OTA TV Channels

[seekir]

Well, now the 13's have been off for several days. I'm not too happy the digital scheme requires a re-scan every time this happens because re-scanning won't change anything if the channel in question is still off the air, but the channels that go off the air won't always be available when they come back on without a re-scan.

[kalakoa]

Digital television was never about improving service, it's all about freeing up spectrum (which was supposed to be held in the public trust) so that it can be sold to cell carriers (who then charge you to use it -- if and when it's convenient for them to offer service).

[H22]

quote:

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Originally posted by kalakoa

Digital television was never about improving service, it's all about freeing up spectrum (which was supposed to be held in the public trust) so that it can be sold to cell carriers (who then charge you to use it -- if and when it's convenient for them to offer service).

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tl;dr: an analog UHF station blocks out 13 frequencies, digital only takes up one.

There is merit to kalakoa's comment in that, for example, when you had an analog station operating on Channel 38, you were not allowed to have another station anywhere near you on channels 30, 31, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, 52 and 53. With digital you can have stations on adjacent channels, like 30, 31, 32 and 33 on the same tower.

When I was doing engineering studies to try and figure out how to get a new station licensed to Puna in 2009, there were multiple "phantom" analog stations that didn't exist, and in some cases were only on paper (which wasn't legal). I had to figure out how to co-exist with nonexistent channels 16, 32 and 38, as well as recently shuttered 5, 7 and 34. Between the fake stations, shuttered stations, and actual operating stations, there was very little opportunity.

So an analog UHF station blocks out 13 frequencies, digital only takes up one.

And, as kalakoa points out, channels 70-83 were sold to cell carriers in the 1980's; channels 52-69 were sold to cell carriers in the 2000's; and, channels 38-51 were sold to cell carriers in the last 2 years.

For the consumer, the plus: more subchannels with higher quality. The minus: you must have 100% signal or nothing (you could watch analog with 75% signal and not notice the snowy picture)

</geek>

[randomq]

The ATSC (Digital TV) spec has some tweaks for modulation and redundancy that could extend the range, at the cost of higher video quality. Personally I'd rather solid DVD quality over unreliable high-def. ATSC 3 even allows for 56? Mbit/s and a lower resolution stream along with a separate stream that "upgrades" it to higher def when reception is good enough. Best of both worlds!

[kalakoa]

So an analog UHF station blocks out 13 frequencies, digital only takes up one.

At the expense of range, graceful degradation, and stable implementation.

Fortunately, broadcast TV is mostly unwatchable crap -- though I might change my mind if we ever get live feeds from Uncle Robert's and other local venues.

[H22]

quote:

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Originally posted by randomq

ATSC 3 even allows for 56? Mbit/s and a lower resolution stream along with a separate stream that "upgrades" it to higher def when reception is good enough. Best of both worlds!

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That sounds really cool. I read that back in the analog days, when the conditions were right, they could get VHF TV from Hawaii in California and visa versa. I wonder if that will be possible again with a forgiving transmission like that?

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

I read that back in the analog days, when the conditions were right, they could get VHF TV from Hawaii in California and visa versa.

Or the wrong conditions. TV signals generally transmit about 90 miles over level ground. Back in the ‘80’s, when Chernobyl was melting down, I lived in the upper Midwest. One afternoon I picked up a station with unusual Spanish business names during the commercial breaks. When the station ID’ed on the half hour, it was from Albuquerque, about 1500 miles away. The signal lasted about an hour, long enough to watch a rerun of Kung Fu. I always wondered if the radiation in the atmosphere curved the signal, or if it was some other anomaly.

Go to Google. Search for "idiot." Click images.

[H22]

quote:

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Originally posted by H22

KFVE Channel 9 filed today to shift control over to KHON Channel 11, with an eventual sale to KHON. I would imagine this would mean some kind of channel lineup change, and some programming changes, since Channel 9 currently runs Hawaii News Now, the main competitor to KHON2.

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KFVE has rebranded as KHII. The biggest change is leaving the Hawaii News Now network:
https://www.khon2.com/khii

I think they'll officially have the KFVE call sign until the government reopens.

[macuu222]

ABC has added a new channel.....4.5 and is called the H&I TV network. Mostly tv reruns of Star Trek in all it's adaptations plus Xena and Hercules along with others.

[Shonuff]

Seems like every channel but the 45s are off air, is anyone else experiencing this