[ResNetAnnounce] Update on the Ongoing Cable Television Outage

[Residential Network Announcements]

Dear resident,

As many of you are aware, the digital cable transition outage is still continuing for some areas of Residential Housing. Up until now, we have had no further information to report from the Apogee contractors, and as such, we have refrained from using ResNet Announce. In the emails, phone calls, and walk-in complaints that we have received, many residents have become frustrated with the lack of updates on the situation. Rest assured that we are passing along all relevant information from the contractors as soon as we receive it.

The Apogee contractors have been on-site for the last few days investigating problematic buildings and verifying the availability of service in areas from which we have been receiving complaints. Today, they focused their efforts on the lower portion of Palo Verde (1100-6300) and were able to corroborate the descriptions from the trouble tickets we have been receiving, as well as identifying the source of the issue. The problem affecting lower Palo Verde is also responsible for ongoing outages in Arroyo Vista and Middle Earth.

Apogee's estimate for when this problem will be resolved is, optimistically, early tomorrow evening, following the arrival of the necessary replacement equipment.

As we continue to move forward with this transition, we would like to reiterate two very important pieces of troubleshooting advice. Many of the tickets being addressed by the Apogee contractors have been isolated problems related to the following two points:

1) Our new cable television system utilizes a completely digital signal. As a result, older televisions that do not possess a QAM digital tuner will no longer function in Residential Housing. Prominent television manufacturers began including QAM tuners around 2006, and all televisions manufactured for sale in the United States after 2009 will have one.

2) Before you are able to pick up any of the new digital channels, you will need to run a channel-scan or auto-search on your television. This must be done regardless of whether or not you previously ran one during the interim analog system. We apologize that this may be a lengthy process for your television, but it is a necessary step in setting up your device for use with the new system.

As always, we apologize sincerely for any inconvenience caused by this cable television cutover. The university's housing and IT departments are working with Apogee to make sure that all resident concerns are being properly addressed. We ask for your continued patience as we sort through our open trouble tickets, as well as the incoming emails and voicemails.

Eric Duplantis
Network Administrator
ResNet - Network Operations
UCI Office of Information Technology