Full Freeview on the Brougher Mountain (Northern Ireland) transmitter

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10:49 PM

Davud Bolton: Yes, the signals from will increase considerably at , and yes it will be one of three transmitters in the North to carry RTÃƒâ€°. See Northern Ireland "mini multiplex" (NIMM) | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

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Jimmy
12:28 AM

Huge problems tonight on B. Mtn.
All related:
BBC1 and 2 OK albeit without .
no picture or NICAM, static on MONO audio.
Ch4 no picture, NICAM but silence, also silence on MONO audio.
Ceefax off air.

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Briantist

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9:17 AM

At the transmitter will be off air from midnight until 6am on 24th October 2012 - see UK Digital switchover ends - Northern Ireland completes on 24th October 2012 | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice for full details.

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Briantist

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9:19 AM

At the transmitter will be off air from midnight until 6am on 24th October 2012 - see UK Digital switchover ends - Northern Ireland completes on 24th October 2012 | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice for full details...

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2:15 PM

The Commercial (COM) (which are on 21, 24 and 27 from ) don't have as great a coverage area as the (Public Service) PSB channels. The small "filler-in" transmitters don't carry them and of those that do they tend to be on lower than the PSBs, which is usually half-power. This generally means that those on the fringes can receive PSB only. It certainly does not mean that half of viewers are PSB only!

However, up until now I wasn't aware of a full-service transmitter with such marked differences between power of PSBs and power of COMs. The information provided on this website is taken from official sources and I checked the relevant document and it does indeed say that COMs are 2kW from Brougher Mountain whereas PSBs are 20kW.

Add to that the fact that the COMs are each on channels which neighbour the more powerful PSBs and there would appear to be a recipe for some being unable to receive the COMs, not because they aren't powerful on their own, but because the higher power signals will be likely to desensitise receivers to the lower power ones.

To understand this, consider the "looking" at channel 21. Nearby, on , is a high power which is likely to desensitise it. This is a bit like going out when it's dark and having car headlights shining towards you; as a result the surrounding area that is darker is more difficult to see because your eyes adjust to the bright light by reducing in their sensitivity.

An attenuator put in line with the aerial lead may. If an is in use, turning it down or removing it may do the trick. An attenuator simply acts to reduce the signal level which is the opposite of an amplifier so there may be little point in having both.

The only thing I can think is that they are so short of channels that 21, 24 and 27 have to be used. Of course these are used by for its PSBs so there will be overlap of the two transmitters (normally at least), but the Brougher COMs being severly restricted will help mitigate with Divis viewers.

D

Don
8:58 AM

Hi I live in the area and i know that the is now live,about 60 percent of the villager's were receving digital TV from the Brougher transmitter since it was first switched on with little or no problem's except for the odd weather related one where would break up some had to use Group A Amp's others were ok now all we have are the signal's from the lisbellaw Transmitter is there any way round this as a lot of people are very dissapointed has the signal been redirected away from the village your would be much appreciated.Regards Don

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11:24 AM

Don: After , the Freeview is a two-tier system, as you have found out. Whilst all transmitters carry PSB and so serve the same areas as the former analogue, a lot of small transmitters like don't carry the COM channels. For a list of which are PSB and which are COM, see:

DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex

The other thing is that of those that do carry the COMs, they are on lower than the PSBs and hence some on the fringes can only receive PSBs.

From there is a very marked difference between power of PSBs (20kW) and power of COMs (2kW). Most that are different have COMs at half power to the PSBs.

If people were receiving the pre-switchover from Brougher Mountain with their aerials directed to the Lisbellow (which at that time only carried analogue), then from an point of view they were lucky. For from Brougher Mountain a Group A is required in areas where the signal is not so good, as I assume it is so in your general area which is why the local relay was installed.

Unless reception of the COMs is possible from Brougher, then there is no advantage to be gained from receiving from it when the signal from the local relay is available.

The marked difference in the strength of PSBs vs COMs could be an issue with tuners desensitising themselves as a result of the high power signals thereby not being sensitive enough to pick up the lower powered ones. Careful adjustment of an or adjustment of an attenuator may strike a ballance allowing both to be viewed.

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11:28 AM

Don: For receivers with manual tuning (which all "should" have), try tuning in to 21, 24 and 27 which are the COM .

D

Don
1:57 PM

Thank's for the reply Dave'It is Group A Aerials that are being used Horizontally by these homes for Brougher as stated, before we were getting all or most of the program's at 500 Watts it seem's now we have lost everything except for Mux22 and 28 which was only achieved by useing a Group A filter and still getting overspill from Mux49 and 54

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Ambrose Reilly
4:57 PM
Enniskillen

I live just outside Cavan Town in Republic of and have very poor on the PSB1 Mux (intermittantly it can be perfect) however I get perfect reception on the PSB2 Mux.

I cannot receive any on the other Mux's.

I re- daily but no change.

Any ideas?