Analog TV Stations Still on the Air in 2021
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- Опубликовано: 17 янв 2021
- In this video I take a trip to upstate New York to locate some of the last analog TV stations still on the air in the United States. Low power TV stations were exempt from the digital transition of 2009 and some still broadcast in analog. Stations found on my trip include WBPN-LP, WXXW-LP, and CIII-TV-2. The final date for these TV stations to transition to digital is July 13, 2021.
Link to viewer list of analog TV stations still on the air:
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Where did the old tv come from? Thats interesting. I worked for broadcat tv when i was analogue. And why is a tv station broadcasting analogue today. There must be people somewhere still using analogue tv sets😲
After July 13 will those exemptions you mentioned in the video still apply or is this really the end?
There Are 3 TV Channels That Are Snowy
1. KJNK-LP
2. WUMN-LP
3.K33LN-D
Kakainis ako sa Analog TV sa Pilipinas, eh sa Metro Manila kaya I shutdown sa Analog TV pagdating ng December 31, 2023?
Wait, so you drove hundreds of miles to watch snowy Maury and Family Feud in a motel in Binghamton NY? Now that's dedication!
Yes, I think it was 570 miles total on my vehicle. It was for the RUclips channel.
@@AntennaMan lol
@@AntennaMan you are the real MVP
No, he just wanted some meth!
Just spending a night in Binghamton shows a superhuman level of dedication
This could be some type of ASMR....
"You're in a motel in late 90s and watching Maury"
@Raw Dawgit hahaha hahaha haha! That's spot-on!
More of a Lo Fi.
You're*
@@R-Lee- thx
Omg yes
Digital is great when you get the entire data stream. When some of the data stream is lost, you get broken audio and halting and pixellated video. When some of analog signal is gone, you get noisy audio and snowy video. It is possible to watch poor analog signals, not so with digital.
Yes exactly I've said that since it came out. I'd rather deal with a snowy image way more than a image saying no signal. I remember when it switched to digital. We were sent vouchers for free converter boxes. I still have mine. Was using it up until 2019. Then my brother got internet and cable. There's plenty I miss about rabbit ears. I plan on living somewhat off the grid eventually. I'm sure I'll appreciate that antenna and converter box.
@@bshays21
I agree
📻🙂
Aren't digital TV signals more robust, in that you get perfect sound and picture at signal levels where you'd get snowy and fuzzy signals on analogue?
You are right though, it is either all or nothing with digital.
I personally feel nostalgic for analogue satellite. We had Sky TV in our house when I were a lad rather than BSB and that meant that because that nice Mr Murdoch was renting space on satellite from Luxembourg rather than being mandated by the British Government to build and launch their own satellite on their own dime, that we got channels from across Europe (well, across Germany anyway) and sports channels that had multiple soundtracks in half a dozen different languages.
Happy days, especially when you were a teenage boy in on his own when the Germans were broadcasting soft core porn in the clear.
@@GeoNeilUK
The Digital signal has less range - won’t travel as far. So in that sense, it falls short. That is it’s limitation.
📻🙂
Forced Digital conversion screwed those in fridge areas.
The forced digital transition killed a number of TV transmitters here in Canada. Where my cottage is, we used to get about 5 analog stations, quite easily with an old mast antenna. When they forced the transition, the area lost 4 stations, because they didn't upgrade their transmitter. to this day, only one TV station remains and its still in analog. Not even the canadian public broadcaster CBC is available via antenna at my cottage.
I have an old cornet portable and it has NONE
Bruh
I miss the snowy stations, and the midnight sign off, the National Anthem playing. Oh the good old 📺 tv stations.
KYW 3 still plays the National Anthem every morning around 4:30am before starting the morning local news.
@@druliefw Comforting to know.
@@druliefw Some Gray stations do that, KYTV is a Gray owned station too.
And the test pattern is a fond memory too.
I miss the scramble sex or sports off of cable on the PPV channel.
Remember watching a Low Power TV channel. Trying to figure out what's on.
It looks like that Gospel "Franken FM" is using an Atari Video Music box to generate the graphics on their video signal. Techmoan did a video about it. Trippy! The audio signal of analog TV uses 25 kHz FM deviation, versus the 75 kHz deviation that FM broadcast stations use, so that's why it sounds a lot quieter. However, some Franken FMs ignore this standard and are using the full 75 kHz deviation. Thus on a radio they sound just as loud as real FM stations, but on an analog TV their audio will be very loud and distorted.
I remember those, I had one. Best in color, true psychedelic TV.
Shango is going to need his Blondertongue from now on vs Guadalupe Channel 6 in his CA area. :(
Finally...someone who knows facts about uncommon things - like, the (even the) existence of the Atari Video Music box, and the technical detail about the difference in % modulation between tv and true FM stations. BTW...I once owned an Atari back in the day when I was making my own colour organs using triacs.
If I remember correctly, in North America, Analog TV also uses different pre-emphasis for the audio compared to FM. Analog TV is 50uS and FM Radio uses 75uS. If so, a “Franken” FM station is not only going to sound not lower in volume (due to the different deviation) on a regular FM tuner but also will have lower high frequencies too, due to the 75uS de emphasis curve in the tuner.
