DTV Frequency Allocations in Maine
I have been researching what is currently going on with the Digital TV changeover and have discovered a few things that haven't been in the news. There are four VHF TV stations in the Bangor, Maine area. According to the FCC website which allows searching by state, some of the VHF stations are broadcasting digital on UHF instead. In fact, only one station, Orono's Public Broadcasting station, will remain on VHF.
Technically what this means is that anyone in my area who has been using an outdoor antenna to receive local broadcasting will need to buy a new antenna, one suited for both VHF and UHF.
Furthermore, as you can see below, the digital transition isn't narrowing the bandwidth of each station. Each Digital TV station will still use the conventional 6 MHz bandwidth. It'll just use that bandwidth on another TV channel.
So I just called the digital transition hotline for Maine Public Broadcasting 1-866-418-7678 and was told that I needed to buy an VHF/UHF outdoor antenna. Right. Whatever. The girl I spoke with didn't have access to any of the technical information such as what the broadcasting power would be tomorrow on their Digital TV channel 9 after WMEB-TV channel 12 analog goes off the air. Some hotline.
Anyway, here is the technical information for the Bangor, Maine broadcasting area.
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WMEB-TV Orono, Maine
Analog frequency allocation - Channel 12: 204 - 210 MHz
Transmitter Power: 316 kW
Service area map
Digital frequency allocation - Channel 9 - 186 - 192 MHz
Transmitter power: 15 kW
Service area map
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WABI-TV Bangor, Maine
Analog frequency allocation - Channel 5: 76 - 82 MHz
Transmitter Power: 39.8 kW
Service area map
Digital frequency allocation - Channel 19: 500 - 506 MHz
Transmitter Power: 363 kW
Service area map
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WLBZ-TV Bangor, Maine
Analog frequency allocation - Channel 2: 54 - 60 MHz
Transmitter Power: 51.3 kW
Service area map
Digital frequency allocation - Channel 25: 536 - 542 MHz
Transmitter Power: 250 kW
Service area map
*******************
WVII-TV
Analog frequency allocation - Channel 7 174 - 180 MHz
Transmitter Power: 316 kW
Service area map
Digital frequency allocation - Channel 14: 470 - 476 MHz
Transmitter Power: 79 kW
Service area map
Technically what this means is that anyone in my area who has been using an outdoor antenna to receive local broadcasting will need to buy a new antenna, one suited for both VHF and UHF.
Furthermore, as you can see below, the digital transition isn't narrowing the bandwidth of each station. Each Digital TV station will still use the conventional 6 MHz bandwidth. It'll just use that bandwidth on another TV channel.
So I just called the digital transition hotline for Maine Public Broadcasting 1-866-418-7678 and was told that I needed to buy an VHF/UHF outdoor antenna. Right. Whatever. The girl I spoke with didn't have access to any of the technical information such as what the broadcasting power would be tomorrow on their Digital TV channel 9 after WMEB-TV channel 12 analog goes off the air. Some hotline.
Anyway, here is the technical information for the Bangor, Maine broadcasting area.
*******************
WMEB-TV Orono, Maine
Analog frequency allocation - Channel 12: 204 - 210 MHz
Transmitter Power: 316 kW
Service area map
Digital frequency allocation - Channel 9 - 186 - 192 MHz
Transmitter power: 15 kW
Service area map
*******************
WABI-TV Bangor, Maine
Analog frequency allocation - Channel 5: 76 - 82 MHz
Transmitter Power: 39.8 kW
Service area map
Digital frequency allocation - Channel 19: 500 - 506 MHz
Transmitter Power: 363 kW
Service area map
*******************
WLBZ-TV Bangor, Maine
Analog frequency allocation - Channel 2: 54 - 60 MHz
Transmitter Power: 51.3 kW
Service area map
Digital frequency allocation - Channel 25: 536 - 542 MHz
Transmitter Power: 250 kW
Service area map
*******************
WVII-TV
Analog frequency allocation - Channel 7 174 - 180 MHz
Transmitter Power: 316 kW
Service area map
Digital frequency allocation - Channel 14: 470 - 476 MHz
Transmitter Power: 79 kW
Service area map
posted by Bill | 12:50 PM
2 Comments:
Bill, Thanks for taking the time to pass along this TV info. I'm down on the coast in Brooksville and your research saved me a lot of leg work to get a sense of where/ how far the signals are coming from.
I can relate to the survival mode...I'm in the same boat.
Henry
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
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