DTT Transmitter Timetable

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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,605
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    Not everyone who lives on Jersey can afford satellite you know!
    What about Freesat? Surely in a tax haven like Jersey £150 one off payment is not too much?!
  • Ray CathodeRay Cathode Posts: 13,231
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    What about Freesat? Surely in a tax haven like Jersey £150 one off payment is not too much?!
    Just because the island has lots of rich outsiders living there doesn't mean that every Jersey resident is rich. It's a very common mistake to make. That is why housing and jobs are reserved for the locals.
  • Radio RuderhamRadio Ruderham Posts: 13,776
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    Just because the island has lots of rich outsiders living there doesn't mean that every Jersey resident is rich. It's a very common mistake to make. That is why housing and jobs are reserved for the locals.

    Spot on, common fallacy
    My Family are Jersey, and there are by no neans "rich".
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,768
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    Not everyone who lives on Jersey can afford satellite you know!
    I couldn't resist it - sorry! - I have business acquaintances on Alderney and the costs of sending their kids to school are crippling (in my eyes!)
    Investigating further, it appears the existing 4 analogue frequencies at Fremont Point have been agreed in the digital plan with 2 others for the unused analogue dividend. As the analogue signals are already transmitting at 20kW, this should be plenty enough to cover almost the entire Channel Islands on digital. I see that they have allowed a further 2 frequencies on Guernsey and at sites on Jersey, so I expect these will be low power digital sites for Muxes C&D. Looks like they will get all six muxes unlike the Isle of Man which will only get three.
    Sounds like there won't be any real problems then - just placating the French !!!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,605
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    I still think £150 is not too onerous a payment on any family!
  • Jason100Jason100 Posts: 17,222
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    I look forward to reading this thread in 2012 to see when my area switches to digital ;) lol

    (sorry bad joke)
  • giannigianni Posts: 1,224
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    I spent half an hour on the phone to Digital TV yesterday trying to find out when a transmitter would START digital broadcasts. It took three goes to explain the question was nothing to do with when analogue would stop. They didn't understand that knowing this is significant. I may have to spend £200+ on an aerial upgrade to get a signal from Crystal Palace (Muswell Hill is in the way) . But if Alexandra Palace starts digital in a couple of months, I don't need to do anything.....

    I am assured that Ally Paly will start digital broadcasts only on switch-over from analogue (2012), i.e. when everyone has already tuned into Crystal Palace or wherever, and that the power will then go up.

    Oh yes, I also had to explain what Ally Pally was to the history of TV since thay hadn't seemed to have heard of it.

    This on top of walking out of Currys/Comet because the staff had no idea of the Freeview products or service (apparently SCARTs are for connecting the picture digitally and I need to use the analogue outputs to connect to a surround amp as the digital one is poor quality).

    I can handle this but what about my poor old mum (83) who "just wants a bit more choice"?

    Lobby www.dcms.gov.uk
  • digimon900digimon900 Posts: 4,249
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    gianni wrote:
    I am assured that Ally Paly will start digital broadcasts only on switch-over from analogue (2012), i.e. when everyone has already tuned into Crystal Palace or wherever, and that the power will then go up.

    They were testing two digital multiplexes this month.
    We live in Tottenham and the Aerial(s) on our house face Crystal Palace a full freeview service and excellent analogue channel 5 for everyone here in this house thanks to my scrambling about on the roof, anyway my integrated TV automatically tunes in any new digital stations detected and it tuned in two that have numbers and no name.
    The station info usually has the words "crystal palace" at the top of the screen but I noticed with interest that it said "alexandra palace" on the unidentified stations one of which showed channel 4 and the other a test card telling people not to store the station.
    I was surprised because although the aerial receives the analogue Ally Pally broadcasts side on perfectly clearly I would have thought that the digital signal would degrade.
    I found that my laptop Digital TV card detected an Alexandra Palace stream with no broadcasts when I was in Barnet as well.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 630
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    Used to live in Jersey a few years back and go back two or three times a year to catch up with friends.

    Digital satellite is very very popular. Not sure about the official figures but at a guess I would say the take up is around 70-80%. Not just Sky either, you often see dishes that are used to pick up other satellites for Portuguese, French and German channels, amongst others.

    Until only a few years ago, the islanders had to put up with dodgy TV pictures, especially in high pressure conditions, hence the locals couldn't get enough of Sky digital when it arrived. The terrestrials have improved since the fibre and satellite feeds replaced the old SABRE system but take up remains strong.

