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Old 02-22-2013, 10:59 AM
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Jeffhs Jeffhs is offline
<----Zenith C845
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairport Harbor, Ohio (near Lake Erie)
Posts: 4,035
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed in Tx View Post
[/B]No there is not. We have two here, Ch 8 on VHF 8, and Ch 52 on VHF 9. In fact with the coming FCC repacking of TV channels you may see more moving down to VHF. You need an antenna that will work below 200 mHz. Those little indoor antennas generally don't.
What is meant by "repacking" of TV channels, and why on earth would the FCC want to move stations to VHF channels when most such DTV channels are already on UHF? Doesn't make a lot of sense to move the stations to VHF channels, as there is more room for expansion (at least there used to be) in the UHF band than there ever was on VHF. Seems to me as if the DTV transition is causing more problems than it is solving.

BTW, I guess that answers my question regarding the indoor DTV antenna I currently have and the one I was thinking of purchasing. The manufacturer of the latter claims the antenna will receive high VHF channels as well as UHF, but from your comments I'm thinking the antenna doesn't do that great a job receiving signals in either range.

I guess I'm going to be stuck with cable from now on. . . . Oh well. My cable service is part of a three-way bundle (cable, home phone and Internet) from Time Warner, so I'm probably better off anyway as far as rates are concerned. I couldn't downgrade or cancel my cable if I wanted to, since the company charges a stiff early termination fee for cancellation of any service offered in a bundle before the contract's expiration date. Besides all that, cable is a must in this area for good DTV reception; before digital, most folks around here got by with outdoor antennas and, in some cases, rabbit ears, but the DTV transition changed all that. Most of the outdoor TV antennas here, many of which were anywhere from 20 to 50 or more years old, have either been taken down or are falling apart, having been replaced by cable or satellite.

Oh well, again. Such is life in the 21st century.
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Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002

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