FCC Cites Dell For Failure To Label TV Sets
(Broadcasting & Cable)

Dell.com has joined the list of online TV sales Web sites cited by the FCC for failure to label analog-only TV sets.

As of May 25, sets without digital tuners must be clearly marked, either on the set or in close proximity, with the warning that the set will not receive over-the-air broadcasts after February 2009 unless equipped with a converter box.
http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=152842

As reprted by Lindsay649 yesterday, Industry Canada has now put out a Consumer Notice.
See post #98 in this thread:
August 31st 2011: Deadline for DTV and HDTV in Canada (http://digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=63969&page=7)

I am surprised no one has posted the link to the FCC's DTV Final Channel Designations (http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-138A2.pdf) yet. It takes a bit of interpretation to read as it uses the station's "Facility ID" instead of its call sign.

Martin is also proposing to help low-power TV stations make the transition to digital more swiftly, including opening up a filing window so that they can apply for DTV licenses. Currently, there is no hard date for the 4,700 low-power stations and translators that will still be allowed to broadcast in analog after the transition, but Martin said he is proposing to make that hard date 2012.

http://www.broadcastnewsroom.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=301974

Maybe Vancouver-area folks will finally see some digital LP stations as SeaTac repeaters in Bellingham after all. We can only hope.

LP (low-power) stations in the U.S. are not regular TV stations. They are very local analogue retransmitters of distant Class A or B analogue stations that are not easily received OTA. The difference between an LP station and a simple translator (repeater) is that the operators of LP stations are permitted to simsub their own local commercials over the original ones.

I think some of these stations will never see the light of day in digital form. Cost of transition will be one. But the other will probably be because their need will be lowered. These new Full Power DT stations can now have their signals travel further and arrive to the viewer in a much better & watchable condition. This will put added pressure on LPTV's. The same I figure will happen to low power translators. The translators will probably be the first to be dropped by most full power stations.

Some of these LP's may just lease some bandwidth on the bigger stations to deliver their service as a sub-channel.

Here is the FCC link showing the DTV channel assignments after analog signoff
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-138A2.pdf

I see that NBC Cleveland has chosen 17 for their DTV feed
and Fox 2 Detroit has chosen ch 7 (they are on 58 now). Does this mean that WXYZ will have to change their logo?

I thought that when the switch over happens a year from now they would broadcast digitally from their primary feed. For example Channel 4 WDIV in Detroit would shut off it's digital channel and broadcast on VHF 4.

VHF channels 2 - 6 are not the best for digital broadcast so most stations in that range will either keep their new digital broadcast number 7 to- 5x (whatever the upper limit will be) or an all together different channel number if they are broadcasting on a temporary assignment.

Yep, there is ongoing debate about the VHF Low band being reassigned, with the Americans wanting to get rid of it for other use and the Canadian broadcasters apparently wanting to keep it for TV. Its still all clear as mud.

So far in Canada the post-2011 TV channel layout is expected to be:

2 through 6 (VHF Low)
7 through 13 (VHF High)
14 through 51 (UHF)

The 52 through 69 channels will be reassigned.

Will the digital signals be a lot stronger after the shut off date? I thought I read somewhere it will be because they wont be needing extra power for analog stations.

The ERP (Effective Radiated Power) of a digital OTA station need only be a fraction of the ERP needed by an analogue OTA station to cover the exact same area.

Further energy savings are realized throughout the entire broadcast procedure due to digital OTA's inherent efficiencies.

Digital OTA is better for the environment in many ways. :)

Okay. Should we be seeing better results after the February 2009 shutoff date?

Okay. Should we be seeing better results after the February 2009 shutoff date?
Short answer is YES.

Shutting down the analogs will stop a LOT of the interference we're getting on digital channels.

For instance, I suspect my poor reception some days on WGRZ digital Ch 33, is because of a distant station Ch 33 in Youngstown, Ohio. Since i've already been challenged on this, when the weather gets better, i'll be up on the roof, turning the antenna to see if i can tune in analog 33. :)

The other issue is the power level of the analogs is so great, most tuners automatically reduce the gain on the input circuits to protect themselves. Our tuners won't be swamped anymore when they shut of analog in less than a year.

Unfortunately, we have to wait a couple more years after that for Canadian analog to go away.

Now, if we could just get digital radio going.......

Now if we could just get digital radio going...Well then instead of rogers/bell paying places like FS/BB to make us think theres no free HDTV OTA, you'd just have sirius paying people to think theres no free digital radio OTA..

The ERP (Effective Radiated Power) of a digital OTA station need only be a fraction of the ERP needed by an analogue OTA station to cover the exact same area.

Further energy savings are realized throughout the entire broadcast procedure due to digital OTA's inherent efficiencies.

Digital OTA is better for the environment in many ways.Funny you say that because I have had at least one station engineer say the opposite to me much to my surprise. Unless they didn't understand the question, which I doubt.

I can watch a digital station that I can't measure on my SLM. I can't say the same for analog. The noise floor for the meter is -35dbm.
I have estimated that I can receive stations as low as -50dbm (using an attenuator with a known signal and subtracting the additional attenuation from the orginal signal reading).

Occasionally picking up 66.1 (only three times so far and only for a couple of hours at best) is one of the best proofs. Shutting down the analogs will stop a LOT of the interference we're getting on digital channels. Goodby Gilligans Island. (at least some of it) ;)

Funny you say that because I have had at least one station engineer say the opposite to me much to my surprise. Unless they didn't understand the question, which I doubt.


Well, it may be true if an analog channel 2 is replaced by UHF. Even at 1MW ERP, the digital station won't be able to replicate the coverage of the 100kW ERP channel 2 analog station. And that MW probably needs 35 to 90 kW of tranmitter output power, more than would be needed to power the channel 2 analog antenna.

There's a proposal on the FCC's records right now to convert channels 5 and 6 into a new FM band.

The request to convert channels 5 and 6 to FM uses was denied by the FCC. See FCC 08-72 "Memorandum opinion and order on reconsideration
of the Seventh report and order and eighth report and order

Adopted: March 3, 2008 Released: March 6, 2008

"1. Mullaney Engineering, Inc. (“MEI”) and EME Communications (“EME”) have filed petitions requesting that the Commission eliminate the requirement in Section 73.525 of the Commission’s rules that new FM stations protect channel 6 DTV allotments or, alternatively, that it altogether eliminate channel 6, and possibly channel 5, from the digital TV allotment process and allocate that corresponding spectrum to the FM service.[1] (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=721948#_ftn1) Dan Priestley and Robert E. Lee’s comments supported MEI’s proposal to reallocate TV channels 5 and 6 to FM broadcasting.[2] (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=721948#_ftn2) For the reasons discussed below, we deny these requests."

This is a "pilot" before the big American OTA analogue shutdown Feb 17, 2009. The idea is to see what problems, if any, occur, and have them straightened out before the big day (Feb 17, 2009) when the rest of the country does it.

Story at http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080509.wgtdigitaltv0509/BNStory/Technology/home