All posts by KEVIN GARDINER
Below are all of KEVIN GARDINER's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.Whether we embrace HD or not, it is here to stay.It s the format that all the creative industries are using and investing in longterm.It does have a few technical downsides but with all technology, especially electronic,where's there's gain, there'll be some loss, but the loss you get is far outweighed by the gains of the the format. like with all new technology, we get use to the old and some find the transition to new technology a nuisance and to some an un-necessary burden on thir pockets.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteFriday 9 August 2013 5:51PM
Stourbridge
I perform a re-scan my Samsung smart tv to find out if any new tv channels have come on, or have carriers transmitting prior to switch on.
After my latest re-scan, I noticed that we now have 3 new channels on standard free view i.e. travel channel on 42 and film 4+ 1 on channel 45( not transmitting yet ) and true entertainment on channel 61.However, after going through all the available channels I've noticed that there's a film 4 transmitting on channel 791. At the top of the screen it reads, Film 4 is moving .If you can see this on channel 15,please retune your free view equipment, to ensure you continue to receive this channel. This can either mean that film 4 is moving to 791, or it's a temporary placement for it till they make room for it later on, which I believe they are trying to group channels for easier navigation for the viewer. Anyone have any idea what is being planned?
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteTuesday 3 December 2013 8:11PM
Stourbridge
Can anyone explain why on multiplex channel 51, Sutton Coldfield, the new local tv channel is broadcasting two carriers, one on channel 791 and one on 792? surely if we are all to get just one local tv channel in each area, then why are they broadcasting two carriers?
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteTuesday 3 December 2013 8:15PM
Stourbridge
Just for the record, I'm getting a signal strength reading 93%for both carriers and no data bit error. I think this is rather good considering the signal is only 10kw.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteTuesday 3 December 2013 10:42PM
Stourbridge
I've just re-checked my Samsung tv digital channel tuner and it's saying that there's two carriers on frequency channel 51, which is the mulitiplex channel for local tv from Sutton Coldfield. Brierley Hill's multiplex channel for local tv service will be channel 29. Channel 29 is not yet in test transmission mode.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteFriday 6 December 2013 4:51PM
Stourbridge
A testcard for a new channel broadcasting on all platforms from December 15th , and on channel 239 freeview, has come on air today. It's a religious channel from the christain prospective called SONLIFE. Not sure if it's going to be a free to air channel, or encrypted for subscription viewers over the internet using their smart tv. We shall see.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteFriday 6 December 2013 5:21PM
Stourbridge
Thank you Briantist for you informed reply. I thought that that was the case regards to the 200 xx channel line-up on freeview.
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteMonday 9 December 2013 3:59PM
Stourbridge
I have a Samsung 32 inch freeview hd smart tv. And recently, I started to check the tv's self diagnosis in the support section. The readings I get are, signal strength for sd freeview 100% on all multiplexes and no bit rate era.However, when I checked the hd multiplex, I get a signal strength of 94%, and a bit rate variable era of between 660 and 800 bits. The signal strength remains unchanged at 94% regardless of whether the bit rate era fluctuates up or down. If I had an obstacle such as hill or building blocking the signals between my house and Sutton Coldfield, the freeview standard version channels would get bit rate era and a lower signal strength, but they are all received here perfectly. It seems to me ,that it could be the parameters by which the hd mux is using which is causing the bit rate era. To try and resolve the issue, I bought a attenuator and connected it in sequence to my tv and although it helped lower the bit rate slightly, it did not eliminate it altogether.
My set up at home is a group e rooftop antenna pointed 46 degree to Sutton Coldfield, connected straight to my television, no splitters, amps etc attached.
On conclusion, I can only think that the parameters for hd need adjusting slightly to correct the bit rate era, or by turning the transmission power up slightly , or a mixture of both. Does anyone else get perfect freeview sd reception with no bit rate era, but has bit rate era with hd ?
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Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitteTuesday 10 December 2013 11:59AM
Stourbridge
Russ Dring, this could be the cause of my bit rate era on the newly launched HD multiplex from Sutton Coldfield today. However, I'm not entirely sure that is the problem, because I got ,and still do get the same problem for the HD mux on frequency channel 40+, but the bit rate era is much worse , ranging from 660 - 800 bits. Signal strength is 94% and the erp is 200kw.
I decided to test out the HD mux signal from Brierley Hill., which is a mile or so north of where I live. All multiplexes are Erp 2kw. And again, like Sutton Coldfield, I get perfect reception of all standard Freeview muxes with no bit rate eras, but when it came to the HD I received a variable bit rate era of between 160 - 320.
Something doesn't quite add up here. If you can receive perfect reception with no bit rate eras on standard Freeview multiplexes from both transmitters regardless of output power and distance from each transmitter, then surely that indicates that I have clear line of sight too both transmitters? And if that is the case, then I can only conclude that the parameters currently being used to transmit the HD multiplexes needs altering to correct the data loss at reception, Either by increasing transmission Erp or parameters, or a mixture of both.
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Wednesday 20 June 2012 9:21PM
Stourbridge
Briantist,
I'm a keen HD freeview watcher these days after upgrading to Hd in January this year.I receive perfect reception from the Sutton cold field transmitter on both standard and HD. Over the months, i've noticed that the HD programmes were being broadcast in 1440 X 1080p/i for 99% of programme ouput, but occasionally a programme would be broadcast in the full HD standard of 1920 x 1080p/i, then the following episode being transmitted in the lower standard.this has been going on for quite a while. I can only think it was due to quality checking etc.
However, since midnight on 1St June 2012, all the multiplexes are now transmitting all HD programmes in the higher resolution 1920 X 1080p/i.