But remember the handsets ....
If they are close they give a larger signal than the base station ...
I get people walking outside my place all the time using their mobiles and I can even detect their wifi signals on my adaptor so that's not very encouraging!
Anyhow, you wouldn't believe it but straight after I submitted my last message yesterday, I bumped into an engineer on the roof of the property right next door to me. Guess what he was there to do? To replace their Freeview aerial because of interference being caused by 4G! Next door's aerial points to Fremont Point because there is a building obstructing its view to La Collette. The engineer pointed out the roof of a large building in the middle distance that was just bristling with all types of huge masts and identified it as JT's main headquarters in St Helier (I had always wondered which business operated from that building). It was situated just slightly to the left of the aerial's line of sight to Fremont Point, probably helping to explain why my neighbours have suffered interference and why my own Fremont Point signal on my French aerial has also weakened. He told me he had also visited a property very close to the JT building and the TV interference there was really bad.
I have retuned all muxes on my TV to La Collette but the Freeview signal on my French aerial seems to vary widely. At one point last night, signal strength percentage was down in the 30's, then I switched over and switched back again and it was much stronger. Today it is fine. It is this unpredictability that makes it so difficult to identify whether 4G is responsible. Hopefully all my observations will help others around the UK if and when Mr. 4G comes to take over their airwaves! For watching UK television, I am lucky to have the separate use of a Freesat box and tend to watch most of my TV on that rather than Freeview, but nevertheless the mobile networks shouldn't be allowed to escape their responsibilities to Freeview viewers, many of whom are likely to be on low incomes and possibly not able to afford a satellite decoder.
I get people walking outside my place all the time using their mobiles and I can even detect their wifi signals on my adaptor so that's not very encouraging!
Anyhow, you wouldn't believe it but straight after I submitted my last message yesterday, I bumped into an engineer on the roof of the property right next door to me. Guess what he was there to do? To replace their Freeview aerial because of interference being caused by 4G! Next door's aerial points to Fremont Point because there is a building obstructing its view to La Collette. The engineer pointed out the roof of a large building in the middle distance that was just bristling with all types of huge masts and identified it as JT's main headquarters in St Helier (I had always wondered which business operated from that building). It was situated just slightly to the left of the aerial's line of sight to Fremont Point, probably helping to explain why my neighbours have suffered interference and why my own Fremont Point signal on my French aerial has also weakened. He told me he had also visited a property very close to the JT building and the TV interference there was really bad.
I have retuned all muxes on my TV to La Collette but the Freeview signal on my French aerial seems to vary widely. At one point last night, signal strength percentage was down in the 30's, then I switched over and switched back again and it was much stronger. Today it is fine. It is this unpredictability that makes it so difficult to identify whether 4G is responsible. Hopefully all my observations will help others around the UK if and when Mr. 4G comes to take over their airwaves! For watching UK television, I am lucky to have the separate use of a Freesat box and tend to watch most of my TV on that rather than Freeview, but nevertheless the mobile networks shouldn't be allowed to escape their responsibilities to Freeview viewers, many of whom are likely to be on low incomes and possibly not able to afford a satellite decoder.
Just to say, the official name of the relay is St. Helier not La Collette (you won't find La Collette listed anywhere if you try and search for it)
4G may not be the only issue with your French reception. I don't think they have any French transmitters on the island do they, so you are presumably receiving a mainland station? That will involve a certain amount of over sea path. This can cause reception problems all by itself.
I think also, depending on where you live in the UK (south-east england) you should also pick up these stations if you have a french tv aerial.
Jersey_Boy
Saint Helier
There is no such thing as a French TV aerial or in fact a digital TV aerial:o - You are referring to an aerial directed to a French TV transmitter.
I was doing a quick scan for foreign channels just after 12.30 am this morning when my TV suddenly went bonkers.... bonkers I tell you! For a period of about half an hour at its peak, different TV signals from as far afield as the north coast of Spain tuned themselves in to my channel list only to be removed within minutes by signals from elsewhere. Here are the highlights, by UHF frequency:
UHF channel 43 (650 MHz): I already have Tébéo, transmitting from Roc Trédudon, Finistère Département (west of Brittany) pre-tuned on my TV, as I regularly get snippets of the very strong signal emanating from there. However, last night Tébéo was not receivable at all and its station details were suddenly wiped from my TV and replaced by ...
Spanish TDT mux containing the following stations (3 TV and 3 radio): Boing, Energy, Mega, Onda Cero, Europa FM and Melodia FM.:o I was able to watch Mega for about a minute or two before it permanently disappeared, but long enough to recognise an 18 certificate film being broadcast in English language (presumably Spanish TDT has dual audio capabilities like many French TNT stations and my TV must have selected the English language audio). I have done some research and I believe this mux, which is apparently operated by Atresmedia, must have been transmitting from Cantabria, immediately to the west of the Basque Country on the north coast of Spain. See the approximate transmission and reception locations (408 air miles apart) here:
Then as quick as it had come, the Spanish mux was removed and replaced by the French R7 mux (HD1, L'Equipe 21, Cherie 25) transmitting from an unidentified French location.
