OK, Engineering Types: Explain This Again

[Laurence Glavin]

As a previous member of the BRIG mentioned, one reason to get a digital-to-analog
box, even when one has cable TV in the home, is to be ready during any hurricane or blizzard
that cuts off cable reception.  And then, for a normal person, a d-to-a box may be needed 
for a table-top TV in the kitchen or other room away from the cable coneection (my
situation).  But for rf geeks, it also provides endless hours of fun derived from treating
this equipment as a toy.  In addition to the government-subsidized d-to-a box, I purchased
a Radio Shack amplified antenna with an internal rotatable UHF antenna (physically it
resembles the Starship Enterprise).  I have to say that ALL of the full-power DTVs on UHF
transmitting from either 350 Cedar Street, the route 128 candelabra and the WHDH standalone
come in with usually strong and consistent signals;  the exception: very windy days, when
I imagine the towers move to and fro, and thus confuse my receiver.  Anyway, right after
WGBX-TV's analog transmissions stopped, I tuned the box to channel 44 and got WGBX-DT anyway.
Somehow, channels 44 and 43 were stored together in the box's memory.  Then I decided to 
delete 43 and 44 from the system, after which I could ONLY get WGBX-DT by entering '43'.  So
I thereupon deleted ALL the channels I had stored, and as a result, I can ONLY get DTVs
that have shut down their analog allocations by entering their real channels.  If I enter 
'2', since channel 2 exists, it switches me to '19'.  But with WFXT-DT, entering '25' gets me
a "NO SIGNAL" message;  entering '31' brings the picture right up.  So I have this question 
for the engineering types...explain to me again how after TV stations have turned OFF their analog 
transmitters, they can still be identified as being on those channels even though people 
using over-the-air TVs will be getting them on the permanent DTV assignments? 
S
I
D
E
B
A
R
Although I can't get WZMY-DT by entering '50', when I enter '35', the little box on the
upper right-and of the screen first displays '35' then changes it to 'WZMY-DT1 50'.

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