The Government also expects the BBC to ensure that "appropriate enhancements were made to its local DAB coverage in England – subject to value for money"
Then in places like the Forest of Dean where R Gloustershire coverage is AM, by this future rollout DAB, Freeview and internet could replace the increasingly expensive to maintain AM sites?
Where I am (Cornwall) there's a need for quite a few infill transmitters. It's annoyingly often that the local mux drops out or goes to bubbling mud while the BBC mux is fine.
Over the years, Muxco has promised much......here in Gloucestershire, a major geographical part of the county gets no DAB service from Muxco (the Forest of Dean). Initially, there were plans for two transmitters... neither have been delivered.
The recent BBC White Paper referred to improvements needed to local services....let's hope that kicks Muxco into action. Otherwise, that much used Muxco expression about "other transmitters may be launched..." will continue to look good, but mean very little.
MuxCo have never promised to build transmitters in the Forest of Dean, you're referring to the 2011 Ofcom plan after the DCMS asked them to research if DAB could replicate FM coverage.
There is no funding in place for further local transmitters for Gloucestershire, nor is there likely to be until after a DSO date is announced.
The Kent mux in Thanet is fine. Signal strength is good.
Now, the new second national mux is very weak in Thanet. We are on the extreme fringe for reception so it is very poor. I wish they would bump up the power a little or give us our own transmitter.
BBC and D1 are still bad in the lower parts of Lyminge, shame they aren't going to be added to Etchinghill as well. No chance of getting D2 here I think.
your right Turnpike Hill has not had kent mux added yet only the BBC mux is live. same go's for st marks . anyway all of the main east kent site are now live so most of all the black spots are now filled.
your right Turnpike Hill has not had kent mux added yet only the BBC mux is live. same go's for st marks . anyway all of the main east kent site are now live so most of all the black spots are now filled.
going by Frequency Finder st marks will also be geting BBC & D1
I see there are new Ofcom Tx parameters out .
Couple of points B'ham multplex Lichfield transmitter has increased from 1kw to 2.5kw. This has considerably improved reception in east shrops & mid staffs.
Wolv & Shrop wrekin transmitter has increased from 0.5Kw to 2Kw. I assume after liverpool moved block and explains why it can now be recieved in wrexham.
I think TxParams tells a lot of the truth of what FrequencyFinder says about "new transmitters" in places, which are actually just ACI fillers. Not sure where that information is coming from, but clearly D1 are not going to build a transmitter at St Marks!!
Confirmed recent ACI fillers (based on tiny ERPs):
Letchworth, Herts Beds Bucks - 25W
Maidenhead Hyde Farm - all ACI fillers, except BBC and Now Digital
Ardovie Quarry, D1 - 45W
Sidmouth, D1 - 70W
Road coverage black spots for D1 must be all but disappearing.
ON the Swansea SW multiplex Mynydd Sylen and Carmarthen transmitters are now live. Mynydd Sylen also has BBC national added. Frequency finder still showing that Carmel hasn't been boosted yet from 1 to 2 KW, so not sure if that has been done yet. Local radio station swansea sound had a week of programmes from west wales to highlight their new DAB transmitters in west wales they said, although they never ones mentioned the transmitters by name that i heard. Am assuming they wouldnt have done this if all the new and boosted transmitters had not been done.
On the Mid and West wales multiplex Carmarthen was added at the same time as swansea SW wales went live on Carmarthen apparently but mid and west wales was not added it would seem to mynydd sylen at the same time as swansea. Muxco s website which did have future transmitters as mynydd sylen, carmarthen , Fishguard and blaenplwyf now only has Fishguard as a possible new transmitter. Frequency finder now lists these new transmitters as uncertain so not quite sure what will happen there. Frankly its all a bit confusing i find as to what transmitters are added when on this local dab roll out. Off com tech parameters while very useful often seems to be quite behind the times on specific rollouts i have found. MB21 and frequency finder very useful to but sometimes there seems to be some confusion. I wonder where they all get their info from. Bearing in mind the local dab rollout to 90% is supposed to be completed by September i was wondering are they running to time or are there delays bearing in mind the BBC current rollout is now some months behind its scheduled finish date.
Frequency Finder has Chillerton Down now at 5kW and Toot Hill at 1kW for South Hants. If this is the case it's disappointing- for the last couple of weeks there's been a huge hole in the coverage on the A31 between Alresford and Four Marks- previously it was rock solid here. Can a tx power increase elsewhere cause this sort of problem? Will it sort itself out I wonder when Crabwood Farm gets its (fairlypower increase? The only upside is the the coverage hole at Brook in the New Forest seems to have been sorted.
Alternatively the DAB in the car has a problem- Mark C I know you have the same car and drive around the same area- have you noticed anything different?
Post installation documentation (when communicated either to Ofcom or they get around to adding it) in the TX parameters spreadsheet should be very accurate.
The link above is a plan, which is subject to change, but should be 'thereabouts'.
As for coverage maps, they used to be a bit 'fuzzy' but the more recent Arqiva plotted maps, eg for MuxCo Surrey seem to be impressively accurate (all 3 generations of them) so I'd say the method for producing them has improved quite a bit.
Frequency Finder is very good at 'best effort' but is not always totally accurate, both in terms of misreporting certain live sites, but also missing other bits of info. It's good work, but don't take it as gospel.
Frequency Finder has Chillerton Down now at 5kW and Toot Hill at 1kW for South Hants. If this is the case it's disappointing- for the last couple of weeks there's been a huge hole in the coverage on the A31 between Alresford and Four Marks- previously it was rock solid here. Can a tx power increase elsewhere cause this sort of problem? Will it sort itself out I wonder when Crabwood Farm gets its (fairlypower increase? The only upside is the the coverage hole at Brook in the New Forest seems to have been sorted.
