Buckeye CableSystems switching to all-digital signal

jackson@sanduskyregister.comBig changes are afoot for Buckeye CableSystem customers. Beginning this month and continuing through December, the company is upgrading to an all-digital system.While the switch will affect all of the company's customers — the company says that everyone will get a better picture, and faster Internet speeds are on the way — perhaps the biggest change will be for the folks who get cable TV by simply plugging their cable into the TV.Buckeye is hoping those folks are paying attention, because a cable connecting the TV to a wall plate won't work anymore. People who do that will need a new device.You'll have to use a converter box, or at least have a small device called an HD DTA that will convert the digital signals into a signal your TV can understand. Through 2015, Buckeye will provided every home with two free HD DTAS (with additional ones available for $1.95 a month.)If you already have a converter, such as a DVR, cable box or Gateway Media Player, you're already ready for the new system and you don't have to do anything.If you love TV and you're ready to get a converter, Buckeye will sell one to you. Company officials say the "most robust" solution for a whole family of TV fans is a multi-room DVR called the Buckeye Media Gateway. It will record up to six shows at once and make shows available on up to six TVs equipped with a media player.Devices that also will work are available in electronics stores, although it's wise to make sure that what you are buying will work with Buckeye's system, suggests Keith Wilkowski, vice president, business and legal affairs, Buckeye CableSystem. A quick phone call to Buckeye to check compatibility can save a lot of grief, he suggests.Jeff Abbas, Buckeye's president, notes that some customers of the company may have a main TV with a converter but may have secondary TVs in kitchens, bedrooms, basements or other locations without one. Those folks will want to at least obtain the HD DTA devices, he pointed out."We will be making every effort to reach all our cable TV customers until they confirm they're aware of and prepared for the digital upgrade," Abbas said.Cable companies across the U.S. have been switching to all-digital systems, Wilkowski said. Buckeye serves customers in Erie County, in the Toledo area and in Monroe County, Mich. In Erie County, Buckeye serves customers in Sandusky, Perkins Township, Huron and Castalia.Wilkowski said the digital upgrade provides for a better quality TV picture if the customer is using a high definition TV.But replacing a "fat" analog signal with a thin digital signal also frees up bandwidth. That means Buckeye can offer more channels and programming and can more easily continue to upgrade its already-fast Internet service, he said.There's another benefit, at least for the cable company: Digital TV signals are encrypted, so it's much harder for customers to steal cable TV service.Wilkowski said that while encryption means that good customers no longer have to subsidize the thieves, that wasn't a major consideration for Buckeye."I don't think theft of services has ever been a big problem for us," he said.