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Whats going to happen with the old analog TV transmitters after feb 17-2009.

I'm not sure where to post this. here or the National TV section.The mods can place it where it should go, Ok . I was thinking one night about of all these tv stations after feb 17 2009 have to dump their analog tx's and the supporting equipment to the electronics recycle centers and landfills around the USA along with the millions and millions of analog tv's and vcrs.ok I guess Some tx's probably go to other countries,some probably can be retrofitted with DTV upgrades ,some probably can be retrofitted for backup dtv tx's,Some can be donated to some LPTV stations.some can go into broadcasting museam, or some can go into a lucky engineers collection.
 
They can be shipped to Mexico. Also depending on the model of the transmitter some parts (Power amplifiers etc) can be used on DTV transmitters anyways.
 
eas_test said:
They can be shipped to Mexico. Also depending on the model of the transmitter some parts (Power amplifiers etc) can be used on DTV transmitters anyways.

Mexico also has DTV going on. Believe it's the same format as the USA. It would probably cost more to ship those transmitters out of the country than it would cost to build one locally.
 
Boat anchor? Storage cabinet? Museum piece? Chicken coop? Can't think of much else to do with an old analog TV transmitter.

I have already notice a trend of excellent condition, late model large screen analog TV's showing up in places like Goodwill and other 2nd hand stores at really cheap prices. People are already dumping these in favor of DTV's. If you are in need of a good TV and don't mind it being analog, these can be had for a song! It is truly a shame to just throw away millions of good TV's.
 
Actually, most recent analog TV transmitters can be converted to digital just by changing out the exciter and filtering. Many of the big station groups already have plans to repurpose many of their transmitters after the conversion in 2009. For instance, my local WHEC in Rochester NY, owned by Hubbard, will convert its analog channel 10 transmitter to digital (it keeps channel 10 after the cutover), while its current channel 58 digital transmitter will be sent to sister station KSAX in Alexandria MN for either main or aux use.

It's only the older analog transmitters, with separate video and aural amplifier cabinets, that can't be converted to digital. Yes, they'll be scrapped - but that's been happening to older transmitters for many years now.
 
WPPCProductions said:
I'm not sure where to post this. here or the National TV section.The mods can place it where it should go, Ok . I was thinking one night about of all these tv stations after feb 17 2009 have to dump their analog tx's and the supporting equipment to the electronics recycle centers and landfills around the USA along with the millions and millions of analog tv's and vcrs.ok I guess Some tx's probably go to other countries,some probably can be retrofitted with DTV upgrades ,some probably can be retrofitted for backup dtv tx's,Some can be donated to some LPTV stations.some can go into broadcasting museam, or some can go into a lucky engineers collection.

More than likely, the current transmitters can be re-purposed to digital operation by refitting the exciters, replace the filtering and amplifiers and then you have a new digital transmitter ready for backup purposes or they can redeploy the transmitter to another station in the chain. In any event, the current transmitters will live to see another day...... somewhere out there in TV Land (ooooops....... not the cable channel). Nothing will be wasted.

As for those 1950-1960's units, well....... they can become dandy museum pieces.
 
more kilowatts said:
If you are in need of a good TV and don't mind it being analog, these can be had for a song! It is truly a shame to just throw away millions of good TV's.

Yeah. And if your TV is connected to the Cable or sattelite dish feeds, then you don't have to worry about what type of TV it is. The tuner on the TV is just picking up the signal from the tuner box provided by the pay-tv company.
 
Peter Q. George (K1XRB) said:
WPPCProductions said:
I'm not sure where to post this. here or the National TV section.The mods can place it where it should go, Ok . I was thinking one night about of all these tv stations after feb 17 2009 have to dump their analog tx's and the supporting equipment to the electronics recycle centers and landfills around the USA along with the millions and millions of analog tv's and vcrs.ok I guess Some tx's probably go to other countries,some probably can be retrofitted with DTV upgrades ,some probably can be retrofitted for backup dtv tx's,Some can be donated to some LPTV stations.some can go into broadcasting museam, or some can go into a lucky engineers collection.

More than likely, the current transmitters can be re-purposed to digital operation by refitting the exciters, replace the filtering and amplifiers and then you have a new digital transmitter ready for backup purposes or they can redeploy the transmitter to another station in the chain. In any event, the current transmitters will live to see another day...... somewhere out there in TV Land (ooooops....... not the cable channel). Nothing will be wasted.

As for those 1950-1960's units, well....... they can become dandy museum pieces.

According to the logs on the FCC Website many stations from channel 7 upwards will revert to their original analog channel assignment following the cessation of analog transmissions. I would assume that they will be using the original as their interim digital channels were on UHF. The ones that have elected to keep the new assignments may refit the old transmitter for a backup or sell it to another operator. Probably only the oldest units and those on 2-6 will be retired.
 
I know there are a few TVs going back to channel 6. It shouldn't be allowed. That should be the AM HD band, however there are a few around the country that appearently will go back to 6.
 
OKCRadioGuy said:
I know there are a few TVs going back to channel 6. It shouldn't be allowed. That should be the AM HD band, however there are a few around the country that appearently will go back to 6.

Maybe 5-6 stations PER channel 2-6 nationwide....One had to go back to 6, nothing left in its market to go to due to the crowding (IF the FCC hadnt gotten rid of 52-69...but NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! We have to spend MORE tax payer money on Homeland Security/DOD gear on 700MHz...aint that soo nice of OUR government to do that with OUR money!)
 
