Digital Wairarapa TV looms

Crystal-clear television in Wairarapa is now just weeks away.
Work on upgrading the old analogue system to a digital one is under way and means the region will have access to the new system via their UHF aerial well before the planned analogue phase-out in 2013.
The new service provides crystal-clear pictures for free once a Freeview Terrestrial box or Freeview-capable TV is installed.
Warren Harding, property manager at Johnston, Dick and Associates, said Wairarapa was one of 10 secondary areas to get the technology and barring delays, it would be available by the end of June.
The Auckland-based company is in charge of the transition after winning the government contract to provide the service to nine of the 10 regions in the expansion project.
The digital system will be provided by a new transmitter at Popoiti, east of Greytown, and will take in all of the Wairarapa plains, from Masterton to Lake Ferry, including Martinborough.
However, Masterton viewers might need to redirect their UHF 90 degrees clockwise to pick up the new signal, as it currently stems from Bennett's Hill.
But Mr Harding said unlike the old analogue technology, the digital system did not rely as heavily on line-of-sight reception.
"It should be perfect, really, but if it isn't, you might need to re-align your TV antenna."
He said "ghosting" caused by a delayed or bounced signal was not an issue with digital TV, saying instead the only issue could be pixilation due to low signal strength if the receiving antenna was pointing too far from the source, he said.
As one of the final secondary regions to be upgraded, Wairarapa is one of the last places in the country to access the service.