Get rid of channels 2 through 6

[vchimpanzee]

Another use for these frequencies: emergency communications! That's what the proponents of digital TV have been telling us this was for.

I have more to say about this on another thread.

 

[softmachine]

Another use for these frequencies: emergency communications! That's what the proponents of digital TV have been telling us this was for.

Google MediaFLO.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Another use for these frequencies: emergency communications! That's what the proponents of digital TV have been telling us this was for.

Google MediaFLO.

Will do.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Has anyone considered the possibility of a nightlight in every market?

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=147443.0

If you somehow mess up your ability to get digital stations, it would be nice to know you have one station you can test your antenna with.

And while these stations may get interference from lightning, at least you know they'll WORK when you need severe weather updates.

As for programming, I suppose tha tdigital weather channel a lot of stations have would be a good idea.

 

[kenrayc]

Has anyone considered the possibility of a nightlight in every market?

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=147443.0

If you somehow mess up your ability to get digital stations, it would be nice to know you have one station you can test your antenna with.

And while these stations may get interference from lightning, at least you know they'll WORK when you need severe weather updates.

As for programming, I suppose tha tdigital weather channel a lot of stations have would be a good idea.

There are still some LP analogs on the the air to test the antenna, at least in my market.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Has anyone considered the possibility of a nightlight in every market?

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=147443.0

If you somehow mess up your ability to get digital stations, it would be nice to know you have one station you can test your antenna with.

And while these stations may get interference from lightning, at least you know they'll WORK when you need severe weather updates.

As for programming, I suppose tha tdigital weather channel a lot of stations have would be a good idea.

There are still some LP analogs on the the air to test the antenna, at least in my market.

Yeah, I had that advantage, but it won't last much longer.

I had to rescan, it turned out. I haven't figured out why. The details of what happened are at the topic with the link above, and it can happen to anyone at any time, regardless of how long DTV has been the standard.

Edit: Oh, LP analogs. My nightlight is full power.

 

[kenrayc]

I had a crazy thought the other day, what if the FCC would allow one full power Analog station on the air in each market for emergency purposes and it was a affiliate of the 4 main networks with each adjacent market having a different affiliate, if four market are close together each would have a different Network. The flow to this is who would want to pay for the extra power bill, and have this last for one year til all of the bugs are worked out with Digital.

 

[kenrayc]

To my last post, it was only a thought, a bad one now that I think of it. Ditigal is now ,analog is yesterday.KNSO RF DTV 5 (51.1) is the only one that doesn't come in on my antenna, in Fresno all other including KAIL 7 (My 7.1 and RTV 7.2) come in with no problem.

 

[kenrayc]

I have to add Fresno is (was) a all UHF market with KAIL and KNFO switching to VHF some have complaints with those stations simply because most have outdoor UHF antennas and KAIL 7 does work on them in close range where KNSO 5 doesn't, those that live more than 25 miles from KAILs tower have to buy a VHF antenna.KNFO a VHF antenna is needed at 5 miles.

 

[nd2023]

They should allow TV stations to go analog in emergencies like a hurricane or tornado, just like they let AM stations stay on day power at night. They still have the analog transmitters, and people are throwing out their analog portable TVs that got them through previous disasters but are now useless. Since low VHF is mostly empty, they could move to the low VHF channels in analog. Just have a restriction of no commercials or network programming.

 

[BRNout]

They should allow TV stations to go analog in emergencies like a hurricane or tornado, just like they let AM stations stay on day power at night. They still have the analog transmitters, and people are throwing out their analog portable TVs that got them through previous disasters but are now useless. Since low VHF is mostly empty, they could move to the low VHF channels in analog. Just have a restriction of no commercials or network programming.

Somewhere in this thread, Scott Fybush had a great response as to why this will not happen. Basically it had to do with the impracticality of pulling old transmitters out of mothballs for the purpose of using technology which has just passed into obsolescence.

Personally, I hate the reception characteristics of digital TV. I scoff at those who claim it's an improvement - to me it's more of a trade-off (subchannels and HD versus flaky reception and freeze ups). However, we needed to debate that about 10 years ago. Now it's done.

As for analog in emergencies, better to convince local TV newsrooms to ally themselves with local radio station in order to provide audio simulcasts in the event of a crisis.

One last thing: if you dislike what's happened with digital TV (which actually HAS an upside), then you'll absolutely hate it if radio takes the same path. Remember this when that is proposed and fight like Hell against it when the time comes. Because it will come - some corporate knuckleheads are just convinced that digital is the cat's @ss. No matter what the engineers think about it. Just look at what a cluster IBOC is.

 

[Jul]

WPVI signal problems

Does anyone have any comments on WPVI 6ABC's signal issues?

 

[pabsungenis]

Re: WPVI signal problems

Does anyone have any comments on WPVI 6ABC's signal issues?

Nothing that hasn't already been hashed out ad nauseum here and elsewhere. Low VHF is bad for ATSC, end of story.

 

[KTN Corp]

Somewhere in this thread, Scott Fybush had a great response as to why this will not happen. Basically it had to do with the impracticality of pulling old transmitters out of mothballs for the purpose of using technology which has just passed into obsolescence.

--planned obsolescence, actually. But battery-powered analog receivers still outnumber digital ones.

Personally, I hate the reception characteristics of digital TV. I scoff at those who claim it's an improvement - to me it's more of a trade-off (subchannels and HD versus flaky reception and freeze ups). However, we needed to debate that about 10 years ago. Now it's done.

