Finding Channels On UHF
| Field | Channel Surfing |
| Went Obsolete | 1990 |
| Made Obsolete By | Cable TV and small Sattelite dish networks. |
| Knowledge Assumed | Turning a dial on the TV set |
| When useful | Whilst living in a bomb shelter during a nuclear event, you could still watch the home shopping network |
For a Turret-Tuner Set: Changing a TV set to go from VHF to UHF usually required you to change the top VHF knob to the UHF setting, then you could go through channel 14 through 83 using the UHF knob. You would then need to adjust the antenna to get a clearer signal as well as using the fine tune control to obtain a clear picture. The fine tune control was usually an outer ring on the main dials.
Since UHF antennas are very directional, a rotator needed to be used with it on a mast that sat strapped to the chimney. Using a combination of rotator position and fine tuning control, you could get a clear picture. For apartment dwellers, a small "Loop" type antenna would sit ontop of the TV and then one could adjust it for a clearer picture.
Many cities in North America offer digital HD TV broadcasts using UHF frequencies. It requires a standard UHF antenna. However, since HDTV broadcasts are digital, a poorly adjusted antenna will result in a "Blocky" picture with a lot of strange artifacts, or whenever lots of movement happens on the screen, the picture will get blotchy.
Trivia: In the mid 1980s, the last 21 channels of the UHF band (Channels 64-83) were reallocated to the cellular telephone networks. These frequencies will be reallocated again for HDTV as many cellular companies will stop offering analog service in the future.