[opendtv] Re: Tired of the Silver Sensor?

responses by way of interlineations ...



OK, once again it's time for me to ask the questions I've posed to this list 
for 6 years and which, to the best of my recollection NO ONE has, will or 
wants? to answer.

JW>You possibly haven't been asking the right people, or the people you ask 
have a cable orientation, and take these as being questions that favor their 
interests.  I've been talking to broadcasters about these items for almost as 
long as you've been asking.  I concede there hasn't been much guidance about 
these on this list.

1. How good is ATSC reception going to be once the analog cut-off date is past 
[whenever that may be] AND after all the "temporary" channels have been given 
back AND when many of the OTA DTV stations are then transmitting on VHF 
frequencies? 

JW>Better than it is today, since receivers will be able to be sold that don't 
have to deal with NTSC and there will be less interference, and what 
interference will not have the RF spikes of NTSC, but the smooth RF envelope of 
8-VSB.


2. How many of the DTV stations now operating on UHF channels will ultimately 
end up on VHFs at the real end of the transition?

JW>just a few.  The math is simple there are 54 UHF channels, and 12 VHF, 
without considering the items below that tend to derogate VHF.

3. How much of the testing for DTV has been done at VHF frequencies or was all 
of it done at UHF?

JW> Most was done at UHF, due to VHF congestion.  And, most will be at UHF (see 
answer  #2)

4. Did the VHF tests, if any were done, reveal any problems with VHF DTV 
reception that were not seen in the UHF tests?

JW>Don't know and don't much care.

5. What happens relative to consumers [after the scenario in question 1 comes 
to pass] when all the cute little indoor or roof mounted outdoor UHF antennas 
that people installed specifically to watch OTA DTV with no longer receive all 
the stations because some are now operating on VHF channels?
JW>Since most of the stations will be using UHF, don't know that this will 
matter much, since fewer than 20% of the stations (assuming equal distribution 
of stations across channels happens; the reality is that VHF has been derogated 
in practice.)

5. Will people rush right out and buy more 65 inch rabbit ears for the top of 
their 65 inch flat panel TVs or huge Zig-A-Log rooftop antennas so they can 
once again tune in the suddenly missing DTV programs that are now on channels 2 
through 13?

JW>funny, doesn't deserve an answer, since the predicate won't happen.

6. Was all of this ever really thought out or even discussed or considered by 
the ATSC, the FCC or the NAB with the future of OTA DTV for the consumer in 
mind?

JW>Of course, it was considered.  Heres the factors that derogate VHF.  As you 
know, broadcast VHF can be divided into three sub-bands (four if you want to be 
technical).  In the lowest band, channels 2-4, there is atremendous (even with 
analog) amount of impulse noise from other services and car ignitions these 
days -- and not just citizen's band.  IIRC, even CBS has elected to leave it's 
channel 2 in several markets.  Channel 5 also gets noise from CB; it's in the 
middle of at least one 2x multiple of CB.  With PSIP and the FCC's rules, rf 
channel has been disintermediated from the channel shown to viewers.

Channel 6, for all practical purposes, won't be used for DTV.  Why?  The FCC 
requires all DTV stations to protect EXISTING and FUTURE FM stations from 
interference, and at the lower end of the FM band there's a cluster of FM 
stations with low power.  There are new interference issues, by the way, with 
HD Radio, and that will only get bigger over time.

To 6's of which I am familiar with -- Lee Wood's KOIN and McGraw Hill's WRTV 
Indianapolis -- have elected to leave 6 behind, and I am told that not a single 
station has elected to use 6.  Indeed, one LPTV company, Venture Technologies, 
has applied to use channel 6 to send FM-like services (with video) on channel 6 
in many markets.  (They currently do this in LA.)  When LPTVs are forced to go 
digital, these will have problems.

The seven remaining VHF channels have fewer interference issues, but still have 
current and future ones.. So, we end up with 36 UHF channels and 7 VHF.  
Assuming equal distribution, VHF will be 1/6 of the total.  Due to the 45 mhz 
interference issue, most of the interference caused by UHF is totally within 
the UHF broadcast band.

The channel elections are almost all complete, Cliff.  You could look them up. 

Once again, I was just wondering.

JW>And, just answering
 
 
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