All posts by George Buchanan
Below are all of George Buchanan's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
No - of course not. It had been blank when decrypted, but now it's not - but 'jerky. That is, the video stream seems to freeze momentarily before resuming at point some milliseconds later. The audio seems unaffected. It has been like this since it's been visible and 'unblanked'.
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Looks like there's more than just me who's going to miss out on Channel 4 HD because of the method of transmission. It seems odd that reception of C4 HD requires a greater degree of accuracy in dish alignment than normal. My installation was by a commercial installer company so I'm not sure if there can be any solution to this issue. Smack for Channel 4 for this.
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Same here - I get the Eurobird transmissions too but none of the others I get are HD. Something is amiss though, because I receive all the other free HD transmissions but maybe that's because all are on Astra. I would hope the professional dish alignment would be accurate, not least because they use professional grade equipment. Maybe I'm too far north.
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Mike Dimmick: Hard to see much detail from such a small map. I'm in the Western Highlands, near Glencoe, which I wouldn't include as being in SW Scotland. If this is the problem, my remark about C4 being due a smack stands! Presumably, they chose the method of delivery and should have considered the UK as a whole as they are a UK wide broadcaster.
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Mike Dimmick: I found a more detailed zoomable Google map of the footprint on a site called Satbeams which shows that I am within the main footprint of Eurobird 1. Presumably, this indicates my normal dish size is indeed adequate. Must be something else causing the stuttering video on C4 HD.
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David: Indeed. Maybe some of the expert contributors to this forum can suggest likely reasons. If it is the skew, then the point about C4 using a peculiarly fussy set up seems valid because no other station that I view display anything similar.
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NottsUK: If you are right, then the point about a 'fussy' delivery method still seems valid because some viewers will have to investigate their installations (probably at some expense) just for a single channel. Is C4 HD on the Freesat EPG yet? If it is, and 99% are not experiencing problems, then some of us are just unlucky regarding our set up and will need to decide if a single channel is worth the hassle and expense of receiving it.
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NottsUK: The signal info of the transponder at frequency 10607 V symbol rate 27500, which is from where C4 HD is transmitted I believe, is 70% and the quality is 68%. BBC HD is 68% strength and 88% quality. The quality on C4 HD is plainly lower than that of BBC1 HD but quality is greater than your figures, which would seem to suggest the problem lies elsewhere. Maybe not. But the point remains about C4 choosing this delivery method that will cause trouble for some. I don't expect the aerial installers will do anything about it, even under warranty.
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NottsUK: Yes, time will tell, I suppose, if my experience is fairly isolated or widespread. Right now, I'm not willing to pay to have the dish checked just for one channel, most of which is not HD anyway. I might try phoning the installers but I'm not optimistic as those who deal with the calls have no idea about the technicalities of this and they are encouraged to bounce as many calls as possible. Oh well...
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Friday 25 March 2011 10:21AM
I just got C4 HD (usually encrypted). It's been a blank screen for me so far. But it's very jerky.