As discussed in other articles this week, some stations moved to their post-transition DTV channels when they shut off analog broadcasting Tuesday.

The FCC's TV Engineering Database, which is the source of the bi-weekly DTV Status Reports and spreadsheets in RF Report, does not show the special temporary authority (STA) for the early moves to post-transition channels.

Thanks to an e-mail from Neal Seidl at GE Healthcare, who has been closely monitoring the DTV transition to make sure hospitals are prepared before stations turn on new DTV channels or increase power, I found it was possible to search for these STAs using the FCC's CDBS Application Search web page with the file prefix “BLDSTA”.

A check late Thursday night showed 155 records with 113 STAs being granted, nine dismissed and 33 others listed only as “accepted for filing.” In some cases the applications and grants not only allowed a move to the post-transition channel, but a maximization of facilities as well.

I'll be studying the list and hope to have some additional statistics in next week's RF Report.