Any Analog Cable Systems Still Use Channel 1?

[Joey1986]

I'm not sure whether this question belongs here or in the National TV board, but I was wondering whether channel 1 is still used by any analog cable systems anywhere. I have not seen any such systems for quite a while. In my area (Los Angeles, CA), channel 1 is only used on digital cable for Video On Demand.

 

[mjlarochelle]

I'm not sure if it's on analog or digital cable in these cases, but I've heard some New York-area systems carry NY1 on Channel 1. Could very well be digital.

My local system uses Channel 1 on digital for a promotional "barker" channel.

 

[Stanislav]

The "channel 1" that was once used on some analog cable systems bears no relationship to the former OTA channel 1. It was an extra lo-VHF channel sandwiched into the "gap" between channels 4 and 5. To accommodate a full 6 mHz channel, channels 5 and 6 were each shifted up 2 mHz, with "5" being 78-84 instead of 76-82, and "6" being 84-90 instead of 82-88. There was room to do this as the next (mid-band) cable channel up frequency-wise started at 90 mHz. This scenario was likely only used in the days between when systems started expanding to more than 12 channels (adding mid-band channels) and the advent of "cable-ready" TVs, when typically all CATV customers tuned the channels with an external converter box that utilized the "bizarro" channels 5 and 6. I doubt there have been any systems using that "channel 1" for a long, long time.

 

[Mike Stroud]

"Bizarro"? What does that mean regarding channels 5 and 6? Is it a term for the frequency displacement you mentioned, and for us non-techies, did that bump-up make the external converter box necessary for most sets back in the day?

Just wondering.

 

[Stanislav]

"Bizarro"? What does that mean regarding channels 5 and 6? Is it a term for the frequency displacement you mentioned[?]

Well, not a technical term, obviously ;D -- I just meant it's kind of like channels 5 and 6, but in some weird parallel universe where things are not quite the same.... :

...and for us non-techies, did that bump-up make the external converter box necessary for most sets back in the day?

I am a non-techie as well, but based on what my Magic 8 Ball....er....I mean my exhaustive research on the subject (about 2 minutes of Googling) tells me, yes.