All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
4Gsolver:
Could you please explain as to why these Sony recorders (I own a 995) should be ' devices that do not filter out the 4G 800MHz frequencies that are therfore not Freeview friendly'(I can find nothing on the Sony website).
The problem with the recorders was, as far as I'm aware, a change to the EPG software used by broadcasters, which cuased a conflict with the internal software CountrySelector - Sony There are only about 4 test areas for 4G, and certainly none near me, so how could these have had an effect on my recorder? And why would a PVR 'filter' out 800hz interference anyway?
If you look on Brianists webpage for 4G, problems will be suffered by only a very small subset of Freeview users, and filters should work fine in most cases. The nature of peoples actual receiving equipment should make no difference.
Are you just panicking people into buy 4G filers they don't need?
| link to this comment |
paul: Do you have a booster or something similar, which might have been effected by the power loss? Or it might be something wrong with your aerial connection which has just happened at the same time as the power cut. The chances of two TV's going out at the same time is very remote.
Assuming your using Mendip, there doesn't seem to any problems with the transmitter, but if you put in your postcode, you can see what your actual transmitter should be, etc.
| link to this comment |
Lisa: It should work anyway with an HDMI, since your Panasonic machine (they are the only ones with HDD, VCR and DVD) has one on the back - give it a go!
As I said - try it Dave's way first - if it does not work, then get a splitter.
| link to this comment |
Briantist: I could not agree more with your view of PSB and what it delivers.
I was going to ask those Sky fans the question of who would lose more if the BBC was not on Sky, but trevorharris did it for me. I come to an entirely different conclusion.
Most Sky subscribers (around 70%) have access to Freeview How many Freeview, Freesat, Sky and cable homes are there in the UK? | About us | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice (here in East Anglia, Sky or Freesat was the only way to get digital TV until switchover for many, and I suspect this might have happened in other places too), although they chose to use Sky for viewing everything.
I also suspect that most watch often pretty much what most people watch on Freeview - Strictly, X factor, the Olympics, that new BBC/ITV Drama, Dr Who, CBBC, etc. In fact, I've been trying to find out what percentage of PSB the 'average' Sky subscriber actaully watches, but there is seemingly no available data - I wonder if its as small as people maintain it is?
If the BBC was no longer carried by Sky, what would happen? Apart from Sky subscribers being up in arms at not being to find BBC channels on their EPG, and the cries of the Murdoch press, would all subscribers continue with only Sky products? In many cases, I suspect not.
If the BBC disappeared from Sky, that would be the tipping point for many of my customers, who resent the cost of Sky, yet seldom use many of the extra channels on offer. Certainly a fair number have moved over to Freesat, and 70% plus of them in theory would have the immediate alternative of Freeview.
Its true that Sky have premiere films and sports, plus Game of Thrones, True Blood, Mad Men etc(although a far smaller audience than was on BBC2) - but you pay possibly a lot for that and still have to watch adverts.
I was interested to look at a thread on Mumsnet on Sky
To not understand why people pay for sky? (full thread) |
Mumsnet Discussion
. If you get a good package deal, fine, and if you really must have Dexter, Bones, etc, than thats up to you, its your money. But if your not into sport, or exclusive to Sky programmes, is it a must have? Many people on that site seemed unaware that Freesat uses exactly the same dish as Sky, and were under the impression that Sky+ was the only way to record - at £50 a month, your even in less than six months if you go to Freesat or Freeview.
For many, the bundle of phone, broadband, etc creates inertia, and so they stay Sky subscribers, but if costs rise, they have no special interest in films or sport and the services they want are not available, then they might well jump. Sky plus is no longer the only PVR in town.
The BBC brings in viewers to Sky, and to lose it would be serious for them. The BBC frankly should have stopped paying for the EPG years ago, since the power was with them, not Sky. And its interesting to note that the cost of the BBC's charges over a decade (£6m per year) would basically pay for BBC4 for a year - a channel which almost certainly makes far more original UK content than the whole of Sky.
The comparison with Ondigital does not hold water - it was a technical and commercial mess from the start, and of course BSkyB ran aggressive loss-leaders to gain market share (we wont go into the pirated cards !). Digital TV becomes a viable reality when the BBC becomes involved.
As for the Olympics, both sides came out well - Virgin/Sky got the 24 HD/SD streams and the red button, and the BBC got the extra capacity for a special event. Quid Pro Quo...