@@martynh5410 And not only that, if they want FM stereo they need the pilot on 19 KHz. Analog TV stereo has it somewhere else (I want to say around 15 MHz, a multiple of the 3.58 colorburst)
7:37 this may very well be the only documented usage of an Atari Video Music on broadcast television lol
I would loved to have seen it in color, as one of my neighbors who traveled a lot for his work with the government in the 80's, and early 90's before retiring had one, and would pay me to go feed, and spend time with his parrot, and cat while he was gone, so I would get to play with all his really cool A/V gear, so I would watch LaserDisc on his big screen TV, and then listen to tapes and CD's with the Atari video music going, and man that was indeed a trip when my family barely had a VCR for A/V gear lol.
Note as I mentioned above, before radio station WJPZ got their broadcast license at 89.1 FM, their only "broadcast" was on a Syracuse University closed circuit system as well as a channel on the citywide cable TV system..and the visuals were provided by an Atari Video Music (I whiled away many hours sitting in the control room changing the patterns by pressing the buttons...okay, maybe not hours.) I know, this was cablecast, not broadcast, so your point stands.
I like to imagine that they've had that thing hooked up since the 80's, stashed away at the back of a control room forgotten.
My god, that static filled sound of the signal coming in through those tv speakers is my childhood.
@2 demons attached super nostalgic. Almost makes me sleepy because of all the nights I would fall asleep with the antenna tv on as a kid.
Same because my dad had a old crt TV like this it never really played static the only time it would ever do that was when channels didn’t work which rarely happened
My Child hood too.. Especially trying to watch Saturday Morning Cartoons while eating fruit loops..
yeah and i dont miss trying to "tune" the antenna router to clear up the signal, or watching my dad HIT the thing to make it work which of course always did the trick.
This is Incredibly sad. My grandfather actually was the "antenna man". It was the name of his business and he put up thousands of antennas. I will miss the static and interference.
Same. Makes me sad too. I miss watching TV pre 2009.......
@@friesareyummy and the Saturday cartoons that weren't 60 years old, although I appreciate that they are on.
@@friesareyummy I was 2 in 2009 but I wish I experienced it
Nowadays, you have to explain to kids what the static is on the TV in the movie Poltergeist. It would just be blue now.
"THERE HERE"
@@MrHans818 I hate to do this... They're here*
Blue?
or the opening to neuromancer... The sky above the port was the color of Television, tuned to a dead channel./
Kind of like when my son was 7 and trying to call his grandparents. They were old school had a house phone and no call waiting. He kept saying the phone was broke because it was making a weird noise. It was the busy signal. Had to explain to him what it was 😂😂😂
Wow I’m old.. I remember adjusting the antenna on my tv as a child wow this is a blast from the past for real. This world is wild
I'm 18,I remember having to do that,miss it,I used to like to try to see what channels I could just barely pick up with the antenna
U had ur OWN tv??? We had one (black n white) in our livingroom & I remember putting tin foil on rabbit ears! 😅😂🤣
I saw the title of this video & immediately subscribed.
It really is a cool sight really
Hey I know you, you share funny messed up retro anime,
Hey Kenny.
Imagine watching snowy Chargeman Ken or Twinkle Nora on this setup.
Hey you
OMG that Gospel Franken FM was using a Atari Video Music for its visualizer. That's amazing.
I was wondering how the heck they were doing that!
maybe they'll be inclined to sell it once they stop broadcasting the analog signal..
@@AntennaManThey are not very common these days, so you might want to get in touch with the station if you can, and see if they would be willing to sell it after they go off the air. one of my neighbors had one when I was a kid in the 80's, and trust me they are a trip on a big TV in a dark room.
I can't say I "miss the fuzz" but I did enjoy the journey back in time. Thanks for making the trip and sharing it.
It was a good indicator of an approaching thunderstorm if you were using an antenna .
My Parents have a older TV with the converter box, before the legal game's we had no snow! 2000 I lived in Chicago and I didn't have any problem with snow! WTTW or 20 in Chicago went off the air and are subscription only! This sucks great international programs!
Nice place to visit, wouldn’t want to live there.
about two months before the digital rollout in 2009 i recorded a block of programming from my UHF antenna- four hours of analog video- from stations over a hundred miles from me.
sure, there was snow. the signals weren't perfect, but i wanted a permanent record of what those broadcasts looked like.
so they're preserved on a DVD i recorded.
Snow and all.
I miss the programming of that era much more than I miss the quality of the broadcasting.
you should try to interview the operator of such a Franken-TV station,
that would be a very interesting video...
I second that idea. I found myself curious about why these operators keep going.
In the case of WRME-LP (MeTV FM Chicago), the saw a market and opened a hole in the market. They have higher ratings than 50,000 watt WLS blowtorch.
