The Nielsen Co. said Thursday that 29,390 households in the Sacramento region were not equipped to receive digital TV signals as of Sunday, a month after the nationwide analog-to-digital changeover.

That was an improvement from Nielsen's estimate of 64,000 area homes on June 12, when U.S. TV stations stopped analog broadcasts and went all-digital.

However, on a percentage basis, the Sacramento area still ranks 12th-worst on the national list of metro areas unable to receive DTV. Nielsen said 2.1 percent of the area market is not DTV-ready.

Among California communities, San Diego (2.62 percent, third-worst) and Los Angeles (2.11 percent, 11th-worst) were faring worse than the Sacramento area.

Nielsen said the Albuquerque/Santa Fe market in New Mexico was at the bottom of the DTV reception list on a percentage basis – 26,738 households, 3.88 percent of the market. Nationally, Nielsen said about 1.48 million households, or 1.3 percent, were "completely unready" for DTV as of last Sunday.

– Mark Glover

Mike Stone oversees Stephanie Shijo as she demonstrates a tree splitter that she and other students manufactured last month in a technology class at Franklin High. Stone, who retired last month after teaching summer school, started teaching auto mechanics 32 years ago.

Mike Stone started teaching auto shop 32 years ago to students he said were more inclined to mechanics than academics.

He spent the last seven years of his career teaching students how to use computer-assisted drafting to construct biodiesel plants, design heavy machinery and build a better beehive in Franklin High School's engineering program.

He said he watched vocational education evolve from shop classes to an array of career technical education classes including digital media, engineering and medical professions.

The 59-year-old and his colleagues had to develop many programs themselves, learning as they taught.

Now they are retiring.

"It's a big problem," said Dennis Guido, administrator for Regional Occupational Programs and work force development for the California Department of Education. "The retirees are going to create a huge void in career technical education nationwide."

Many of them moved out of industry jobs into teaching in the 1980s and 1990s, he said, and now they're reaching retirement age.

Stone graduated with a college degree in industrial engineering and worked as an auto mechanic before becoming a teacher.

It's harder now, Guido said, "to find qualified teachers willing to take a substantial cut in pay to enter the public arena."

Stone has tried to recruit former students himself for his job in Elk Grove Unified. He retired at the end of June after teaching summer school.

One prospective teacher, a 32-year-old computer assisted drafting specialist, told him she couldn't afford the pay cut.

Guido said California school districts are working hard to recruit career technical education teachers, who must have five years of work experience and a teaching credential.

Christy Moustris, Elk Grove Unified's director of alternative education, said that district has set up an internal mentoring program to train career technical teachers.

Stone worked with his replacement, Chris Alburn, for two years. Alburn has a background in construction and had already been teaching math at Franklin High before he became a computer-assisted drafting instructor.

Stone said the transition was far more abrupt when he was tapped in the early 1980s to replace a drafting teacher at Valley High School who left to teach college.

"Monday morning came and I didn't know how to turn the computer on," Stone said. "It was the worst year of my teaching career."

So Stone took college classes at night and taught what he learned to his students the next morning.

In addition to mentoring potential career tech teachers, Moustris said Elk Grove Unified has set up some teachers in summer jobs to qualify them for the work experience they need.

The shortage of these specialized teachers has meant the closure of some of the state's career technical programs, Guido said. Budget cuts have closed others.

"There are incredible success stories we keep hearing about despite the cuts," Guido said. "Now we have to scale everything back. It's very, very frustrating."

Stone said the courses provide students with 21st century skills.

"It's highly relevant, highly rigorous," Stone said.

During one of his summer school classes, Kiana Morioka, who will be a senior next school year, and Maggie Su, a junior, built a better beehive. It incorporated a solar fan and double-panes to cool the hive against global warming.

Stephanie Shijo had identified the need for a log splitter larger than most commercial splitters but smaller then the industrial-sized ones. She designed its parts on a computer and sent them to a machine in the shop that cut them out. She also incorporated a ramp, so the logs don't have to be lifted manually.

The engineering program is just part of Franklin High's Science, Technology, Engineering and Media program.

Elk Grove Unified Superintendent Steven Ladd said these programs need a strong curriculum and strong instructors.

Stone closed his shop on the last day of school like other teachers. But he reopened it the next day so students could work on their State Fair projects.

