Press Green and it's gone.

And the "Press red" prompt comes back 5 minutes later, and again and again. It's easier to press Pause and then Play and so watch the news a few seconds behind it being broadcast.

Also, I shouldn't have to watch TV with the remote control in my lap so that it is available to cancel all the crap that keeps popping up all over the screen. I want none of the crap to appear in the first place.

Sounds like you need something called Radio - couldn't resist that sorry

Someone in another group has been sent the following by DUK.

In short the C5 analogue Tx that serves Chelmsford is closing on July 20th as its allocation (Ch 63) is required by Sudbury as a parking channel. A sort of repeat of what happened at Fawley in March 2009.

Not quite. Normally you would expect to lose analogue transmissions at DSO and digital Channel 5 will have been provided at Sudbury at high power on Freeview. It is quite likely that Chelmsford viewers will be able to receive Sudbury D3&4 even though Bakers Wood is a C5 relay of Crystal Palace. The notes say that only a few hundred (out of 100,000) will be left without DTT replacement from either CP or Sudbury.

At Fawley, analogue C5 was switched off without any replacement as DSO was years away. Everyone unable to receive Rowridge low power DTT lost Channel 5. I guess many tens of thousands were affected. So similar but essentially different.

Well, that's why I used the term 'sort of'

I doubt there were (are) many Fawley users unable to receive C5 on DTT from Rowridge. Fawley's analogue service area (the area more or less bounded by the M27) was well inside Rowridge's primary DTT coverage (even during those pre 2001 days, when it was running some muxes at less than 1kW)

True but those Fawley viewers happy with analogue perhaps were not prepared to gear up for a switch to digital in advance of DSO when the other four analogue channels were still going. No HD was available on Freeview as a carrot. DUK estimated 100,000 were affected. http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/transmitt...Rowridgev1.pdf

At least at Bakers Hill DSO was happening nearby, but they might have left C5 analogue on until the last moment some four months later on 16/11/11. They are obviously using Sudbury DSO as the reason for the switch off, by aligning it with DSO2 and the loss of all other Sudbury analogue channels. I bet Channel 5 was only too keen to switch off early and save dosh.

I suspect the new Essex-based Rouncefall transmitter, operating as a Single Frequency Network with Sudbury in Suffolk will enhance reception of D3&4 (PSB2) in the affected areas giving viewers a good chance of receiving Channel 5 digitally through an aerial.

Very unlikely - In the UK the guard interval is 28usec or 8.4 km. SFN only works in areas where the Sudbury and Rouncefall signal is received within 28 usec (or only one is received)
With the correct timing (Rouncefall delayed ~ 125usec) this is the case somewhere between 4 and 8 km in the direction towards Sudbury and in the direction away form both Sudbury and Rouncefall - but not 21 km to the NW in Chelmsford.

In the case of Rouncefall the antenna seems to be very directedd to the S or SW.
http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/gallerypage.php?txid=1827

Lars


Take a look at this picture SFN Beacon Budleigh that's from this post: Single Frequency Networks #20

Thanks Lars for drawing my attention to the recently launched page on mb21 for Rouncefall with pictures from just last month. It must have only gone live in the last couple of weeks. It does indeed show UHF panels on south-facing sides of the mast.

After seeing the pictures, I had another look at the Digital UK postcode database. Whereas before, postcodes I checked in the IP, CO and CM areas (all to the north of the new transmitter site) were showing Rouncefall as a future digital option for viewers, the current edition of the trade view now does not include Rouncefall. This is either a) because it's been decided not to make Rouncefall omnidirectional or b) the previous editions of the database did not take in to account the proposed radiation pattern of the Rouncefall transmitter.

Fortunately, a postcode I tried for Chelmsford reveals that they will be going from no reception of Sudbury DTT today, to "green" reception of Sudbury PSB DTT from switchover and Sudbury COM DTT from 27 June 2012.

Sudbury does really have some nulls on its DTT transmissions at the moment: I suppose this is because of being so surrounded by other main transmitters all requiring lots of frequencies pre-DSO with CP being prioritised as it reaches more people, plus co-channel issues with the Netherlands, Belgium and France.

