals since that time. Parsons said that the Knsco site in Beaver County has been having "periodic problems" and needs to be replaced. While the commissioners have decided to go with the UHF system at the Parowan site. The system will take at least a year to be operational. Application will be made immediately im-mediately according to Parsons to the Federal Communications Commission Com-mission for the proper licenses and permits. The engineers warned that this procedure usually takes twelve months. The commission has budgeted $34,334 this year for upgrading the county's television sites. While possible plans for changes at the other four sites in the county were discussed, no definite decsions were made. Possible plans are a site on Cedar mountain although the engineers discouraged this idea since the land is owned by the Bureau of Larid management. Plans for eliminating the Minersville site were also discussed but local teleyision technician Elvin Webster objected to this proposal since he uses the site to back up Cedar City's main reception site. New buildings to house equipment were also discussed. Commissioner |