Meetinghouse Technology Newsletter - Sept

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techgy
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Meetinghouse Technology Newsletter - Sept

#1

Post by techgy »

The Meetinghouse Technology Newsletter for September contained information about a recent upgrade to the Church's Satellite system.
The satellite receivers in North America recently received a remote update to be compatible with the Church’s reconfigured satellite network. The primary motivation for the reconfigured network and resulting receiver update was to cut costs while maintaining a robust and functional satellite system. While every effort was taken to ensure a smooth transition, some updates were unsuccessful.
To alleviate any problems that may occur during a broadcast, those responsible for satellites and Church broadcasts should check their systems at least one week prior to any broadcast. This will allow time to repair or replace damaged or malfunctioning components before the broadcast. With the upcoming general conference, it is anticipated that some stakes may have problems with their satellite broadcast because their receivers did not successfully update.
The interesting thing about the article is that I received the newsletter via Email on Sept 30th, just one day before General Conference. Fortunately the week prior was the RS Broadcast so we had a chance to test the system.

Perhaps it might be best to be sure the newsletters are distributed in a more timely manner, especially if important news is included which in this case would have been considered as "timely".

I have tried twice to send feedback to MHTechNewsletter@LDSChurch.org only to have returned for security concerns.
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Biggles
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#2

Post by Biggles »

We had exactly the same situation. An email was sent out, by our UK satellite help desk, on how to correct loss of audio. This worked, but I still needed to contact them as we also have a second language need. This also worked after a bit of playing around with the settings.

Coincedently both the rf modulators feeding the designated language areas failed. Turning the two units off & on restored their operation, this took a little time to actually pin down. I can only speculate, however that the receiver upgrades, may have had a bearing on this additional problem. I had less than 30 minutes to try rectify these problems as I was recording the RS conference, from the previous week. This was the only daytime slot available to me to record this session, apart from past midnight broadcasts. I like my sleep though :-)

What I can say is that lying on the floor in the chapel, where our satellite receiver is situated (in my Sunday best), just as conference is starting, is not the best way to appreciate the messages being broadcast.

Just to clarify I had checked that the system was fully operational, on the Tuesday, prior to Confererence as per the instructions highlighted in techgy's post. From talking to previous STS's this situation appears to be quite common. Work is quite often carried out just a few days prior to a major broadcast. This makes it very difficult to comply with instructions about checking correct functionality, especially so close to the event. We don't all live a just block away from our meeting houses!

PS
Reading the original post again, I'm not quite sure, but the updates that affected the U.K appeared to have taken place up to two days before General Conference. Prompting my comments about leaving this work to the last minute and this occurring on a fairly regular basis.
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