jorbill2or wrote:
You prove my point One more time 3 analog was vhf !!!!! 3.1 etc were really in the UHF band say .. 40 or some such channel .. the channel display is saying it’s 3 but it’s not ! It’s really a UHF high number Get it ? Goodnight
in the analog days the channel assignment (as in channel 3, 7, etc) was paired to a specific frequency. thus every channel 7 in the country was on the same frequency. that's why stations in nearby cities...think Chicago and Milwaukee, Chicago and Rockford...did not generally have stations on the same channel assignment.
in the new digital world channel assignments and the frequencies used are not paired. thus you could have duplicate channel numbers in nearby cities but each would be on a different frequency. the decision to remove the pairing of channel assignment and frequency was done for several reasons. stations with lower channel assignments (2-6) had assigned frequencies that had certain propagation characteristics which created reception issues for some users. here in chicago wbbm channel 2 was almost unwatchable at times in the summer because of the ghosting and interference. they wanted to move to a higher frequency (channel 7 and higher). but there was already a channel 7 and 9 in chicago so the FCC removed the pairing and permitted channel 2 to remain channel 2 but they moved ops to a higher frequency. this way channel 2 would not have to re-train their audience to look for them on channel 15 (an example). channels 6, 8 and 10 would not work in chicago be ause the FCC generally required spacing between channel assignments.
NONE of this has anything to do with the antenna other than improved receiving elements and a good amplifier. heck, after the switch to digital i put a cheap HDTV set in my ham shack. on a lark i took a large paper clip, i straightened it out and out and bent a 90-degree angle at one end. i stuck that into the center of the set's antenna connector and was able to receive most of the stations here in chicago. the notable exception was channel 2. i guess i could've marketed that "magical" paper clip as an HDTV Digital antenna and retired sooner than i did.
