Wouldn't it be cool if we could get them to open up the 4 meter band for
ham radio? It'll probably never happen, but it would be nice to have a
shot at working the Europeans when the MUF gets really really high...
73, de Lou K2LKK
At 11:35 AM 3/12/2008 -0500, you wrote:
>Richard Fiorello writes:
> >The fact that the ict90 was preprogrammed with tv audio was a nice extra.
> >If I understand things correctly that will be history come next year.
>
> Someone asked what we would hear in place of the audio.
>A good guess is nothing much. When the analog VHF channels go
>dark next February, we will probably not hear anything for years
>because it will take that long for industry and government to
>agree on what to use some of those bands for. The commercial and
>public safety folks all want pieces of 700 and 800 and up
>spectrum for cell phones and other similar gadgets but who's
>going to want 54 through 88 megahertz?
>
> It may turn out to be useful for Part15-style devices
>such as wireless microphones and baby monitors, etc. It
>certainly won't be as good for cell phones and wireless PDA's as
>UHF.
>
> So, for a long time, you won't hear anything except hiss
>and a little RFI from computers and computer networks and then,
>when something does finally occupy the frequencies, it may be
>digital such as pagers or data networks.
>
> >As for digital converters, does the converter have its own remote or can
> >you still use your own tv remote?
>
> They will be like the cable box you may have had to give
>cable capability to your older televisions. You set the
>television to an unused channel in the area such as 3 or 4 and
>then you do all your tuning and channel changing via the
>converter box.
>
>
> >Also, apparently most channel numbers will change. If this is indeed the
> >case it should be an interesting learning curve for some.
>
> That is the thing I mentioned in a previous message. The
>digital channels send out a code that tells your receiver that X
>digital channel is paired with Y analog channel which makes it
>easier for the viewer to know where to look. The viewer doesn't
>have to think about such things as the fact that in Oklahoma
>City, Channel 13's digital channel is 32. He or she just hits
>the Program button on their digital converter box or tuner and
>it finds all the signals automatically so that when you want to
>watch Channel 13's digital channel, you just enter 13.1 and it
>knows to switch the actual RF tuner to UHF Channel 32.
>
> >Does anyone know why this is being mandated? Is there a similar
> requirement
> >in other countries?
>
> Oh yes. It is being done all over the world and
>several countries are a bit ahead of the United States and some
>have yet to start but are thinking about it.
>
> I read where Mexico is also starting the digital switch
>but hasn't set a firm date for switchover.
>
> As for why? It is true that money is behind the change
>but it was going to happen sooner or later.
>
> It was once said that if we wanted high-definition TV,
>it would take about 20 megahertz per channel and there flat
>isn't any spectrum available for that kind of bandwidth
>anywhere. Japan experimented with analog high-definition
>television, but most countries' equivalent of the FCC or
>Industry Canada said a firm and emphatic NO to requests for huge
>blocks of frequencies and that was way before the explosion of
>cell phones and wireless networks.
>
> Now that we've got digital processing capability that
>can create high-def pictures out of information that doesn't
>take up any more bandwidth than a standard TV channel, the push
>really started. Blame technology advances if you want to blame
>anything.
>
> I think I have seen glimpses of the future right here in
>Stillwater, Oklahoma which is a college town about 50 Mines
>North of Oklahoma City. In this area, TV channels 9 and 13 are
>strong out of Oklahoma City and Tulsa channels 8 and 11 are weak but
>receivable. Channels 7, 10 and 12 were virtually empty but would
>occasionally have skip signals from other cities in them.
>
> I have heard a handful of wireless microphones from the
>campus in the pass band of Channels 10 and 12. They probably
>don't cause any problem since nobody is trying to receive TV on
>those channels and the signals from the wireless mikes are only
>audible for a few blocks.
>
> I imagine that some of that VHF spectrum will be used
>for these type devices.
>
> As for Channel 7, it now has the digital version of
>Oklahoma City's Channel 5 so it is full of something for now.
>
> I hope this answers some questions. I do not work in
>broadcasting, but majored in it in college so try to follow what
>is going on.
>
>Martin McCormick WB5AGZ Stillwater, OK
>Systems Engineer
>OSU Information Technology Department Network Operations Group
>
>
>
>
>--
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>1:27 PM
Louis Kim Kline
A.R.S. K2LKK
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