Arqiva statement on Hannington transmitter group
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV From Arqiva:
NEWS ALERT
Date: 22 February 2012
DSO completed for Hannington transmitter group
The Digital Switch Over process for the Hannington transmitter group, serving parts of Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey has been successfully implemented by Arqiva.
The three public-service multiplexes are now being transmitted at full power from the main station at Hannington and, for the first time, from its eight dependent relays at Aldbourne, Alton, Chisbury, Hemdean HP/VP, Hurstbourne Tarrant, Lambourn, The Bournes and
Tidworth.
The 'commercial' multiplexes (Hannington only) do not reach their final DSO powers until April 2012, as planned.
Following the analogue switch-off for BBC Two on 8 February, the remaining analogue signals for BBC One, ITV1, Channel 4 and Channel 5 ceased by 00:02 on Wednesday 22 February. The new digital signals entered official service at Hannington at 06:00, with the
last of the relays completed by 12:53.
Arqiva is the transmission provider for all terrestrial TV and most radio services in the UK.
Help with Freeview, aerials?
In this section
Sunday, 26 February 2012
D
David10:16 PM
N Smith - we have lost the same mux in Reading (we're clear of the 'notch' area and have had generally good Freeview reception from Hannington all along). After switchover the ArqB mux on Ch47 has all but disappeared (we picked it up at the retune on all 4 of our various receivers but have hardly seen it since, so have had to do a manual retune to Crystal Palace on Ch29 for now).
Fingers crossed that the power increase in April will bring ArqB back for us - the DUK predictor shows 79/90 now and 98/99 from 4 April, so I'm cautiously optimistic. (SU710741)
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Tuesday, 28 February 2012
J
John H4:45 PM
Aldershot
I too have lost EPG 12 & 15 at Postcode GU12 5EW from all TV sets connected to a good wideband aerial directed to Hannington with masthead booster. Manual retuning to Channel 47 achieves nothing more and retuning Channel 41 just replicates what is there already. However on my PC monitor with a poor quality aerial also directed to Hannington I do get a pixelated picture from Hannington on EPG 12 & 15. So the signal is there! Why then is it not being picked up on the good aerial? This apart, the switchover has gone fine.
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John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
John H: The commercial multiplexes from Hannington are on low power until April. On 4th April C44 (used by Hannington for Arq A) will be relinquished by Guildford and its power will go up. Two weeks later on 18th April C41 (SDN) and C47 (Arq B) will also go onto full power for the same reason.
Perhaps the signals are there on the wideband aerial, but the higher power signals are desensitising the receiver making them less likely to be "heard". There may no longer be any need for the booster or it may be needed but at a lower level.
I would try removing the amp and see what you get. If it is used for distribution purposes, then connect the aerial directly to one of the feeds to a set.
Prior to switchover, the digital signals from Hannington weren't omni-directional. It put out less signal in the direction of Guildford (the "Guildford notch") because its transmitter used the same channels.
Post switchover, the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) multiplexes that are now on full power use the omni-directional antenna, just as the four analogue channels did. However, until April, the commercial channels are using the pre-switchover antenna complete with Guildford notch. Thus, the contrast between the high power PSBs and the low power COMs will be much greater in your area, than at other places at the same distance from the transmitter.
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J
Jeanette Kirk7:40 PM
When the Hannington analogue signal was switched off I lost BBC South. Now receive BBC London local news, which is useless for someone living in Alton. Can I retune to find BBC South or will I never be able to get it again. I did try a re-tune, following the manual, but couldn't even manage to do that! Can I try unplugging everything, as per your pictures?
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Jeanette Kirk: Run the automatic tuning scan with the aerial unplugged up until 25% (or until it gets past UHF channel 34 if it gives channel numbers whilst scanning). That way it will be unplugged whilst scanning Crystal Palace transmitter and plugged in for Hannington.
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Jeanette Kirk: Further to my previous posting, if you are receiving your TV from the transmitter in Alton (your aerial will be vertical - elements up and down), then you can keep the aerial unplugged until 60% and then plug it in.
If you're on Hannington (aerial horizontal, elements flat), then do as I said above; plug in at 25%.
Let us know how it goes.
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Malcolm H
9:06 PM
Hook
9:06 PM
Hook
Jeanette, you are not alone! I have spent all day faffing about responding to these very kind suggestions ending up with numerous combinations of aerials/amps/distributors/TVs/cables/splitters/combiners etc mainly just to get BBC South back!
For those who have kindly helped with their kind suggestions I have ended up with the old Hannington (BBC South analogue!) aerial connected directly to one TV which can now, just about, from 12 miles away, pull in 35 channels (including a finally restored and watchable BBC South!). Still no COM channels though, I shall wait until Guildford is switched off. A separate Crystal Palace aerial through an amplifier gives me 111 channels to a second TV and, oddly, only 83 to a third TV (No Mux 2 or Mux C).
I agree, we shouldn't have to mess about like this to get our old favourite BBC South back but, on the flip side, I have had huge amounts of exercise up and down ladders and up and down the stairs...
I'm off to watch the TV...but which TV in which room do I now watch for which channel....? I know, I shall refer to my reams of notes...DSO shouldn't have to be this difficult!
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Malcolm's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 1 March 2012
P
PeterO4:17 PM
Are the HD channels up and running from Hannington? I have a cheapo Goodmans Freeview HD STB which worked fine in Cornwall, but here in Hampshire, after multiple retunes, no sign of HD.
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Friday, 2 March 2012
R
Roger Tinner10:46 AM
Reading
Dear Arqiva
I live in RG31 5JS Tilehurst, Reading.
1. In my house there are 4 TVs (all with their own Antennas) pointing towards Hannington.
2. Before the changeover the signal level on all the TV was showing near to full scale reading.
3. Since the changeover, they are all showing around 3/4 of the scale and we are experiencing a lot of breakup on the pictures.
4. Looking at peoples comments I am confused why this upgrade gives me a poorer picture.
Please advice.
Regards
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Roger's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Roger Tinner: Perhaps the signal level into your TVs is now too high. See here:
Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
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