> > The lower VHF channels are MOSTLY going away / being reassigned to other
> > services, except in some areas.
> There's a lot of channel switching around, but I think you'll find the
> low VHF including channel 2 will still be widely used and are not going
> away. They certainly are not being reassigned to other services. The
> only reassignments to other services are channels 56 and up.
Recently I scanned a listing of old/new channel assignments, and almost all
the VHF-low channels (2-6) were being vacated. It wasn't a thorough check,
but I saw very few staying down there. This was a surprise to me, since I
had thought everyone (except the upper UHF channels) were staying put after
the smoke cleared.
I think it is also true that stations can still refer to themselves with one
channel number while actually transmitting on another, since DTV manages
channel reassignments invisibly to the end-user. Thus if my channel 2 ends
up on UHF after Feb. 17, viewers would still tune to "channel 2" because
their DTV sets or adapters will do the translation automagically.
> > I read that huge areas of rural residents will find themselves without
any
> > TV after the transition. Currently they live with watchable snowy
pictures.
> > With DTV they are out of luck.
> >
> There is a small possibility that this may happen in some areas due to
> the channel switching, but in rural areas you rarely find people using
> rabbit ears for antennas. Generally you find some good, or not so good
> outdoor antennas.
Maine is sparsely populated and hilly, and many get by with their rooftop
antennas and a just barely watchable signal, lots of reflections and
ghosting. Two press stories recently said many of them will lose their
ability to watch TV because the DTV signal will be so poor. Maybe that's
just some reporter stirring up trouble, I don't know.
Andy
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