UHF channel 47 (682 MHz): I have never before picked up foreign stations on this frequency, no doubt in very large measure because the BBCB mux transmits on this frequency from Fremont Point (about 3KW?) just a few miles to the north of me. However, for about an hour after midnight, I was able to watch Télénantes (the local station on French mux R1) which was almost certainly coming from the transmitter at Nantes- Haute Goulaine, about 140 miles to the south of me. Station details here:
UHF channel 56 (754 MHz): A sudden and very brief opening allowed me to identify the French R1 mux containing the local station TVPI (French Basque region next to the Spanish border), which I have successfully received before (I once recorded a programme about bullfighting during a previous opening!). However, pictures were only viewable for a matter of seconds before this mux was overwhelmed and replaced by another French mux as follows...
TV Vendée and Canal Cholet, transmitting (almost certainly from Nantes- Haute Goulaine) on the French L8 local stations mux. I am very familiar with these two stations, having received them in past years during good openings. Not surprisingly, this mux was received at the same time that Télénantes was viewable on channel 47.
UHF channel 25 (506 MHz): I had Normandie TV already preset on my TV, but this was removed and replaced by reception of the French R2 mux (D8, D17 etc.) from an unidentified area of France.
UHF Channel 57 (762 MHz): Not nearly so interesting but nevertheless also worth noting that just before the very big opening, I was able to receive Tébésud (AKA Ty Télé) on the French R1 mux from Vannes Moustoir'ac, Morbihan Departement, South Brittany. The power of the Vannes transmitter for Tébésud seems to be only about a tenth of the power that nearby Roc Trédudon uses for Tébéo ('20.000' -20 KW?- compared to Tebeo's '191.000' -191 KW?). Therefore it takes fairly unusual weather conditions before I am able to watch Tébésud. You would think that when the weaker Tébésud station can be received you would also be able to receive the much stronger Tébéo from the neighbouring French Departement at the same time but this is often not the case and once again it was not the case last night due to Tébéo being overwhelmed by that Spanish mux (I'm not complaining though!).
Just to make it clear that although I have not used an aerial amplifier in the past, I have now managed to hook up a second hand one connected to the mains behind my TV set and I was using it during the opening last night. I have also had a 4G filter fitted to deal with any perceived interference from the Jersey mobile networks on the 800 MHz band, but I removed this filter last night in the hope that it would help me to pick up the EiTB Basque Country mux which is still pretuned on my TV on channel 61. However, despite receiving the Spanish mux from neighbouring Cantabria last night, there was absolutely no sniff of a similar signal from the Basque Country mux previously known to be on channel 61. If it is still transmitting on that frequency then I am wondering whether Jersey's 4G signals will prevent me ever receiving it again, filter or no filter. I also tried scanning UHF channel 35 (where EiTB was also once received during a previous opening) but I had no luck there either.
There are no French transmitters on ch 61 now. Don't know where it has moved to though. Congratulations on all the dx reception though.
I've done a bit more research and I now believe that the EiTB (Basque Country) multiplex is no longer transmitting on channel 61. I've come across various web articles which, although in Spanish and therefore hard for me to understand, seem to confirm that Spain has also cleared the 800 MHz frequency of television signals in order to reserve it for future 4G mobile use. I reckon this is probably part of a Europe-wide agreement.
I know that EiTB is on UHF channel 35 because my PVR picked up reception on that frequency several times last year and I was able to record what I watched. However, I seem to recall that my TV was separately and simultaneously picking it up on UHF channel 61 until some time last year. I don't seem to have a record of when I definitely last picked it up on channel 61 but it was presumably the summer of 2014. I certainly received it on channel 61 during that unforgettable daytime opening in December 2013, which I reported on at the time on this thread.
The problem is that my PVR has since arbitrarily wiped all record of EiTB on channel 35 from my station listings without my permission (so annoying). This makes it much more difficult to tune it back in again when the next decent opening happens, which is rarely more than once or twice a year. If EiTB was still listed on my PVR, I would occasionally be switching to channel 35 during promising weather to check for any increase in the signal strength, which would normally be 0% because it is 400 miles from me. I have never found any nearby French muxes transmitting on channel 35, only EiTB (which is part of the Spanish Digital TV service of course). The mid 30's seems to be a barren area for both British and French TV broadcasts. I'm not quite sure why that might be.
Stud u like - here is a link to a list of transmitters first posted 3 years ago on this thread by albertd. As far as I can make out, it is still being kept up to date, although the new HD only muxes (R7 and R8) aren't included:
You are obviously extremely close to Pas-de-Calais Departement (62) but I notice that French transmitter strengths are very low there, presumably to avoid causing interference with British Freeview. However, in neighboring Nord (59), I notice there is a local station called WEO La Tele Nord Pas de Calais operating on the R1 mux (UHF channel 24) with a decent transmitter strength from Lille - (Bouvigny-Boyeffles). It is mentioned on page 32 of the Transmitters link. The distance between Folkestone and Lille is close to 90 miles. I receive all my uninterrupted French viewing in excellent quality without the need of an amplifier from Rennes, which is about 80 miles south of me with the same transmitter strength as 3 of the muxes from Lille (Bouvigny-Boyeffles) so I think you could comfortably receive those 3 strongest muxes from Lille (R1 on channel 24, R3 on channel 27 and R6 on channel 21- see page 20 of the Transmitters link) provided they don't clash with nearby UK Freeview signals and your aerial is pointing the right way (east-southeast?). Others who regularly watch French TV from the south coast of England will know far more than me about this. It might be better covered on other threads.
