To me the biggest mystery will be when I turn on my TV on the morning on June 13th. If I hit 23 on my remote, will it find WNLO or the new digital WPXJ? My guess is it will go to WNLO and I'll need to re-scan to get WPXJ. Or will I even get WPXJ? The drama is killing me! ;)

There are infomercials and spots telling everyone they may need to rescan because of all the channel changes. I will do a rescan anyway, since I do that regularly to see If I can get 11 to stay on 11. :)

I think it depends on the TV, and even with TVs that handle it pretty well, it can get odd.

For example, if a station moves to RF channel 25 but your TV already has another radio frequency mapped to virtual channel 25 - which station will the TV tune in when you enter 25? Probably virtual 25.

With so many stations moving digital to their prior analog frequency, that isn't as unlikely scenario as it may sound (virtual channel 9 on RF 26 moving (back) to RF 9 for example). Even though my TV handles channel tuning fairly well, I expect to have to do a rescan.

In general, a one or two digit channel number without any subchannel identification (no 23.1 or 23-1) tunes directly to the physical channel. I expect that when physical channel 23 is occupied by a digital carrier, selecting 23 the first time will result in the ATSC tuner automatically identifying one or more digital subchannels and adding them to the internal station list. The set will probably display the xx.1 subchannel of the new digital signal. The next time, selecting 23 will probably display 23.1. US stations have largely stayed with their original analog channel number for the virtual digital channel number so there is not likely to be a conflict.

In general, a one or two digit channel number without any subchannel identification (no 23.1 or 23-1) tunes directly to the physical channel.

It all depends on the tuner. I know some digital boxes will only tune virtual channel numbers when you type the number directly. To enter a physical channel number you need to go through a menu.

It all depends on the tuner. I know some digital boxes will only tune virtual channel numbers when you type the number directly. To enter a physical channel number you need to go through a menu.
I have no experience with digital OTA converter boxes so my comments were based on HDTVs. I understand that most converter boxes do not have analog capability so they don't need the ability to directly select a physical channel number from a remote without going through a setup menu.

Crawler running on 49-1. They are switching from UHF 34 to 49 June 12 Midnight, rescan necessary. This should greatly improve reception in the GTA.

Thank goodness as it has been very unreliable this spring!

But the June 12 sunset of analog TV will start the clock running for Daystar TV, which has agreed to purchase both WNYI and WNGS from Equity's bankruptcy trustee. Whenever the deal closes, Daystar will only have until July 11, 2010 to get digital signals (on channel 20 for WNYI, channel 7 for WNGS) built and operating.

Looks as if WNGS won't be off the air for too long... I hope that they come to their senses though and request to switch to a UHF station, as being the only station in the Toronto/Buffalo area on VHF seems pointless.

From FYBush.com's weekly newsletter...

In the state's bigger markets, though, most major stations have kept analog going until the very end. In Buffalo, WIVB (Channel 4) and WNLO (Channel 23) will sign off at 9 AM Friday, followed at 1 PM by WGRZ (Channel 2) and at some point in the day by WKBW (Channel 7) and WPXJ (Channel 51). WNYO-TV (Channel 49) will run right up till midnight on Friday; it's hoping the FCC grants it last-minute approval to go digital on channel 49 instead of continuing on its weaker channel 34 DTV allotment.

Obviously they missed the news on WNYO getting approval last week to stay on 49, but for anyone who wants to watch the fun, I figure knowing the times is useful information...

Is WPXJ going to 23.1 for sure?

as being the only station in the Toronto/Buffalo area on VHF seems pointless.

CFTO will be on 9 in 2011. If CHCH still exists, it will be on 11. CKCO will be on 13.
There is also a vacant allocation for channel 8 in Toronto in the post-transition plan.

In Rochester, 10 and 13 revert a the end of the week.

I was originally going to put this in another thread, but I figure it deserves its own thread. Is there any directive/guidance from the FCC regarding the end of PSIP re-mapping after June 12? (Ditto for CRTC after Aug 31, 2011) I realize that in Buffalo, WNLO will have to drop 23 from its PSIP, because WPXJ is taking the channel. WKBW has a reprieve on the channel 7 PSIP, due to the Equity Broadcasting bankruptcy soap opera. I also question the wisdom of WNED switching their PSIP to 17 with only months to go before the analogue shutdown.

