All posts by Richard Cooper
Below are all of Richard Cooper's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Ian Farrow: Hi again, Ian. Thank you so much for your replies including personal explanations. I should think that the Newhaven DAB transmitter will have the Digital One (D1) group of programmes back on air within a few days, because the programme companies soon realise that they are losing advertising income if a transmitter is off the air for more than a couple of days, so, 'Yes', you need to be patient if you cannot afford to pay out for an 'on-the-roof' DAB aerial in order to receive the Digital One stations from an alternative transmitter. Richard in Norwich.
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David: Hi, David and thank you for your comments on the tuning of home DAB radios and their information displays. I should have thought that tuning into a station by selecting it from an alphabetical list would have been fairly straightforward for anyone who knows their A to Z. As to the information displays, where I would agree here is the 1960s styles of computer 'font' that seem to be used. I would have preferred the displays to be rather more like what I'm seeing on the screen of my 2012 laptop which I'm seeing in front of me right now as I type this response to you. I suppose, however, that this innovation would require even more computing power to be built into the DAB radio, as well as a more expensive display screen, thus raising the cost of DAB radios to a prohibitive level whereby they would be too expensive for many people. Remember, though, that if you are particularly interested in the information displays from radio stations that a large number of them are also broadcast on the Freeview television platform, where you can see full screens of information in better resolution than on the home DAB radio screen! Richard in Norwich.
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Neil H: Hi, Neil. Channel 38 ought to be OK. Don't use 35, or anything from 39 to 46, because these are all used by Sutton Coldfield to transmit tv signals to houses. Also, don't use anything in the range 21 to 27, because these channels are used by the Fenton (near Stoke) tv relay transmitter. Don't use the upper 40s or mid-50s as these are used by Waltham in the East Midlands.Other possible channels you could try are 29 and 30, but NOT 31 or 37, also used by Waltham. Anything at 59 or over can be used by 4G mobile phone services. Richard, Norwich.
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J Martin: Hi, J Martin. Try telling that to Steve P on this site and see what his response is! Richard, Norwich.
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Seafordrose: Good afternoon Seaford Rose. Sorry for responding more than an hour after your post! I expect you are using the Newhaven DAB radio transmitter like David Hitchin in Newhaven itself. The Newhaven transmission site was having engineering work carried out on the transmitters on Friday, which must have been continuing today, if you, like David have been unable to receive stations transmitted in DAB on the Digital One 'multiplex' (group of stations). If you are interested in listening to Classic FM whilst the Newhaven DAB transmitter is off the air, you could switch over to analogue, i.e. the FM band, where you will find Classic FM on a frequency of 101.9 megahertz from the Brighton (Whitehawk Hill) FM transmitter as an alternative. Most DAB radios have the analogue FM band on them as well as DAB. I'm sure that Newhaven DAB Digital One will be back in a couple of days. Richard, Norwich.
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John Stone: Hi, John. According to Digital UK, you should indeed be able to receive Freeview from the Sudbury transmitter, but do remember that the Sudbury transmitter is not in the town itself, but is at a site a few miles South-East of the town in-between Little Cornard and Bures. I would also inform you that your tv receiver needs to be 'informed' ( i.e. 'told') that you are trying to receive from a different transmitter and so if you wish to receive from Sudbury, you need your tv receiver to forget about Rouncefall, which means carrying out two full re-tune procedures, the first with your aerial lead disconnected altogether, so the tv forgets Rouncefall and then the second re-tune with your aerial lead reconnected. Both re-tunes should be of the 'first-time installation' type. Bearing in mind that the Sudbury transmitter isn't in Sudbury itself, you may also need to rotate your aerial a little to ensure you're aligned on to the Sudbury transmitter when trying to receive from it. Hope this information will help, Richard, Norwich.
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StevensOnln1: Thank you for correcting me on the misinformation I gave to the viewer who said that he was wishing to receive Sudbury when Rouncefall was undergoing engineering works. Hopefully, he will see your post, although I shouldn't imagine that he'd cause any permanent material damage with retunes apart from losing any favourites and/or stored recording times, etc. Thanks, again though StevensOnln1, because I don't like giving people incorrect information! Richard, N'ch.
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Jm Ballantye: Hi, Jm or should that be Jim? The Dunkirk transmitter has been transmitting the BBC National DAB multiplex and the first commercial National multiplex, Digital One or D1 since February this year. Richard in Norwich.
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Alison: Good evening, Alison. No faults have been reported on the Crystal palace full Freeview transmitter at present. You are advised to see if your neighbours have lost their signals too. if they haven't, then you need to check your own installation: all aerial leads and connections, etc. If your neighbours have lost their signal too, then you need to ascertain whether you share a communal aerial system with them. if you do, then you need to contact your landlord, who is responsible for ensuring that you have a tv signal in a rented home. Richard, Norwich. PS: If you have your own aerial and it is faulty, then it's your own responsibility I'm afraid. if you conclude that there is a problem on the Crystal Palace transmitter, Google "Radio & TV Investigation Service" and use the 'Contact Us' facility on the site you're taken to in order to inform the BBC that Crystal Palace needs investigating.
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Monday 19 September 2016 10:33AM
Ian Farrow: Hi, again Ian. Are you not aware that a UHF tv aerial on the roof is not of a suitable design to be used as a DAB radio aerial, although it is possible to use a 1950s or 1960s Band III ITV aerial for DAB radio reception, as long as the rods or elements point up and down in vertical planes. The quality branded models of DAB radio allow you to disconnect the telescopic rod aerial and connect an external DAB roof aerial, such as the type I've described above, using an F-type screw connector. It is always better to use an outside aerial rather than an inbuilt telescopic rod aerial and brand new DAB aerials can be purchased quite cheaply. One wouldn't consider trying to use a television set with a built-in aerial unless one was living next door to a powerful main transmitter, so if you're serious about receiving DAB signals from alternative transmitters, you need to invest in an external DAB radio aerial because, as i began this post, a UHF DTT or Freeview aerial cannot be used. If I lived where you do, I'd be keen to try an external DABaerial on Heathfield if Newhaven DAB was off! Richard, Norwich.