Warranted or not, there has always been a stigma against UHF stations -- greatest Weird Al Yankovic movie ever -- so maybe that had something to do with many broadcasters electing to move back to their original frequency assignment after the digital transition. Whatever the reason, some broadcasters quickly realized the advantages of UHF over VHF when it comes to ATSC and have petitioned the FCC to move back. This is good news for everyone having problems pulling in those signals, but it really makes us wonder why the FCC didn't just standardize on UHF when it had the chance. At any rate, the moral of the story is that if you're having problems receiving your favorite VHF stations after
the transition, don't hesitate to be vocal about it; because who knows, maybe they'll actually listen and move to UHF as well. The cool part is that moving frequencies is a pretty painless process thanks to virtual channel numbers -- unless of course you're using
Windows Media Center.
posted Aug 18th 2009 9:56AM
You get to drink from...
...THE FIRE HOSE!!!!!
Cool photo with the Hudson Metro in the foreground. Haven't seen one of those babies in years. Even here in Southern California where classic cars go to retire.
My antenna using friends should be happy with this.
Anybody know if WPIX in NY is going to switch to UHF? I use the Terk HDTVa, I've rescanned a bajillion times with the antenna in a bajillion different places and my TV still hasn't detected WPIX 11.1. :(
Here in Boston WHDH (NBC) is broadcasting on both VHF and UHF. People far from Boston are not able to receive the new digital channel on channel 7. So they fired back up their channel 42 transmitter that was being used during the transition. I only live a few miles outside of Boston, so I get both the channel 7 and 42 signals.
I am having trouble receiving local CBS and ABC after they moved to VHF in the DC area. Had to get a second antenna and PC upstairs to record shows and transfer them to my primary HTPC. It's a pain. Fortunately NFL and Sunday night football will mostly be on Fox and NBC.
I replaced my roortop UHF only antenna with a VHF/UHF antenna to get all stations. I am glad I did that since I also get FM signals. My uncle also has a Terk antenna and can not get Channels 7 and (DC Stations) and Channels 11 and 13 (Baltimore Stations). He did get those stations on their UHF frequencies.
Why couldn't they go UHF-only, so we wouldn't need both types of antennae?
Most antennas do both. The problem is that VHF sucks.
Actually, only the giant Yagi-style antennae do VHF (and FM) well -- there are newer (and substantially smaller) UHF antennae that don't get the lower frequencies at all. These were aggressively marketed as "HDTV" antennae during the transition period and are causing stations a great deal of grief.
> The cool part is that moving frequencies is a pretty painless process thanks to virtual channel numbers -- unless of course you're using Windows Media Center.
It would be if TVs automatically scanned for channels periodically. In practice though, changing channel means that a significant number of people will find the channel simply disappears. I think TV/etc manufacturers need to do a better job of it, making their devices autoscan periodically or recommending a manual scan at regular intervals.
I agree the TV stations should have all gone UHF in the first place. The wrong frequencies were auctioned.
All right! WLS in Chicago has asked to switch back! I had a perfect signal before the transition when they were on UHF. Now that they are on VHF my signal is spotty. It is strange... we hardly ever get reception in the morning, but at night it is usually ok. Hopefully they switch back to UHF so I can get a solid signal again!
Wait...there are other Weird Al movies?
Its simple,
the FCC got more money auctioning off the upper UHF compared to the VHF band
I live near an airport (mostly general aviation ( Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport)) and the aircraft give my VHF digital stations problems. Something having to do with aircraft structure size vs. frequency wavelengths. My UHF digital stations seem to not be bothered.
"I'm thinking of something orange. Know what it is? It's an orange!" - Stanley Spadowski
Ok, now I'm thinking of something blue. Something bluuuuuuuue.
Some UHF movie trivia: That Channel 62 building in the picture was actually the KFMJ (Fred and Mary Jones) AM station in Sand Springs, Oklahoma at the time. The tower is still there and can be easily seen from the Keystone Expressway just west of downtown Tulsa but the building is long gone. Here's where you can find more UHF movie trivia: http://tulsatvmemories.com/uhf.html
I gotta say, all these digital tv transition woes/issues is like Brett Favre - seems to go away, but always comes back.
What really is annoying is the fact that none of the stations made ANY mention of moving back to the VHF band. We had to rely on third-party resources such as antennaweb and tvfool to tell us this. I always assumed that it would just be on the UHF band permanently once placed there. Ha. Not so. Three local stations moved back to the VHF band post-transition. Not that I would notice, however. I went back to satellite over a year ago.
Whenever we have a thunderstorm, and in Florida that happens a lot, the drop-outs make listening to our NBC on digital 12 or our CBS digital 13 impossible, so I'm forced to watch our ABC station on digital 16. Before the transition in June, our NBC station was on digital 55 and I could pick them up with an antenna in the attic. Now I have a hugh VHF/UHF antenna 27 feet in the air and I can only pick them up 85 percent of the time.