Channel 83 was removed from television use in 1982. The highest frequency to have been used for NTSC-M terrestrial TV broadcasting, it was formerly used by a handful of television stations in North America which broadcast on 884-890 MHz. In the United States, channels 70–83 served primarily as a "translator band" for low-power repeater transmitters filling gaps in coverage for existing stations. Many are defunct, with the few still in existence now moved to lower frequencies:
WXXW-TV (later WYCC PBSChicago) had used a small channel 83 rebroadcaster from 1965 to 1972.[2] The main channel 20 transmitter moved to the Sears Tower once that building was completed in May 1973, rendering the fill-in repeater signal unnecessary.
A RadioShack device, the Multiple Video Distribution System (15-1284 or 150–1284), was marketed in the early-1980s with the capability of block conversion of up to three independent RF modulator signals from VHF channel 3/4 for home viewing on any of channels 74/75, 78/79 and/or 82/83 - channels which remained unused in most markets. Later versions of the product were forced to lower frequencies by the removal of UHF channels 70-83 from television receivers after 1982.[3]