As for analog in emergencies, better to convince local TV newsrooms to ally themselves with local radio station in order to provide audio simulcasts in the event of a crisis.

KHOU did that during Hurricane Ike. The thinking was that most people don't have a portable or can't (such as I) keep the television powered constantly. It worked until the stations went back to music programs between 08:00-10:00 CDT.

One last thing: if you dislike what's happened with digital TV (which actually HAS an upside), then you'll absolutely hate it if radio takes the same path. Remember this when that is proposed and fight like Hell against it when the time comes. Because it will come - some corporate knuckleheads are just convinced that digital is the cat's @ss. No matter what the engineers think about it. Just look at what a cluster IBOC is.

What's the upside? It might be the same with radio--more programs, more choices. ;D There won't be much of a fight with equally inferior IBOC since everyone has the mindset (even with the problems with TV) that digital is always better. Plus the corporate knuckleheads have legions of lobbyists and friends in Congress to push their agenda through and can control the public relations.

"It's time to upgrade" may be a sign of things to come.

 

[KeithE4]

One last thing: if you dislike what's happened with digital TV (which actually HAS an upside), then you'll absolutely hate it if radio takes the same path. Remember this when that is proposed and fight like Hell against it when the time comes. Because it will come - some corporate knuckleheads are just convinced that digital is the cat's @ss. No matter what the engineers think about it. Just look at what a cluster IBOC is.

It's a cluster-you-know-what because it's a bastardized hybrid of digital and analog. Like DTV is, digital radio, whether IBOC, DRM, or another system, has to be its own signal, with a decent ERP. Especially on the AM band. AM is compatible only with AM, and any other transmission mode, digital or analog, will be considered interference if it's close enough to the station being listened to. Combining AM and digital (or anything else) is a serious mistake, as any ham can tell you.

Another suggestion I would make is, instead of ham and Part 15 stations on 54-72 MHz like I said earlier, make that a digital radio band, using DRM+, and move or simulcast AM stations there. Set the band for 50 kHz channels (I think this is what DRM+ uses) and call them channels 405 (for 54.05 MHz) to 2195 (for 71.95 MHz) in steps of 5. Then, it would be possible to still call a relocated AM-to-digital station by its "traditional frequency. For example, if WGN simulcasted to this band, it could still call itself 720, meaning 57.20 MHz. "Channel 530" would be 55.30 MHz, while "Channel 1710" would be 67.10 MHz. Fill in the rest with new stations.

Keep only the largest stations on the AM band (keeping it analog) and reduce it to 530-1200 kHz. Then start experimenting with digital-only transmissions on 1200-1700 kHz.

At the same time, still expand FM down to 76 MHz. May the best mode win. ;D

 

[RJ Kanary]

Once again, proof positive that a technology or devices' true capabilities are NOT known...........until it's in the hands of John Q. Public.

Has anyone else noticed that by and large all the other improvements to TV broadcast technology previous to this actually were that? Improvements. And that the implementation of said technologies had a minimal impact on the technology already in place. What's that buzz phrase.......................Backwards Compatibility?



RJ

 

[KeithE4]

Once again, proof positive that a technology or devices' true capabilities are NOT known...........until it's in the hands of John Q. Public.

Has anyone else noticed that by and large all the other improvements to TV broadcast technology previous to this actually were that? Improvements. And that the implementation of said technologies had a minimal impact on the technology already in place. What's that buzz phrase.......................Backwards Compatibility?



RJ

Good backwards-compatibility: NTSC color TV. It was far from perfect at the beginning (remember the term "Never Twice (the) Same Color?") but it did work.

Bad backwards-compatibility: IBOC on the AM band. Hash from a distant station can wipe out local AM stations in their own market.

 

[RJ Kanary]

<Good backwards-compatibility: NTSC color TV. It was far from perfect at the beginning (remember the term "Never Twice (the) Same Color?") but it did work. >

And this was all puzzled out using pencil and paper, slide rules and plenty of Midnight Oil. All this to preserve the funtionality of the 'ad- hoc' system in monochrome.

The 21st Century Next Big Thing was born from powerful "infallible" computers and their operators.

The note worthy thing here is..............What did the owners of all the monochrome sets already in operation have to do to continue using them ? For the most part, NOTHING.

They may have had to touch up the Vertical or Horizontal hold, since the frequencies were changed ever so slightly.Many folks had to do nothing since the change was still within the sync circuit's lock range.
Now however, in today's 21st Century Carousel Of Progress, things aren't working out so hot................. <VBG>

 

[oldiesfan6479]

Good backwards-compatibility: NTSC color TV. It was far from perfect at the beginning (remember the term "Never Twice (the) Same Color?") but it did work.

Mother: "Stop moving the tint knob so much, you'll break it!"

TV geek kid: "But Ma, her face is green. Ewww, now it's purple!"

Mother: "Well just make it red and leave it there."

Kid: "OK, but when you change the channel..."

Mother: "Don't change the channel so much, you'll wear out the tuner.
Then your father will have to get it fixed, and you know what
that will cost!"
;D

Bad backwards-compatibility: IBOC on the AM band. Hash from a distant station can wipe out local AM stations in their own market.

Not too dissimilar to Smoke From A Distant Fire. Thank you, Sanford. Thank you,
Townsend. The smoke being over Rochester (the Kodak one, not the Mayo), the
distant fire coming from Hull, MA. Your witness, Mr. Savage.

 

[vibe]

Sounds like exactly the same conversation my parents and I had when I was growing up and playing with the tuner and rotor.