Milwaukee area frequencys after the change

[ddeerrff]

Programming based on the ATSC standard tells a digital TV tuner or DTV converter box "When the couch potato enters 4.1 on the remote, show him UHF channel 28" and so on.  

Please correct me if I'm wrong... but the virtual to real channel is not fixed.  Milwaukee 4.1 translates to 28, but Poduncks 4.1 may translate to 37.  So the ATSC tuner has to 'learn' the correlations via a scan before it can tune the proper channel based on a virtual channel command.

[troyriley]

Please correct me if I'm wrong... but the virtual to real channel is not fixed.  Milwaukee 4.1 translates to 28, but Poduncks 4.1 may translate to 37.  So the ATSC tuner has to 'learn' the correlations via a scan before it can tune the proper channel based on a virtual channel command.

That is correct, although channel 37 may be a bad example because it is reserved for radioastronomy. An example of stations that can be sometimes be received in our area are the digital signals for channel 13. In Rockford, WREX's digital signal is broadcast on 54. In Grand Rapids, WZZM's digital signal is broadcast on 39. Both show up as 13-1 on your TV or converter box. After the transition, both are changing their digital signal frequencies to 13.

[Stanley Kritzik]

So, leaving out the analog broadcasts:

The digital over-the-air (OTA) channels occupy various VHF and UHF channels whose assigned "numbers" map to the old analog frequencies, not to where they are, now.  Thus, 10.1 is using VHF Ch. 8 space; 4.1 & 4.2 are using UHF 28 space, etc.  An OTA receiver with an ATSC tuner, after scanning, will present the digital channels in assigned numerical sequence (4.1, 4.2, 10.1, etc.) while the actual VHF/UHF channels being used are hidden.  So, the 4.1 and 10.1 stations will be tuned as 28 followed by 8 by the ATSC tuner, etc.

I'm not a Time Warner user, but I assume they will do the same for the locals -- hiding the frequencies, and presenting 4, 6, 10, etc. in order.  Someone with knowledge can help.

DirecTV (D*) broadcasts some of the locals via satellite.  Thus, ML4 = 4.1; ML10 = 10.1, etc.  D* does not provide 4.2, 36.2 thru 36.8 and others, so having OTA diplexed in with the satellite signals is helpful, and most new D* receivers have OTA facilities available, but it means an OTA antenna and a few components along with the satellite dish.  So far as I know, D* has no agreement with Weigel, so it's using analog 58, rather than 58.1.  What happens in July?  I don't know.

What I do know is that my friends using Time Warner will say: "did you see the program on 289?".  Of course, I know not what 289 is, since D* has its own numbering scheme, and I assume the same applies to Dish.  Telling me to watch HBO, for example, is no help, either, since D* supplies about 7 or 8 HBO flavors.

It's going to stay crazy for some time, I guess, and we'll just have to get used to it.

Stan

[ArgMeMatey]

I'm not a Time Warner user, but I assume they will do the same for the locals -- hiding the frequencies, and presenting 4, 6, 10, etc. in order.  Someone with knowledge can help.

Using QAM with no converter box, the virtual channels do show up in sequence with the analog cable channels.  So you would have Cable 9 (WGN),  Cable 10 (MPTV analog), then QAM 10.1, cable 11, and so on.  At least on my Samsung.  

Now, this is great for keeping things consistent, but it sure would have been nice if TV makers had thought about people possibly wanting to sort channels by analog vs. digital or even HD vs. SD.  Maybe somebody is doing that, or maybe the standards do not permit it.  I don't know.

[Stanley Kritzik]

Using QAM with no converter box, the virtual channels do show up in sequence with the analog cable channels.  So you would have Cable 9 (WGN),  Cable 10 (MPTV analog), then QAM 10.1, cable 11, and so on.  At least on my Samsung.  

Now, this is great for keeping things consistent, but it sure would have been nice if TV makers had thought about people possibly wanting to sort channels by analog vs. digital or even HD vs. SD.  Maybe somebody is doing that, or maybe the standards do not permit it.  I don't know.

Well, for as long as analog lasts, my Sony tunes anlog and digital in order, such as 4-analog, 4.1-digital, 4.2-digital, 6-analog, etc.  In short, the numbers rule.  The Sony setup allows for hiding any non-wanted channels, so the channel up/down control skips the hidden one.  Now, a re-scan after the analog stationa are gone -- if ever -- will reduce the choices to just the digital ones.  Stay tuned -- pardon the pun.

Stan