Does this mean that there has been no progress since then ?
Or does it mean that this page has been forgotten ?
I doubt the page has been forgotten. I think things have stalled, but I am not sure why.
The person co-ordinating the rollout is still Tweeting lots, but not about the DAB expansion recently. Nothing to indicate that it won't continue as per the plan though.
I doubt the page has been forgotten. I think things have stalled, but I am not sure why.
The person co-ordinating the rollout is still Tweeting lots, but not about the DAB expansion recently. Nothing to indicate that it won't continue as per the plan though.
Thanks. I'll wait to see what happens.
It seems to me that the national stations are first being added to the sites which already have DAB aerials for local services. This seems sensible.
May 13th
The latest iteration of Ofcom's Technical Parameters reveal a new BBC National DAB transmitter has entered service on Block 12B at Aberdare. This has not yet been announced on the BBC's own DAB transmitter pages
Slightly on topic/off topic, but I'm very surprised that there are no plans for signal improvements for Maldon and the northern part of Dengie Peninsula in Essex. All 3 muxes (BBC, D1, and Essex) are terrible in the area, particularly D1, which is nearly non existent in Maldon Town Centre. I'm sure a transmitter in the town or along the peninsula maybe at Bradwell on Sea would improve reception incredibly.
What surprises me even more is that there are plans for a BBC transmitter in Braintree, but reception is rock solid throughout the area! Can't figure that out
Slightly on topic/off topic, but I'm very surprised that there are no plans for signal improvements for Maldon and the northern part of Dengie Peninsula in Essex. All 3 muxes (BBC, D1, and Essex) are terrible in the area, particularly D1, which is nearly non existent in Maldon Town Centre...
In theory Danbury should be capable of covering Maldon and deepest Dengie, but both BBC and D1 are currently peaked at 270 degrees with substantial nulls toward Maldon in the opposite direction.
After next year it'll be open season on changes to antenna patterns, plus or minus co-ordinating with the French-speaking mux in Belgium. Significant eastward antenna reorientations and power increases should be possible in the UK. However, they wouldn't appear as new transmitters, just improvement work at existing TX locations.
For the local mux, Great Braxted should cover the Dengie peninsula well-nigh perfectly.
The BBC has recently brought ten new transmitters into service on Block 12B, extending coverage of BBC National DAB as follows:
Ladder Hill extends coverage to Chapel-en-le-Frith and Whaley Bridge
Hazler Hill extends coverage in and around Church Stretton, including the A49
Machynlleth brings coverage to Machynlleth
Dolgellau brings coverage to the town of Dolgellau
Whitworth brings coverage to the Whitworth Valley and surrounding area
Slapton brings coverage to South Hams
Clyro brings coverage to Hay-on-Wye and the surrounding villages
Todmorden extends coverage to the town and surrounding areas
Nine Barrow Down extends coverage in and around Swanage, and improves coverage in Poole and Bournemouth
Sudbury improves coverage across Suffolk and extends coverage in the town of Sudbury
Hi. Superb to have it in Slapton. Is there any liklihood of other stations coming available on the same transmitter, or is this purely a BBC-run/owned transmitter (and a separate one would be needed for other national DAB stations)?
Hi. Superb to have it in Slapton. Is there any liklihood of other stations coming available on the same transmitter, or is this purely a BBC-run/owned transmitter (and a separate one would be needed for other national DAB stations)?
Thanks
Will
The Plymouth local mux should also be on there by mid 2016:
Will any of the infrastructure/backhaul that's being put in to all the new sites be useable as part of the local DAB build out plan? I know the BBC have a partial responsibility to co-fund it.
Does each ensemble use an independent aerial array and backhaul or can some or a majority of it be shared?
Will any of the infrastructure/backhaul that's being put in to all the new sites be useable as part of the local DAB build out plan? I know the BBC have a partial responsibility to co-fund it.
Does each ensemble use an independent aerial array and backhaul or can some or a majority of it be shared?
