UHF or VHF after switch overs?

[briansanders007]

I have a couple local stations making the switch tonight. It just dawned on me and almost confused me a little about whats actually going on here. All the stations that are broadcasting lets say on a channel like 22 will be moving down to their normal channel....so will everything be UHF or VHF or will it be mixed? Right now I can get everything I need digital wise but I only have a couple of 8 bay antennas (like the channel master 4228). Will these still be ok after the switchover? or do I need to go get some vhf antennas? I guess I'm confused if these antennas will work as well as they are now.

 

[Mr Tony]

you'd have to check to see because it varies.

Most stations on 2-6 analog are not moving their digital channel there but alot of 7-13 stations are

Example...here in Minneapolis right now all digital are on UHF but Fox & NBC (on 6/12) are moving back to 9 & 11 respectively.

 

[DaveFormula]

Will branding eventually change?

Once this whole digital transition mess is completed, will stations eventually rebrand to the correct channel number? I know that there we low VHF stations that are now UHF and a few UHF that ended up with VHF digital allocations. Won't that confuse someone and offer horrible performance, if they go buy a VHF antenna for channel 3 when it is actually now on 23?

I think that once the dust has settled, for the sake of sanity and accuracy that TV stations should rebrand to their correct channel number.

 

[Mr Tony]

the stations due to PSIP will still amp properly and why change the channel name when 95% of the people know what station is where?

just because a station is on UHF 35 it still maps to 11 (in the case of my NBC)

Folks just need to buy a VHF/UHF antenna or do some researfch first.

 

[briansanders007]

Thanks for the replies! I guess we will have to wait and see what happens once its all done as far as how my signal goes.

 

[navychop]

Yep. The system was set up so they can call themselves "Channel 9" no matter what channel they actually broadcast on. In practice, this will be invisible to the vast majority of their customers.

BTW, most of the world is removing the entire VHF band from TV use after they convert to digital. We aren't.

 

[Stargazer]

Them remapping to a different channel number on the digital convertor boxes are no different than satellite remapping a frequency rate to a channel number they choose it to be, such as 105 USA. We know that the frequency really isn't 105.

 

[dodge]

who really cares what it is remapped to, as long as they have the proper antenna to receive it, I laugh at all the people who just put up a uhf antenna only and now they will need to add another antenna or entirely replace it so they can receive vhf as well. Most of these people knew that some stations would be going back to vhf or were too ignorant to know, but also some were changed in the midst of all this. I am glad I have a combo antenna and dont have to worry, dont forget to rescan your locals on thursday.

 

[navychop]

Sadly, not so many need to rescan. Thank you, FCC!

 

[Mr Tony]

I laugh at all the people who just put up a uhf antenna only and now they will need to add another antenna or entirely replace it so they can receive vhf as well.

well I **should** have been able to respond tomorrow because my local Fox & NBC are going to move back to their VHF spot (9 & 11) but they "wussed out" and are now waiting until June 12

But I guess when I have a UHF only antenna for 3 years now with no issues I cant complain (took it from our cabin when we got Dish up there and my little crappy VU75 got whipped)

 

[CowboyDren]

Thanks for the replies! I guess we will have to wait and see what happens once its all done as far as how my signal goes.

That's really what it boils down to. The VHF-Low stuff will all be gone, so you should only have to worry about an antenna that can get VHF-High (VHF3, 7-13). Here in Kansas City, we have all national networks (including MyTV, ION, and so on) represented, and only one channel (CBS affiliate 9) will be in VHF post-transition.

I laugh at all the people who just put up a uhf antenna only and now they will need to add another antenna ...

My little 2-bay UHF cat whisker antenna works acceptably well for analog 4, 5, and 9. Works friggin' outstandingly well for digital everything. I am less than 5 miles from most towers, though. Even if I were farther away, not inside the crossfire, I could use a more directional UHF antenna and get similar or even better results.

I do have trouble with the broadcaster on UHF 42 due to a high crest between here and there, so I built a 6-element YAGI antenna just for that frequency/tower. I don't even use a signal inserter; just plug both antennas into a splitter turned backwards, and it's fine. You could easily build a dipole with a director and a reflector for each VHF channel you're not getting, and have way more fun that putting up a big combo antenna.

 

[DaveFormula]

Yep. The system was set up so they can call themselves "Channel 9" no matter what channel they actually broadcast on. In practice, this will be invisible to the vast majority of their customers.

BTW, most of the world is removing the entire VHF band from TV use after they convert to digital. We aren't.

That's not the point. While cable and satellite providers do change the channel number of broadcast stations, that change is confined to their system.

With over the air TV it is inaccurate to say you are channel 42 when in fact you are now on VHF 11. I understand that too much change during this transition would confuse people. But I would think that once the dust has settled that stations should begin to use the correct channel number.

In fact since you can make PSIP read anything what is there to stop two broadcasters from using the same virtual channel number.

 

[jbmiller]

my converter box has channel and rf channel
example the converter box channel 18.1 is rf channel 15
john

 

[Bobby H]

My opinion is the TV stations just need to use their call letters and stop using the channel number ID since the channel number no longer means anything truthful.

The TV stations that are able to keep broadcasting on VHF (in digital) are lucky. It takes far less power to broadcast an effective DTV signal on VHF than it does on UHF.

Our NBC and FOX affiliates (in the Wichita Falls, TX-Lawton, OK DMA) are broadcasting DTV on UHF channels 28 and 15 respectively. Both have to broadcast at 1000kW. The ABC affiliate, KSWO, is broadcasting DTV on VHF channel 11. Its full power DTV signal is only 138kW. Funny thing is the ABC and FOX affiliates both broadcast from the same tower in Grandfield, OK.

 

[CowboyDren]

I'm almost for that, except that "WDAF-TV" doesn't roll off the tongue as well as "Fox 4."

 

[Yes616]

Thanks for the replies! I guess we will have to wait and see what happens once its all done as far as how my signal goes.

No need to wait and see. This link to TV Fool will tell you what you need to know.

Plug in your address, etc., then go to the next page and choose either "Current FCC Database" or choose "Post transition * after 6/12/2009" and you can see the movements. Of course you want to choose the digital option.

 

[rglore]

My opinion is the TV stations just need to use their call letters and stop using the channel number ID since the channel number no longer means anything truthful.

How would you know what number to enter on the remote to jump to that channel? I vote to always make both numbers the same, it's hard to explain the two channel numbers and you have to do research to find the transmitted channel number.

 

[navychop]

You don't need to know the transmitted frequency. Just enter the advertised channel # & the TV knows how to find it.

 

[TalkingRat]

Lo-VHF isn't entirely going away, it will still be in use by 40 full power stations.

Knowing the real frequency can be useful for those with indoor antennas. You don't want to be fussing with rabbit ears if 6.1 is transmitting on UHF. If you're buying a new antenna, it doesn't hurt to consider future needs. Who knows where the LPs will end up, or what happens when new stations are added. I like TVFool, too.

 

[rglore]

If you're using the home dist. output, you need to know the transmitted freqs in order to set the modulator to an unused channel.