I was thinking the same thing
@@3XLDave I work for a company that has operated an analog CH6 since 2010. We have never promoted it as a TV station - for us, it has always been a "franken-FM" branded as "87.7 FM." It has served us well as a sports/talk station. It is currently a FOX Sports Radio affiliate, and we also broadcast college basketball games, MLB and NFL games. For a while, we also ran live play-by-play from our smaller high school districts on it - games that otherwise would not have been aired at all. However, while it's audience is dedicated, it is also small. The station has never been high in ratings or in billing, and we have no plans to continue 24/7 sports programming once the digital deadline arrives. We will drop the full time FOX Sports programming and instead air a much smaller schedule of games by preempting programming on one of our other talk formats.
That is what TV used to look like and sound like. Even the “chunk” sound of changing the channels brings back memories.
What about the”clonk Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” of the tube starting from cold or was that just my old janky set
also i miss the little shock that the tube produces when i turn it on
@@captainretro373 or on an old tv my dad still insists on using "< click of power button > dann dunn deeeeeeeeeeeee..."
Another great video. As much as I appreciate digital HD I am strangely nostalgic for analog. With digital it's all or nothing but with analog you could still pull in something from those weak signals if you didn't mind a little snow. I remember as a kid there was one station that you could fine tune either picture or sound, just not both at the same time.
Ah yes, we had one of those too.
That’s how we watched it while pumping gas during the midnight shift
Oddly that's the one thing I was looking forward to as a kid was the absence of snow.
Canada still has analog tv stations broadcasting at high power. The shutdown date in Canada is January 14 2022. The people of Nova Scotia are very lucky to have 2 franken FMs CJCB-TV-1 and CJCH-TV-6. Both broadcast CTV and CJCH-TV-6 broadcasts at 100 KW which is the maximum power allowed on low VHF. I received CJCH-TV-6 on a radio inside my home in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick which is 109 miles away from the broadcast tower. I’ll miss analog. Especially since I live in a rural area and the digital reception is terrible. I hope atsc 3.0 will be better if the CRTC ever gives approval to Canadian broadcasters.
Happy birthday buddy hope you have a good day 🥳🎂🎉🎊🎈
I live in Nova Scotia and I had no idea about this, might just have to give it a try.
Russia still has some too. Meanwhile in Germany we got cut off from them early. Here in Berlin they killed Analog Terrestrial TV in 2006 in favor of DVB-T which only lasted for a few years till they shut that off too and forced everyone into DVB-T2 which uses a different standard than DVB-T2 in other European countries and also requires you to register yourself if you wanna watch something else other than PBS.. Television is basically killing itself since it became digital.
So stupid just let people broadcast analog if they want
@@mlgmcdonaldsland7063 too much freedom :)
Wow! I never thought I would be nostalgic about seeing someone adjust rabbit ears, but here we are. Amazing. And thanks for documenting it ahead of that new deadline.
I remember fighting with my sister over whose turn it was to turn the tuner for the roof antenna whenever the signal got staticky. Nowadays you get that digital scramble and blue screen whenever the weather’s acting up. The REALLY annoying part is when the weather is clear here but the signal is still all snafuey because of storms where the channel broadcaster is located or something interfering with the satellite feed! Man, I miss analog!
That’s honestly crazy. I never really got to experience analog antenna TV as a kid. The only time I really know I ever experienced it was one time when I went camping in 2007 with a black and white portable CRT. I managed to pick up my local PBS station and was able to watch some of that. It was actually really interesting. This is the only time I remember ever knowingly using over the air analog TV and a black and white TV. I have to say it was interesting watching DragonTales in black and white. I mostly grew up with cable on color TVs.
I miss analog too. You could look at the picture and know if you had multipath issues, weak signal or hum bars from a bad amp. I miss that a very weak signal could be tolerated and the fading was easier to deal with rather than just losing it. RIP my old friend from at least 60 years past.
*GirlsGoneWild late nite infomercials memories😏*
🍆👅
I used to have cops too hot for TV on VHS
We had those phone-sex number ads at night. Still do xD
I'm asexual. I remember watching those like "yes, boobies. Now can I get back to watching Fresh Prince?"
"Pick Up The Phone ".....
_"This is a test of the Emergency Alert System -- this is only a test...."_
Even older version of the EAS back when it was the EBS...this has been a test of the emergency broadcast system. the broadcasters in your area, in voluntary cooperation with federal, state and local authorities have developed this system to keep you informed in the event of an emergency. if this had been an actual emergency the attention signal you just heard would be followed by official information, news or instructions. this station serves the roanoke area. this concludes the test of the emergency broadcast system.
I have crap like this rattling around in my head from 40+ years ago, yet about once a day, I lay my phone down somewhere and have to search the house for it. My brain is annoying. :-P
Suddenlink still has this
But what if:
Brrrnrrrmmrraarm biddlip THIS IS A CRITICAL WEATHER ALERT
Fuck you, I planned on sleeping tonight XD
@@weebunny And have anyone noticed.. The Test always be done on days when the weather is sunny and clear..
Today I learned there's a RUclips channel for literally everything.
this guy is the pew die pie of broadcasting channels
You think it you see it 😂😂😂
Same. I know now there is an Antenna Man.
RUclips is the best teacher I never had.. I learned everything from RUclips..
