For all of southern California, from Santa Barbara to Palm Springs and south to the Mexican border, the moment of reckoning is here. This Saturday, June 6, 2009, the 2 GHz ENG band reduces in size by 35 MHz and TV stations begin using digital modes to reduce their bandwidth to 12 MHz per channel.This will give Sprint Communications valuable new spectrum for operating future generation PCS devices. They’ve been required to reimburse local stations for the replacement of all incumbent analog gear, including more linear front-end amplifiers, receivers, control devices, mobile transmitters, and training. The ultimate cost is likely to be beyond the company’s wildest estimates.

Regional independent liaison organizer Chris Neuman said Tuesday morning that he sees no remaining obstacles to the cutover this weekend. Other than some remote camera-transmitter locations, all ENG transmissions are ready. He said that Saturday he will conduct with Sprint conference calls to check on status of the switchover.

For most stations, the conversion is a simple matter of loading or switching to new bandplans in the remote site slave units in their market and making test shots.

The conversion kickoff occurred here in May of 2005. Yuma-El Centro was the first market in the US to make the transition in September of 2006.  Due to its enormous number of participants, the southern coastal California region has taken much longer to finish.

New Chapter 36 member Steve Moreen announced in May that he’s joined the RF Specialties Group as a sales representative from his office in San Diego. RF Specialties handles a large line of products including audio consoles, processing, codecs, and terminal gear as well as RF antennas, transmitters, and cable. He says they are a primary rep for the highly regarded Nautel line of radio transmitters. You can reach Steve by phone at 619-501-3936.

Local TV stations KNSD, KUSI, and KPBS on Mt. San Miguel are poised to shutdown their normal analog services June 12 with most of the rest of the nation. None of the three must change channels. KNSD’s Director of Engineering David MacKinnon says current plans have them providing “nightlight” information service on UHF channel 39 until June 26 at full power.

That will leave only low power broadcasters left on analog, along with Mexican broadcast stations like English-language XHDTV 49 Tecate and XETV 6 Tijuana.