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Originally Posted by Whirled One
BTW, regarding that GE UHF converter calibrated in MHz rather than channel numbers: I actually have one of those too, and I don't know why GE decided to calibrated the dial like that either.  Then again, the FCC way-back-when actually assigned "channel numbers" for all the assignable frequencies on the FM broadcast band (didn't the numbers start with 200..?), but I don't think very many FM radios ever actually had those channel numbers marked on the dial. Did any FM radio stations ever actually announce their channel number duing station IDs rather than their broadcast frequency? |
I can't speak for other stations elsewhere in the country, but I do seem to remember a station in Cleveland that used to announce both its frequency in MHz and the FM channel number at the top of each hour, during the FCC-required station ID. This was an NBC-owned and operated station (WKYC-FM); it used this particular automated station ID at the top and bottom of every hour ("This is WKYC-FM, 105.7 megahertz, channel 289, Cleveland, Ohio"), when the network's own programming would pause for commercials and local affiliates' identifications. Also, another Cleveland station would announce both when signing off for the night (this was in the '60s-'70s, when FM and some AM stations would go off the air for maintenance late Sunday nights or early Monday mornings).
Yes, the FM broadcast band began with channel 201, IIRC, and ended with 300, 201 being 88.1 MHz and 300 being 107.9 MHz.
There were some very early American FM radios which had the FM channel numbers listed below the frequencies in MHz; in fact, there were even a few very old FM receivers which had their dials calibrated only in channel numbers. Some European FM sets, like Grundigs and others, marked their dials in frequency and channel numbers for years, until everything went digital.