An article in TV Technology this week has some interesting news regarding channels after the DTV changeover. Sorry, no links, but I'll try to summarize.
All stations currently transmitting DTV are using UHF frequencies, and that's pretty much all full power stations at this point, at least in all the larger cities. But, come the analog shut off date of Feb. 17, 2009, the FCC will allow stations to claim any of the VHF frequencies for their DTV signals. presumably on a first come basis(?). The author downloaded a list of applicants so far and the results are well, interesting. Note: VHF is actually two separate bands of frequencies: Low (ch 2-6) and High (ch 7-13). As of press time, 452 stations (25% of all stations) had applied to occupy the high VHF channels. Channel 13 (77 stations) is the most popular request, followed by ch 7 (69). Only 36 stations have opted to remain in the interference plagued Low VHF (channel 1 was so bad they dropped it in the early days of TV). 15 have gone with ch 5, the least popular is 4 (with only 1 station). Channels 2 & 3 have 6 stations each. Anyway, aside from the funny numbers, the lesson maybe to be learned here is that, despite the fact UHF antennas are being sold today for DTV reception, after the shutoff we may very well still need VHF antennas. Or not, because in the city even a UHF antenna would likely pick up strong VHF signals. ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
