by Jan Zachary, Cable Television Coordinator for Manalapan Township
Hi Everyone! Jan Zachary here! I am the Cable Television Coordinator (CTC) for the Manalapan Township Television Network (MTTN) since 2010, after joining the Cable Television Advisory Committee at its inception in 2005. This is my second article for JAG. I wrote another one in October of 2021 and am reporting to you that we now have completely updated with new systems to talk about.
For those of you who are newer members of JAG, I will first discuss some introductory remarks on MTTN. When we formed our ordinances and wrote our policy and procedure manual, the Township Committee informed us that only township events and meetings would be permitted. Only educational and government-sponsored programs would be broadcast on MTTN. We do not accept public programming. We started out with CTC and a program manager. The CTC oversaw the cable station while the program manager organized our volunteers and created content for the station. In 2010, I became the CTC and assumed both functions.
We have a great band of volunteers who help and counsel on innovative ideas relating to Manalapan. All our volunteers, whether on the Cable Television Advisory Committee or just volunteering, must help when they can, by both supporting, setting up and recording our programming.
We work on programs that deal with historical Manalapan such as the Village Inn (1732), the Battle of Monmouth (1778), and the History Fair at Monmouth Battlefield, which is always a major event.
We also broadcast Freehold Regional High School meetings, K-8 regional school meetings, and events. Township Committee meetings and Planning Board Meetings are broadcast LIVE. We also record county and local debates, as well as unique events given by the schools, township, county, and state. We try to cover all events that occur within the boundaries of Manalapan and are relevant to Manalapan.
We operate several outlets. We have Optimum SD (Channel 77), Verizon SD (Channel 42), Verizon HD (Channel 2142), Vimeo, and Facebook. The SD channels run on one server and the HD channel runs on its own server.
Over the last 4 years, we have been negotiating with Optimum on a new contract as well as having discussions with Verizon about adding an HD channel. The results of these negotiations included:
- Verizon agreed to supply us with two channels, SD channel 42 and HD channel 2142. The one stipulation was that each channel should have different daily programs. They did not want complete duplication of each channel.
- On the Optimum side we finished contract negotiations, and they offered us a grant for new equipment. With this grant money we spent the last three years looking for new equipment and with the help of MANY LOCAL VENDORS (all JAG supporters, by the way) we narrowed it down and then made final decisions on what to purchase. All new. All HD.
It only took 15 years to do this…. In January 2025, we finalized with G&G Technology with the purchases of:
- Data Video SE 2600 switcher with adjunctive equipment, including 4 HE PTZ cameras and servicing for events in our courtroom. We have a SE-1200 Data Video switcher we take out on the road.
- Two Tightrope CBL-VIOLITE-700 two channel configurable 1×1 SD/HD SDl encode/decode, multi-format server with 8TB of storage in a 1 RU chassis. Selectable SD or HD SDI with embedded audio that pulls in RTP, RTMP, RTSP, NDI, SRT and HLS streams (including Cablecast Automation, Video and CG server Software. Cablecast CG…..etc.).
With this setup, we now can broadcast different programming on multiple channels simultaneously. And, it was not that difficult to learn. I would like to thank all the vendors who took a lot of their time helping us get to the end decision. JAG VENDORS ROCK!
Of course, no one can stand alone. Without the cooperation of Manalapan’s Administration and Township Committee we would not be able to achieve our goals to further enhance our television station. We also receive enormous support and help right here at JAG. If something is going on in the legal world or the technical world of PEG then here is the place to seek guidance.
Thank you to all the members of the Jersey Access group! Manalapan Township, A Great Place to Live!
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Spotlight: Manalapan Township upgrades our PEG channels to the 21st Century
Posted: June 17, 2025 by Doug Seidel
by Jan Zachary, Cable Television Coordinator for Manalapan Township
Hi Everyone! Jan Zachary here! I am the Cable Television Coordinator (CTC) for the Manalapan Township Television Network (MTTN) since 2010, after joining the Cable Television Advisory Committee at its inception in 2005. This is my second article for JAG. I wrote another one in October of 2021 and am reporting to you that we now have completely updated with new systems to talk about.
For those of you who are newer members of JAG, I will first discuss some introductory remarks on MTTN. When we formed our ordinances and wrote our policy and procedure manual, the Township Committee informed us that only township events and meetings would be permitted. Only educational and government-sponsored programs would be broadcast on MTTN. We do not accept public programming. We started out with CTC and a program manager. The CTC oversaw the cable station while the program manager organized our volunteers and created content for the station. In 2010, I became the CTC and assumed both functions.
We have a great band of volunteers who help and counsel on innovative ideas relating to Manalapan. All our volunteers, whether on the Cable Television Advisory Committee or just volunteering, must help when they can, by both supporting, setting up and recording our programming.
We work on programs that deal with historical Manalapan such as the Village Inn (1732), the Battle of Monmouth (1778), and the History Fair at Monmouth Battlefield, which is always a major event.
We also broadcast Freehold Regional High School meetings, K-8 regional school meetings, and events. Township Committee meetings and Planning Board Meetings are broadcast LIVE. We also record county and local debates, as well as unique events given by the schools, township, county, and state. We try to cover all events that occur within the boundaries of Manalapan and are relevant to Manalapan.
We operate several outlets. We have Optimum SD (Channel 77), Verizon SD (Channel 42), Verizon HD (Channel 2142), Vimeo, and Facebook. The SD channels run on one server and the HD channel runs on its own server.
Over the last 4 years, we have been negotiating with Optimum on a new contract as well as having discussions with Verizon about adding an HD channel. The results of these negotiations included:
It only took 15 years to do this…. In January 2025, we finalized with G&G Technology with the purchases of:
With this setup, we now can broadcast different programming on multiple channels simultaneously. And, it was not that difficult to learn. I would like to thank all the vendors who took a lot of their time helping us get to the end decision. JAG VENDORS ROCK!
Of course, no one can stand alone. Without the cooperation of Manalapan’s Administration and Township Committee we would not be able to achieve our goals to further enhance our television station. We also receive enormous support and help right here at JAG. If something is going on in the legal world or the technical world of PEG then here is the place to seek guidance.
Thank you to all the members of the Jersey Access group! Manalapan Township, A Great Place to Live!
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Category: Latest JAG News, Member Spotlight