Antenna Man, you are the man! I simply reconnected to our old TV antenna this past weekend with new coaxial cable to our TV. BAM! 48 channels, every major network and most are in perfect, I mean perfect HD quality. I was ready to trash that old antenna until I found your RUclips channel! Thank you!
Can you explain further? I haven't opened up the antenna and it's been sitting over a year! Same with the Roku 🤣 I've got Comcast internet and DirecTV at least today I haven't looked at the bill yet for the 2021 shock I'm going to do that right now and I bet I'm going to need a tranquilizer!
If you have a smart TV you can use the hotspot on your phone and watch RUclips, Netflix, etc best part is it’s free.
@@me4654 stop paying cable and get some iptv. You can get all the cable channels and sports for $7 or so. I know it sounds like a scam but search on RUclips IPTV and there are a bunch of people showing off video of the service. I use one and ira fantastic. It is 40 seconds behind comcast/att/etc cable but its the same exact cable in the same picture quality. Hopes this helps you
Growing up in the 90s I miss watching star trek Voyager on UPN 24 here in baltimore. Typically it was half-in half-out static, but a staple of my childhood none-the-less. The static was awful, but it inspired me to strive to get the best signal
UPN 24, boy I had forgotten all about them. I too live outside Baltimore.
2, 11, 13, 22, 24, 54 :D hello fellow Marylander! any one remember Captain Chesapeake in the 80's? amazingly 24 and 54 came in very clear all the way up in Westminster even
@@Elios0000 I remember Captain C in the 70s. And on weekends he was the Ghost Host. Good old channel 45.
Hey, I'd catch upn 24 once in a while, but being between dc and Baltimore in Laurel, I'd get both upn 20 and upn 24. In fact, I'd get both the DC and Baltimore local channels, both Fox 5 and Fox 45, CBS 9 and CBS 13, and so on. One thing that cable and satellite missed the boat on, we had to get only the DC channels since we lived a little closer to there. I remember watching Voyager back in the day, I am so there with you!
As someone whose childhood was about about antennas and snowy TV, this was pretty amazing to watch. I remember being in awe when I visited my Grandparents in Philadelphia in the early 70s, and marveling at how clear the channels were. Channels that at 65 miles away where we lived relative to Philly, were a struggle to get a clear picture of. At home, I was also the remote control, and during important baseball games, forced to hold an antenna in place to get optimum reception.
We got cable in 197-79, and it was as if a literal fog had lifted. I thought "It can get no better than this!" Little did I know
Egad, I'm old.
When these channels die, it would be the true end of analog television.
Also, MeTV FM gives out free bumper magnets. I have one!
I watch ME TV every day. Awesome shows, way better than the bullshit shows on cable and network TV.
@@davidbrakefield2362 i mostly watch gomer Pyle USMC
. Not to mention the new cartoon block on . . . Gunsmoke bonanza and green acres is where it's at.
@@howtobebasic2122 i watch 2 epusodes of Hogans Heroes every night on MeTV
Probably the end in America but I assume it’s still broadcasting somewhere.
I appreciate your dedication to TV, and TV reception. I'm 25, but have very fond memories of watching old school analog TV while I was growing up. My grandparents only used older television sets that had metal tuning dials. There was something interesting and special about watching TV on a CRT television, with analog static in the background. To this day, I can remember how each local channel had its own characteristics in signal quality. Channel 4 was always subject to noisy VHF snow, while UHF channel 51 was constantly full of ghosting and discoloration. Was this the best way to watch TV? Probably not, but it was always reliable. Even in a storm, you could always count on a static filled picture that would at least deliver you the information that you need. Once the DTV transition happened, most of the channels we enjoyed before were gone. It's weird for me to think about how most people younger than me will have no idea what I'm even talking about in the years to come, because they didn't grow up watching TV like this. My sister-in-law was born in 2001 and has no idea that it used to be like this. I would totally sit in a hotel with a CRT tv to relive some of those old memories!
I just saw this comment. I can totally relate to everything you said!
Well my grandmother had a CRT in her bedroom (she sleeps in her chair in the living room). I bet that CRT is probably just chilling in the attic right above my head when I come inside. This was like in 2015 when it was in there. Idk why it was still there 6 years after the analog-to-digital transition back in 2009 unless there was a converter box somewhere plugged in and I just didn’t see it, or they just hadn’t gotten around to putting it up yet. There’s no television in that room now. That could’ve happened because the image in my head is at nighttime when we were getting ready for bed and I had discovered Minecraft only a few months ago I’d say. I didn’t even know the difference between analog and digital up until a few weeks ago when we were cleaning my room and a TV radio lantern (that’s literally the name of the product) was there in my dresser. I had completely forgotten about it somehow even though I go in there every night to get clothes for a shower, I just don’t look far up beyond my desired article of clothing which is in fact on the top shelf which isn’t high up at all. Anyways, I digress. Let us continue. I looked at the manual while I let someone else do the cleaning, I wasn’t helping, after all, a bit of it was just me being asked, “Do you want this?” and I would either say yes or no. Whatever I said, “No.” to was donated to my local Goodwill in South Hill. I had a lot of undesired Minecraft toys donated along with some clothes I either didn’t care for (e.g. long-sleeve shirts because I wear short sleeve shirts exclusively, and when it gets cold, I just put on a jacket. I digress again, sorry, sometimes I get meticulous (extremely caring for details) and list useless things that don’t contribute to the story. After cleaning that day was complete, I messed with the TV. I turn it to that setting, and I’m hearing and seeing static. I’m like, “Why’s that happening?” dad comes in my room later on, tries to fix it, and said, “This is analog, it’s not gonna work.” and then the spark to learn about analog and digital began right then. This was probably a month ago or more already (man time flies doesn’t it). I still set it to TV because the static makes for good white noise and just why not? A certain setting on it tells the weather in your area (or just does something unknown) and makes the static quieter and sorta relaxing even though it’s just snow.
