Update from San Diego's KPBS

I just received the following update from Doug Myrland, General Manager of KPBS in San Diego:


Hello All, & Happy May Day:


This is just a brief update to offer our apologies for the unusual number of glitches, schedule variations, and other problems related to our HDTV service since April 15. As you'll recall, we initiated an upgrade to double the capacity of our HDTV server on the 15th. The upgrade caused many system problems, and the manufacturer, the Grass Valley company, has been in town trying to fix those problems. They have swapped cards, reloaded software, re- ingested the programs, and we still have problems with the server locking up. They are now getting us a complete HD server system replacement that will include new drives. When that operation is accomplished, we will proceed to install our new program automation system during the month of May. When that is complete, our ability to schedule and pre-record HDTV programs will be second to none. The new system will also allow us to automate the delivery of program schedule information to the various services, so our web site will not be the only place our schedule is available, and our signal will also contain program guide information for those set top boxes capable of receiving it. In the meantime, we fear there will continue to be occasional technical difficulties, and some periods of time when we will deviate from our web site schedule and default to the PBS loop. Again, we offer our apologies, and please know our programming, engineering and operations staff are doing all they can to minimize any interruptions or schedule changes. Thanks for your understanding. Doug Myrland, GM, KPBS-FM/TV/DT