Tonight I've started receiving a very strong French TV signal on channel 24 (498.166MHz). It is called "Chaine Test 46" and it is currently broadcasting a constant vertical colour bar pattern. This is the same frequency on which I receive multiplex R6 (Arte, TF1, NRJ12 etc.) from Rennes. It is the same strength and quality as R6 from Rennes so I reckon this is a new SD station about to start broadcasting on that mux.
I think encrypted stations Eurosport and TF6 used to be transmitted on R6 as well but both seem to have bitten the dust in recent times. It appears this new station might be filling a bit of the vacant space left on R6. I'm hoping that it will broadcast free-to-air and with a bit of luck the programme schedule won't be as awful as it is on TMC - another R6 station which I wouldn't be sorry to lose.
Currently only one MPEG-4 channel is broadcast by all DTT transmitters which is ARTE HD on the multiplex R4.
All others are on the multiplex which are not disseminated throughout. R3, R5, R7 and R8
The French National Frequency Agency (ANFR) have developed a video to explain to viewers whether the equipment can receive MPEG-4 based on the reception of ARTE HD
.
Some channels or rather certain groups (I guess these are commercial stations groups) would not want either ARTE that serves as a reference for this test and would have opposed the use of the video by ANFR.
This is certainly why ANFR created the "Test Channel 46" on the multiplex R6. A new video is created, this time taking as reference a "neutral" system, so as not to harm the commercial channels.
So, sadly this is unlikely to be anything more than this...
There are new channels planned for rollout in France in 2016 and are likely to be HD offerings however.
4G should never have been allocated frequencies in the 800MHz band at all. There are plenty of other frequencies allocated to it they can use.
Such as?
The point of 800MHz is propagation, especially in rural areas. In building coverage is another.
One of the reasons why the UK has inconsistent 3G coverage is because it is on 2.1GHz, and not all providers want to pay for the extra infrastructure that would be needed to achieve similar levels of coverage as on 2G or 3G at 900.
It has to be accepted that more people want to use mobile data and less people want oodles of channels of broadcast TV - so technology has to move with the demand
I think the gentlemen here who wrote this is very pro-PAL because and may never have seen a SECAM signal. There is got to be more than two advantages to having SECAM - the picture quality is excellent on Freeview as well as analouge.
Currently only one MPEG-4 channel is broadcast by all DTT transmitters which is ARTE HD on the multiplex R4.
Thanks Andrew. Before reading your post I had sussed that Test Channel 46 was being broadcast in the newer MPEG-4 format because I tried to tune it in on my old Toshiba combie PVR and could only receive the sound- not pictures, whereas by tuning it directly through my Sony Bravia TV, I could receive both the sound and the colour bars test pattern.
Currently my Toshiba PVR can receive all the main free-to-air French stations in SD, including Canal+ when it is unencrypted. It is revealing that you mention Arte HD because my Toshiba can't receive any of the HD stations (no sound and no pictures) but for several years I've wondered why it can receive the sound only on Arte HD. I have often wondered what was different about Arte HD from the other HD stations.
Unfortunately, this just confirms what I more or less knew already - that come next April, my Toshiba PVR combie will no longer be of any use for recording French TV... well apart from the sound, that is.
Reception from France looks promising for viewers in southern England tonight judging by my experience just after 6pm here in Jersey.
I think I caught the very edge of a rare strong opening coming from the east. Fortunately for me, it coincided with the regional news output on France 3. I plugged in my old aerial amp and couldn't quite believe what I saw:
I was receiving pictures from 3 different France 3 regions simultaneously (not counting my regular Bretagne signal from Rennes, which makes 4 different regions). Two of these France 3 regions were both on channel 56 yet I was able to receive and watch them at the same time - how rare is that? Usually you only get one that breaks through on any given frequency, which then gets swamped and wiped out by a stronger signal from somewhere else
One of these regions was France 3 Bourgogne (Burgundy) which identified itself on my TV as 'France 3 Dijon' and was on channel 56. I've just done a comprehensive check of transmitters and it must have come from Neuvy deux Clochers, Bois D'Humblig (?), BOURGES, Departement of Cher (18). That is a whopping 253 flying miles from my destination, roughly on the same longitude as Paris, only further south.
The other France 3 region on channel 56 that I watched appeared to be 'Centre-Val de la Loire' and identified itself on my TV as 'France 3 Berry' (never heard of this area before). I watched a bit of the local weather forecast. I spotted Orleans, which is in the Loiret Department. I haven't been able to find any R1 mux transmitting at strength from anywhere in that area so it remains a bit of a mystery where it originated from. Both of these channel 56 signals were no more than about 9% strength yet I was able to watch perfect unbroken pictures, with sound.
