By JAYSON JACOBY

Baker City Herald

Dennis Spence is striving to reassure people who live in certain rural sections of Baker and Union counties that their TV sets need not go blank next February.

Preventing that from happening is a pretty simple matter, said Spence, who is chairman of the board of directors for Blue Mountain Translator District.

That district supplies TV signals to about 1,200 customers in the two counties who don’t have access to cable.

At issue is the federal government’s heavily publicized mandate that broadcasters switch their TV signals from analog to digital as of Feb. 17, 2009.

That requirement does not apply to the Blue Mountain Translator District because it is a andquot;low-power facilityandquot; by federal standards, Spence said.

The District will install converters to ensure that its subscribers, who pay $100 per year, continue to receive analog signals after Feb. 17, 2009, Spence said.

However, he recommends District customers buy their own digital-to-analog converters, devices for which the government is offering each household two $40 rebate coupons (the converters cost $45 to $70 each).

There are two main reasons Spence suggests Blue Mountain Translator District subscribers buy converters now:

First, subscribers who have an analog TV set (which includes most sets made more than a couple years ago) and who watch Oregon Public Broadcasting will need a converter, because OPB will switch to digital broadcasts as early as the end of 2008, Spence said.

Because OPB signals are separate from Blue Mountain’s, the District will not convert OPB broadcasts to analog, he said.

Second, the District itself probably will, sometime in the future, switch to digital broadcasts.

The bottom line, Spence said, is that District subscribers eventually will need digital converters.

He notes, however, that subscribers should be sure to buy a converter with an andquot;analog signal pass-through feature.andquot;

Those converters will allow viewers to watch both analog signals from the District, as well as OPB’s digital broadcasts, Spence said.

In addition, some District subscribers receive KTVB, the NBC affiliate in Boise, directly rather than through the District, Spence said.

Those subscribers will need a converter by next February, too, because KTVB, like OPB, must convert to digital broadcasts.

Spence recommends the following models of digital-to-analog converters:

Digital Stream DX 8700

Digital Stream DSP7700T

Echostar R-40

Philco TB100HH9

Philco TB150HH9

Magnavox TB-100MG9

More information about the switch to digital, and the government’s rebate program, is available online at:

www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon/