BAY AREA TV UPDATES

We receive most Bay Area TV from Sutro Tower, which is undergoing major re-work. Only a few of those stations are working normally, and even those are subject to daytime shut-downs. For updates, go to their web site: www.sutrotower.com.

THE STATUS PAGE

This page is updated whenever there are changes, so it might be helpful for you to bookmark it so you can verify whether a problem is community-wide and what action might be in process to correct it.

The Status page reports:

• System Wide problem (problems with the cable itself).
• TV and FM problems.
• Broadband Internet connectivity problems.
• Problems with mail and web-site servers.

System Status Information

Power Outage

Commerical power in entire community was out at 2:15 AM this morning, September 2, resulting in the loss of all TV, Internet, and digital phone service. Service was restored at 4:00 AM.

Emergency Maintenance on September 2.

A hard drive is failing in one of our servers and requires immediate replacement. Even though the drive is mirrored, the nature of the problem is such that we need to replace both drives. This activity is planned for for 11 AM to 12 PM and may result in modems going offline when the server is shut down. Modems will come back up when the server is returned to operation. Sorry for the short notice, but we feel that the nature of the problem requires a rapid response.

Scheduled Maintenance Outage

Thank you for your patience as we completed a system configuration change on Saturday morning, August 28. Service on the East side of the system was down for about an hour starting at 7:45 AM. Internet service on the East side was degraded until about 1PM as we had to re-balance the upstream levels.

The new configuration "splits" the system into separate East and West zones. That improves reliability because a failure in the outside plant that brings down one zone will not bring down the other. Also, we are now using new cable and conduits from the head end down to Mt. Foraker (one of the old conduits was being crushed by tree roots and the other was improperly using a telephone conduit). The change also improves the upstream noise floor and doubles the upstream bandwidth for all Internet customers.

If you did not get advanced notification of this scheduled outage, we don't have your e-mail address. To be added to the list of notifications, just send an e-mail request to support@lucasvalley.net.

TV and FM

Classis Arts Showcase (Ch. 42)

Classic Arts Showcase moved their signal to a different satellite. We can't move our dish to the new satellite because the same dish is used for ESPN signals. So it looks like we're going to have to drop Classic Arts Showcase from our lineup. KMTP (Cable box 179 and Digital 32.1) has several hours of Classic Arts Showcase programming every day -- check listings.

Breaking News! Probably as a result of complaints from small operators like us, CAS informs us that the satellite company that moved them to a different satellite has relented. We don't have a date yet, but we expect CAS to return soon to our system.

The New HD Pak

We have added several new services to the HD Pak which is now comprised of the following sixteen high quality high-definition services:

In addition to these, subscribers to the Starz!/Encore Pak can now enjoy Starz! HD.

To enjoy the HD Pak you need a high-definition cable box or TiVo HD and a subscription to the Digital Variety and HD Paks.

Digital Simulcast and West Coast Feeds

In response to the many requests for West Coast versions of popular national TV channels, we have moved History Channel, A&E, Food, Sci-Fi, and HGTV from East to West Coast versions.

Many analog channels are now duplicated in digital form which will allow any of our newer cable boxes or CableCARD-equipped devices to get digital picture and sound. Consult the TV lineup to locate these channels. We will soon be adding AMC, Disney, ABC Family, CSPAN1, and CSPAN2 to this list.

Digital Local Channels

Some local channels remain problematic, especially those from Sacramento. We are considered "deep fringe" for Sacramento transmitters, which are located at Garden Grove, and reception varies according to atmospheric conditions.

Broadband Internet Service

Up and running normally.

Mail and Web Servers

Up and running normally.

Last Updated: 9/1/2010, 8:00 pm pdt.