I don't think the Digital UK postcode database understands the timing of the SFN's used in the UK.

I think Digital UK should make this fact very clear - or tell if I am wrong here.

Lars

I think the "SFN" between Sudbury and Rouncefall will be the same as The Wrekin and Bromsgrove/Lark Stoke. The big transmitter will be H-Pol and the relay will be V-Pol. As discussed to death this is just a way of reusing frequencies not what we understand to be a SFN as used on VHF for DAB.

ps Aren't Sudbury COM muxes on low power from DSO2 in July 2011 and increasing in stages until June 2012 when all will be on full power? If so they can't all be green in Chelmsford from DSO.

Indeed, which is why I wrote:


and according to OFCOM, Rouncefall will be horizontally polarised. http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/bin...nce/Anglia.pdf (so will Clacton and Burnham on Crouch).

Lars Stoke and Bromsgrove are both V and a V aerial will get a much to large H signal if both H and V are present - unless they operate as SFN and the receiver is within the timing area.*
Remember the C/N must be above ~20 dB for the UK muxes to operate.

In this case the Rouncefall is very directional, the ERP is 1kW (vs. 100kW) and a directional aerial is assumed by Ofcom/Arqiva.

Lars

*Newer receives can syncronise when a weak signal is a little outside the GI, but I cannot think this is assumed in the planning system.

Since Sandy Heath DSO, I think my DAB and FM reception have improved. This is not something I was expecting. I haven't had a single DAB "bubbling mud" moment since switchover, whereas I used to get one about every half hour. Similarly on FM I used to get a little bit of hiss unless I selected mono, the signal wasn't quite good enough for full stereo quietening (or whatever the proper term is). Now there's no detectable hiss on stereo FM.

The only thing I can think of is that with the absence of high power analogue TV signals, the general reception environment is kinder (ie. lower noise floor as the RF guys downstairs at work would call it).

For both DAB and FM I'm receiving on a loft mounted Antiference 5 element 88-108MHz FM aerial, mounted diagonally (this gave the strongest FM signal) pointing at Peterborough. The tuner is an Arcam DT91 DAB+FM tuner, this model has only a single aerial input for DAB and FM which suits me fine as I only have one coax (CT100) in the walls to feed it (but it is seperate from the TV feed). Wall plate is a barrel inline F coupler, fly lead is CT100 on F connectors (including back of tuner).

I think there's a good chance that might be wrong then. We will find out in July.

This makes sense, because the most likely source of co-channel interference will be from Belgium and The Netherlands, which both use vertical polarization.

Chris.

I'll put my money on Rouncefall being HP. It makes no sense for it to be VP. Lark Stoke etc are VP, because they were VP in their analogue days, and obviously so are the punters' receiving aerials !

That not to say Ofcom can't be wrong. They had Les Touillets on Guernsey down as being VP post DSO, despite it being HP since opening in 1976. Since corrected on their pdf sheet.

Rouncefall will be co channel with 100kW Sudbury on all 3 PSB muxes unless I'm missing something?

Maybe - a little - but mostly to enable aerials in the coverage area S/SW of the TX, can get the PSB muxes and - if they are free of the shadow from the hill which houses the Rouncefall TX on top - can get the COM muxes from the 100 timer more powerful Sudbury TX (from 2012).

Lars

There have already been a whole number of corrections and amendments to the Ofcon documents mentioned even though they were only published in January 2011. I am thinking particularly of Meridian where intermediate parking frequencies were proposed but changed when the DUK database was published.

And here's the 25th May edition


Issue 3.



http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/transmitt...ia_May11v3.pdf

Changes seem mostly to do with 800MHz clearance. Given that some of the channels to move for that are still listed in sites yet to switch over, there is obviously going to be at least one more version.

The Rouncefall relay is still HP

Just wondered what the power increase will be at the sudbury Tx? on the 1st date will ch44 (old analogue bbc2) be increased + all the other digital channels?