All posts by Paul Murphy
Below are all of Paul Murphy's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.P
Where are the public service (Freeview Light) transmitters? | STuesday 8 May 2012 8:17AM
Bourne End
Dave Lindsay: Thanks for the swift and clear answer. In the case of ITV 1 (+1) what they've done does make alot of sense for the reasons you've given but does the same apply for Channel 4 (+1) do you know? I thought there was just the one Channel 4 all around the country - the same as Film 4 (rather than there being regional variants). Although many people may watch the +1 channels, I suspect if they weren't there such people would either be watching the original broadcast (or recording it for playback later) and watching another channel instead so I don't see how the commercial argument would be strong in the long run.
ps when I put my postcode into your 'My Freeview page, it incorrectly gave High Wycombe Transmitter details rather than Wooburn. I'm in an area not covered by the High Wycombe transmitter (and the map shows this) so maybe you can fix this on your system? A generally very helpful and informative website BTW!
| link to this comment |
"decided to make some changes to the allocations to allow the Freeview platform to grow"
Does that mean any chance of growth for those with Freeview Lite or do we miss out on all improvements (along with many channels)? If there will be no improvements for us, will we need to retune - if so, why?
| link to this comment |
I posted much earlier in this thread complaining about a lack of Film 4 on Freeview Light and I'm delighted to find that Film 4 is now showing up on my Windows 7 HTPC EPG. I can now watch the movies I was missing out on for so long with the original Freeview Light - GREAT!
Given that through 'smoke and mirrors' (my understanding of the finer details is lacking ;-) Channel 4 has managed to squeeze Film 4 into the existing Multiplex streams, what chance is there that ITV 3 and ITV 4 will also soon appear on Freeview Light (even if it means removing some of the '+1' channels to accommodate these). I thought from the reply I originally received here that Film 4 would never be on Freeview Light and that was wrong so what are the limits?
| link to this comment |
Similarly Bourne End in Bucks mostly gets Freeview reception from the Wooburn Freeview Lite relay of Crystal Palace and NOT the High Wycombe relay. If you look at the map generated by putting in my postcode, in fact most of Bourne End is showing as having no reception at all from the High Wycombe transmitter! Please look into it (or advise who does). An explanation of what's gone wrong would also help as if it's just one person responsible for this tools accuracy when there are more than 1000 transmitters to be taken into account, that's a little different to if it's a large corporation responsible for feeding the information and accuracy checking.
| link to this comment |
Thanks for your improvement work. I just tried a postcode which showed the wrong transmitter feeding the area. Please look to amend the transmitter for SL8 5DQ. It's not High Wycombe but it should list the Wooburn Transmitter (which is also closer). Your map of the Wooburn coverage area as shown here: Wooburn (Buckinghamshire, England) Freeview Light transmitter includes this postcode area so I'm not sure what's gone wrong. Both are relays of Crystal Palace though. I hope that helps.
| link to this comment |
Monday 23 April 2012 12:51AM
Bourne End
How are the channels on 'Freeview Light' decided upon?
We've just finished the Digital Switchover and using the Wooburn relay we get just the 'Freeview Light' channels. This is a big let down but its exacerbated by the fact that there are '+1' channels using up valuable space that standalone channels could (should) be using instead ie ITV 1 +1 instead of ITV 3 (or 4), Channel 4 +1 instead of Film 4. Surely the delayed channels must be considered a 'luxury extra' that should be made available only if there is sufficient multiplex capacity after the main 'live' channels are provided.. How was this decided upon and who is responsible?
We may not be able to get more multiplexes (for cost/benifit reasons) but I can't see why they shouldn't try to please more customers with more distinct channels. If people really need '+1' channels, that's what video recorders/time shift TVs are for. My TV Tuner equipped Windows 7 HTPC does this perfectly but even the best of such devices won't get additional 'commercial' Freeview Channels in such locations. We already have a new (professionally installed) aerial and receiving directly from Crystal Palace is not an option (the guy checked) so it's important to make the most of what multiplexes we do have access to! Who can I write to?