Requesting and receiving connections

NOTE: The lease for the satellite system will expire June 30, 2006. IHETS will not support the system after that time and is offering a new service, IHETS Interactive, to replace it. No new equipment or connections are being installed and no new letters of understanding are being accepted. This information is for historical purposes only.

Because IHETS Television is by legislation a private network, IHETS policy requires that a location be authorized to receive the network signal before it may establish a connection. College and university campuses and Learning Centers are automatically eligible. Other locations such as schools or businesses, however, must be nominated by one of the member institutions in order to receive the necessary approval. This does not limit you to receiving only the programming from your nominating institution; it simply means that one of the member institutions vouches for the educational intent and technical support of that connection.

The procedures for becoming connected are itemized in checklist form in Appendix A. If you wish to begin receiving programs via IHETS television, contact the IHETS office and request a packet for connecting to IHETS Television. You will receive information about the system, equipment installation, costs, appropriate forms, and other information you will need to become a receive site.

First, you will need to complete the Request for IHETS Television Service form, Preliminary Site Information Survey, and sign the Letter of Understanding contained in this packet. To better understand your responsibilities, carefully read the Letter of Understanding, identify whom at your location will serve as the official administrative coordinator and whom will serve as the technical coordinator.

Have the appropriate administrator (often the CEO for a business, superintendent or principal for a school, or president or treasurer for a campus) sign the form and forward it to IHETS. IHETS will transmit the letters to the institution’s representative on the IHETS Management Committee, who will, in turn, sign the letters and send them to the IHETS executive director. Campus forms should be sent directly to the institutional Management Committee representative for signature and forwarding.

You should then prepare a purchase order for Advanced Microwave, Inc. for an on-site engineering study. The original purchase order should be forwarded to Advanced Microwave, with a copy to IHETS. Advanced Microwave will contact the person designated on the Preliminary Site Information Survey and schedule a visit to develop detailed installation requirements for your site and provide a firm cost quote for an installed system.

After you receive the quote, you may prepare another purchase orderfor the installation of equipment in accordance with the technical standards established for receive sites. A copy of the purchase order should be forwarded to IHETS. During installation, a verbal certification report is filed with IHETS. IHETS will not schedule to send programming to any site until it is certified. If you wish to install an IHETS Digital TeleResponse system at this time, a separate purchase order must be prepared and sent to IHETS.