One thing lost with the transition to total digital is dxing. When I was a kid, this was around 1969, from our outside antenna in Dayton Ohio I briefly picked up Charleston WV which is 200+ miles distant.
The one thing I miss about analog TV was the immediateness of it. You changed the channel and you'd get picture and sound without any delay. With digital you have to wait a moment for it to decode the signal.
To all my analog cable people: take comfort in knowing that in a few short years, digital cable will also probably be dead. Thanks, streaming.
Exactly the concept of cable TV dis ancient in this era I can see comcast moving into the streaming world they already have an Xfinity app
You dont need cable or satellite in this era streaming is what's in
I watched News 14 Carolina (my local cable news channel) 10 years ago on analog cable........
this is something the big cable companies are actively trying to avoid.
They reckon streaming is the failing medium because it's costing providers too much to store 4k and higher movies on their servers so they are deleting (even paid for by the customer) content, whereas with bluray it's there infinitely
I wish the digital standard was designed like HDRadio, where it goes to Digital if the signal is strong enough, as well as allowing legacy equipment to still work
It would have been very inefficient use of spectrum but, I do recall some attempts at doing that.
The problem was cellular had plans for some of the spectrum used by analog TV. Overlaying digital with analog TV would not have freed up spectrum to sell to cellular carriers. FM/AM have been unaffected by repacking because as of current, cellular carriers aren't interested in those frequencies as much as UHF.
@@RoastBeefSandwich In fact there have been 3 “spectrum repack” situations in the USA.
The original UHF band in USA stretched from Ch14 to Ch 83 (470-890MHz).
1 - In 1982, channels 70 to 83 were reassigned to Land Mobile and Mobile Phone service.
2 - In 2009, channels 52 to 69 were reallocated to mobile phone use. This coincided with the first DTV rollout completion in the USA.
3 - In a multi-phase process completed in 2020, channels 38 to 51 were reallocated and auctioned off to mobile phone companies. Note that ch37 is assigned for scientific use Radio Astronomy), so the available UHF channels are 14 to 36.
I’m wondering when the next “repack” will be and how many UHF channels will be left for TV?
Good to see I’m not the only one who would like a lower quality digital signal for weaker areas like HD Radio.
@@XMguy with the new ATSC 3.0 digital standard it is indeed possible to transmit the same program at a lower quality (lower bitrate) and at a higher robustness which means a TV that can’t receive the HD version of the program might still be able to receive an SD version of the same program. This is good news for those who are on the edge of getting good signal strength. Each station will have the ability to optimize the parameters, so it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Wow, I love that I’m not the only one with an interest in these still-running analog television channels. I spent a lot of time looking through Wikipedia at the articles made for them.
This video will prove to be a great archive
This was cool, brought back memories of how TV was when I was a kid. Thanks for doing this video on a niche subject with lots of nostalgia.
I remember visiting my relatives in Southern Indiana, just about the midpoint between Indy, Cincinnati and Louisville. They all had those little devices that controlled the roof antenna so you could turn it toward whichever city you wanted to watch.
I've seen those an old radio shack catalog. I thought they were pretty cool.
Was it Evansville by any chance! That’s where I’m at right now!!
It’s called a rotor. When I lived in Douglas, Wyoming, my parents had one so we could switch between stations in Casper, Cheyenne & Scottsbluff.
@@eshanraffiaque7177 North Vernon, near Columbus.
So amazing seeing that any analog channel works. You're great at your finds, keep up the great work!!
Thanks for documenting the end of an era. I didn't know that there were any analog TV broadcasts now.
I grew up watching "snowy" channels. We could receive 5 TV channels in the country. As far as reception CBS (4) and ABC (5) were usually the best. PBS (2) was ok. Fox (9) was barely watchable, and NBC (11) was a rarety as far as watchability.
I remember having friends over and they couldn't believe I was able to watch such snowy channels. I was used to it.
Sounds fascinating. Hehehe
Ever since the digital transition of 2009, we can see clearly now, the snow and static have gone...
I’m 65. I grew up watching a black and white tv with three channels. Tech school grad in ‘80 covering analog tv in depth. I have become outdated, out to pasture.😢
"I have become outdated, out to pasture."
Don't say that! 58 her so I'7 years behind you and I'm not "outdated". You're here on the "InterWeb" so you're not outdated.
