Has there even been UHF channels?

Yes. The UK was UHF. It varies by region.

Absolutely. At least in the Metro DC area in the 80s.

Also, Weird Al.

Yes.
When I was a kid living near New York City there were several stations. I think 15, 21, 31, 57?
I can’t remember.

^Uppity New Yorkers. We only had 3 stations when I was a kid.

The San Francisco Bay Area had Channel 20, Channel 26, Channel 36 (in San Jose with Carol Doda doing promos as “the Perfect 36”) and Channel 44. 26 and 44 are still around on cable.

Yep. We had a couple of UHF channels when I was growing up.

Chicagoland had four or five into the 70’s when I left.

Yes indeed.

Yup.

Don’t they still work? I don’t use antenna, but I know people who do. I would assume they still transmit on that frequency.

The Bay Area also had 54 & 60. My favorite was 36. They had classic movies all night. I still remember the “Price Slasher!” commercials.

@chyna On VHF we had: 2,4,5,7,9,11,13 And we had what seemed to be a million radio stations – but we all mostly listen to 77 WABC

Out TV had click stops on the VHF channels and a vernier dial to tune in UHF. It was fun searching for channels.

In Los Angeles last century there were several UHF stations. That’s where you might find re-runs of your favorite shows.

Gosh, when we lived on the farm during my childhood, I loved exploring it. The way the dial tuned in you had to turn very slowly, or you might pass something. It was always a hunting game because we never knew what would currently come through. Maybe I would find an old Sinbad movie, or there might be only one station coming through; a how to knit program. Bah!

I became very curious and this link says yes indeed there are still channels using UHF. https://nocable.org/availability-report/zip/32824-orlando-fl/

These are my local stations, but I’m so far I’m pretty sure I would need a big antenna like what my neighbor has outside his house, not one of those $20 indoor ones. My sister is able to use a small antenna in her apartment in NYC.

@Patty_Melt That is they type of searching I did! It was like finding magic!
I’m sure that’s what inspired my interest in radios and electronics.

I think there still is.

@LuckyGuy I think it gave me an understanding that to achieve a desired result things could require only the slightest tweak.
I see men using muscle, make large sweeps, and for many things, that works great. Some things require tiny movements and great patience, and that became noticable from such childhood pastimes.

Children miss out on so many ways these days. It is becoming clear to me why great civilizations of the past fell to ruin. As they engaged improvements, they lost the needs which drove their innovations. We face similar now. However, we have enough research materials available to make new achievements. What we have now is the means to move forward, but a lack of understanding about which forward needs to be pursued. We have a lack of individual imagination. Currently, most follow the directions taken by someone else. Innovation has gone stale. The true needs of civilizations are being left unexplored. Instead, people are trying to push already met needs into further advancement. Worse, imagination not inspired productively is spiraling out of control in ugly and dangerous directions.

I don’t know why I suddenly felt a need to voice these thoughts, but I’m not sorry I did.

@Patty_Melt I was amazed that all these signals were in the air flying around me. And all I had to do was turn this knob ever so gently to get them.
Also I was aware that there were people on the other side working on shows, transmitters, antennas, and equipment, sending out those signals so curious people could find them.

At one time the FCC granted television broadcasting licenses on channels 14 through 83, with channel 37 reserved since 1963 for radio astronomy.
In recent years, according to this website, channels 14 to 36 are currently used for television broadcast; channels 38 to 83 are being phased out in favor of 5G mobile signals.

edit for clarity

Everyone should GQ this Q. It brought about some very cool conversation.