Charles W. Rhodes

The most amazing finding from the FCC tests of converter boxes is the number of such toxic channel pairs there are.

The FCC regulates co-channel and adjacent channel interference by its channel allotment plan. It does not regulate “taboo channel interference,” a term left over from analog television.

Tests demonstrated that DTV-DTV interference will happen.

Last month, this column introduced a scheme for allocating UHF band channels by analyzing a set of contiguous channels for a given community.

The FCC recently released details of how it will repack remaining TV spectrum in the UHF band.

Last month we discussed the restrictions that the FCC must work under in repacking UHF broadcast spectrum.

Without any changes to OET-69, the commission could not take up any additional planning criteria such as interference between DTV signals having a channel relationship other that N±1 and N.

By now almost everyone knows the NAB has filed a lawsuit against the FCC over its spectrum auctions TV channel repack.

We found that the maximum undesired signal at which these units could perform was between –22.2 dBm for the best box, to –28.7 dBm for the worst.

The FCC has a spectrum utilization committee, which is now studying all the test data. When they will finish these studies is not yet known.

The simplest scheme is to employ a much higher gain antenna.

His trouble started suddenly one evening when he discovered interference across the high VHF band that he had never had before.

In its recent Report and Order, the FCC revealed 11 scenarios under consideration for a 600 MHz Band Plan following the spectrum auctions.

Ghosts of DTV signals could easily be seen on analog TV screens, but with DTV, they are invisible on the TV screen.

The future is digital, 16:9 and gigantic. And I believe the future is now.

By the time you read this, the FCC is expected to propose a set of rules by which unlicensed devices will be allowed to share TV Channels 2–51.