All posts by Paul
Below are all of Paul's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Kim Lay: Just to clear things up, you should receive ITV1, C4 and C5 on the 20th July as others have already said.
To elaborate on the last comment from "KMJ,Derby", you will probably still not receive quite a number of channels until the 27th June 2012 unfortunately. These channels include Film4, E4, Dave, Sky News and several of the other ITV channels e.g. ITV3 & 4.
To get an idea of the channels that may still be missing, click on the word multiplex in this or any of the other posts. On the page that appears, look at the channels under the title "After Switchover Configuration." You will likely have to wait until next year to receive the channels that are on the rows labelled SDN, ARQA and ARQB.
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John Stone / Dave E: Although Ch50 hasn't changed at DSO1, there has been a change at the adjacent Ch49. At DSO1, Mux A moved to Ch49 at an increased ERP of 14kW.
Prior to DSO1, Mux 1 was on Ch49 at 7kW. Mux D on Ch50 only has an ERP of 1.1kW so I suppose that the increased power on the adjacent channel could be causing the receivers to have difficulty in picking it up. (Ch49 At) (Ch49 At) (Ch49 At)
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Dale: If, as you say, Mux 2 has already adopted the 8k transmission mode but the actual power remains the same, then this would mean that some people will now struggle to receive this Mux as it's effectively similar to a power reduction.
I guess as annoying as that is, at least there's only about a week and half until it's no longer an issue.
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Thanks Briantist. I had to look back to remember what I'd posted!
Mike Dimmick: I doubt that interference from Knockmore would be a major issue in roy's case. I'm not that far from that area and it's not an issue for anyone here.
I think the problem for you roy is that you live halfway down the south face of the River Don valley. The hill to the south and west (i.e. the steep hill you climb when you travel up N. Anderson Drive from the Haudagain roundabout) sits between you and the Durris transmitter. You therefore do not have a direct line of sight with Durris.
The purpose of the Balgownie relay is to provide coverage to the people on the southern face of this hill which is confirmed by its radiation pattern. You should be able to see the transmitter from your location if you look across to the opposite side of the river in the direction of the university playing fields. It sticks out like a sore thumb in the scenery.
As Mike Dimmick says, if your aerial is vertical and pointing across the River Don towards it then, you will only get 'Freeview Light.' If your aerial is horizontal and pointing south-east, you probably cannot receive the weaker COM muxes because you do not have a direct line of sight with Durris.
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What has been used as the definition for indoor coverage? I don't have a DAB radio but I'm shocked by how small the areas that are covered by each transmitter are.
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Alan Matthews: The power was only increased to the PSB muxes (which carry the main BBC channels and ITV1 etc.). There has been an effective power drop on the COM muxes which have changed transmission mode.
To cut a long story short; muxes ArqA, ArqB and SDN do not increase to full power until 27th June 2012. This includes ITV4 which is on ArqB along with many of the commercial channels. Unfortunately, if you cannot receive them today, you may not be able to receive these channels until next year.
Could you provide a full postcode so your predicted coverage can be checked?
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What are the bit rates for the stations on the DAB multiplexes? Are they high enough to give the high quality sound (i.e. better than FM) that is being promised or is it another Freeview style "quantity over quality" job?
The Freeview picture quality, even on the flagship BBC channels, is very poor to be honest because of the attempt to cram as many channels as possible on the muxes. Please say they are not doing the same with radio.
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Andy P: The word in your post that stands out is "booster." The new BBCA mux is transmitting at a far greater power level than the old Mux 1 so it is possible that the signal is too strong for your receiver.
Try removing the booster and performing a clean scan for the muxes (look for a factory reset or something along those lines to ensure that the existing channel information stored is wiped first). If you can receive the BBCA mux after this but can't receive the other muxes, you will need to wait until after the final DSO stage in two weeks when it is likely that you will be able to receive all muxes.
A postcode would be helpful to identify what you should be able to receive.
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Andy P: I'm not sure if you are still checking this page. I noticed that you provided a postcode a couple of days ago. According to the Digital UK website, you should be able to receive all muxes from Emley Moor.
As Briantist said, try removing your booster. If that doesn't give you BBCA, try installing an attenuator. Of course this might have an adverse effect on the other (low power) muxes. This should be resolved after the final stage of switchover though.
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Sunday 3 July 2011 12:43PM
I would prefer to have a quarter screen BBC Parliament over the loss of the radio stations. It would be interesting to see the viewing figures for BBC Parliament. It should be prescribed by doctors as a cure for insomnia.
I don't want to sound arrogant or disrespectful to Gaelic speakers but is there really a requirement to broadcast BBC Alba across Scotland. Only 1.2% of Scots speak the language (2001 census) and from the link below, it can be seen that it is mainly spoken towards the west of the country.
File:ScotlandGaelicSpeakers2001.gif - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I live in the east of Scotland and as far as I'm aware, Gaelic was never widely spoken here if at all. Why can't BBC Alba just be broadcast in the areas where Gaelic speakers are concentrated? I have a feeling that the roll out across the country was to allow self righteous people at the BBC to claim that they are single-handedly saving a language.