All posts by KMJ, Derby
Below are all of KMJ, Derby's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
There was a move towards showing a small opaque motif in one of the corners of the screen, thus being present for viewers who needed to look for it, but otherwise unnoticed. ITV1+1 is a good example of such a practice. Unfortunately far too many STB's and TV receivers do not display the number of the channel being received. This should have been a basic feature of any receiver. (So should an RF modulator, manual tuning option, selection of preferred region and the ability to store all channels of all muxes received if so desired.) A co-ordinated numbering of channels across all platforms would also have been useful. Sky made a mess of the entertainment channel ordering and Freesat lost the plot somewhere in this respect.
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david dry: The BBC reception report states that there are no reported problems on Sandy Heath at present. Do you have a build up of snow on your aerial, or on the roof if using a loft aerial? If so, this could be causing your low signal strength.
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Chris: Yes, the power at Midhurst will be increased at switchover. You are however only predicted to have variable reception from this transmitter, meaning that different positions of the aerial could make a lot of difference to whether you receive a reliable signal or not. The best reception from Midhurst is shown for mux BBCA which enters service on 29th February 2012 on C55. The remaining muxes adopt high power working on 14th March 2012. Your best predicted reception is shown as being from Hannington, aerial pointing W. This transmitter has DSO on 8th February 2012 for mux BBCA, with the remaining muxes changing frequency on 14th March 2012. Note that the low power antenna will be used by SDN until 4th April 2012 and ArqA and ArqB until 18th April 2012.
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Dave Lindsay: Thanks for clarification of Mux ArqB from Midhurst. The postcode checker shows a reception change in April 2012 when ArqB is given a good reception prediction ( up from zero reception predicted), but the transmitter power continues to be shown as 1kW until October making it unclear where the gremlin lay. It does appear that this will be another transmitter where viewers might complain about loss of ArqB after DSO2!
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Dave Lindsay: Whilst on the plus side the frequency of the Midhurst mux ArqB will be transmitted on a lower frequency (C50) after DSO2, there will be the change to 64QAM, 8k mode working without a power increase to compensate. At least the low power is only for a few weeks.
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Rob: It is most unlikely that the Bacup transmitter will ever transmit additional muxes. The owners of the COM muxes were asked if they wished to extend their services to the relay sites and they declined on the grounds that it would about double the transmission costs whilst only serving a very small percentage of viewers. Many viewers in the Bacup transmitter coverage area are also able to receive signals direct from Winter Hill or Emley Moor. Installing a replacement or additional aerial will deliver the COM muxes if they are required, otherwise satellite reception is possible for most viewers requiring extra channels, although the selection does differ somewhat from that supplied on Freeview.
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david: Are you able to receive signals direct from Caradon Hill? Aerial pointing WNW with rods horizontal.
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Roger Strange: There are no digital transmissions yet from Newhaven. Your aerial, coincidentally points to Whitehawk Hill, which is the source of your digital signals. Note that MuxB (BBC4) is at 1kW, whereas Mux2 is only 400W and Mux1 is 200W. After switchover all muxes will be transmitted at 4kW, so you should find your problem solved. In the meantime check cables and connectors, just in case any signal is being lost with a poor connection.
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DaveG: Your experience with reception from Crystal Palace is in accordance with the predictions on the Digital UK postcode checker. After switchover you should have good reception on the PSB muxes, the COM muxes however could be seen as deteriorating by way of reliable reception despite the transmitter power being increased to 200kW on each mux. Hannington is shown as not giving any reception before DSO, but is expected to give good reception on all muxes after full power working is adopted, so you get C45 now (BBCA), with D3+4 and MuxHD following on 22nd February 2012. SDN switches to full power on 4th April 2012, with ArqA and ArqB following on 18th April 2012. Regarding the TVs not seeing Hannington, if they are older receivers check that they are not on the list of equipment that does not support the 8k mode.
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Monday 30 January 2012 8:46PM
Chloe: Can you give more information about the Panasonic receiver that is not receiving Freeview, also what area you are in, postcode is best, for checking what transmitters you might expect to receive.