The latest drama or sitcom. National and local news and weather. Cheering for your favorite college or pro football team on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Children’s educational programming. Watching reruns of that old favorite show you had many years ago. What do all these things have in common? You can see them all on your television without an expensive cable or satellite subscription in much of White Pine County.
Since the early 1960’s, the White Pine TV District #1 has been operating television translators to bring in the news, sports, educational, and entertainment we all love. Currently, the White Pine TV District #1 brings in 41 television stations in uncompressed HD (high definition) from Salt Lake City (KUTV CBS2, KTVX ABC 4, and KSL NBC 5), Las Vegas (KVVU Fox 5, KLAS CBS 8, and KLVX PBS 10), and Reno (KTVN CBS 2, KOLO ABC 8, KRXI Fox 11). In addition to the network feeds, all of the channels carry subcarrier channels which carry secondary programming such as news and weather, networks such as MyNetwork TV and Retro TV playing classic television programs and movies, and PBS KIDS.
White Pine TV District broadcasts from four sites in the area. The main site on Cave Mountain, is the hub of the district’s broadcast system, receiving TV via microwave relay sites and broadcasting it to our other sites on Squaw Peak (serving Ely and McGill), Rib Hill (serving Lund, Preston, and White River Valley), and Motorcycle Hill (serving Ruth). In addition, we also broadcast KSL FM 100 from Salt Lake City at 95.3 FM in Ely and 103.9 FM in Lund and Preston.
All White Pine TV District #1 sites broadcast in ATSC (digital) format. Most modern televisions purchased in the last 10 years or so should have a ATSC tuner built in. Older televisions may require a converter box to receive digital transmission. As far as antennas, any antenna made for television reception will receive digital television signals, there are no special antennas needed to receive digital television. For most customers, you will probably find that an outdoor directional antenna, pointed to the transmission site with best line of site from your home, will offer you the best reception. A small preamplifier may be beneficial if you will have long runs of coaxial cable or split the signal to multiple televisions in your home. Plug your antenna into your television, find the option in your television’s menu to scan for channels, and you should see the channels become available. Some customers may find their television receiving signals from multiple WPTV sites and may have duplicate channels. A complete listing of the 41 channels can be requested by contacting our office. The contact information is at the end of this article.
Maintaining a broadcast system such as this requires dedicated, knowledgeable personnel. We are proud that we can maintain broadcasting on the air over 99% of the time. When troubles do arise, our staff respond as quickly as we are able to safely. With our broadcast facilities located on mountain top areas, inclement weather can make travel to our broadcast sites difficult, especially in the winter months While we strive to restore service as quickly as possible during any outage, please understand that sometimes there are delays beyond our control, such as equipment failure which may need to be replaced or repaired. We do our best to notify the community in event of prolonged outages.
The White Pine TV District board holds regular meetings monthly, usually on the 2nd Monday of the month at 5:15pm at the district’s office at 1701 Avenue F in Ely. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend and take part in our meetings. We can also be contacted by phone at 775-289-2359, and by email at whitepinetvdistrict@gmail.com. You can also find more info at our website, whitepinetv.com. We are proud to serve the citizens of White Pine County and hope you enjoy the benefits of television service in White Pine County.
ANTENNAS AVAILABLE FOR QUALIFYING SUBSCRIBERS
Many local residents don’t have cable for a big-name television provider. KGHM Robinson Mine, in 2019, made it possible through a grant awarded to the White Pine Television District #1 for some residents to have the possibility to have an antenna that would provide more channels. Bath Lumber also assisted with this project, by providing the antennas that will be installed at a reduced cost.
The White Pine Television District #1 with assistance from White Pine County Social Services, began a program to provide over-the-air antennas, including installation, to qualifying residents of White Pine County.
To be considered, you must live within the WPTVD service area, have an income of 150% or less of the federal poverty guidelines for your household, and have over-the-air television as your primary source of television programming, i.e., not currently subscribed to cable or satellite television service.
Applications are available from White Pine County Social Services who will select candidates based upon the criteria above. Applicants who are approved will be provided an outdoor antenna for over-the-air television reception, all hardware and cabling, and professional installation. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
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