BBC DAB is delivered to these new sites via satellite (take a look at some of the pictures on mb21 of these phase 4 stations, and you'll see brand new downlink dishes). In many cases they appear to be sharing the Tx arrays with D1 and or local muxes (if they are already present)
BBC DAB is delivered to these new sites via satellite (take a look at some of the pictures on mb21 of these phase 4 stations, and you'll see brand new downlink dishes). In many cases they appear to be sharing the Tx arrays with D1 and or local muxes (if they are already present)
So for the local buildout plan there is far less work to do and therefore should be relatively quick and easy?
I'm surprised it's mostly satellite down links. MuxCo were previously blogging about delays with BT installations in some parts of the county, that were not really an issue in Surrey for example.
So for the local buildout plan there is far less work to do and therefore should be relatively quick and easy?
I'm surprised it's mostly satellite down links. MuxCo were previously blogging about delays with BT installations in some parts of the county, that were not really an issue in Surrey for example.
Satellite is far easier, but I suspect not economic to use for local muxes ?
I don't think any local muxes, or even D1 use satellite delivery ?
My understanding is all BBC DAB sites are fed by satellite, with 'key sites' (presumably the phase 1 major sites, CP, SC, Emley, Winter Hill etc) using 'terrestrial back up'
Satellite is far easier, but I suspect not economic to use for local muxes ?
I don't think any local muxes, or even D1 use satellite delivery ?
My understanding is all BBC DAB sites are fed by satellite, with 'key sites' (presumably the phase 1 major sites, CP, SC, Emley, Winter Hill etc) using 'terrestrial back up'
Astra 4A is currently carrying
BBC DAB
Digital 1
MuxCo Gloucester
IIRC on of the MuxCo posts mentioned something about using satellite temporarily while they wait for the BT Links but can only do one multiplex at a time.
With a capacity of 42188.8kbps and a DAB multiplex needing 1184kbps (assuming PL3) a satellite transponder with that configuration could carry 35 multiplexes (obviously less if the error correction needs to be encoded on satellite too in addition to the usual FEC).
With the current 56 DAB multiplexes on air that would need nearly two transponders worth of capacity to carry all the channels. Probably more expensive than a couple of land line links for many of the multiplexes.
I wonder however if it would be possible to make a mega multiplex incorporating all the UK services and on the fly build the multiplex (e.g rather than carrying multiple copies of Xfm carry just one) with a fixed delay before going through the DAB encoders? I know Freeview has used blanking before (e.,g. Whitehaven carrying the SDN multiplex with all services except Channel 5 blocked) but not sure if that's possible to carry over to a DAB SDN.
Will any of the infrastructure/backhaul that's being put in to all the new sites be useable as part of the local DAB build out plan? I know the BBC have a partial responsibility to co-fund it.
Does each ensemble use an independent aerial array and backhaul or can some or a majority of it be shared?
I would have expected the transmit antenna being designed to cover the whole of Band III and be able to carry several multiplexes.
The BBC sites are fed by satellite, if the others are on the same satellite then they might be to be fed from the same dish.
If they are all run by Arquiva then I would have expected the bay to be designed to be able to add more multiplexes.
SOUTH AND SOUTH WEST ENGLAND
Alton, Hampshire (for indoor coverage);
Bampton, Devon (new coverage across Bampton, Shillingford and Brushford areas);
Beer, Devon (for Beer and improved indoor coverage in Seaton and surrounding areas);
Findon, West Sussex (new coverage in Findon and along parts of the A24 and A280);
Sidmouth, Devon (for improved indoor coverage in Sidmouth and Sidford);
Ventnor, Isle of Wight (new coverage area in Ventnor and improved coverage in Shanklin);
Winterborne Stickland, Dorset (new coverage across Blandford Forum, Winterborne Stickland, and surrounding areas of North Dorset).
SCOTLAND
Kirkconnel, Dumfries and Galloway (new coverage in Kirkconnel and Sanquhar and along the A76);
Langholm, Dumfries and Galloway (new coverage in Langholm);
Melvaig, Highland (to improve coverage in Ross-shire and the isles);
Port Ellen, Isle of Islay, Argyll (new coverage area in Port Ellen and the surrounding areas of the Isle of Islay);
Skriaig, Skye (new coverage on the Isle of Skye);
Thornhill, Dumfries and Galloway (new coverage into Thornhill and the surrounding villages).
