secondchoice said:
???
I thought all of the TV stations (except some LP community stations) went to the lower part of the UHF band digital of course. IIRC this was to “free” some of the “upper” UHF frequencies for more wireless and emergency responders’ frequencies. . Using digital compression all the channels VHF and UHF were to fit in the lower UHF band. The virtual table channel would allow 2 to be 2 etc. But it would really be some digital UHF signal. I thought all of the VHF’s (except the LP community and some educational) had to “move”. I did not know the VHF’s could stay on VHF only go digital on their old frequency. Do the UHF “rabbit ears” pick up the old VHF frequencies well? IIRC one of the FCC commissioners was in favor of extending the FM band down to the old channel 5 & 6 to “clean up” the AM band.
I apologize for the rant below getting rather large...
- That's an unfortunately common misconception. Nearly all stations operated an interim digital facility on a different channel. (and for stations whose analog was VHF, this interim facility was usually UHF) At the end of the digital transition, stations were required to elect a permanent digital channel -- and were allowed to choose, either their interim channel or their old analog channel. In Nashville, most stations elected to remain on their interim channel. (channels 58 and 66 had no choice, as their analog channels were in the spectrum being transferred to land mobile) Channels 5 and 8, however, elected to return to their old analog channels. Indeed, channel 5 had no choice either, as their *interim* channel was in the spectrum being transferred.
(that said, some stations were able to negotiate a permanent assignment on a completely different channel. For example, channel 50, whose interim operation was on 51 and managed to land 33 for their permanent operation)
- Digital compression really didn't have anything to do with the ability to lop channels off the top of the UHF band. That became possible because of the *greatly* improved quality of UHF receivers. For example, in the old analog rules, the presence of Channel 30 in Nashville meant channels 15, 16, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 44, and 45 were all off-limits for new analog stations. This was required by the poor quality of UHF receivers in the early 1950s. (To a modern-day engineer, 1950s UHF receiver designs are unbelievably crude. To an early-1950s engineer, I suppose they figured it was a miracle UHF worked at all...)
In digital, the only channels that would be precluded by a channel 30 operation would be 29 and 31, and even those could be used if the transmitter was within a few miles of the channel 30 transmitter. (so the signals of channels 29 and 30 would be of similar strength) Indeed, we have channels 17, 21, 23, 27, 31, 33, 36, and 38 all operating in Nashville today.
Digital compression was necessary to make a digital TV signal fit in the existing 6MHz channels. An uncompressed HDTV video signal requires roughly 1500MHz of spectrum. That's more than was assigned to all 82 TV channels in the analog era... and that for only one station, and without considering audio! Digital compression makes it possible to fit that 1500MHz worth of video into a single 6MHz channel, leaving enough room for sound.
- With the old "rabbit ears" antennas, the "ears" were used for VHF. There was a round (sometimes square) loop of wire which was used for UHF. If you're restricted to an indoor antenna, this is probably still the best design. (unless you're willing to have an "outdoor" antenna in your house... I do know some people who do that!) (and actually, the attic is usually a pretty good place for an "outdoor" antenna)
You do
NOT need a "digital" antenna to receive digital signals. The older antenna you used for analog reception works fine for digital reception. (as long as it was delivering reasonably decent analog pictures before the conversion) Unfortunately, many stores are telling viewers they need a "digital" antenna -- and many digital antennas are inferior to the analog antennas the viewers already had. Some digital "flat panel" antennas
don't have ears and will work VERY VERY POORLY for channels 4 and 8. (and 5, except they have that UHF relay transmitter) We advise viewers with these antennas that they're probably going to have to return them to the store for a set of rabbit ears. Indeed, I heard just yesterday from a viewer who hadn't been able to get 4 and 8 in Hendersonville since the transition. She took her amplified flat panel back to the store for a set of rabbit ears -- and now not only does she get channels 4 and 8 just fine, but she doesn't get as much "breakup" on the other channels.
- I'm not so sure a Commissioner is necessarily in favor of reassigning channels 5 and 6 for FM, as that he was in favor of *investigating* the possibility of doing so.
I think it's very unlikely they'll proceed. More recent actions suggest they want to clear more UHF spectrum, and they're interested in finding ways to make VHF frequencies work better for digital. (they want to discourage moves like WTVF's - they want DTV stations that are on VHF spectrum to stay there.)
Even without the push to clear more UHF spectrum, there are some problems with a 5-6 reassignment for FM. In particular, that one or the other of those channels are in use in some fairly populated areas of the country. The use of channel 6 in Philadelphia would probably, in itself, preclude the reassignment. But there's also use of channel 6 in Albany, NY, Birmingham, New Haven (CT), and by two stations in Georgia that might (or might not) preclude the use of channel 6 in Atlanta. Even if WTVF does move to 25, the use of channel 5 for FM will be impossible west of the Tennessee River (due to WMC Memphis) and in the Knoxville and Tri-Cities areas. (due to a station in Bristol) It will also be off-limits in Des Moines, Grand Rapids, (which might preclude Chicago) Detroit & Toledo, San Antonio & Austin, Pittsburgh, and depending on the resolution of another NPRM, quite possibly Milwaukee. (which would definitely preclude Chicago)
Personally, I would favor a move to allow FM broadcasting in all five low-band VHF channels on a secondary basis to full-power TV and a co-primary basis with LPTV. If channel 5 were off limits in Nashville & Memphis, channels 2-4 and 6 could still be used.
........but what do it all mean ???