All posts by KMJ, Derby
Below are all of KMJ, Derby's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
ANDY: Discovery, Gold etc choose to be pay channels as they receive more income from subscriptions than they would from only showing advertisements. As Sky already has a subscription collecting service in place it makes economic sense to be part of the Sky bouquet rather than each channel collecting individual payments. It is interesting to note that the proposed local channels are being funded in part by the TV licence, in addition to funding from commercials. Not only are the initial start up costs being subsidised, but it appears that the BBC is expected to take up some of the programmes made by these TV stations. The reality is that advertising revenue is now split too thinly between the various media, with the result that the original set up for public service based Independent local radio is now history in most areas; regarding commercial television only ITV can afford (just) to make new drama productions. Note too that the HD services of ITV2/3/4 are pay channels, in much the same way as the HD services are in Germany.
| link to this comment |
fiona: This suggests that your mother's TV is missing Mux ArqA. The LU2 postcode covers quite a large area as far as reception prediction is concerned, however generally speaking, if the aerial is pointing to Crystal Palace try a manual tune (if possible) to C22. If the aerial points to Sandy Heath manual tune to C52. It is possible that you could be experiencing interference from out of area transmitters, as weather conditions are such that tropospheric ducting could be present over much of the Southern half of England and extending over the Continent. Also check that cables and connectors are in good order, as loose connections can sometimes cause the signal on just one mux to drop below the threshold required for reception.
| link to this comment |
John geoghegan: If by being worse you mean the picture is breaking up, putting aside possible interference to the signal being received, this indicates that the signal is either too weak or too strong- the symptoms are similar when viewing the TV. Firstly check that the correct frequency has been tuned in for the transmitter that the aerial is pointing to. This is C58 for Pontop Pike. It is possible that the tuner found Newton or Shotley Field signals first during the scan, then ignored the correct one from Pontop. If, on the other hand, the correct frequency is found to have been selected, the new high power signal could be too strong if you have amplification on the aerial or a very high gain aerial. In this case you would need to reduce the gain of the amplifier (if possible) or fit an attenuator in the aerial feed to the receiver. You might be best to wait for DSO2 to complete before making any changes to your aerial if this should prove necessary. Regarding the channels transmitted from each mast, Shotleyfield is a public service relay transmitter which is only required to supply the BBC channels and ITV1, C4 and Channel Five. Other channels carried on mux PSB2 are a bonus. The COM muxes are a commercial venture from SDN (owned by ITV) and Arqiva. The mux owners opted not to increase the number of sites served as the transmission costs would have doubled for an increase of 8% in the number of viewers served.
| link to this comment |
Barry Grose: The BBC transmitter status report shows Ivybridge off air since 10:23. There is no time shown for an expected resumption of service.
| link to this comment |
Eric: If you are able to receive signals from two or more transmitters the tuner will store the channels which are identified as having a variation in the 800s after the normal (LCN) positions in the channel list have been filled. When scanning mux BBCA, for example, the channel which shows the variation (BBC1) will be placed in the 800s, then additionally, depending on the make of box the other channels on this alternative mux might also be stored in the 800s giving what appear to be duplicates of identical channels.
| link to this comment |
Parsley: A couple of points that might be of interest. Firstly Chinley is a relay of Ladder Hill. A check on the reception predicted for the postcode of the relay mast shows no mention of Winter Hill, although in practice the receive aerial on a relay mast could, if necessary, be sited considerably higher than that expected for predicted reception! I also tried your postcode for radio reception. This gave Holme Moss for FM, but interestingly Sutton Coldfield was suggested for DAB.
| link to this comment |
DouggieB: Do you have anything at all (possibly Crystal Palace channels) in the other "normal" positions in the channel list?
| link to this comment |
Chris Oyitch: If you were able to receive and store the SDN channels on C29 prior to 26th September 2012, the problem is that following DSO2 at Bilsdale the PSB2 mux from there also uses C29. It is likely that you are receiving a signal from Bilsdale which is strong enough to block reception of the required Waltham mux. The solution really is either to position the Waltham aerial (if possible) where it is screaned from Bilsdale. Alternatively an aerial pointed at Emley Moor is predicted to be able to give good reception of this mux, subject of course to there being no local obstructions in the signal path.
| link to this comment |
Helen Berry: What is the make/model of the problem tvs? If they are on the list of equipment that does not support the 8k mode you will, as you suggest, require a digi box for each tv. If, on the other hand, the tvs are suitable for reception of Freeview after switchover, it could be a problem of signals having become too strong following the transmitter power increase at switchover.
| link to this comment |
Sunday 16 September 2012 10:36AM
neville.breakspear: Do you get any signal strength reading, possibly with a high BER when the aerial is set vertical? I am wondering if you are getting interference from London/12A transmitted from Zouches Farm. With the aerial set to horizontal you would lose the much weaker, unwanted signal.