Comments
Does this mean that there has been no progress since then ?
Or does it mean that this page has been forgotten ?
I doubt the page has been forgotten. I think things have stalled, but I am not sure why.
The person co-ordinating the rollout is still Tweeting lots, but not about the DAB expansion recently. Nothing to indicate that it won't continue as per the plan though.
Thanks. I'll wait to see what happens.
It seems to me that the national stations are first being added to the sites which already have DAB aerials for local services. This seems sensible.
What surprises me even more is that there are plans for a BBC transmitter in Braintree, but reception is rock solid throughout the area! Can't figure that out
After next year it'll be open season on changes to antenna patterns, plus or minus co-ordinating with the French-speaking mux in Belgium. Significant eastward antenna reorientations and power increases should be possible in the UK. However, they wouldn't appear as new transmitters, just improvement work at existing TX locations.
For the local mux, Great Braxted should cover the Dengie peninsula well-nigh perfectly.
has been updated.
The BBC DAB expansion link previously posted in late May doesn't seem to be working and has now moved to here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/digitalradio/expansion.html
Thanks
Will
The Plymouth local mux should also be on there by mid 2016:
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/dab-maps/Plymouth.pdf
Digital 1 & Digital 2 will have the option of using Slapton but no confirmation yet.
Does each ensemble use an independent aerial array and backhaul or can some or a majority of it be shared?
BBC DAB is delivered to these new sites via satellite (take a look at some of the pictures on mb21 of these phase 4 stations, and you'll see brand new downlink dishes). In many cases they appear to be sharing the Tx arrays with D1 and or local muxes (if they are already present)
http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/gallerypage.php?txid=135&pageid=2012
http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/gallerypage.php?txid=11&pageid=2001
http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/gallerypage.php?txid=1131&pageid=1894
They are not reliable at all for coverage predictions but the transmitter locations are published by Ofcom, with the national grid reference: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/broadcasting/guidance/tech-guidance/tech_parameters/
So for the local buildout plan there is far less work to do and therefore should be relatively quick and easy?
I'm surprised it's mostly satellite down links. MuxCo were previously blogging about delays with BT installations in some parts of the county, that were not really an issue in Surrey for example.
Satellite is far easier, but I suspect not economic to use for local muxes ?
I don't think any local muxes, or even D1 use satellite delivery ?
My understanding is all BBC DAB sites are fed by satellite, with 'key sites' (presumably the phase 1 major sites, CP, SC, Emley, Winter Hill etc) using 'terrestrial back up'
Astra 4A is currently carrying
BBC DAB
Digital 1
MuxCo Gloucester
http://en.kingofsat.net/tp.php?tp=579
http://www.digitalbitrate.com/dtv.php?liste=1&live=71&lang=fr&mux=12303
IIRC on of the MuxCo posts mentioned something about using satellite temporarily while they wait for the BT Links but can only do one multiplex at a time.
With a capacity of 42188.8kbps and a DAB multiplex needing 1184kbps (assuming PL3) a satellite transponder with that configuration could carry 35 multiplexes (obviously less if the error correction needs to be encoded on satellite too in addition to the usual FEC).
With the current 56 DAB multiplexes on air that would need nearly two transponders worth of capacity to carry all the channels. Probably more expensive than a couple of land line links for many of the multiplexes.
I wonder however if it would be possible to make a mega multiplex incorporating all the UK services and on the fly build the multiplex (e.g rather than carrying multiple copies of Xfm carry just one) with a fixed delay before going through the DAB encoders? I know Freeview has used blanking before (e.,g. Whitehaven carrying the SDN multiplex with all services except Channel 5 blocked) but not sure if that's possible to carry over to a DAB SDN.
I would have expected the transmit antenna being designed to cover the whole of Band III and be able to carry several multiplexes.
The BBC sites are fed by satellite, if the others are on the same satellite then they might be to be fed from the same dish.
If they are all run by Arquiva then I would have expected the bay to be designed to be able to add more multiplexes.
http://www.a516digital.com/2014/10/bbc-dab-ups-coverage-as-new.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/digitalradio/expansion