New digital TV frequencies?

RayP(MI) · Sep 6, 2008

When we go to the new digital TV in February, I understand that the actual broadcast frequencies are going to be reassigned as well as changing from analog to digital mode. I have not been able to find a set of frequency allocations. My concern is that they are going to send the current VHF stations into the UHF spectrum. I am on the fringes of the VHF stations around here, and if they go to UHF, we"re probably sunk. Any ham operator will tell you that that it is far harder to get the range out of UHF, and to add to the misery, digital modes need to be rock solid signals, or you"re going to have a lot of blanked out pictures, broken or missing audio. If they"re going to UHF, I need to upgrade my antenna systems by several orders of magnitude. Would sure like to be able to get a headstart on this, as February isn"t a good time to be putting up towers, antennas, etc. NEED A CHART OF FREQUENCIES. All the DTV sites want to tell us is how wonderful it will be!

Uncle · Sep 6, 2008

I went to this site and found the location and freq. for the new digital signals. Just enter your location and there you go.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Welcome.aspx
Brian

buickanddeere · Sep 6, 2008

If you are serious about it. I can get you more 1080P HDTV stuff on your outside antenna then you can watch.
http://www.winegard.com/offair/vhfuhf.htm
HD7698P antenna
FT-3000 FM filter
winegard pre-amp
RG-11 cable. Not RG-6 or that terrible RG-59 stuff.
Medium or heavy duty rotor from Yaseu that the Ham Radio guys use.
A 40+ foot tower.

Any less or leave out any of these components. Get a dish and cry about the monthly charges somewhere else.

henry J · Sep 6, 2008

You most likly will be out of luck receiving the new DTV signal. The UHF band is used now with some channels (like 30 thru 70s) if they come in crisp and clear you are ok. most stations are sending out a digital signal on the new spectrum and you should be able to check it out. The cellular companys wanted the vhf band that TV was using so the could get better coverage with many fewer towers and the noisy wheel gets the grease.

greenbeanman in Kansas · Sep 6, 2008

Does your offer apply to south central Kansas---"I can get you more 1080P HDTV stuff on your outside antenna then you can watch."?

buickanddeere · Sep 6, 2008

Kanas doesn"t really count being in the absolute middle of desolate nowhere.
You would be surprised however. My current antenna has the FM and VHF portion bent away due to wind. After dark it will pickup UHF CH29 Buffalo NY across 50 miles of Lake Ontario then another 100 miles of highly populated land.

Being in the middle of nowhere will often bring in clear stations. It isn"t all about signal strength. It"s about how much signal there is above the electronic noise.
Much like you can hear a whisper across a large empty quiet room. Yet can"t hear the person beside you in a noisy bar.

Rick(IA) · Sep 6, 2008

If you're dealing with a poor-quality, snowy VHF signal you may need to upgrade your antenna, but sometimes you may be surprised. I'm in a fairly strong signal area, but have found that I actually get a better quality picture on the new digital channels, even using rabbit ears, than I do on the old lower frequency analog channels. Actually, the difference between coverage on UHF vs VHF is usually compensated for by the much greater gain of the the typical UHF antenna. Greater gain does imply greater directionality however, so you may need a rotor if you're not already using one.

greenbeanman in Kansas · Sep 6, 2008

I'm really rather lucky in that I live within 25 to 50 miles from most of the broadcast towers of the Wichita television stations.

I get ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, Fox, CW, & My TV networks. With Netflix Instant View on my computer I can usually find something to watch however I usually try to save it as a last resort because of limited selection 10-12,000.

I really think the folks in western Kansas are going to be in a hurt for view after February.

dangerdoc · Sep 6, 2008

I'm at least 60 miles from the broadcast towers and get fuzzy NTSC signals but the ATSC (HDTV) signals come in strong. I went from about 5 regular channels to about 22 digital channels. Of course there's still nothing to watch.

rrlund · Sep 7, 2008

We just had the one TV on antenna,and it was rabbit ears. The other is Direct TV. We had to go to an outside antenna with a booster.I'm pulling in 61 channels with it on a good day,but yea,in bad weather,it's about useless.It locks up like the dish or just won't come in to start with. But,we're getting Lansing,Kalamazoo,Flint,Jackson,as well as all the G.R. stations.

Buckeye Oliver collector · Sep 8, 2008

I hope they get stronger signal strength before they make the switch. Alot of time mine says "digital signal strength low". Not that it matters since I just watch sports, weather and movies mostly. Got one of the newer TVs that supposedly has digital built in.

New digital TV frequencies?

RayP(MI)

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Uncle

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buickanddeere

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henry J

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greenbeanman in Kansas

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buickanddeere

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Rick(IA)

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greenbeanman in Kansas

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dangerdoc

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rrlund

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Buckeye Oliver collector

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