Rewire your house, upgrade everything electrical, and sell for a profit.
You're not outdated at all! I'm part of the younger generation of techies and we still need your guidance tbh. If anything, don't think of yourself as outdated-- rather, wonderfully niche
@@altoclef4989 Actually kind of sad, because most of the technology is so new only the young bucks have the best experience with it. I started my career as an electrician in 2011 when i was 23years old. Mostly in the commercial trade, and industrial factories. learned how to do everything.
You were the ONLY person (besides maybe the engineer) watching those analog tv stations on the planet.
Your video reminded me something. When I was a kid, the french CBC local station was broadcasting on channel 6. We often used the FM tuner of our hifi system to get better sound. I remember that I found that reature cool at the time.
MTV did something similar in its early days to accommodate TVs that didn't have stereo sound.
I used to use the FM band to get our local PBS station’s audio, in order to hear the show while in another room. Coincidentally, it broadcasts on Channel 6.
When I was a kid, locally it was the ABC affiliate, WSYX, that broadcast on Channel 6. They also has a simulcast on FM. Once Disney bought out ABC in the mid-90's, they started airing a lot of Disney movies. I was a huge Disney fan when I was a kid. So, what I would do was turn on the TV, and also turn on the whole house stereo tuned to the FM simulcast. I could get a theater-like sound experience for those movies. That was so cool.
5:32 oh man, this is how I used to enjoy Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, Full House and other comedy shows in the kinda “comedy hours” of evening programming every night when I was around 15 years old. I didn’t really have any friends and the Internet wasn’t a thing, so every night was spent getting the rabbit ears into position to enjoy 2 hours of these corny sitcom reruns with tons of static on a 14” inch tv alone on my room, just to laugh and distract myself from the loneliness. I had completely memoryholed those years until now.
We’ve come a long way from “adjust the antenna on the tv!”
Actually, I use rabbit ears for my digital TV and often have to adjust them when the dreaded “no signal” pops up.
Wow, this is fascinating! I had a fascination for antennas and TV reception when I was a kid. I bought an antenna a few years ago and it seemed to pick up some of the digital stations.
This is so cool I’m glad RUclips recommended this
Interesting video! You observed that Binghamton's Franken-FM station wasn't as loud as other FM stations -- and there's a good reason for that. FM exciters produce 75kHz of deviation at 100% modulation, whereas an NTSC television aural exciter produces only 25kHz deviation at 100%. Assuming that the stations are operating within legal tolerances, that means a given radio's FM demodulator will yield an audio level three times higher for the standard FM station... or about 9.5dB louder. On another front, I would be very surprised to see the FCC approving any scheme to make an FM station at 87.7MHz coexist with a channel 6 ATSC signal. It worked for NTSC because the upper sideband of the visual carrier was suppressed to make space for the FM audio, but an ATSC carrier occupies virtually the entire 6MHz channel space, less a little space at the edges to form a guard band. Not only would trying to merge the two signals make the ATSC carrier non-compliant and unreceivable by TV sets, the ATSC carrier would greatly desensitize the FM receiver that expects to see the wider deviation typical of an FM station.
Why does the fcc ruin everything, keep these old station alive it’s cool! Also pretty cool that you were pretty close to me on your trip
Theyre pretty old and cant really work in the modern world nowadays. Its pretty sad but all good things must come to an end.
Yeah they should keep them, I’m pretty sure that they don’t even use vhf for dtv and just leave it blank
Control
I have no clue why this video came up in my scroll,but im glad it did. This is so cool that you did this man, im astounded by your willingness to explore such topics. Bravo dude
Thanks for watching!
I live in Binghamton, I remember using the signal pretty recently. I didn't realize having the analog signal was so special.
Did you watch it regularly? It's available as an HD subchannel - WBPN
Now just a minute! Analog tv was just fine without all that snow and interference when the station broadcast at power and you had a decent antenna.
Yeah. This can be replicated using an RF modulator putting out analog cable. Unfortunately many analog cable inputs and outputs are just mono.
This is how I watch WandaVision without a Disney+ subscription
Ever notice how since they converted there is literally nothing on tv anymore?
Everything is just marathons of the same show all day long day after day.
I think it depends on the channel, but it's been bad like that for years prior, even with channels that don't broadcast over the air.
This is a Canadian perspective from someone growing up in Southern Ontario.
Even before competing with Online Streaming services & main stream video sharing sites many of the channels I grew up with started broading way less variety of content and many which had an abundance of original content and use of on air PJs (Like VJs except they're program jockeys) no longer did so, and even if they did it would be for 2 hours a day, and now all generic pre-recorded. Where it used to be live.
Some cable channels (Corus entertainment channles the worst offenders) will air a block of shows from 8pm to 11pm then just rebroadcast the same exact block from 12am onward.
You could use the your tv guide function and look at a Channel and see them airing the same episode of a program 3 times within a 24hour period.
I would think they could get more viewership by having a retro block and air the shows they themselves produced/co-produced over the years that they have the rights to, instead of the same episodes of something multiple times a day, but what do I know.
I don’t think it’s because they went digital. It’s just because people don’t watch TV as much anymore.
