PECO repairs affect ResNet in residences

Attention campus residents: if you were thinking of catching a movie or miniseries on USA or TNT tonight, get ready to touch that dial. Residents of ResNet-equipped dormitories will lose access to satellite-fed cable channels at 6 p.m. this evening, according to Penn Video Network Coordinator Christopher Cook. The disruption in service is due to preventative maintenance work scheduled for PECO Energy's No. 2 substation, Cook said. But residents should have their cable back at 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, he added. The cable channels are beamed into dorm rooms from the satellite dish on top of the Annenberg School for Communication, Cook explained. But Annenberg gets its power from the substation, located underground near 37th and Spruce streets. Physical Plant electrical engineer Charles Boyle said power to the substation must be turned off so crews from PECO and Physical Plant are able to perform the necessary maintenance tasks. "Annenberg Center has only one electrical service," he said. "[It] happens to be the side that feeds to Annenberg is the side that needs to be shut down. "That's why we can't provide [the dormitories] with any power for a period of time," Boyle added. Annenberg Building Administrator Deborah Porter said PECO informed Physical Plant, which in turn informed her, that the work had to be completed this week. She then attempted to balance their needs with those of faculty, staff and students. "We did our best to arrange it so that people would be as [least] inconvenienced as possible," Porter said. "People who are studying [in the Annenberg Library] will be inconvenienced, which we're sorry for, but classes won't be disrupted." Cook said all of the "off-air" channels that residents receive -- including local network affiliates and Public Broadcasting Service -- will not be affected by the shutdown. All "Penn-originated" channels, including SAS TV19, UTV13 and the Penn Video Network, will also be operational, he added. Today's shutdown marks the first large-scale service interruption since the reengineering of the ResNet cable system during the summer of 1994, Cook said. When the ResNet program began, students who paid the $70 additional ResNet fee complained about consistently fuzzy transmission. As a result, administrators explored alternative network configurations and began using microwave transmission technology. The preventative maintenance project is intended to keep the system running as smoothly as it currently does, Cook said. "I know it's a little annoying to have the channels out, but if you take a look at it -- since we went to hard cable -- we've got a pretty reliable system," said Wharton junior Jeffrey Greenhouse, the Video Bulletin Board manager.

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