The third region was France 3 Pays de la Loire, including my old favourite, Le Mans TV Sarthe, about 133 miles away. I haven't received pictures from this area for at least a year. The local France 3 news included a report from the famous Zoo La Fleche near Le Mans, with a polar bear and (I think) a Siberian (white) tiger featuring. Lovely! Great place to visit one day.
I also briefly received pictures from the region nearest me, France 3 Normandie. The local station, Normandie TV on R1 appears to have stopped transmitting. It still tunes in with a station ident, but the screen is completely blank.
So that's 5 different France 3 regions available to me in the same evening!
I have been receiving intermittent reception all night on channel 56 from local French station TVPI (R1 mux) broadcasting from Bayonne (La Rhune), very close to the border between Spain and France. It continued in patches for more than 7 hours. I even managed to record some extracts, including a programme in the Basque dialect with added French subtitles! I first noticed it very briefly after midnight and when I woke up at 7am, the reception was still there, albeit breaking up regularly.
My hopes were therefore very high that I would also be able to pick up the EiTB mux broadcasting from the Spanish side of the border, or maybe some other Spanish stations. Unfortunately my luck was out this time and nothing at all broke through from Spain. I tried scanning channel 35, which is the frequency (other than the now defunct channel 61) on which I last viewed EiTB, but without success. Hopefully others had more success.
I seem to recall that it was in this same week two years ago that I experienced that extraordinary daytime reception of EiTB - and without using any aerial amplifier. Maybe there is something about the atmospheric conditions at this time of year which increase the chances of picking up TV from northern Spain and the surrounding area... or maybe it is just a coincidence?
It now seems fairly clear to me that the big switchover next week will result in all the existing French TNT stations changing to HD only transmissions. Previously I had presumed that some stations would still continue to broadcast in SD albeit with new MPEG4 coding. However, my current understanding (correct me if I'm wrong) is that there will be no TNT stations still broadcasting in SD after 5th April 2016.
That is quite a radical move and will affect not only those who receive TNT terestrially with a non-HD Freeview receiver but also those receiving French TNT SAT via satellite with a non-HD satellite receiver.
I have a query of my own as I am considering purchasing a new Freeview+ HD DTR so that I can continue recording French TNT programmes after 5th April. My one concern is that some of the latest Digital Television Recorders on the market state in their blurb that, for example, only 12 HD channels can be enjoyed.
Example taken from the product description for the Humax HDR-2000T:
"Simply plug the HDR-2000T into your HD-ready TV to enjoy 12 high definition (HD) channels, as well as access to up to 50 Freeview standard definition TV channels and 24 radio channels."
Could this 12 HD channels restriction on models like this one be a problem for receiving the 20+ French TNT channels available after 5th April or would such recorders just automatically adapt and tune in as many HD channels as are able to be picked up? I would also be expecting to tune in and be able to record the half dozen or so UK Freeview channels as well as the French ones, bringing the total number of HD channels I hope to receive after 5th April to nearly 30.
Now I suspect that what that quoted product description above actually means is that the UK Freeview service isn't likely to be offering more than a dozen HD channels to viewers in any particular region of the UK any time soon and these recorders are obviously aimed only at the UK television market. However, I am concerned that it might mean that the software of this particular recorder, along with many others, might be internally restricted to receiving no more than a dozen HD channels, which might create an obstacle for anyone hoping to tune in more than 20 HD channels on TNT after 5th April. Can anyone offer an opinion on this please.
Just to confirm that I am not bothered by Freeview Play, Youview etc because I won't be using any new recorder with a broadband connection for the purpose of accessing catch up services online.
Could this 12 HD channels restriction on models like this one be a problem for receiving the 20+ French TNT channels available after 5th April or would such recorders just automatically adapt and tune in as many HD channels as are able to be picked up?
That reference to 12 channels may not be a restriction in the kit, but a reference to the 12 HD channels available in the UK.
By the way, I understand that the French say that if you can currently receive ARTE HD on Ch 57 your kit should be OK for the changeover, just requiring a retune.
Did a rescan of the DTT channels last night and was amazed to see that the signal strength was double that of what it usually is. Getting 90% on some of the muxes.
This enabled me to receive most of the French channels twice, but was unable to determine where the second layers of channels were originating from.
Will do another rescan on Tuesday once the HD channels will be online and will then see LCN and Paris Premiere in the clear for the first time. These two channels however will still remain in SD for the foreseeable future.
That may possibly have been the same night when I noticed a sudden increase in strength for France 3 Normandie on channel 25 together with watchable TV reception for a time, which I just attributed to the recent high pressure conditions, but who knows?
For those in the UK who are watching French TV via satellite (FRANSAT / TNTSAT), I believe the HD switchover date is a bit later for you - on 25th April.
The big French HD switchover happened at 1am French time this morning. The old SD muxes were switched off one by one, to be very quickly replaced by the new HD ones.
