On Tue, 2 Jan 2007, Brandon Beattie wrote: > One more thing to be aware of, in Utah HD channels run from 27-48. > Channels 27-48 are UHF channels. I've heard some rumors from KSL that > by the end of this year they will stop their NTSC transmission on their > UHF channel and only broadcast ATSC/HD on channel 5 which is VHF.
According to a friend who oversaw the construction of the DTV-Utah facility on Farnsworth peak, with the exception of KSTU, all existing ATSC "channels" will remain on their currently-assigned UHF frequencies in perpetuity. At one time, local TV stations were given an option either to keep their ATSC transmissions on UHF or to move their ATSC transmissions to VHF after the NTSC cutoff, but that option expired a year or so ago. In other words, once the stations decided what they were going to do with their ATSC transmissions (stay on UHF or move ATSC over to their previously-assigned NTSC/VHF channel), and once a certain government-mandated deadline had passed, TV stations were stuck with their choice. So go ahead and invest in your UHF ATSC antennas; they'll be good for all existing ATSC channels except KSTU. (In retrospect, it was not the brightest decision on the part of KSTU to move ATSC down to 13, because they will be the only "big" HD station along the Wasatch front for which viewers will require a VHF antenna. Chris /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