I don't love everything about the BBC and the PSB (although the 20% overspend on the new Broadcasting House is not unusual in the private sector either, and its an awkward site), but overall, it delivers generally quality stuff for a reasonable price.
| link to this comment |
Michael: You were not conned (at least I hope not - I certainly would have told you what HD Ready meant) - you bought an 'HD Ready'(panel) TV from a good manufacturer, and their flagship model for the time, as well. No TV until about 3 years ago had a T2 tuner built in. Until then, if you wanted an HD source, it had to be external (unless the TV had Freesat as well).
However, your TV has three HDMI inputs, which is perfectly standard today, so you can connect it to a HD PVR and thus have an HD picture on your HD Ready TV.
| link to this comment |
trevorharris: You sound exactly the sort of customer Sky wants to appeal to, and they heavily invested in buying the sort of things you want to see - F1, cricket & football. Ultimately, thats their USP.
As far as ITV2, 3 &4,and Five the content is exactly the same as Freeview, but obviously you get HD. Sky Atlantic is one of those channels designed to appeal to me, since I do miss Mad Men, but there you are...
If you get good value for money, thats great, but for many, are those premium sports channels enough reason to stay with Sky? Of course, for many, those BBC channels are something they use, if only to get CBBC & Cbeebies (and thus avoid Peppa Pig, which used to drive me up the wall).
On the matter of repeats, 65% is the number of repeats over the whole of the BBC throughout the whole day! In reality, all channels have to repeat content, since it would be simply uneconomic to have constantly original content, even if it was suitable.
The only figures I came up with in a very quick search were these Repeat Offenders | TVGuide Blog - which are three years old. However, Sky 1 came top (or bottom, depending on your point of view), with BBC1 actually doing much better, and of course in peak, BBC1 has very few repeats (perhaps Sherlock, etc).
Looking at daytime and early evening on Sky1 today, there is a lot of old Simpsons, Glee, SG1 and various sitcoms (levened with new episodes). I don't think anyone wants to watch endless repeats, but I understand thats everyone does it, and it may be that an empirical analysis actually throws up some surprises!
| link to this comment |
Kevin: Your booster sounds like its at the end of the chain from your aerial (next to the TV), rather than at the aerial itself. That means your boosting the signal, but also a lot of noise. When you add in your aerial is in the loft, its less than ideal.
Rob is right about signal strength - 75% is perfect, but your dealing with a mixture of geography and physics when getting a Freeview signal, so you sometimes just have to experiment. Loft aerials are even worse, and I'd suggest looking at ATV's excellent guide to aerials, particularly loft ones Loft and indoor aerial installations for TV, FM and DAB - in fact just buy your aerial from them!
Cabling can also make a difference - ATV do very quality stuff for 65p a metre (Satcure does similar stuff http://www.satcure.co.uk/…tm), and of course a good shielded aerial lead makes a big difference - again, don't go to B & Q (ripoff), when ATV does an RG6 cable for £3.
Start with the basics - take out the booster, and see what the signal strength is, then go from there.
| link to this comment |
David: I suspect the ease which which you find using an EPG depends on what your used to - if your used to Sky (which is avery good remote), then anything different will seem strange. Customers (often former Sky customers) report back that they find Humax's very easy to use, and my Sony is fine. Panasonic remotes have barely changed in the last eight years!
Much the same debate goes on about tablets - if you've got an Iphone/Ipod, then an Ipad will be very easy, but if you have an Android phone, then an Android tablet will be very familiar - which one is better depends on what you want to do, and what your used to.
I'm not going to have a long discussion of the Murdoch empire, but its important to note that the Murdoch's shareholding are voting shares, and thus have far more power than the precentage of shares would suggest - see wiki - News Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The corporate governance of the group was long see as questionable, and the dynastic way in which family members became CEO's was controversial even before the phonehacking scandal. Rupert was both CEO and chair, and James was CEO & Chair (international) and deputy chief operating officer.
| link to this comment |
Tuesday 30 July 2013 4:01PM
Paul: Since both your TV and your very reliable PVR are both showing a problem, it sounds like your aerial connection, or possibly your reception generally.
If the repair guy says your TV has a main board fault, then thats fine, but its odd that both boxes have a problem picking up a signal. Try the PVR in your neighbours house - if its fine, then you have have to wonder about your setup.