If you have followed our blog for any amount of time, you most likely know that we love Local Over the Air HD Antennas. We think that they are the best value in TV watching by a long shot. We even wrote an article as to why we feel our Mohu HD Antennas are The Best Value in TV Watching!
Why do you need to rescan for channels for your Local HD Over the Air Antenna?
To make a long story short, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) held and auction to sell off many of the frequencies that Over the Air TV stations use to broadcast. The main buyer of these frequencies are cell phone carriers that use them to send and receive the large amount of mobile data that we use today. Cell phone carriers need these frequencies so much that they pay upwards of 100 Million dollars for some of them, Yes 100 Million dollars!
If your local over the air TV stations didn't pony up big bucks for those frequencies (They didn't) they will be moved to a different frequency sometime between now and 2020.
What happens if I don't rescan for channels on my TV?
Once a channel moves to a different frequency your antenna and TV will still be trying to receive data from the old frequency which is now transmitting mobile cellular data. So you will not have any picture or sound on that channel.
How can I find out when my local channels are switching frequencies?
We are very glad that you asked :) We actually found a website where you can enter your zip code and get a list of all of your local channels and when they are changing frequencies.
Here is the link to tvanswers.org
Will I have to run a channel scan for each channel that changes frequency?
The short answer is yes. Each time an individual channel changes frequency you will need to run a channel scan in order to get that channel back. But the good news is that we searched quite a few zip codes and it seems that in most cities the majority of the channels will be changing on the same day. There will most likely be some stragglers that will change on a different date. But for most people they will only have to run a channel scan once or twice.
How do I perform a channel scan on my TV?
All TV's are a little different and have different menu layouts. For most TV's you will go to menu or settings and click on Setup or Input, Click on Channels and click on Scan. Some TV's may differentiate between cable and Antenna, click on Antenna. Some TV's may give you an option to Auto Tune which will also work. But every TV is different, so if you get stuck consult the owner's manual.
Will the reception be better or worse?
We definitely hope that the reception will get better, but we have no way of knowing until a channel moves to the new frequency. Overall we think it will generally stay the same. Our Mohu Local HD Antennas already have the functionality built in to be able to receive these new frequencies, so you are good to go!
We hope you enjoyed this article and we will leave you with a very stiff instructional video on how to do a rescan from the FCC :)
