AVON, Conn. -- The switch to digital TV was made Friday, and it went without a hitch at WFSB.

The change marks another milestone in a long series of changes that have been made at the station over the years.

Transition Made To Digital TV

"The Travelers Insurance Co. wanted to get into this new thing called television, so they built Channel 3 and put it up on this location as well," transmitter engineer Dave Patterson said.

The transmitter building in Avon was built for WTIC radio in 1929. TV arrived 28 years later and has gone through a slew of changes, from the switch from black-and-white to color to the addition of stereo sound to digital broadcasting.

The change allows the station to put out a lot more on the air through the 20-ton antenna perched atop the town in Avon.

"Since we've gone into the digital age, because of the efficiency of digital compression space, we can put four channels in the space that we normally had one in the analog days," Patterson said.

Dave Patterson, who has been with the station since 1971, is one of the people who have been overseeing the switch to digital. He keeps the transmitter working on multiple channels using about as much power in an hour as the average home uses in a month.

"We have remote control of the analog transmitter, which will be going away in another 10 days," Patterson said. "And then, over here, we can actually look at the data bits that are being put out to make sure they are correct and proper."

Asked what the next big change could be, Patterson said, "Three-dimensional, holographic television. I can see that coming in the future. You turn it on, and it performs right in front of you, like a guest in your house."