Off-the-air
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In telecommunication, the term off-the-air has the following meanings:
- In radio communications systems, pertaining to a station that is completely shut down, i.e., that is not transmitting any signal, not even an un-modulated carrier wave.
- In a radio station, pertaining to a particular source of modulation, such as a specific microphone, that is disconnected, i.e., is no longer capable of modulating the carrier.
Note: The carrier may continue unmodulated or it may be modulated by another signal source.
Also, off-the-air may be synonymous with over-the-air or from-the-air, as in picking up a terrestrial broadcast TV station off-the-air instead of from cable TV.