All posts by Sean Marshall
Below are all of Sean Marshall's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page....and to avoid any confusion I'm not in Halifax as it states at the top of my previous post.
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Are we going to have fewer birds around the Solent after everyone's turned their aerials to vertical and they don't have anywhere to sit?
I was thinking of having mine turned just so I don't hear it shaking down the chimney when one of the fat pigeons lands.
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I am the individual that submitted a response to the Ofcom consultation, including the following:
"I see from your Annex 11 document that in Table 1 you specifically list Rowridge HP (Horizontally Polarised), but no mention is made of Rowridge VP (Vertically Polarised). Since DSO, I have spent money on having my aerial changed for a VP aerial to ensure I get the best possible reception. Is it the intention that, in order to receive the new muxes, I would then need to spend more money on having my aerial turned back to a horizontal position, and lose the signal strength on other muxes that I gained when I switched to VP? If I was to switch to HP then at what point should I switch back to VP, and who will pay for all this switching? It's not a trivial task to go on the roof and rotate a chimney-mounted aerial."
It was quite funny to see my nag among the submissions from multi-million pound broadcasters! Anyway, their response included the following:
"The choice of whether to use vertical or horizontal polarisation or both will be for the interim multiplex licensee to determine."
So they threw the hot potato at Arqiva (the licensee). I haven't seen any info directly from Arqiva to say either yes or no to VP.
The DigitalUK site says that the two new muxes are HP only. However, I notice that this site shows the new muxes as being for both HP and VP. Do you have some information from Arqiva to confirm this as being the case? I hope so...
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Thanks - would be grateful for any info you have. I won't have a strop if you've made a mistake - Rowridge is now the weirdest transmitter in the UK, as it's effectively two in one. I've also emailed Arqiva for their answer on the subject.
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I switched to VP because the official predictor said I'd get a lower signal level when the channels were moved around. The VP prediction was 100%. Today, the same predictor says 100% for both.
I appreciate that a broadcaster will chase viewers. But a bit more coordination is needed when that broadcaster is effectively telling people what to spend their money on.
It looks like Arqiva may be shooting down VP shortly after it took off. Perhaps their predictions of HP interference from France were wrong so they've realised it was a solution to a problem that doesn't actually exist. Of course they won't admit this though.
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I understand. Whether rightly or wrongly, I assumed that VP was the future for Rowridge, and HP was just for backwards compatibility. I needed a new aerial so it seemed a no-brainer to use VP for the higher power muxes.
I would expect the trouble to start when people realise they can't get these new channels, despite having paid for a shiny new aerial recently. I've seen more VP aerials appearing over time, so it seems I'm not alone in thinking that these were now the preferred method.
Has there ever been any official guidance on what the VP is for? What should installers fit, or are they supposed to fit HP initially then change to VP if there's a problem? It seems bloody daft to me.
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Well I haven't had a reply from Arqiva yet - there's a surprise. I'll nag them until they respond. I'm wondering if this nonsense might be of interest to local news. "New channels are for old aerials only" or something.
I previously had a monster aerial that looked like a spaceship. Now it's a nice neat log periodic, plus VP means the local obese pigeons can't sit on it and loosen it.
I still want BBC4hd though, plus hopefully more to come.
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Still no reply from enquiries@arqiva.com, three days later.
I've forwarded my previous email to their Head of Public Relations. We'll see if they'll consider replying to a mere licence fee-paying member of the public.
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Here is the response I received from Arqiva. I don't think they'll mind me publishing it here - there's nothing private in it...
"Thank you for your email about the new HD services, specifically concerning their absence from the VP antenna at Rowridge. As Head of PR Im not the normal recipient of these enquiries but have spoken to various teams in order to send you the following information.
Arqiva Services Limited was awarded the licence last year for the Television Multiplex Service utilising channels within the 600 MHz band in which the new HD services are carried. The channels licensed for the new HD services are limited to Channels 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 37 which is best received on a Group A or a wide band rooftop aerial. Given the limited number of channels available, many of the sites from which the new HD services will broadcast will unfortunately utilise frequency channels outside of the traditional aerial group for the area. Rowridge is still a Group A area and so many viewers should be able to receive the new HD services using a Group A or wide band HP aerial. Where an upgrade has been made to a VP aerial as a result of the installers choice , then regrettably it is unlikely that the new HD services will be received.
The infrastructure for the new HD services has not been funded by Government nor by the TV Licence Fee. The full cost of rolling out the new services has been borne by Arqiva Services Limited as a private company. Arqiva has opted to roll out the new services to the maximum number of sites permissible by Ofcom under the licence, and has exceeded the minimum coverage requirements stipulated by Ofcom in the licence of 50% national coverage, rolling the network out to circa 70% without any governmental assistance. This does include Rowridge, but only from the HP antenna. Both the VP and HP antennas at Rowridge still do give access to a broad range of Freeview services, including simulcast SD versions of all those channels currently being carried in the HD genre, as well as the HD services carried on 101 -104.
With regard to the Rowridge VP broadcasts, the cost of modifying the on-site infrastructure to radiate the new HD services in VP was considered to be excessive given the small number of homes that could be served by it, and unfortunately viewers who only access the Rowridge VP antenna will fall into the 30% of homes nationally which will not receive these new HD services.
We trust that this provides the information you are seeking. "
So there we go - we have our answer. The new channels are only for old aerials.
I can see Arqiva's point from their business point of view. But following this logic, nobody would have ever made a DVD player as DVDs didn't exist at the time. Nobody would have invented a television as there were no programmes to watch on it. Sometimes there has to be a strategy, and you need eggs to make chickens.
We now have a choice of all channels with poor signal quality or FreeviewLiteHD with decent signal quality.
I'm going to think about whether this can be taken further. All thoughts welcome.
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Page 1
Wednesday 18 April 2012 10:39AM
Halifax
My channels appear to be OK so far after the final change, but I have got less than full signal on some of the COM channels. Here's my enquiry I sent to Digital UK on 7th April:
I note from your reception predictor that my probability of receiving the 6 muxes are currently 99,99,99,99,77,84 (and working well). But after the re-tune on April 18th this will reduce to 99,99,99,21,20,21. Are these figures correct? If so could you please explain why the figures are so much lower after the re-tune? Will I need to have my aerial turned to VP orientation to reliably receive the COM muxes after April 18th? Even with VP, your site still predicts lower than now. Thanks.
And their reply:
Thank you for your email dated 7 April regarding Switchover in Meridian.
Your postcode is PO8 9xx which means you are likely to receive your TV signal from the Rowridge transmitter which switched on 21 March 2012.
Our postcode checker predicts that there may be a less reliable digital signal for your postcode after the retune event because in some cases this can be due to interference from nearby transmitters, both in the UK and in neighbouring countries.
The mux reception on 18 April is only a prediction of variable reception on those three muxes. I would therefore strongly recommend you wait until after switchover to see if your home will actually be affected to avoid having unnecessary work done, i.e. realignment for Rowridge VP transmitter.
You would need to consult a reputable local aerial installer for advice on this option and that of course might incur a cost. If this is your preferred route, I would recommend that you use a Registered Digital Installer (RDI) identified by the 'digital tick' logo. To find a RDI in your area please visit: www.rdi-lb.co.uk.
If you have any further enquiries regarding the digital switchover please visit our website at www.digitaluk.co.uk or call us on 08456 50 50 50.
...So it seems to me that they've kept the power levels the same, but expect interference from France on the new channels. Now we see why they felt the need to introduce VP - they've given the clear channels to London!