Quincy, IL

Don McClean once sang about the day the music died in his popular anthem American Pie

Well, no delicious dessert to talk about here, but many call today, June 12, 2009 the day analog TV died.

KHQA made the switch late Friday afternoon shortly after 3:00.

KHQA's Chad Douglas was out at our transmitter as our analog transmitter was shut down, and he was surprised at who he found.

"Today analog died," says George Gross.

George Gross is a retired KHQA engineer who helped bring this analog transmitter on line in 1995.

"It's a sad day I guess. Digital is the future, so we'll go along with it and hope for the best," says Gross.

When Gross installed this transmitter, he had some help. One of them was this man, Mike Seaver. He also spent a lot of time with the old transmitter.

"It was suppose to last five years. Here we are 14 years later and finally got to shut it off," says Seaver.

What was it like for you?

"I enjoyed it actually." says Seaver.

With the punch of a button, under the flash of a camera held by Gross, Seaver got to begin the process of shutting down the analog transmitter. Then in a role reversal, Gross got to finish the job of taking analog off the air for KHQA. Then the process began of switching to the digital transmitter.

"They are hooking up the new transmission lines to the new digital transmitter to the antenna," says Seaver.

One more familiar face was out at the KHQA transmitter, Mike Finley, a Senior Field Service Engineer for Harris Corporation, the maker of the analog and new digital transmitters. Finley has also spent his fair share in this building.

"It's exciting to see some Harris equipment work this long until this last gasping breath," says Finley.

This old analog transmitter is truly a jewel. It was build in 1974, and was used for about 20 years at a TV station in Chicago. KHQA bought it and installed in September 1995. A good behind the scenes friend, that's let us into your homes for a long time. Rest in Peace analog TV.

If you're seeing us now, you have digital TV, but if you have a friend of family member who can't see us, here's some good information you can pass along.

They might have to rescan their channels on their converter box or digital TV to pick up our digital signal.

If they have questions, our station at 301 South 36th street in Quincy will be open, or you can call us at the dates and times on your screen.

If anyone needs help hooking up a converter box, we have a couple of numbers for you.

This is for Missouri residents only...call Avo General Services at the toll-free number is 888-562-9128.

Best Buy also is offering this service across the country...call toll-free 877-229-3889 between 9 a-m and 11 p-m.

The Area Agency on Aging which covers west central Illinois also wants to make sure seniors get the help they need with the digital conversion.

If seniors in that area have questions, they can call 800-252-9027.