Yeah , the other side is with streaming services much like music, people can watch the one series they like over and over. Thats the competition imo.
I quit watching TV when they went digital. I live in a very rural area and cannot pick up digital due to mountains and trees. My big Curtis Mathis has paperbacks stacked on it now as I read...a lot. The screen is covered in dust just the small 13 inch RCA I have in bedroom. I do have fiber optic internet now thanks to a Rural Electric Co-op but have not really wanted to go the Internet TV route. I want analog TV back in service.
Ikr
Hey brother came across this and love it. I remember watching tv like this here in Fort Worth many years ago and looking at this is a total blast from the past (especially watching Maury and Family Feud in analog). I can't believe that we used to watch tv like this but at the same time, with all analog's imperfections and mistakes, it was so nice and it's sad that tv can never look like this again and we will all miss it as the years go on. Thank you for presenting this gem for all of us to see.
Channel 6 audio is technically 87.75 MHz, with only half the modulation width of FM radio. That’s why it’s so quiet compared to regular FM.
Though some did move to 87.70 so they could be heard on FM radios. Probably not legally, though. :)
i miss the reliability of old analog tv.
the way digital signals cut out from interference is
much more annoying than a fuzzy analog signal.
Thank you for documenting the very end of an era.
Dang. That was so cool to see! What a throwback to my days in the early 2000's. Definitely gonna watch this video back sometimes. 💗
CIII-TV-2 (That Global station near Bancroft, Ont) has been seen by a DXer in Portugal via multi-hop Sporadic-E skip.
I could try one day...
This made me nostalgic! Thanks for enlightening us.
Yeah I fire up the old rca console from 1973 and playback my old eps of mannix and snl
When I was little, I hooked up an RF amplifier to the output of a converter box and watched TV on my CRT across the room like that.
I remember when I was 10 back in 2003, my family moved across Canada from Vancouver island to rural Ontario. We had been used to getting a ton of stations easily. Where we moved too though we were only able to pick up about 10 channels. After about a year my father caved and resorted to buying satellite dish.
This is really great. Thanks for sharing
That’s so super interesting. Keep up the good work antenna man. By the way I now have ATSC 3.0 in my area with the new tuner I got. It’s interesting
Hi Tyler 'The Antenna Man', it me, Scott 'The NASCAR Dude'! Just dropped by to say I love your videos and your no BS clarity!! Keep up the great work.
A few months ago i got to tune a very weak signal on channel 6 here in Mexico. Thanks to this video i found it broadcasted all the way 50 miles from Palomar Mountain in San Diego
great video man i wish i had an analog signal near me to enjoy for the last bit of time
Do you miss analog TV or prefer the new digital standard with better picture and more channels?
Analog and Digital TV were both good.
Analog
Definitely love digital for the quality, but also love analog for the distance!
At least I don’t have a cable bill it’s better than nothing
I think there should by a hybrid
Thanks for this never thought I’d be watching tv in analog in 2021
I'm so glad I'm not the only person trying to capture an NTSC before July 13th! Good stuff, this is gunna be super helpful for my research
i liked how in the late `1970s tv stations went off the air around 2 a.m. and you listened to local radio at night that let people call in and talk about whatever they wanted it was far more intelligent than the crap on late night radio now.
That all ended when Larry King took his show national.. Now, it's just Coast to Coast, Red Eye Radio, or, if you can get Canadian radio, The Shift.
@@dougbrowning82 even having internet and a Roku player they're still nothing for me to view at night I wish radio stations would have local programs for the local population can call in and they would take at least 15 call an hour for people to talk about whatever they want but everything is so tightly controlled they will not do something like this
Remember those colored bars on the screen?
@@dougbrowning82 RIP Larry King.
I listen to a French Canadian news programme in the early morning on my way to work.
Tyler, you may be too young to remember, but with a decent antenna, analog t.v. had a pretty good picture. Not at all like the fuzzy one you showed on the small set in your hotel room. I love your content. Keep up the good work!!
Very interesting video. Here in Australia, all our analogue TV channels ceased operating completely in December 2013. The analogue TV channels here actually closed down on separate dates. The last analogue TV channels on air were in Melbourne and Alice Springs, which all closed on December 10, 2013. Other areas closed their analogue TV prior to this. Our first analogue TV close down was in Mildura Vic way back on June 30, 2010. South Australia regional analogue TV closed later the same year. Regional analogue TV in Victoria and Queensland closed during 2011. Regional NSW TV closed in 2012. Tasmania analogue TV closed in April 2013. Bit by bit, it all went and after December 10, 2013, no analogue TV remained in Australia at all. Thanks for sharing this video. It was great seeing the analogue TV once again.
You are doing amazing work here!
I'm definitely reminded of messing with the antenna to try and get a slightly clearer picture and the fact it was maury really set me back to middle school
Here in Australia analogy tv was starting to go in 2010 and by 2013 it was gone and I’m surprised that some tv stations in the US are still using analogy
@Logan Paul My mistake i forgot the exact date because it was almost 10 years
So cool. I live directly in your trip and I would watch rabbit ear channels with a group of people. What really intrigues most is am radio. Awesome video.