Wow after reading this, I thought we were loosing 52-69 only, now the lower band is going too.I read on here somewere we will have a channel 6 on the air.Speaking of band expanding. They should expand the FM band below 88mhz,I'm for that change.
How many more emergency response or any other cell phone freq's they need.here is a question what problem would they have if they use the higher in the ghz freq's.
 
WPPCProductions said:
Wow after reading this, I thought we were loosing 52-69 only, now the lower band is going too.

No, it's not. At least not anytime soon.
 
CW said:
Maybe 5-6 stations PER channel 2-6 nationwide....One had to go back to 6, nothing left in its market to go to due to the crowding (IF the FCC hadnt gotten rid of 52-69...but NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! We have to spend MORE tax payer money on Homeland Security/DOD gear on 700MHz...aint that soo nice of OUR government to do that with OUR money!)

I think you're referring to WPVI. If WPVI had wanted a UHF channel, they could have gotten it. It would have required moving another station around, but they could have easily gotten a UHF. All of these may not work, but I imagine the FCC would have allowed at least one of them:

WTVE to 50/51, WPVI-DT 25.
WWSI to 10/45/48/50, WPVI-DT to 48 (if 50)/49 (if 10/45)/50 (if 48).
WLVT to 48/50, WPVI-DT to 39.
WMCN to 45, WNJT to 41, WFMZ to 48/50, WPVI-DT to 43.

NBC did it with WYBE for WCAU, ABC should have done the same.

EDIT: I thought of another alternative, WPVI could have pushed the FCC to let WWSI move into Philly completely and change their city of license such that they could share an antenna and do a setup like this:

WWSI 50, WPVI 49.

- Trip
 
OKCRadioGuy said:
I know there are a few TVs going back to channel 6. It shouldn't be allowed. That should be the AM HD band, however there are a few around the country that appearently will go back to 6.

I don't have the answer here, so perhaps someone with some knowledge on IBOC bandwidths could weigh in.

It's always bothered me that the answer to digital in radio was to ruin the existing analog service. For me it has caused me to loose the ability to hear my favorite ball team, but that's a whole new dead horse to beat. And it's partly the reason I don't listen to radio as much has I did.

It's always amazed me that stations wanting IBOC, and especially the 1A and 1B facilities (AM), say that they need a 45-55 mile radius. When you compare the service area between a 50kw Non-D and the mileage criteria, there is a big difference. The area they want to cover could be covered efficiently in VHF or UHF without harm to analog, yet meeting the needs of the broadcaster.

So I've never understood why in the shifting of TV channels, and with radio entering digital, someone has not taken a look at concentrating new digital radio stations on a reserved TV channels. For example, like you point out, put digital radio on channel 6. Or, take 14-16 and make them the radio compliment for analog service, and let TV have 2-13, 17-52.

So the question begs, if you were to put an IBOC type signal on a VHF or UHF frequency, without an analog compliment, and up to 4 streams of stereo content ... a) how much bandwidth would you need, b) how much separation would you need between stations on the same frequency, and c) how many channels separation would you reasonably need between local stations?

I'm guessing you could pack a lot of radio services into a geographic area on one or two channels. But it would be interesting to see the numbers from someone who has worked out the math.
 
Thanks for all the info,Its a complete new learning experience on dtv now as it starting to sink into my head, ok as I was reading on the post-transition table of allotments list for here in Connecticut in New Haven Ch 6 Ch10 and ch39, I know ch10 is WTNH ch8 ch39 is ch59 replacement channel , ok now who is ch 6.
 
WPPCProductions said:
Thanks for all the info,Its a complete new learning experience on dtv now as it starting to sink into my head, ok as I was reading on the post-transition table of allotments list for here in Connecticut in New Haven Ch 6 Ch10 and ch39, I know ch10 is WTNH ch8 ch39 is ch59 replacement channel , ok now who is ch 6.

WEDY-DT, CPB, currently on 65 analog....Their CP was modified in 2002 for the DT6 and supposed to expire in 2005; guess it got extended....a whopping 400watts ERP but better coverage than the 7KW on 65!!! (More hams can generate more than 400w ERP on UHF amateur TV in the 420-440 ham band!)

Here is their proposed coverage on Channel 6 DT:
http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT596819.html

They get close to covering the Hamptons in NY....good for fund raising ;)
 
FredRichards said:
So the question begs, if you were to put an IBOC type signal on a VHF or UHF frequency, without an analog compliment, and up to 4 streams of stereo content ... a) how much bandwidth would you need, b) how much separation would you need between stations on the same frequency, and c) how many channels separation would you reasonably need between local stations?

The RF bandwidth for an IBOC signal doesn't change whether hybrid or full-digital; they support more data payload by stuffing more carriers in the middle where the analog used to be. Looks to me like you could use alternate channels - 76.1, 76.5, 76.9, etc... I would figure 12MHz of bandwidth (two TV channels) would support 120 IBOC channels (actually I guess it wouldn't be "OC" anymore with the analog gone!) of which 60 could be used at any given site.

I've suggested elsewhere that TV channels 2-6 should be authorized for digital radio on a secondary basis to full-power DTV. Can't think of any market where you couldn't get at least two channels worth of radio spectrum and would imagine that in most, you could get all five. Butte, Montana is the only place where more than one low-band channel will be used for DTV after transition.
 
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