Confusion about hdtv, vhf and uhf... help!

Hello gang!

I live in Frederick Maryland, 60 miles north of DC, and 60 miles west
of Baltimore.

I have what I think is an old VHF antenna (but might be a combo uhf)
in my attic that I hooked up to an tivak hdtv converter box, and I get
channels 4, 5, 9, 20, 62 in without pixialation.... about a 50 on the
tivak hdtv converter signal meter.

QUESTIONS:
1. One thing I now notice is if I go to antennaweb.org, and plug in by
street address, it says most of the above channels are VHF (?) I
thought they are sending digital signals only on UHF?

2. will I lose these channels when they go to UHF in June? Aren't the
VHF channels being used for something else after the cut over.

3. I have a UHF antenna sitting in a box (db8, got it for free), but
was thinking about selling it on ebay because I am getting enough
channels, but I am so confused if I will need it after the June
cutover !!!?

Thanks for the help,
Ed

ed wrote:
I have what I think is an old VHF antenna (but might be a combo uhf)
in my attic that I hooked up to an tivak hdtv converter box, and I get
channels 4, 5, 9, 20, 62 in without pixialation.... about a 50 on the
tivak hdtv converter signal meter.

QUESTIONS:
1. One thing I now notice is if I go to antennaweb.org, and plug in by
street address, it says most of the above channels are VHF (?) I
thought they are sending digital signals only on UHF?

Antennaweb.org shows both analog and digital signals. Only stations
with the "-DT" suffix on their call letters -- or with a ".1" on the end
of their channel number -- are digital.

Right now all full-power Baltimore and Washington digital channels are
UHF. However, in June two each will be moving to VHF frequencies.

The FCC changed their mind years ago about having all digital on UHF. I
think it was in part that they realized they couldn't find enough
channels to pack everyone in on UHF, and in part the stations wanted the
better coverage at a lower cost on VHF. (it takes less power to cover a
given distance on VHF, thus a lower utility bill) And in part, the
two-way and cellphone interests that wanted the ex-TV spectrum didn't
really want VHF, because the antennas are way too big. (the little
three-inch antenna on your cellphone? To work equally effectively at TV
channel 10 it would have to be about a foot long, and on channel 2 it
would have to be closer to four feet.)

2. will I lose these channels when they go to UHF in June? Aren't the
VHF channels being used for something else after the cut over.

No, there are no near-term plans to reuse VHF for anything besides TV.

Personally I think the high-VHF channels (7-13) will remain TV for as
long as there is over-the-air TV. There have been problems with
reception on the low-VHF channels (2-6), the FCC has discouraged (but
not prohibited) use of that spectrum and few stations are using it. On
the other hand, nobody else wants that spectrum either!

There is some thought of using it to create additional FM radio stations.

3. I have a UHF antenna sitting in a box (db8, got it for free), but
was thinking about selling it on ebay because I am getting enough
channels, but I am so confused if I will need it after the June
cutover !!!?

I note you didn't list *all* the Washington channels as coming in with
the existing antenna - at least channels 7, 26, 32, and 50 are missing
and if my memory were better I'd list more...

Do you care? (I mean, are you missing any channels that you want to get?)

If you're getting all the channels you want right now, then you don't
need the db8. None of the stations whose post-June digital signals will
be on UHF are reducing power -- some will be *increasing* power.

You may, however, need a *VHF* antenna. To get channels 7/9/11/13 which
are moving to VHF frequencies.

How's your *analog* reception on these channels with your existing
antenna? If it's pretty clean you'll probably be fine for digital -- if
they're pretty fuzzy you may need a VHF antenna.

--
Doug Smith W9WI
Pleasant View, TN EM66

sorry-spammers wrote:
ed wrote:
I have what I think is an old VHF antenna (but might be a combo uhf)
in my attic that I hooked up to an tivak hdtv converter box, and I get
channels 4, 5, 9, 20, 62 in without pixialation.... about a 50 on the
tivak hdtv converter signal meter.

Right now all full-power Baltimore and Washington digital channels are
UHF. However, in June two each will be moving to VHF frequencies.

The FCC changed their mind years ago about having all digital on UHF.

They were never established plans to go all UHF. There was a proposal
to cut the TV channels to 7-59, but the broadcasters wanted to keep low
VHF (this was way back before the impulse noise problems with low VHF
were widely accepted) and besides, it is the upper UHF channel
frequencies that are valuable, not the 3 to 5 meter wavelength low VHF
channels. It would have been politically difficult to hang on to UHF 52
to 59.

For 60 miles north of DC and 60 miles west of Baltimore, channels
4,5,9,20,62 (WFPT 62 in Frederick) is not many stations. Should be
getting the Hagerstown, MD stations for starters. There will be four
full power stations on upper VHF - WJLA-DT 7, WUSA-DT 9, WBAL-DT 11,
WJZ-DT 13 - in the two cities. There is also a low power digital
station in DC on VHF 8, but 60 miles is way out of range for WMDO-LD.
For comparison, I currently get 18 digital stations OTA from north
Sterling, VA with an attic antenna setup. After June 12, I figure I
should get at least 2-3 more digital stations.

Ed, you should be looking at getting a better upper VHF & UHF antenna.
But if you have an old antenna, the cable run may be old or even old
enough to be twin wire lead, not co-axial. If the cable run is RG-59
co-axial or twin lead, it should be replaced with RG-6 co-axial cable.

Web sites for antenna info and help:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=25

Alan F

ed wrote:
Hello gang!

I live in Frederick Maryland, 60 miles north of DC, and 60 miles west
of Baltimore.


The natives call it "Prince Frederick" :-)

I have what I think is an old VHF antenna (but might be a combo uhf)
in my attic that I hooked up to an tivak hdtv converter box, and I get
channels 4, 5, 9, 20, 62 in without pixialation.... about a 50 on the
tivak hdtv converter signal meter.


Sounds about right.

QUESTIONS:
1. One thing I now notice is if I go to antennaweb.org, and plug in by
street address, it says most of the above channels are VHF (?) I
thought they are sending digital signals only on UHF?


It really should not matter which antenna you use for digital reception.
Of course, there are lots of different opinions on that!

2. will I lose these channels when they go to UHF in June? Aren't the
VHF channels being used for something else after the cut over.

3. I have a UHF antenna sitting in a box (db8, got it for free), but
was thinking about selling it on ebay because I am getting enough
channels, but I am so confused if I will need it after the June
cutover !!!?

Wait until after the cutover - when and if!