All posts by KMJ, Derby
Below are all of KMJ, Derby's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
jordan: I've just checked the William Hepburn Tropospheric ducting forecast over the weekend, it looks quiet for Friday to Saturday, but Sunday and Monday could see the inversion effect at work.
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Roy Mancktelow: If you currently have good reception on analogue ITV1 you should have robust Freeview reception on mux D3+4 after switchover as this mux will use the frequency vacated by the analogue service. The signal will also be transmitted at 20kW for all muxes, compared to 2kW for the existing Mux2.
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I should add that having just checked the current powers at Bluebell Hill the existing Mux2 is now at 4kW.
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Bernard Roughton: The Piddletrenthide relay only transmits the three PSB muxes (a Freeview Light transmitter). It is possible that you will be able to receive the COM muxes when using a suitable aerial from either Mendip after the power increase on 28th March, or Rowridge VP after the transmitters enter service on 18th April 2012. Mendip requires a group C/D aerial set for horizontal polarisation, Rowridge VP requires a group A aeerial set for vertical polarisation. You could try C48 now for SDN from Mendip, as this transmitter is at higher power than the other muxes.
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Peter Henderson: Remember that after switchover the same frequencies continue to be shared with Caldbeck on the COM muxes,which increase power to 50kw on 24th October 2012 at both Caldbeck and Divis. Reception of the PSB muxes should be better though after changing to the frequencies used by the current analogue services.
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John Hewlett: Sadly the good old Ondigital boxes are only suitable for reception of 2k mode signals, so will not work after switchover.
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Matthew: You didn't leave your postcode, so I couldn't do a check on the predicted reception at your location. However, it is significant that C57, which was the old analogue frequency for BBC1 from Whitehawk was not chosen for use by a PSB mux after switchover. This suggests that coverage is not as reliable as that which is obtained from C51 - the frequency chosen instead. I tried a postcode in BN2 which interestingly gave variable reception for C57 and good reception for the other five frequencies. By all means check cables and connectors, also try different positions for the aerial ie raising/lowering as well as side to side locations.
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Ian Legood: Do you mean analogue BBC2 which is currently on C46 and will be replaced by Mux BBCA at switchover, or are you referring to Challenge TV which is on channel 46 in the Freeview channel list?
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John Beeston: When switchover takes place the PSB muxes will use the frequencies currently used by the analogue services, so if you currently have good analogue reception you should have good digital reception, at least on the PSB muxes after switchover. The power of all muxes will be 20kW on all muxes, which is greater than that normally used to cover the original analogue service area. With regard to Freesat (or Sky), no the conditions that affect Freeview reception do not affect satellite reception. However satellite reception can be blocked by thick clouds, heavy rainfall or snow on the dish/LNB. Remember too that some channels that are free-to-air on Freeview are subscription channels in the Sky line-up on satellite.
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Thursday 22 March 2012 10:22PM
Steve Swift: The Digital UK postcode checker predicts that Crystal Palace offers the best signal, both now and after switchover on 4th/18th April 2012. If you require reception of the Alton relay for the alternative local news it would require a group c/d aerial set for vertical polarisation linked to the CP aerial via a diplexer in order to receive all the available muxes.(Alton is a Freeview Light, PSB only transmitter.) It is very hit and miss using a CP aerial for reception of transmitters in different directions to CP, especially if they are vertically polarised.