Alternatively the DAB in the car has a problem- Mark C I know you have the same car and drive around the same area- have you noticed anything different?
Yes, I have ! Not driven on the A31 between Alresford and Alton for a while, but a couple of weeks ago I lost the South Hants mux just after Rufus Stone going west
on the A31, the radio jumped to FM (was listening to Wave 105) then jumped to Wave on the Dorset mux. Normally all that occurs coming down Poulner Hill towards the A338 spur junction. Driving back the other way, the switch back from Dorset to S Hants didn't occur until I came down the hill at Cadnam, almost at the point the A31 turns into the M27. Something has changed. Perhaps a 'sharper' directional antenna at Chillerton, (which might be how they achieved the ERP increase, rather than turning up the wick on the tx itself !)
Comments
http://www.a516digital.com/2016/05/bbc-role-in-possible-future-digital.html Then in places like the Forest of Dean where R Gloustershire coverage is AM, by this future rollout DAB, Freeview and internet could replace the increasingly expensive to maintain AM sites?
MuxCo have never promised to build transmitters in the Forest of Dean, you're referring to the 2011 Ofcom plan after the DCMS asked them to research if DAB could replicate FM coverage.
There is no funding in place for further local transmitters for Gloucestershire, nor is there likely to be until after a DSO date is announced.
Now, the new second national mux is very weak in Thanet. We are on the extreme fringe for reception so it is very poor. I wish they would bump up the power a little or give us our own transmitter.
There is still Charing Hill, or has it gone live also?
Not sure Turnpike Hill is live either?
hi airwaves it looks like charing already has kent mux also. but frequencyfinder says its not added yet.
http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/gallerypage.php?txid=1176
http://www.a516digital.com/2016/06/local-digital-radio-coverage-boost-for.html
I posted this on the 25th
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showpost.php?p=82519685&postcount=322
Making a big difference around Godstone, Oxted and Tandridge areas.
I grew up in Old Coulsdon, so I know the area far too well and its lack of any reception, so has the BBC DAb gone live too?
Yes. And there's ACI fillers for other MUXs too, which should benefit Godstone villages and parts of Caterham not otherwise well served. In theory.
Couple of points B'ham multplex Lichfield transmitter has increased from 1kw to 2.5kw. This has considerably improved reception in east shrops & mid staffs.
Wolv & Shrop wrekin transmitter has increased from 0.5Kw to 2Kw. I assume after liverpool moved block and explains why it can now be recieved in wrexham.
Confirmed recent ACI fillers (based on tiny ERPs):
Letchworth, Herts Beds Bucks - 25W
Maidenhead Hyde Farm - all ACI fillers, except BBC and Now Digital
Ardovie Quarry, D1 - 45W
Sidmouth, D1 - 70W
Road coverage black spots for D1 must be all but disappearing.
On the Mid and West wales multiplex Carmarthen was added at the same time as swansea SW wales went live on Carmarthen apparently but mid and west wales was not added it would seem to mynydd sylen at the same time as swansea. Muxco s website which did have future transmitters as mynydd sylen, carmarthen , Fishguard and blaenplwyf now only has Fishguard as a possible new transmitter. Frequency finder now lists these new transmitters as uncertain so not quite sure what will happen there. Frankly its all a bit confusing i find as to what transmitters are added when on this local dab roll out. Off com tech parameters while very useful often seems to be quite behind the times on specific rollouts i have found. MB21 and frequency finder very useful to but sometimes there seems to be some confusion. I wonder where they all get their info from. Bearing in mind the local dab rollout to 90% is supposed to be completed by September i was wondering are they running to time or are there delays bearing in mind the BBC current rollout is now some months behind its scheduled finish date.
how accurate is the Ofcom documentation?
I've noticed a boost in reception but here suggests that the Freeth Allotments transmitter hasn't yet gone live.
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/broadcast/radio-ops/coverage/dab-coverage-plans/South_Hampshire_DAB_Coverage_Plan_Final_Report_Jan15.pdf
(Document also suggests Portsdown Hill has gone live but am told it hasn't)
Alternatively the DAB in the car has a problem- Mark C I know you have the same car and drive around the same area- have you noticed anything different?
Post installation documentation (when communicated either to Ofcom or they get around to adding it) in the TX parameters spreadsheet should be very accurate.
The link above is a plan, which is subject to change, but should be 'thereabouts'.
As for coverage maps, they used to be a bit 'fuzzy' but the more recent Arqiva plotted maps, eg for MuxCo Surrey seem to be impressively accurate (all 3 generations of them) so I'd say the method for producing them has improved quite a bit.
Frequency Finder is very good at 'best effort' but is not always totally accurate, both in terms of misreporting certain live sites, but also missing other bits of info. It's good work, but don't take it as gospel.
Yes, I have ! Not driven on the A31 between Alresford and Alton for a while, but a couple of weeks ago I lost the South Hants mux just after Rufus Stone going west
on the A31, the radio jumped to FM (was listening to Wave 105) then jumped to Wave on the Dorset mux. Normally all that occurs coming down Poulner Hill towards the A338 spur junction. Driving back the other way, the switch back from Dorset to S Hants didn't occur until I came down the hill at Cadnam, almost at the point the A31 turns into the M27. Something has changed. Perhaps a 'sharper' directional antenna at Chillerton, (which might be how they achieved the ERP increase, rather than turning up the wick on the tx itself !)