The highlights:
* 8 old muxes have been reduced to 6 new muxes;
* The two HD only Muxes (R7 and R8) that were rolled out from 2012 onwards have now been consolidated into one new mux (R7) containing 5 HD channels with the 6th (6ter) moving to the R4 mux alongside Arte HD. Apparently Numero 23 will only broadcast on the new R7 mux until 30th June. I don't know what happens to it after that;
* Public channel France 4 has switched from R2 to R1 mux, replacing France 5, which has moved from R1 to R4. I regard France 4 as one of the better - if not the best - of the public channels so it'll be great to see the lovely animals of Zoo de la Fleche (Le Mans) in HD for the first time (watch Une Saison au Zoo at 7.50pm UK time tonight). It also shows Dr Who (if you like that sort of thing) in dual audio so that you don't have to suffer the French language over-dubbing, as well as being one of the very few unscrambled French channels which regularly broadcasts live sporting events (e.g. tennis matches involving France in the Fed Cup/ Davis Cup and also Roland Garros in May);
* News channel LCI is no longer scrambled (Andrew was right) and is broadcasting in SD (MPEG4) but has moved from the old R6 mux to the new R3 mux (which also includes all the other scrambled pay channels);
* Apart from LCI, the only other station that still seems to be broadcasting in SD from the Rennes transmitter is local station TV Rennes 35. However, I cannot view either LCI or TV Rennes 35 on my old MPEG2 combie recorder so these two stations must obviously be transmitting in the new MPEG4 system;
* Paris Premiere (previously only unscrambled at teatimes) seems to have switched from R4 mux to R3 mux but was apparently scrambled when I tried to view it this lunchtime. Could it be that it will remain as it was before - scrambled all day apart from teatimes?
* Canal+ and Canal+ Sport are now in HD when unscrambled and have been viewed by me at lunchtime today while in the clear. Canal+ is always unscrambled at lunchtimes for La Nouvelle Edition - LNE - (from about 11.45am UK time) and also at teatimes so nothing seems to have changed there. I was disappointed that Emilie Tran Nguyen seems to have left the LNE team as I was looking forward to seeing her gorgeous eyebrows in HD for the first time! I think she may have returned to France 3...
* BFM TV's Roselyne Dubois and her plunging V-neck tops are now viewable in 1080 pixels between 8-11 am (UK time) . Typical example here (pre-switchover): https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CXp1sfwWMAUzBKe.jpg
I think this last highlight alone justifies the switchover!
Comments
https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/4gtv-co-existence-oversight-board#meeting-reports
But remember the handsets ....
If they are close they give a larger signal than the base station ...
I get people walking outside my place all the time using their mobiles and I can even detect their wifi signals on my adaptor so that's not very encouraging!
Anyhow, you wouldn't believe it but straight after I submitted my last message yesterday, I bumped into an engineer on the roof of the property right next door to me. Guess what he was there to do? To replace their Freeview aerial because of interference being caused by 4G! Next door's aerial points to Fremont Point because there is a building obstructing its view to La Collette. The engineer pointed out the roof of a large building in the middle distance that was just bristling with all types of huge masts and identified it as JT's main headquarters in St Helier (I had always wondered which business operated from that building). It was situated just slightly to the left of the aerial's line of sight to Fremont Point, probably helping to explain why my neighbours have suffered interference and why my own Fremont Point signal on my French aerial has also weakened. He told me he had also visited a property very close to the JT building and the TV interference there was really bad.
I have retuned all muxes on my TV to La Collette but the Freeview signal on my French aerial seems to vary widely. At one point last night, signal strength percentage was down in the 30's, then I switched over and switched back again and it was much stronger. Today it is fine. It is this unpredictability that makes it so difficult to identify whether 4G is responsible. Hopefully all my observations will help others around the UK if and when Mr. 4G comes to take over their airwaves! For watching UK television, I am lucky to have the separate use of a Freesat box and tend to watch most of my TV on that rather than Freeview, but nevertheless the mobile networks shouldn't be allowed to escape their responsibilities to Freeview viewers, many of whom are likely to be on low incomes and possibly not able to afford a satellite decoder.
4G may not be the only issue with your French reception. I don't think they have any French transmitters on the island do they, so you are presumably receiving a mainland station? That will involve a certain amount of over sea path. This can cause reception problems all by itself.
UHF channel 43 (650 MHz): I already have Tébéo, transmitting from Roc Trédudon, Finistère Département (west of Brittany) pre-tuned on my TV, as I regularly get snippets of the very strong signal emanating from there. However, last night Tébéo was not receivable at all and its station details were suddenly wiped from my TV and replaced by ...
Spanish TDT mux containing the following stations (3 TV and 3 radio): Boing, Energy, Mega, Onda Cero, Europa FM and Melodia FM.:o I was able to watch Mega for about a minute or two before it permanently disappeared, but long enough to recognise an 18 certificate film being broadcast in English language (presumably Spanish TDT has dual audio capabilities like many French TNT stations and my TV must have selected the English language audio). I have done some research and I believe this mux, which is apparently operated by Atresmedia, must have been transmitting from Cantabria, immediately to the west of the Basque Country on the north coast of Spain. See the approximate transmission and reception locations (408 air miles apart) here:
http://www.airmilescalculator.com/distance/sdr-to-jer/
Then as quick as it had come, the Spanish mux was removed and replaced by the French R7 mux (HD1, L'Equipe 21, Cherie 25) transmitting from an unidentified French location.