"I opened it at 9 a.m. and the place was full by noon," Stone said. "I had to say 'If you're not working on a fair project, go home.' "

Nicholas Kolesar, who will be a junior at Franklin High next year, prints out a presentation poster last month that will be displayed at the State Fair for his suction dredge project for dredging gold.

Stephanie Shijo works uses AutoCad, a computer aided drafting program, for her design plans at Franklin High. The Elk Grove district recently was honored for its high-tech vocation education programs.

Danny DiLiberto to guest at the FREE WebCast of the $10,000, 10-Ball Jackpots, LIVE from the Accu-Stats Arena. Expect the unexpected as BCA Hall of Fame nominee Danny DiLiberto, one of pool’s great “Rackontuers,” is likely to pull no punches Thursday & Friday night, 8pm EST. during the FREE internet broadcast of the Accu-Stats Game [...]

ACS Elects New Directors At its recent Annual General Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, the American CueSports Alliance (ACS) elected new directors and officers. Steve Allee (MO), Cheryl Armenta (CO), Craig Arnold (WA), Gerard Louviere (LA), Toby Perry (GA), Jay Wegener (MN) and Lee White (AZ) joined the board of directors for the first time, [...]

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More than a month after the historic nationwide switch to all-digital TV, some Northern Californians are still struggling to receive signals and watch their favorite programs.

The Federal Communications Commission said the June 12 changeover from analog to digital signals went well for most Americans. The Nielsen Co. said recently that 1.7 million, or 1.5 percent, of U.S. households remain in the dark, down from 2.5 million immediately after the switch.

But some area residents who made the switch are frustrated.

"I'm in and out. Sometimes I have the signal, and then other times, I have no signal," said Ann Ruiz of Colusa. "I move the antenna. That works sometimes, but then it just goes away.

"I've called some of the stations and that (FCC) help line, and they say I might need a better antenna."

Engineers with Sacramento TV stations say many of the viewer complaints they now receive involve no reception due to antenna issues. They said callers with older TVs have converter boxes needed to convert the digital signal, but they still get either no reception or on-and-off reception.

Even with a converter box, TV reception can be affected by topography, antenna positioning and distance from the source of a digital signal. Also, confusion over VHF and UHF bands persists.

TV stations nationwide moved to different frequency bands in the June 12 changeover. Some switched between VHF and UHF bands, requiring different antennas.

In Sacramento, Channel 3 (KCRA) and Channel 13 (KOVR) are now accessed in the UHF band. However, Channel 10 (KXTV) remains in the VHF band, so a UHF-only antenna will not bring it in.

During a recent on-air session, KXTV engineer Mike Cappicq recommended that viewers get an outdoor, all-channel antenna that receives both VHF and UHF signals.

Consumers with antenna problems also can seek help at www.antennaweb.org.

More digital TV consumer help is available from the FCC's hotline at (888) 225-5322 or online at www.dtv.gov.

Federal officials still recommend that consumers periodically do a "double rescanning" procedure to make sure they receive all available stations. Here's how that is done:

• Disconnect the antenna from the converter box or digital TV.

• Rescan the box or digital TV without the antenna connected. It's easily done with a remote, or follow instructions in the box/TV owner's manual.

• Unplug the box or digital TV from the electrical outlet for at least one minute.

• Reconnect the antenna to the box or digital TV, and plug the unit into the outlet.

• Rescan the box or digital TV one more time.

Also, there's still time for owners of old analog TVs to apply for federal $40 discount coupons to purchase digital TV converter boxes. Coupons can be ordered through July 31 by calling (888) 388-2009 or visiting www.dtv2009.gov.

Coupons will expire within 90 days of the date they are mailed. Converter boxes can be bought at most major stores with electronics departments.

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Aerojet, the subsidiary of Rancho Cordova-based GenCorp Inc., said it has been awarded a $40 million contract to deliver HAWK rocket motors to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command for sale to allied countries.

The company said deliveries of an unspecified number of rocket motors to AMCOM are expected to begin in 2010.

The HAWK is a surface-to-air guided, medium-range missile that provides air defense coverage against low-to-medium-altitude aircraft. Aerojet officials said the system is currently in use by 20 allied countries.

– Mark Glover

2009 BEF Junior Nationals & ACUI Collegiate 9-Ball Championships Head to Illinois State University Young Billiard Stars Take Aim! The most prestigious junior and collegiate pool tournaments in North America, the Billiard Education Foundation (BEF) 21st Annual Junior Nationals and the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) Collegiate 9-Ball Championships, will be held at Illinois State University [...]