[mythtv-users] Quick and dirty workaround

[Bruce Markey]

David George wrote:
> Jason keirstead wrote:
> 
>>> I live right outside Buffalo, NY and we have broadcast channels on 
>>> both 3 and 4.  I guess that means Buffalo does not fit into the "all
>>> cities" category :-P  Then again, I heard this morning that a town 
>>> two hours
>>> south of Buffalo was put 3 hours east by calling it upstate...
>>>   
>>
>>
>> Ditto here in NB Canada. Also true in NS Canada.
>>
>> In fact I am quite sure every city I have ever been in has both 
>> channels 3 and 4 on their cable.
>>  
>>
> cable != broadcast
> 
> I think the original statement was that there were no cities 
> broadcasting over the air on channel 3 and 4 (except Buffalo ;-) ).

No, I quite deliberately stated "most cities" anticipating
that anyone who thought they would be hailed as a genius for
pointing out an exception that proved the rule would start a
pointless debate of no value whatsoever.

I was right =).

 "Low channels are more susceptible to interference so most
  cities have either a channel 3 or channel 4 but not both."

The first off-topic poster attempted to show his prowess by
claiming that the adjacent channel rules were absolute and
therefore declared that there could be no exceptions.

  "FWIW, the reason that most cities (in fact, all cities)
   do not have both is because there are minimum distance
   requirements for both same-channel and adjacent-channel
   frequency reuse, and they don't permit it."

This says nothing about what happens in a location halfway
between the stations that are a minimum distance apart or
the fact that a station on one of these channels will cause
interference on the other adjacent channel which is why a
rule exists.

>> So I really have no clue where this idea came from :P

I certainly agree that you've demonstrated having no clue
concerning any facet of the subject or even what "idea" had
been discussed =).

As for the subject from last week before the off-topic pissing
contest, VCRs, settop boxes, DVRs or DVD players with RF coax out
that are sold to the U.S. market almost always have a switch to
choose between 3 or 4. [Not all devices! Anybody want to see how
impressed I'll be by you're pointing out a device that outputs to
other channels?] Because of this, using coax from a VCR or other
device in an area where there are over-the-air signals on both 3
and 4 would really suck because both would have a lot of signal
interference.

The relevant information is that there will be some degree of
RF interference no matter where you are or which preset channel
is chosen for output from one of these devices. Therefore, it is
better to avoid RF altogether by using s-video or composite from
the device if at all possible. However, if RF coax is used, the
preset channel needs to be selectable and this is why there has
to be a configuration option for myth because it cannot assume
the preset channel for the signal coming from the device will
always be "3" or will always be "4".

--  bjm