The FCC recently issued a Public Notice (DA 06-378) outlining guidelines for interference conflict analysis in the Second Round of DTV channel elections. According to the notice, the FCC Media Bureau's Video Division notified 30 licensees that operation on their proposed channels would result in impermissible interference to other stations or that the proposed facility did not comply with the FCC's requirements for Negotiated Channel Agreements. A check of the results from the second round analysis indicates 30 stations in 16 states and Puerto Rico with the potential to cause interference of 0.15 percent or greater.
Included are stations in Baltimore, New York, Cleveland, San Antonio and Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia interference cases appear to be covered by a negotiated channel agreement between all the stations involved. The FCC has published the complete Round Two data and run details on the Office of Engineering and Technology Digital Television Channel Allotment web page. If you don't want to sort through the data files, results are posted at www.xmtr.com/fcc/r2_ab_analysis.txt.
The deadline for filing a Second Round Conflict Decision Form 385 is April 3, 2006. The FCC position is that while it had not originally planned to allow licensees to request reduced operating facilities to resolve engineering conflicts, it would allow "limited additional flexibility" to licensees unable to resolve elected channel conflicts. These licensees may propose any in-core channel as their contingent channel, as well as propose reduced technical operating facilities for the contingent channel by attaching Schedule B to FCC Form 385.
Licensees that have interference conflicts on their contingent channel will not be able to resolve these additional conflicts in the Second Round. They will be required to participate in the Third Round of elections if facilities requested in FCC Form 385 result in an interference conflict.
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