UHF channel 47 (682 MHz): I have never before picked up foreign stations on this frequency, no doubt in very large measure because the BBCB mux transmits on this frequency from Fremont Point (about 3KW?) just a few miles to the north of me. However, for about an hour after midnight, I was able to watch Télénantes (the local station on French mux R1) which was almost certainly coming from the transmitter at Nantes- Haute Goulaine, about 140 miles to the south of me. Station details here:
http://www.telenantes.com/la-chaine
UHF channel 56 (754 MHz): A sudden and very brief opening allowed me to identify the French R1 mux containing the local station TVPI (French Basque region next to the Spanish border), which I have successfully received before (I once recorded a programme about bullfighting during a previous opening!). However, pictures were only viewable for a matter of seconds before this mux was overwhelmed and replaced by another French mux as follows...
TV Vendée and Canal Cholet, transmitting (almost certainly from Nantes- Haute Goulaine) on the French L8 local stations mux. I am very familiar with these two stations, having received them in past years during good openings. Not surprisingly, this mux was received at the same time that Télénantes was viewable on channel 47.
UHF channel 25 (506 MHz): I had Normandie TV already preset on my TV, but this was removed and replaced by reception of the French R2 mux (D8, D17 etc.) from an unidentified area of France.
UHF Channel 57 (762 MHz): Not nearly so interesting but nevertheless also worth noting that just before the very big opening, I was able to receive Tébésud (AKA Ty Télé) on the French R1 mux from Vannes Moustoir'ac, Morbihan Departement, South Brittany. The power of the Vannes transmitter for Tébésud seems to be only about a tenth of the power that nearby Roc Trédudon uses for Tébéo ('20.000' -20 KW?- compared to Tebeo's '191.000' -191 KW?). Therefore it takes fairly unusual weather conditions before I am able to watch Tébésud. You would think that when the weaker Tébésud station can be received you would also be able to receive the much stronger Tébéo from the neighbouring French Departement at the same time but this is often not the case and once again it was not the case last night due to Tébéo being overwhelmed by that Spanish mux (I'm not complaining though!).
Just to make it clear that although I have not used an aerial amplifier in the past, I have now managed to hook up a second hand one connected to the mains behind my TV set and I was using it during the opening last night. I have also had a 4G filter fitted to deal with any perceived interference from the Jersey mobile networks on the 800 MHz band, but I removed this filter last night in the hope that it would help me to pick up the EiTB Basque Country mux which is still pretuned on my TV on channel 61. However, despite receiving the Spanish mux from neighbouring Cantabria last night, there was absolutely no sniff of a similar signal from the Basque Country mux previously known to be on channel 61. If it is still transmitting on that frequency then I am wondering whether Jersey's 4G signals will prevent me ever receiving it again, filter or no filter. I also tried scanning UHF channel 35 (where EiTB was also once received during a previous opening) but I had no luck there either.
I've done a bit more research and I now believe that the EiTB (Basque Country) multiplex is no longer transmitting on channel 61. I've come across various web articles which, although in Spanish and therefore hard for me to understand, seem to confirm that Spain has also cleared the 800 MHz frequency of television signals in order to reserve it for future 4G mobile use. I reckon this is probably part of a Europe-wide agreement.
I know that EiTB is on UHF channel 35 because my PVR picked up reception on that frequency several times last year and I was able to record what I watched. However, I seem to recall that my TV was separately and simultaneously picking it up on UHF channel 61 until some time last year. I don't seem to have a record of when I definitely last picked it up on channel 61 but it was presumably the summer of 2014. I certainly received it on channel 61 during that unforgettable daytime opening in December 2013, which I reported on at the time on this thread.
The problem is that my PVR has since arbitrarily wiped all record of EiTB on channel 35 from my station listings without my permission (so annoying). This makes it much more difficult to tune it back in again when the next decent opening happens, which is rarely more than once or twice a year. If EiTB was still listed on my PVR, I would occasionally be switching to channel 35 during promising weather to check for any increase in the signal strength, which would normally be 0% because it is 400 miles from me. I have never found any nearby French muxes transmitting on channel 35, only EiTB (which is part of the Spanish Digital TV service of course). The mid 30's seems to be a barren area for both British and French TV broadcasts. I'm not quite sure why that might be.
Stud u like - here is a link to a list of transmitters first posted 3 years ago on this thread by albertd. As far as I can make out, it is still being kept up to date, although the new HD only muxes (R7 and R8) aren't included:
http://tvignaud.pagesperso-orange.fr/tv/tnt.pdf
The transmitters are listed in Departement order (from 01 to 95 in the extreme left hand column) so it helps to consult a map of French Departements in order to find out which Departements are nearest you. Here is one:
http://www.bonjourlafrance.com/france-map/images/map-france-departments-5-407k1151x1167.jpg
You are obviously extremely close to Pas-de-Calais Departement (62) but I notice that French transmitter strengths are very low there, presumably to avoid causing interference with British Freeview. However, in neighboring Nord (59), I notice there is a local station called WEO La Tele Nord Pas de Calais operating on the R1 mux (UHF channel 24) with a decent transmitter strength from Lille - (Bouvigny-Boyeffles). It is mentioned on page 32 of the Transmitters link. The distance between Folkestone and Lille is close to 90 miles. I receive all my uninterrupted French viewing in excellent quality without the need of an amplifier from Rennes, which is about 80 miles south of me with the same transmitter strength as 3 of the muxes from Lille (Bouvigny-Boyeffles) so I think you could comfortably receive those 3 strongest muxes from Lille (R1 on channel 24, R3 on channel 27 and R6 on channel 21- see page 20 of the Transmitters link) provided they don't clash with nearby UK Freeview signals and your aerial is pointing the right way (east-southeast?). Others who regularly watch French TV from the south coast of England will know far more than me about this. It might be better covered on other threads.