    My own frustrations was that Channel TV only broadcasted 4:3 pictures in questionable quality. Still, as long as ITV1 London remains on the EPG its not a problem. The other problem was the cost of getting it installed. Cost me an arm and a leg to get around the planning restrictions and have a specialised install when I lived there.

    Oh, I'm not rich either. Comfortable and happy, but not rich. Its a common misconception that islanders drive around in Bentleys all day dodging the UK tax system. Jersey has its fair share of social and economic problems, just like anywhere else.
  • digimon900digimon900 Posts: 4,249
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    I just looked at the test channels I mentioned earlier. It does say Chrystal Palace not Alexandra Palace but the test card has the words Alexandra Palace feed and some numbers it no longer shows channel 4
  • giannigianni Posts: 1,224
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    So my experiement has failed. After 3 days of getting two strong Mux signals I can now get nothing.

    So I must need an aerial upgrade. Typical cost round here £175-£225. Cost of adding Sky multi-room to my package £49 plus £10 a month. When I looked this up I found out that Sky had stopped my £10/month Sky+ subscription charge so to me it is free. Not to mention the range of channel choice.

    Freeview/Top-up take-up will ALWAYS be hampered by the aerial problem when the cost of installation is so high. I wouldn't mind paying but every installer I have spoken to clearly wears a stetson, no matter how flashy the web-site. Why must I pay a £99 call-out for an appointment? Why cannot I be quoted an hourly rate for the work? Why cannot he give me prices for a wide-band or Group A aerial?
  • giannigianni Posts: 1,224
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    And now the signal is back - is it always like this?
  • David (2)David (2) Posts: 20,632
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    thats just how a borderline signal works. On a "good day" you may have just enough signal for the code to be decoded back into pictures and audio. On a "bad day" the signal might only be 2% weaker but thats enough to drop it below the required min level, and so the box fails to decode. When the signal is spot on the min required level, and maybe it goes up and down by 0.5% every few secs, thats when the pictures/sound breakup.

    With a decent signal level, you would have more than enough signal spare to soak up the difference from day to day, so even on a bad day, you are still above the required min level of signal. When Switchover happens, the reception issue should be resolved - at least for the main channels on Freeview (the extra stuff wont be on all the transmitters, so there will still be an issue with those-although less so than now due to extra broadcasting power).

    Dave
  • b.leverb.lever Posts: 1,190
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    ney wrote:
    From that list I see BlackHill has changed from mid 2010 to March 2011 wonder why that is. Yet Craigkelly had not changed its switch off date.

    Darren

    Its not lined up the writing .
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 86
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    Jul 09 for me :D
  • Rugby RoseRugby Rose Posts: 13,228
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    I need some advice please. This is obviously going to be a problem for most people but I've never seen it mentioned other than gianni just mentioning Sky multiroom. I have Sky in the living room so the switchover isn't a problem with the main tv. What happens with the tvs in the bedrooms (2)? I don't want to have to pay for Sky multiroom, but if I did, how would they get the wiring through? I don't want wires trailing through the house even if they are tacked to skirting boards. If I had freeview, would I have to have a seperate box for both tvs and again, how would I connect them to the aerial? I'll assume that I'll need a new aerial too. Is it possible to connect via the satellite dish but freeview only, again wiring would be a problem, but would I need another Sky box for each telly or have freeview boxes to connect to the dish? God, I'm confused. :confused:
  • Mark.Mark. Posts: 84,807
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    Your best option would be getting Freeview boxes for all your TV's (even the one with Sky - always good to have the option). You can run all these off the one aerial by using a distribution amplifier, but you can't use the Sky dish with them.
  • Rugby RoseRugby Rose Posts: 13,228
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    Your best option would be getting Freeview boxes for all your TV's (even the one with Sky - always good to have the option). You can run all these off the one aerial by using a distribution amplifier, but you can't use the Sky dish with them.

    Thanks for your help Mark. I'm assuming then I've got to get a new aerial seeing as everyone I know who has had freeview has had to do that, together with the distribution amplifier and then somehow get the wiring from the roof to the tvs in the bedroom. Blimey, Aerial engineers are going to be busy and the cost is going to really add up.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 181
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    Well, just had a look at the timetable for the switchover of terrestrial...I see that Winter Hill in Bolton is due to go on November 2009.

