Firefighters help residents install DTV converter boxes

EDINBURG - With more than 30 percent of Rio Grande Valley homes only receiving over-the-air television broadcast signals, no other market faces a stiffer task in making the switch to digital television.

It's why broadcasters asked firefighters and emergency management officials to help the Valley become DTV ready.

Five area fire departments and the Hidalgo County Emergency Services Division are working with 2-1-1 and local television stations to help elderly and disabled residents install DTV converter boxes.

The converter boxes are needed for American broadcasters' Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital signals.

Almost 70 percent of Valley homes have cable or satellite service - meaning they won't need the converter boxes for televisions hooked up to the service - but about 34 percent do not.

``We have a big challenge before us,'' said KRGV NewsChannel 5 general manager John Kittleman, noting that the Valley's percentage of over-the-air homes is the highest in the continental United States. ``And we're really running out of time.''

The Valley has more than 108,000 over-the-air homes, Kittleman said. It's impossible to tell how many of those have made the conversion to DTV already, but he estimated about half to two-thirds still rely on analog signals.

In the DTV technical assistance program, modeled after a similar program started by broadcasters in Wilmington, N.C., when it made the DTV switch in September, firefighters go into homes to help residents install boxes, Kittleman said. Residents must already have the converter box and antennas at their homes to participate in the program.

For those residents who are unable to install the box after calling 2-1-1 for technical assistance, firefighters will be dispatched to the home when available to help troubleshoot the problem.

About 80 to 90 percent of residents should be able to do the installation by themselves, Kittleman said. But some residents - particularly the elderly and disabled - may have difficulty moving the television around or adjusting the antenna.

The fire departments got involved with the project because of the emergency messages broadcast by television stations, said Tony Peáa, the Hidalgo County fire marshal and emergency management coordinator. Emergency management personnel rely on broadcast signals to provide information to residents during hurricanes and other emergencies.

If residents do not have access to television in March because they are not ready for digital signals, Peáa said, his office has lost its primary means of communicating information.

Emergency responders will also benefit from DTV because Congress mandated the switch to free up space in the broadcast spectrum for emergency services.

Shawn Snider, the Edinburg fire chief, said his firefighters have been sent to a handful of homes, most of them taking less than 30 minutes. In addition to the installation work, firefighters also check smoke alarms and provide safety information.

He said he expects the number of calls to ramp up in the weeks leading to Feb. 17 and even after the date as many homes make the switch after their televisions no longer work.

``People are informed by the media what's occurring by the minute,'' Snider said. ``When this flip on the DTV happens, they can't be left in the dark.''

For residents with older televisions that do not have converter boxes installed, the government is offering each household two $40 coupons toward the cost of the box.

For a DTV converter box coupon, call (888) DTV-2009 or visit www.dtv2009.gov.

Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.