Who We Are

As television grew across America in the 1950s and 1960s, residents of small, remotely located communities found that they couldn't receive the TV stations built in the large cities not far away. In 1952, Sterling, Colorado folks could not receive the new KFEL-TV, channel 2 from Denver. This same scenario developed in towns like Price, Utah; Sierra Vista, Arizona; Ukiah, California and many others.

A creative group of TV engineers, radio hobbyists and mountain men put their heads to the problem and devised a simple solution. On hills above some of these small towns, a large receiving antenna was erected to capture the distant TV signal and re-transmit it on a different channel with enough power to cover the town needing TV. Thus was born the earliest translators.

Over time, the engineers sought approval from the Federal Communications Commission for these systems—and the TV translator service was officially born. As they became acquainted with one another and met on mountaintops, in coffee shops and burger joints, they began to capitalize on the power of numbers over the years and the National Translator Association was born.

Founded as a support, educational and fellowship organization for these hard-working techies, the NTA has since become the leading proponent of TV and FM translator systems throughout America. On these systems, remote towns can see major TV networks and educational TV programs, emergency broadcasts, local and national news. Motorists can receive many FM stations as they travel—FM stations which without strategically located translators, would not be heard by travelers and rural residents of America.

Today, we at the NTA continue to fight for the opportunity to bring TV programs to smaller towns, however remotely located. We face the existential threat of the FCC selling TV spectrum out from under our viewers in the same way that some cities declare eminent domain.

Join us—and help support our viewers, whose local antenna TV is under threat.