1979
King
family pleased with earth
station

DOC's Mike Nawrocki (right) points out a
feature
of the 1.2 m earth
station to the King family, Macdiarmid, Ontario
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Since
Doreen King and her family, of
Macdiarmid, Ont., were loaned a 1.2 m
dish antenna for direct reception
of TV signals off the Anik B
satellite as part of a federal Department
of Communications (DOC) project, her neighbours have been
asking where they too can get a dish.
Until the Sept. 25
start of the King
family experimental direct-to-home broadcasting
service, the King family had been
getting poor TV reception. But that's
changed. Now signal reception,
says Mrs. King, has been "real
clear".
Furthermore, "all the neighbours
want to know about it, if they're going to get a 'dish' too and if they too can get clear
reception by hooking into the dish."
Mrs. King says the direct-to-home reception of TV
Ontario's programming has helped her with the children. "The kids have a real
interest in it now. They watch it on the weekends and after school because it is
so clear, not snowy or fading like before. It's kept the kids happy."
The King
family is just one of about 100
families, community centres
and cable TV companies in rural areas which are being loaned 1.2 m or
1.8 m dish antenna earth stations
as part of the DOC project.
As a result of a project sponsored by DOC in
co-operation with broadcasters and provincial governments, Canada became the
first country to install earth stations in private homes to test a direct
broadcast satellite service. The project is planned to continue until at least
next spring.
"If this project is a success
and if our government decides to develop the
concept of direct-to-home satellite
broadcasting a step further, millions
of Canadians in remote and rural
areas could benefit," said
Communications Minister David
MacDonald at the time of the Sept.25 announcement.
The Department purchased the earth stations from SED Ltd of
Saskatoon. Electrohome Ltd. of Waterloo, Ont. and
Andrew Antenna Ltd. of
Toronto were major subcontractors.
DOC engineers have been working for several
years to develop the technology of
small, low-cost earth stations.
The
dishes are being distributed to
families in Ontario and British Columbia
and in the Yukon and Northwest
Territories. More than 12 hours a day of TV programming will be
available over Anik B, which was launched
last December for Telesat Canada.
The Department has leased channel space for two years for this and other projects using the 14/12 gigahertz transponders
on Anik B.
Ontario
viewers will have access to
programming supplied by TV Ontario,
while those in British Columbia
and the North will have access to CBC and BCTV programming.
Users of the earth stations in
Ontario are being chosen by the project
participants which include DOC, the
Ontario Educational Communications
Authority, the Ontario
ministries
of Transportation and Communications, Culture and Recreation, and
Northern Affairs.
Although there have been other direct
broadcast satellite experiments in Canada
and other countries including tests conducted
by DOC using Hermes, the eighth
Canadian satellite - this trial is
the first involving extended
transmission of regular programming to substantial numbers of home receivers.
Mr.
MacDonald said the Department
has undertaken this project "not only to
test the feasibility of using small,
low cost earth stations for direct-to-home satellite broadcasting
but also to stimulate an important
high technology industry in Canada."
The earth stations to be used in the project cost
about $3,600 a unit but could cost as little as $500, or even less, if
manufacturers are able to sell to a mass market.

1979
La famille King
et
sa station terrienne

Mike Nawrocki, du
ministère des
Communications,
montre
à la
famille
King de Macdiarmid
(Ontario)
un des composants
de
l'antenne parabolique
de 1,2 m
|
Doreen King
et sa famille, de Macdiarmid (Ontario), ont reçu en prêt une antenne parabolique de 1,2 m pour la réception en direct de signaux de télévision au moyen du satellite Anik B. Et depuis, leurs voisins ne
cessent de demander où ils peuvent eux
aussi en "emprunter" une.
Avant le 25
septembre, date où a débuté le service expérimental de radiodiffusion en direct au foyer dans le cadre d'un projet du ministère fédéral des Communications, la famille
King
captait des signaux de télévision
de mauvaise qualité.
Mme King
estime maintenant que la réception est "vraiment claire".
De plus, "tous les voisins veulent en savoir plus long: peuvent-ils eux aussi se procurer une antenne et obtenir une bonne réception en s'y branchant?"
Mme King
pense que la réception
en direct des émissions de l'Office de la télécommunication éducative de l'Ontario est bénéfique. "Les enfants
s'y intéressent beaucoup maintenant.
Ils écoutent les émissions
pendant les fins de semaine et
après l'école, parce que la réception est tellement claire et qu'il n'y a plus de "neige" ni de perte de l'image comme auparavant."
Les King
font partie des cent familles, centres communautaires et compagnies de télévision par câble en région rurale à qui le Ministère prêtera des stations terriennes à antennes paraboliques de 1,2 m ou de 1,8 m.
Ce projet est mis en
oeuvre
de concert avec les radiodiffuseurs et les gouvernements provinciaux. Le Canada est le premier pays à
installer des stations
terriennes chez des particuliers
pour mettre à l'épreuve un
service de radiodiffusion en direct par satellite. Le projet doit se
poursuivre au moins jusqu'au printemps prochain.
Le ministre
des Communications, M. David MacDonald, a déclaré, lors de l'annonce du programme le 25 septembre dernier, que "si cette expérience s'avère un succès et
si notre gouvernement décide
d'aller de l'avant, des millions de Canadiens en régions éloignées
vont en bénéficier. |