I think encrypted stations Eurosport and TF6 used to be transmitted on R6 as well but both seem to have bitten the dust in recent times. It appears this new station might be filling a bit of the vacant space left on R6. I'm hoping that it will broadcast free-to-air and with a bit of luck the programme schedule won't be as awful as it is on TMC - another R6 station which I wouldn't be sorry to lose.
All others are on the multiplex which are not disseminated throughout. R3, R5, R7 and R8
The French National Frequency Agency (ANFR) have developed a video to explain to viewers whether the equipment can receive MPEG-4 based on the reception of ARTE HD
.
Some channels or rather certain groups (I guess these are commercial stations groups) would not want either ARTE that serves as a reference for this test and would have opposed the use of the video by ANFR.
This is certainly why ANFR created the "Test Channel 46" on the multiplex R6. A new video is created, this time taking as reference a "neutral" system, so as not to harm the commercial channels.
So, sadly this is unlikely to be anything more than this...
There are new channels planned for rollout in France in 2016 and are likely to be HD offerings however.
Jerseyboy
On channel 21 (R6) from Lille or Dunkerque (or both as this channel shared between the two transmitters).
Jerseyboy
Such as?
The point of 800MHz is propagation, especially in rural areas. In building coverage is another.
One of the reasons why the UK has inconsistent 3G coverage is because it is on 2.1GHz, and not all providers want to pay for the extra infrastructure that would be needed to achieve similar levels of coverage as on 2G or 3G at 900.
It has to be accepted that more people want to use mobile data and less people want oodles of channels of broadcast TV - so technology has to move with the demand
the correctl Surrey page is http://personal.ee.surrey.ac.uk/.Contrib/WorldTV/broadcast.html . i studied and got my masters in EE at surrey, good uni and home to bbc surrey
Thanks Andrew. Before reading your post I had sussed that Test Channel 46 was being broadcast in the newer MPEG-4 format because I tried to tune it in on my old Toshiba combie PVR and could only receive the sound- not pictures, whereas by tuning it directly through my Sony Bravia TV, I could receive both the sound and the colour bars test pattern.
Currently my Toshiba PVR can receive all the main free-to-air French stations in SD, including Canal+ when it is unencrypted. It is revealing that you mention Arte HD because my Toshiba can't receive any of the HD stations (no sound and no pictures) but for several years I've wondered why it can receive the sound only on Arte HD. I have often wondered what was different about Arte HD from the other HD stations.
Unfortunately, this just confirms what I more or less knew already - that come next April, my Toshiba PVR combie will no longer be of any use for recording French TV... well apart from the sound, that is.
I think I caught the very edge of a rare strong opening coming from the east. Fortunately for me, it coincided with the regional news output on France 3. I plugged in my old aerial amp and couldn't quite believe what I saw:
I was receiving pictures from 3 different France 3 regions simultaneously (not counting my regular Bretagne signal from Rennes, which makes 4 different regions). Two of these France 3 regions were both on channel 56 yet I was able to receive and watch them at the same time - how rare is that? Usually you only get one that breaks through on any given frequency, which then gets swamped and wiped out by a stronger signal from somewhere else
One of these regions was France 3 Bourgogne (Burgundy) which identified itself on my TV as 'France 3 Dijon' and was on channel 56. I've just done a comprehensive check of transmitters and it must have come from Neuvy deux Clochers, Bois D'Humblig (?), BOURGES, Departement of Cher (18). That is a whopping 253 flying miles from my destination, roughly on the same longitude as Paris, only further south.
The other France 3 region on channel 56 that I watched appeared to be 'Centre-Val de la Loire' and identified itself on my TV as 'France 3 Berry'
The third region was France 3 Pays de la Loire, including my old favourite, Le Mans TV Sarthe, about 133 miles away. I haven't received pictures from this area for at least a year. The local France 3 news included a report from the famous Zoo La Fleche near Le Mans, with a polar bear and (I think) a Siberian (white) tiger featuring. Lovely! Great place to visit one day.
I also briefly received pictures from the region nearest me, France 3 Normandie. The local station, Normandie TV on R1 appears to have stopped transmitting. It still tunes in with a station ident, but the screen is completely blank.
So that's 5 different France 3 regions available to me in the same evening!
