USS Enterprise (CVN 65)
The Shuttle Newsletter Edition
“We are Legend”
April 11, 2012 Issue
Teamwork Tackles TV Troubles Story by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Robert Guerra
USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea – Life aboard an aircraft carrier is filled with daily challenges and it can sometimes seem like even the simplest tasks require a painstaking amount of energy. Personnel aboard aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN 65) are familiar with the kind of sacrifices necessary to sustain a 50-year-old warship while on deployment.
Combat Systems department’s CS-9 division officer. “We estimate that we have two times more [televisions] aboard than the system was originally designed to handle.” In addition to having more sets aboard, another issue that explains signal degradation is the interference from shipboard emitters, such as radar. “It is also important to note that as the ship transits, we experience intermittent loss of signal because of the movement,” said Myers. “We work diligently to reacquire the satellite signal and get the broadcast back. The Interior Communications Electricians that own the SITE system are working to improve the quality of the service, and understand the importance of the system to the morale of the crew.” While Enterprise is pierside in her homeport of Norfolk the ship is provided with satellite service from DirecTV and receives good signal strength. As the ship moved away from her homeport, and into the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility (AOR), the satellite service was disconnected from its local provider. The ship now uses the Orbit Showtime Network for satellite programming. “We are anticipating that within the next week we will be in the area of full Orbit satellite coverage,” said Myers. “Once we are fully up on the Orbit satellite we will have an additional nine channels that should have the same quality that we enjoyed with DirecTV.” However, even with the better satellite coverage that the Orbit system will provide, it will not fix all of the signal problems the crew may encounter. “People need to remove all unnecessary TV’s from the system,” said Myers. “People have made changes to the system adding splitters, jumpers and splices to accommodate more televisions and have weakened the signal strength for everyone. It’s also important to note that some spaces also have amplifiers located in them that are designed to boost signal strength. If you have one of these amplifiers in your space, please ensure that it is not blocked by anything because they require adequate air flow for cooling to ensure proper operation.” With extensive efforts to correct the signal and satellite
“Until we receive more DVDs, we have a gross imbalance of choices on tape versus the DVD channels.”
However, there is one sacrifice the crew was not expecting to make: television. In recent days, the issue of programming and signal quality reached a peak when crewmembers tuned in hoping to see news of a Navy jet that crashed near the ship’s homeport of Norfolk and had a hard time obtaining a clear picture. In order to fully understand the scope of the issues, it is important to know that it is not just one, but two different departments, that are responsible for maintaining the ship’s SITE TV system. Media department is responsible for the content of movies aired over the ship’s closed-circuit television system. Combat Systems department is responsible for the satellite programming and the signal quality to the televisions throughout the ship. “The system is designed to handle a finite number of televisions,” said Chief Warrant Officer Roger N. Myers,
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