[mythtv-users] VHF, UHF, and digital TV

dennis deg at outlook.com
Thu Apr 30 22:16:20 UTC 2015



On 04/30/2015 01:27 PM, James Miller wrote:
> Sort of a general query here, answers to which may aid me in the 
> future if I will purchase a new antenna. Here is my (admittedly 
> technically-deficient) understanding of OTA DTV as it relates to 
> traditional VHF/UHF TV broadcasting in the US. The idea of moving to 
> DTV is to increase bandwidth availability for other radio frequency 
> devices like cellular communications and perhaps wifi. So causing TV 
> broadcasting to switch to digital, which makes transmission of the 
> signal much more precise and thus has the virtue of freeing up some 
> bandwidth, was undertaken.
>
> As I understand it, the ultimate intention is to get all OTA TV 
> broadcasting into the UHF range so as, I suppose, to free up the whole 
> of the VHF band for other radio frequency services. Is that correct? 
> If so, I was told some time ago that, during initial phases of DTV 
> implementation, DTV broadcasting will still be done in the VHF range. 
> Is this also correct? I believe I determined a year ago or so that, in 
> fact, some OTA DTV broadcasting in my area (upper midwest, US) is 
> still done in the VHF range.
>
> This becomes a question at this point because, during a recent channel 
> scan, I noted that there are some new OTA stations which are 
> repetitions of some existing stations. I've been picking up a 10_1, 
> 10_2, 10_3, and 10_4 (PBS), but now I see there is a 10_11, 10_12, 
> 10_13, and 10_14 that seem to be the same exact stations. I believe 
> the 10_1-10_4 stations I've been getting are in the VHF range and I 
> suspect that the new 10_11-10_14 stations I see may be the new, 
> UHF-band replacements, and that the two sets of stations may exist for 
> a time side-by-side, til they phase out VHF-band broadcasting. Then, 
> all programming for that station will be provided only through the 
> new, 10_11-10_14 channels. So, do my assumptions about this matter 
> seem sound?
>
> If it is the case that eventually all OTA TV broadcasting will move to 
> the UHF band, that will influence future decisions about what sort of 
> antenna I'll need to buy to bring in OTA DTV broadcasting I watch. Any 
> corrections, clarifications, or modifications on the above 
> topics/statements will be appreciated. Thanks
>
>
In the Chicago area,  the CBS affiliate ( WBBM-2.1 ) is broadcasting on 
VHF.    They did move from the VHF-L (2) to VHF-H (12) a couple years 
ago, but it was  due to interference and lack of coverage, not 
regulations.    From what I understand, most stations have moved out of 
the VHF-L (2-6) due to poor reception, but VHF-H is still alive and may 
be around for a quite awhile.  There is talk of extending the FM radio 
broadcasting into VHF-L frequencies.

I have a UHF/VHF antenna, and expect to continue to need one ( only for 
CBS ).  It would be nice if they did move everything to UHF, but that 
not the case where I am at.

Dennis


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