My hopes were therefore very high that I would also be able to pick up the EiTB mux broadcasting from the Spanish side of the border, or maybe some other Spanish stations. Unfortunately my luck was out this time and nothing at all broke through from Spain. I tried scanning channel 35, which is the frequency (other than the now defunct channel 61) on which I last viewed EiTB, but without success. Hopefully others had more success.
I seem to recall that it was in this same week two years ago that I experienced that extraordinary daytime reception of EiTB - and without using any aerial amplifier. Maybe there is something about the atmospheric conditions at this time of year which increase the chances of picking up TV from northern Spain and the surrounding area... or maybe it is just a coincidence?
That is quite a radical move and will affect not only those who receive TNT terestrially with a non-HD Freeview receiver but also those receiving French TNT SAT via satellite with a non-HD satellite receiver.
I have a query of my own as I am considering purchasing a new Freeview+ HD DTR so that I can continue recording French TNT programmes after 5th April. My one concern is that some of the latest Digital Television Recorders on the market state in their blurb that, for example, only 12 HD channels can be enjoyed.
Example taken from the product description for the Humax HDR-2000T:
"Simply plug the HDR-2000T into your HD-ready TV to enjoy 12 high definition (HD) channels, as well as access to up to 50 Freeview standard definition TV channels and 24 radio channels."
Could this 12 HD channels restriction on models like this one be a problem for receiving the 20+ French TNT channels available after 5th April or would such recorders just automatically adapt and tune in as many HD channels as are able to be picked up? I would also be expecting to tune in and be able to record the half dozen or so UK Freeview channels as well as the French ones, bringing the total number of HD channels I hope to receive after 5th April to nearly 30.
Now I suspect that what that quoted product description above actually means is that the UK Freeview service isn't likely to be offering more than a dozen HD channels to viewers in any particular region of the UK any time soon and these recorders are obviously aimed only at the UK television market. However, I am concerned that it might mean that the software of this particular recorder, along with many others, might be internally restricted to receiving no more than a dozen HD channels, which might create an obstacle for anyone hoping to tune in more than 20 HD channels on TNT after 5th April. Can anyone offer an opinion on this please.
Just to confirm that I am not bothered by Freeview Play, Youview etc because I won't be using any new recorder with a broadband connection for the purpose of accessing catch up services online.
By the way, I understand that the French say that if you can currently receive ARTE HD on Ch 57 your kit should be OK for the changeover, just requiring a retune.
Jerseyboy
This enabled me to receive most of the French channels twice, but was unable to determine where the second layers of channels were originating from.
Will do another rescan on Tuesday once the HD channels will be online and will then see LCN and Paris Premiere in the clear for the first time. These two channels however will still remain in SD for the foreseeable future.
Jerseybeans
For those in the UK who are watching French TV via satellite (FRANSAT / TNTSAT), I believe the HD switchover date is a bit later for you - on 25th April.
The highlights:
* 8 old muxes have been reduced to 6 new muxes;
* The two HD only Muxes (R7 and R8) that were rolled out from 2012 onwards have now been consolidated into one new mux (R7) containing 5 HD channels with the 6th (6ter) moving to the R4 mux alongside Arte HD. Apparently Numero 23 will only broadcast on the new R7 mux until 30th June. I don't know what happens to it after that;
* Public channel France 4 has switched from R2 to R1 mux, replacing France 5, which has moved from R1 to R4. I regard France 4 as one of the better - if not the best - of the public channels so it'll be great to see the lovely animals of Zoo de la Fleche (Le Mans) in HD for the first time (watch Une Saison au Zoo at 7.50pm UK time tonight). It also shows Dr Who (if you like that sort of thing) in dual audio so that you don't have to suffer the French language over-dubbing, as well as being one of the very few unscrambled French channels which regularly broadcasts live sporting events (e.g. tennis matches involving France in the Fed Cup/ Davis Cup and also Roland Garros in May);
* News channel LCI is no longer scrambled (Andrew was right) and is broadcasting in SD (MPEG4) but has moved from the old R6 mux to the new R3 mux (which also includes all the other scrambled pay channels);
* Apart from LCI, the only other station that still seems to be broadcasting in SD from the Rennes transmitter is local station TV Rennes 35. However, I cannot view either LCI or TV Rennes 35 on my old MPEG2 combie recorder so these two stations must obviously be transmitting in the new MPEG4 system;
* Paris Premiere (previously only unscrambled at teatimes) seems to have switched from R4 mux to R3 mux but was apparently scrambled when I tried to view it this lunchtime. Could it be that it will remain as it was before - scrambled all day apart from teatimes?
* Canal+ and Canal+ Sport are now in HD when unscrambled and have been viewed by me at lunchtime today while in the clear. Canal+ is always unscrambled at lunchtimes for La Nouvelle Edition - LNE - (from about 11.45am UK time) and also at teatimes so nothing seems to have changed there. I was disappointed that Emilie Tran Nguyen seems to have left the LNE team as I was looking forward to seeing her gorgeous eyebrows in HD for the first time! I think she may have returned to France 3...
* BFM TV's Roselyne Dubois and her plunging V-neck tops are now viewable in 1080 pixels between 8-11 am (UK time)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CXp1sfwWMAUzBKe.jpg
I think this last highlight alone justifies the switchover!