Watching this video really gave me a throwback to how I'd go on trips with my Dad with his CB radio just to find signals to speak to people from all over!
I still get a analog signal occasionally when the atmospheric conditions (skip) are right. Sometimes in Spanish.
You needed a vcr to record for posterity.
New subscriber here. I’m so glad you tried picking up some of our Canadian TV stations while you were upstate NY as I can tell you growing up in southern Ontario we always had a good selection of analog TV (and still do the DTV) of Canadian and US channels (mostly from Buffalo).
If you live in Toronto or near it you can still pick up all the major Canadian networks as well as every major US network with just an antenna
Really takes me back! So long analog tv…
I do miss the old analog TV. I live in Toledo, Ohio and it was a lot easier to pick up the Detroit TV stations and beyond sometimes.
I grew up in metro Detroit and watched some snowy Toledo stations! Think channel 13 was one of them. Good way to maximize cartoon viewing time.
In Cleveland with signals bouncing over Lake Erie we got analog stations from Toledo, Detroit, Windsor, London. Erie. Plus Cleveland. So many channels
@@lo1bo2
Until about 12 years ago, WTVG was weaker than WTOL in Detroit.
WTVG used a directional antenna to reduce overlap between it and WJBK Detroit, which they also owned and operated.
Later, WTVG was sold, and WTVG overlap is no longer an issue. They are now omnidirectional.
@@1L6E6VHF Interesting. If my memory is correct, channel 24 was another Toledo station. As a kid the call letters didn't matter. Back then we had to get up, manually turn a dial on the TV, and adjust the antenna!
@@lo1bo2
The former WDHO (Channel 24), now WNWO, is still there. They use the tallest tower in all Ohio (UHF needs a tall tower more than VHF does to get the same distance).
Of note, WNWO was the flagship station of a television network! The Overmeyer Network. It only lasted a few weeks. (Their call sign WDHO being Overmeyer's initials).
Later, it became an ABC affiliate, but it has been an NBC affiliate for several years.
Way cool, thanks for sharing dude, it's good to see a few rebel stations keeping analog airwaves alive- the DTV mandate is the biggest scam ever perpetrated on the American people by the FCC. No reason for it other than enriching the pay TV & cable companies like Duh-wrecked TV, DshiTV, & Sprectum etc. & selling the frequencies off to cellphone providers. I used to be able to receive several channels OTA, now I get nothing, even with a digital converter or TV with digital tuner & antenna & thus am forced to pay for TV or use pay internet to stream which I refuse to do for commercial television.
Nice video. The effort put into it is appreciated.
Literally have never seen one of this guy's videos before, but woah that's some decent production quality
My downstairs neighbor uses analog. I've helped her get her antenna setup, and she got four stations.
Found this in my recommended feed! Love old-time, analog everything! Ah ha! Channel 6, FM 87.7. I’m in Northern Maine. I’m going over to the barn and pulling out the old RCA TV. I’ll let you know if I find anything! You even got in color! It’s so neat to see static instead of breakup and freeze! You can still watch it through the snow. When digital fails, no good.
Another place you might want to try, since you seem to be in New York, is the Malone, Ogdensburg, Massena, Tug Hill (Southwest of Lowville on rt. 12-D). Try WBRV Boonville/Lowville FM 99.3, AM 900. In the early 1990s, they used to have a signal on a UHF TV frequency, however, I don’t remember what it was. In the Snow Ridge Inn, Turin, NY, there were also a few French TV stations on the UHF band. They didn’t come in very well, but sometimes you could get them on cold, clear nights in winter. We used to watch a game show for high school students based on Jeopardy in French. It may have been broadcast out of Prescott, ON, a rebroadcast out of Quebec.
fantastic! brings back great memories
Glad you enjoyed your road trip to Binghamton and the Red Roof Inn in Johnson City watching Analog TV.
How did you know I stayed there?
@@AntennaMan You had a Red Roof paper on the desk with the TV and that Red Roof is near all the TV towers.
Dam I remember those days of adjusting the antenna for better signal not having tv guide you either memorized when shows aired or you watch whatever was on
That was TV in my childhood. You just dealt with it.
What an interesting video! I was only like 11 when the switch to digital came around, and I fondly remember the fuzzy tv static of my childhood. Lots of my friends had had cable TV but my parents had stuck to the old analog antenna. I distinctly remember the best channels being My 13 and Fox 11. My childhood consisted of lots of Simpsons, and Malcolm in the Middle (Cant forget ABC Kids being on on saturdays too!). This video brought back so many warm memories for me. When I was a kid, my dad would put on the news in the mornings, and when I would get home from school, my sister and I would get home just in time for The Simpsons and King of the Hill. Thank you for this video! It was so interesting.
As a German who experienced his country's OTA analog TV stations to be gone for a couple of years now, seeing this makes me smile inside.
Man that was my sleeping noise.
I wonder if there are any "Pirate" digital stations?
Aw man I've been missing out! I thought all the analog was cut already. Didn't know this year was the end.
This was awesome. Thanks!