Digital TV Question

Was at a guys house today and he had a module plugged into his Laptop PC , other end of module had an F connection to Rabbit Ears on his roof , I think he was getting the local channels and each channel was sliced up into separate services and labeled 9.1 , 9.2 etc , picture was in digital , I thought I had an understanding of a 6 Mhz. channel , if anybody knows what he is doing I would appreciate knowing , guy said the module cost about $

125.00 . Thanks Phil
Reply to
Phil
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It was digital teevee (DTV). HDTV is a subset of DTV.

I believe that the only broadcast DTV is on the UHF channels (that's where I get mine). Each 6MHz wide channel contains a modulated signal in the ATSC format -- as opposed to NTSC for regular broadcast (analog) tv.

The modulated signal allows many different "digital channels" to reside within that 6MHz bandwidth. The separate digital channels are designated as x.y or x-y. For example, 59.1 is KCET's HDTV feed from Mt. Wilson (near where I live). 59.2 is their standard resolution DTV version of KCET, but right now it has different programming than their HDTV feed as is 59.3. 48.3 is KOCE which has some amazing HD programming.

I've where listings of DTV programming refers to sub-UHF channel numbers like 9.1 and 9.2, and they map to the real UHF frequencies (e.g., 28.2 and

28.3). I'm not sure how that's used. When I want to see KCET HDTV then I select the external antenna input (the one that has the UHF antenna pointed toward Mt. Wilson) and punch 59.2 into my ATSC-capable tv.

The broadcast HDTV is spectacular. Do yourself a favor and get an HD setup.

Check this out. Just hit the 'Choose an antenna' button, enter your zip code, and see what's available in your area.

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Bob

Reply to
Bob

"Phil" wrote in news:4991e$45ea2fe9$438c5943$ snipped-for-privacy@ALLTEL.NET:

Perhaps the module was a digital TV tuner. HiDef Tv is xmitted on two 6Mhz channels,regular digitalTV on one.

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Jim Yanik
jyanik
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Reply to
Jim Yanik

On Mar 3, 8:35 pm, Jim Yanik wrote: > "Phil" wrote innews:4991e $45ea2fe9$438c5943$ snipped-for-privacy@ALLTEL.NET: >

Jim, you got it wrong this time (or was it just a typo?). The broadcasters are indeed running 2 6MHz channels, the original NTSC on one and the DTV (including HDTV) on the other. You can find the channel assignments here.

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The broadcasters are allowed to run up to 4 std def or 1 HD and 2 SD channels on their carrier. I 've read about a station (in Texas?) running 2 HD channels on the 1 carrier.

How the ATSC signal is created is pretty well explained here

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In Feb of 2009, the NTSC transmitters will all be turned off. In LA, channels 7, 9, 11 and 13 will become the DTV channels. Currently their DTV assignments are all >51. Channels 51 (or is it 50?) through 69 will be re-allocated for other purposes. Low-band VHF is poor for DTV and you are unlikely to see any DTV in channels 2-6

As for the tuner, these folks (and others) make USB DTV tuners not much larger than a flash drive.

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A guy I work with bought the WinTV-HVR-950 and the WinTV-HVR-1600 last week for his Mac laptop and PC desktop. He got them both for $200 and is very pleased with them. As for HDTV on the laptop, you WILL see a significant improvement over analog TV even on the small screen.

GG

Reply to
Glenn Gundlach

There's a station here in houston that is running 5 digital SD channels and no HD, go figure.

They all look bad, but that's the source material I believe.

Reply to
Anthony Fremont

Comes up with about three digital ones we could possibly receive unless our heavy multipath issue ruins it. Not a lot, considering that the switch was supposed to happen many moons ago and is now anticipated for

2009. Plus I fail to see converter boxes at the stores.
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Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com
Reply to
Joerg

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