    Well All i can say is i hope that they sort something out, Winter Hill feeds thousands upon thousands of households. When it rains you lose channel 4 and its sister stations and the ITV block of 1, 2, 3, 4 and now 2+1.

    I tried, amps, a new ariel even a different TV, I replaced all the TV cable and nothing sorts it out. So they need to put another transmitter in near Winter Hill to help serve those homes that are affected by poor Digital reception of these channels...

    Phew Rant over.....my mates at work are gonna get me a soapbox to stand on next!! :cool:
  • albertdalbertd Posts: 14,341
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    ClubmanRob wrote:
    ....So they need to put another transmitter in near Winter Hill to help serve those homes that are affected by poor Digital reception of these channels...
    Don't forget that the present situation is only an interim solution until changeover, when all the existing DTT transmitters are due to be upgraded to higher power and, in many case, different channels.

    So the solution to the problem you are describing could well come with that, as well as the equipping, admittedly only with three Mux, of all the existing relay transmitters which are still on analogue only.
  • djonshoredjonshore Posts: 4,758
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    The Fenton transmitter looks like BBC 2 will go on September 1st 2011 and BCC1, ITV1,C4 will go on September 31,2011

    I would be very suprised if that did happen as there will never be 31 days in September ;)
  • JSemple3JSemple3 Posts: 8,652
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    Thought Blackhill (where I am) would be sooner than March 2011 but we always seem to be a little slow when it comes to things ;)
  • Radio RuderhamRadio Ruderham Posts: 13,776
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    From the Channels Testing Thread

    I bring you
    1. In the Category Not Before Time A new DAB Digital Radio transmitter is set to bring new services to 40,000 people in Melrose, Galashiels and Hawick area of the Scottish Borders. The new transmitter will be located at Selkirk and is hoped to be in service by the start of winter 2007. The BBC has also announced its intention to commission a transmitter to bring DAB digital radio to listeners on the opposite side of the country – in the towns of Whitehaven and Workington in Cumbria. Although the BBC's analogue radio services will continue after digital switchover, the new transmitter will allow listeners in the area to go completely digital if they choose to: watching digital television and listening to DAB digital radio. It is hoped to bring the transmitter on stream in the late autumn. Radio Today
    :)
  • bradavonbradavon Posts: 723
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    This is good news.

    But jeez they're taking their time. I have to wait exactly 3 more years, just switch rubbish analogue off. I've been set for years :(

    Mendip for me too.
    Rugby Rose wrote:
    Thanks for your help Mark. I'm assuming then I've got to get a new aerial seeing as everyone I know who has had freeview has had to do that, together with the distribution amplifier and then somehow get the wiring from the roof to the tvs in the bedroom. Blimey, Aerial engineers are going to be busy and the cost is going to really add up.
    Do you ever record something and watch something else? Using your Recorders analogue tuner? Remember that will need a tuner too.

    You may find your single Sky box for the front room isn't enough.
  • David (2)David (2) Posts: 20,632
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    every tv needs either adapting (with a freeview, cable, or satellite box), or replaced with a tv that has freeview built in.

    If you intend to carry on using VHS to record, each machine will need a digital box (satellite, Cable, or Freeview). But many people prefer to ditch the old VHS and switch to a digital recorder - either a DVD Recorder which has in built Freeview, a hard disc (pvr) recorder with either inbuilt Freeview or Sky+, or a combination of tv with in built Freeview and a standard Sky satellite box hooked up as well.

    Where Freeview is not yet broadcast, you are stuck with analogue. Most tv's with inbuilt freeview also contain an analogue circuit for normal tv as well. But the sticking point is recording - for the most part, a hard disc (pvr) recorder for freeview or a DVD Recorder with inbuilt Freeview cant be used to record analogue channels.

    Just as with analogue, you have a choice of having an aerial for each tv or a single aerial with a multi-way amplifier box which is used to feed signals to multiple rooms. I strongly recommend the latter - much better not to have multiple aerials on the roof, and more consistant results. Each room gets the best signal poss.

    If you choose the satellite option, you could have a Sky, Sky+, or SkyHD digi box on one tv, or on all of them (requires Sky "multiroom" subscription). But you can also have freesatfrom Sky - no subscription - just the free channels via satellite. Some people may have only this option in the house, while others will have one box with some form of subscription (eg, Sport), while the others are running on freesatfrom Sky. Regardless, with the satellite option, most people should have a single dish, and for any form of satellite multiroom, a multiway LNB - with multiple wires running to the various locations in the house.

    Dave
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