I deliberately chose a generic title, so this thread can include discussion of the Canadian PSIP situation as well.

Why would WNLO drop PSIP?

After a channel scan, WNLO 32 becomes 23-1, & WPXJ 23 becomes 51-1 due to PSIP. After that, WNLO & WPXJ are reached by entering the same number viewers always have to get those channels. That was the whole point of implementing PSIP in the first place.

Phyiscal frequencies are irrelevant to the uninformed end user, & are masked out to avoid confusion.

Looks like CanWest is abandoning E! (CHCH, Hamilton in the GTA). No fall schedule has been announced. They're still looking for a buyer. See the following Globe & Mail article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/life-and-death-of-the-double-network/article1167680/

I was originally going to put this in another thread, but I figure it deserves its own thread. Is there any directive/guidance from the FCC regarding the end of PSIP re-mapping after June 12?Walter its an important issue but I put it in here for now because in the days ahead I'll be running several special "How has the cutover changed anything" type of threads so I'm just avoiding parallel or similar topic'ed threads at this point.

Looks like CanWest is abandoning E! (CHCH, Hamilton in the GTA). No fall schedule has been announced. They're still looking for a buyer. See the following Globe & Mail article:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/life-and-death-of-the-double-network/article1167680/
It would be great if this would lead to less sims, but sounds like city-tv is going to pick up the slack, thus americanize that station even more.

Why would WNLO drop PSIP?

After a channel scan, WNLO 32 becomes 23-1, & WPXJ 23 becomes 51-1 due to PSIP. After that, WNLO & WPXJ are reached by entering the same number viewers always have to get those channels. That was the whole point of implementing PSIP in the first place.
So you start with an uninitialized tuner. To add WNLO, punch in 32 and WNLO shows up with PSIP 23. On many TV sets, you now cannot manually add in WPXJ, no way, no how. Any set of rules which allows that to happen is badly broken.

Phyiscal frequencies are irrelevant to the uninformed end user, & are masked out to avoid confusion.
And who does the finger point to when the uninformed user goes to a website and orders a honking big VHF-LO antenna to pick up digital WGRZ, WIVB, and CBLT (PSIP 2, 4, and 5, respectively) in the GTA?

So you start with an uninitialized tuner. To add WNLO, punch in 32 and WNLO shows up with PSIP 23. On many TV sets, you now cannot manually add in WPXJ, no way, no how. Any set of rules which allows that to happen is badly broken.
On my two HDTVs (Sony and Samsung), I can access the physical channels directly using 23.0 or 23-0. The Sony also has a show/hide menu that allows access to the physical channels. Other makes and models may have similar capabilities. But why start with an uninitialized tuner? Do an automatic scan and let the TV do its job and find the channels.

And who does the finger point to when the uninformed user goes to a website and orders a honking big VHF-LO antenna to pick up digital WGRZ, WIVB, and CBLT (PSIP 2, 4, and 5, respectively) in the GTA?

How does an uninformed user even get to the stage of ordering a VHF-LO antenna? Your premise is a user with enough knowledge to order the antenna, mounting hardware, matching transformer, cable, connectors, ground block, grounding rod and crimp tool but not enough knowledge to understand DTV is different than analog. Your uninformed user also manages to avoid anything on the web or even the seller's online site that suggests DTV is different and, perhaps, should be investigated before ordering equipment. And what is the chance that an uninformed purchaser will specifically order a VHF-LO antenna rather than an all-band monster?

There will probably be a few people who manage to do what you suggest but it is not a valid reason to make life difficult for all the people who just do the automatic scan on the TV and continue to enter channel 4 when they want CBS from Buffalo.

There will probably be a few people who manage to do what you suggest but it is not a valid reason to make life difficult for all the people who just do the automatic scan on the TV and continue to enter channel 4 when they want CBS from Buffalo.
I really think that the channel-renumbering gymnastics of PSIP is a triumph of marketing over practicality. TTBOMK, most people have moved once or twice during their lives, and have had to get used to new channel numbers for their favourite programs. The change in physical channels should be done once in a cold-turkey manner.

Channel re-numbering adds an unnecessary layer of indirection. Of all the things that I have to explain about DTV to people outside this forum, channel re-numbering is the most difficult concept for them to grasp. And do we really want IC and the FCC wasting their time co-ordinating PSIP virtual channel assignments along the border?