Michigan PBS Station Taps Utah Scientific for HD Routing

PBS member station WKAR-TV in East Lansing, Mich. has received a new digital routing system from Utah Scientific Inc.

The Utah-400 router is equipped for both SD and HD signals, as WKAR-TV provides two SD and HD off-air broadcast service, as well as another three program streams for metropolitan area cable television viewers.

The station has been using Utah Scientific routing equipment since 1995, and the new Utah-400 is destined to replace the earlier AVS-2 analog system installed there. The reliability of the AVS-2 was an influencing factor in the acquisition of the new Utah Scientific equipment.

"This new switcher will fully and directly interface with our existing equipment and is capable of being controlled by our new automation system," said Gary Blievernicht, director of engineering at WKAR-TV.

The Utah-400 will be working in conjunction with an Omneon Spectrum video server, which is being controlled by Nverzion automation. This WKAR-TV upgrade went online in May. Also being planned at WKAR-TV is a new digital master control facility.