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Town Talk: NUCAT high-definition channel upgrade

Over the past couple of years, New Ulm Community Access Television department (NUCAT) has been making the transition into a more modern production unit.

Since 2008 New Ulm citizens have turned to NUCAT to see meetings in the council chambers, church services, town halls, parades, concerts, and public speakers. Since the department was established, industry standards have changed. Consumers have come to expect High-Definition (HD) quality when watching video regardless of the source.

Switching to a HD channel was necessary and was accomplished by first updating the Pan, Tilt, Zoom (PTZ) system used to record meetings in the council chambers and by replacing the studio cameras used by our public access volunteers and organizations who create programming for the community.

Even with these projects completed, the department was still using a Standard Definition (SD) content server. This means that all of the new HD videos were being down converted to SD to be cablecast to home viewers. The last step of the transition was to replace this obsolete device with a new HD capable version. The installation was completed in early May 2019. Shortly after this Nuvera and Comcast, the cable providers in New Ulm, added HD channels to their TV lineups.

If you are a Nuvera customer, NUCAT can now be viewed in HD on channel 903 and in SD on channel 3. Nuvera also shares the channel in other neighboring communities such as Hanska, Searles, Sleepy Eye, Springfield, Courtland, and Redwood Falls. Channel lineups vary.

Comcast customers in New Ulm can view NUCAT in HD on channel 859 and SD on channel 14. The new HD channel now provides a full frame image with much crisper and clearer details in the picture. If you haven’t had a chance, make sure to check it out.

To see what’s playing on the NUCAT channel, a weekly TV guide schedule is printed in The Journal and shared on the City of New Ulm website. NUCAT can also be found on YouTube, by searching City of New Ulm, MN for all council chamber meetings or New Ulm Community Access TV for original channel programs.

If you would like to submit a program to share, purchase a DVD copy of a NUCAT original program, or have any other questions please contact Steven Sherman, Community Cable Access Coordinator at stevens@newulmmn.gov or (507)359-8290.

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Editor’s Note: The City of New Ulm presents a weekly column highlighting activities in different departments in the city government. Once a month the city will answer questions from readers. Questions on New Ulm city issues can be sent to comments@ci.new-ulm.mn.us.

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