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Anonymous
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Date Posted: Wed, February 04 2004, 22:05:28 PST
SwedChef of http://www.sliderule.net/, et al.
Thank you for posting an informative article on the sliderule.net site. Please allow me the opportunity to make some corrections cited in the article requiring clarification.
The Executive Director of Peoples' TV Association, Inc., is Eve Runnels, Registered Agent with the Secretary of State's Office [SOSO]. Anyone wishing to communicate with Eve Runnels may do so on this message board, as you will have seen that she has already posted on it.
Mike Lannigan died in July of 1989, and was not with us to see the down spiral of the translators ultimately being shut down for reasons ably and well described by Ms. Runnels. Early on, I had been told things which turned out to be otherwise. I apologize for anything I may have said which rose from misunderstandings, or are not as I was told.
Mr. Lannigan was one of several very dedicated founders. The founders would be very PROUD of the current board members, Ms. Runnels, and the many volunteers who made it all possible by giving much of their life -- so that 12,000 people have had TV reception over the past 48 years.
Concerning notification to the Washington State Secretary of State and the FCC that that PTVA had a new registered agent, that the Association will not be disbanded, and an attempt to renew the repeater licenses: such communications took place a week ago, when the available information was that the group had disbanded, the nonprofit corporate status was to expire in 24 hours, and the FCC licenses had been turned back in to the FCC two days earlier.
Ms. Runnels was copied on these notifications. The following day, Ms. Runnels clarified the facts to the state and the FCC. As a result, the matter was amicably cleared up as nothing but a misunderstanding with good intentions in mind. As to the intentions, which drove the notifications, they were as follows:
[1] It was feared that the nonprofit status would be taken away by the state and the IRS before all the business could be properly accounted for & put to rest; the communities had an opportunity to save 48 years of service to the people, and lend a hand to keep the group from dissolving; and,
[2] Keep the FCC from unnecessarily invalidating licenses, which are and remain in effect through 2006 [nearly 3 years], were it not for the FCC having taken away the frequencies previously granted for use by the Peoples’ TV group.
The basis for the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up without dispute, and the matter was resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned. I apologized for this misunderstanding and am grateful that Ms. Runnels so ably put the misunderstanding to rest.
As to anyone's attempts to resurrect the Association and get the repeaters turned back on: there are many at Soap Lake, in Ephrata, and Moses Lake, who have come together by phone, in person, by e-mail -- to get the facts; to offer suggestions; to work together as a community -- to find alternatives, if any, and/or see if it is possible to get TV reception back for 12,000 Columbia Basin households. At this point, there are upwards of 30+ individuals involved in this effort, and they deserve a lot of credit for their willingness to get involved, and make a difference.
It is quite true that literally thousands of translators across rural America face what we face first in the Columbia Basin. It is unclear to anyone how this will evolve and what steps will bring TV reception back for our area.
There are options available besides Pay cable and Pay satellite reception which most in the Columbia Basin are unaware exists. You are encouraged to visit this message board often, post your comments, ask your questions, and send your friends, coworkers, family members, neighbors, the URL to this site. It is http://www.voy.com/172145/. Encourage them to visit often, read, and post.
Work is in progress, which is very promising. We are hopeful these efforts will lead to have local TV signals uplinked to one or more Satellites beaming Free-To-Air [FTA] signals to earth. Galaxy 10R is the primary satellite for our region, located at 127 degrees West. Galaxy 10R already broadcasts hundreds of unencoded, unencrypted TV signals in digital and analog, for anyone to receive, wherever they are.
The group of local volunteers is communicating with the five stations Peoples' TV was broadcasting with their translators, and a number of others to add to the 100’s already available free to receive by anyone.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the required equipment, contact me at your convenience. E-mail works best. The required equipment can be purchased and installed by anyone for as little as $200, which is much less then a 32" analog or digital TV set.
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You may contact me either by email (martinringhofer@aol.com) or in writing (P.O. Box 216, Soap Lake, WA 98851) or by telephone (509-246-0679
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