Better Specs, Higher Tech for ETV

    East Haven Public Television’s (ETV) relocation a few months ago to 400 Coe Avenue promised newer, more diverse programming, but the new station doesn’t just offer improved content for viewers–it also offers new opportunities for those who want to be behind the scenes.

    In terms of the new equipment, ETV Facility Manager Doug Sisson said the station has applied for a Public Education Government Programming and Education Technology Investment Account Grant (PEGPETIA), a quarterly grant that hasn’t been offered before.

    “It came about because AT&T came to town offering their U-verse service. It’s IPTV-it’s television coming in through a DSL [digital subscriber line] Internet connection,” explained Sisson.

    AT&T’s service is different because it only sends enough data to a television set to display the channel being watched, unlike normal cable, through which viewers tap into the large bandwidth of channels that is constantly being streamed to their home. According to Sisson, IPTV has all the benefits of normal cable, including channel surfing, but uses less bandwidth.

    “This grant was setup to help all local stations pay for the equipment to broadcast on the U-verse service,” said Sisson.

    If the station gets the grant, it will be making long overdue updates to its technology–not just for itself, but also for the public.

    “We are adding more government coverage. As things get more interesting at these government meetings, I think more people will be tuning in.” said Sisson.

    The new equipment will be put to use to record government meetings in their entirety, a process that used to be very difficult because of the tape’s one-hour limit. These worries are now alleviated by the introduction of SD card memory-a smaller, cheaper, more reliable method that can tape up to eight hours.

    “The weird thing about SSD [solid state discs] is it started just a few years ago at the professional level and, almost at the same time, a couple of low-end cameras came out that ran on hard drives or memory cards, but there wasn’t much in the middle [of the market] for a long time,” said Sisson, adding that high-end equipment can cost as much as a luxury sedan and low-end equipment isn’t good enough to be used for broadcast.

    But other problems arise with all this new technology; ETV needs to have enough staff to videotape all the events the station wants to broadcast.

    “Every once in a while there is a town meeting not being covered and we encourage people to film them,” said Sisson. “As far as loan-out equipment [for these people], that’s where the biggest improvement will come.”

    In order to take out equipment from ETV, one must prove he or she is an East Haven resident and sign a few sheets. Taking out this new equipment is free. There are even plans to train people, with some seminars being held at the station and others being taped and given out with the equipment.

    “We ask whatever you use this equipment for, you broadcast in the end. If you want tape your child’s play at school, that’s great,” said Sisson. “As long as there is no commercialism.”

    Because the station is a non-profit organization, students looking to fulfill community service hours can take training seminars at the station and film community events for credit.

    “We are open Tuesday and Wednesday nights, so that works well with students’ schedules,” advised Sisson.