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You may have noticed that Congress mandated that “full-power” TV stations will not be able to broadcast in analog after February 17, 2009. While the majority of the viewed TV broadcast stations are full-power stations, three other categories of TV stations exist – “low-power” stations, “Class A” stations, and “TV translator” stations. There is currently no deadline for these stations to convert to digital broadcasting.

A TV translator station rebroadcasts the programs of a full-power TV broadcast station. Translator stations typically serve communities that cannot receive the signals of free over-the-air TV stations because they are too far away from a full-power TV station or because of geography (such as uneven terrain or mountains). Many of the 4,700 licensed TV translator stations operate in mountainous or more remote areas of the country. Rockingham County operates several translator stations that serve various areas. County translators on channels 18, 33 and 9 carry WUSA out of Washington, DC. County translators on channels 46, 39 and 17 carry WTTG out of Washington. And county translators on channels 19 and 7 carry WVIR out of Charlottesville. While the February 17, 2009 deadline for ending analog broadcasts does not apply to low-power, Class A, and TV translator stations, the FCC will require these stations to convert to digital broadcasting some time thereafter. Nearly 2,000 of these stations have been authorized to construct digital facilities and some are broadcasting in digital already. The FCC is currently considering the remaining issues involved with the low-power digital transition and will make decisions regarding these stations in the future.

If you purchase a digital-to-analog converter box to watch digital broadcasts on an analog TV and also wish to continue watching analog TV translator stations, you should purchase a converter box with “analog pass-through” capability, which allows analog broadcast signals to pass through the converter box to be tuned by your analog TV. NTIA’s TV Converter Box Coupon Program has certified converter box models that have analog pass-through capability. A current list of coupon-eligible converter boxes is available at https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm. The converter box models that have analog pass-through capability are noted on the list with an asterisk next to them. In addition, NTIA will mail a list of current coupon-eligible converter boxes, noting with an asterisk those that have analog pass-through capability, to each household that receives converter box coupons. You can also check with your retailer to determine whether the converter box you are purchasing has analog pass-through capability.

If you purchase a digital-to-analog converter box without analog pass-through capability, you may have to connect an antenna switch or a signal “splitter” to bypass the box if you wish to view analog TV broadcasts. Check with the manufacturer of the digital-to-analog converter box and your retailer if you need instructions on how to connect the box to view broadcasts from both analog and digital stations.