All posts by Mike Dimmick
Below are all of Mike Dimmick's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Sarah: Do first check that the receiver window on the TV is clean and that there isn't anything blocking the path from the remote to the receiver. It can often be as simple as that.
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Andy Thomson: It sounds like your TV has an automatic retune function. Check in the manual to see if there's a way to turn this off. Then, as Mazbar says, tune in manually.
Also, talk to LG about whether they will make an update available that allows you to select the region you want to use. Newer equipment is now doing this.
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oldpaul100: At present there are no new services carried after DSO that did not already transmit before DSO.
Although the BBC A, Arqiva A and B multiplexes do have more capacity after switchover than their pre-DSO equivalents, the same amount of SD capacity is lost by converting BBC B to DVB-T2 for HD broadcasts. 24Mbps gained, 24Mbps lost. The additional capacity on the Arqiva multiplexes after DSO is being matched by the BBC *before* DSO from the spare capacity on Multiplex B, after they closed all the services that won't fit onto post-DSO BBC A.
So far that's only Sky Sports 1 and 2, which you won't see above as they're encrypted (this site only shows free-to-air channels). The matched capacity on Arqiva A isn't yet in use, because some transmitters have switched over and converted Mux B to HD, but haven't yet converted Mux C to the higher-capacity mode (e.g. Sandy Heath, where this won't happen until 14 September, and Mendip on 28 September).
In terms of what goes where:
BBC Four, CBeebies, BBC Parliament and the BBC radio stations move from Mux B to BBC A at DSO 1 - for the two weeks between step one and step two, they are carried on both multiplexes;
Sky Sports 1 and 2 move from Mux B to Arqiva B.
Brian will update this page at each stage of DSO. For example, the Sheffield and Chesterfield pages both already show PSB1/BBCA in place of Mux 1, with all the BBC channels.
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hayley: yes, it will still receive channels. It basically becomes a 'Freesat-from-Sky' service. You can compare the channels on each free service at Compare Freesat and Freesat-from-Sky TV | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
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Kim: Digital UK's engineering works information is showing that works are planned at Crystal Palace this week, with occasional service interruptions. That said, I (in Caversham) am not having problems right now.
Check whether analogue is clear, or at least no more snowy than usual. If it is worse than normal, check that the aerial and cables are intact and that the cables are properly connected. If you're using a distribution amplifier, check whether the power supply is working.
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Ian: It's all about what is achievable from the existing main transmitter network. That leads to some weird locations. Burnley, pop. 73,000, because it's off the existing 6-mux Pendle Forest transmitter; Mold, pop. 9,568, from Moel-Y-Parc, being the only town that could be covered. I can't see a town of < 10,000 people having a viable TV service!
In fact I can't even tell why Pendle Forest was included in the original 81 DTT sites, as it doesn't really cover any major population centre not served by Winter Hill. It was quite powerful pre-DSO, actually no power increase on the first four muxes at DSO; perhaps it filled a hole in the original Winter Hill coverage, before the equalization programme of 2000?
Again, Cambridge and Norwich are proposed locations. The south and east edges of the country are hard to serve anyway with overseas co-ordination required, Ipswich is likely too far from Sudbury and the transmission would head out toward Belgium and the Netherlands rather than being contained.
The mucking about with many DSO steps at Waltham, Sandy Heath and Sudbury indicates what a problem the terrain of eastern England is. It just may not be possible to find a free channel providing enough space for a Derby service off Waltham. Using relays has obviously gone in the 'too expensive' bucket.
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'Me': ITV1 +1 and ITV1 HD broadcast on macro-regions only. The whole of Wales, West and Westcountry is one macro-region, and ITV plc have decided to use the Wales regional output as the service for this macro-region.
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Lawrence: It's probable that you now have too much signal. Try turning down the booster, or replacing it with a passive, unamplified splitter.
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Trust me, Reading does not have a population of 800k. 250k if you include the whole conurbation, about 150k in the borough boundaries. The whole point is that it is a local service, otherwise you might as well do a single service from Hannington for Reading and Basingstoke rather than Ofcom's 'petal' idea.
The coverage map looks fine to me - little spotty in Woodley (south-east of town centre) and Tilehurst (west Reading). I'm surprised they think the coverage in Caversham (north of the Thames) is that good, considering that is where the Hemdean relay is.
Actually I'm a bit surprised Hemdean isn't included, considering that C51 would be in-group for that relay as well. Perhaps it would interfere with the Basingstoke petal. Or perhaps Arqiva just don't want to run a line feed for it (there's too much reprocessing delay to do an off-air SFN even with a 1/4 guard interval).
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Tuesday 9 August 2011 6:38PM
Ian: The government decided to release one-quarter of the frequency spectrum used for analogue. Ofcom decided they didn't have the power to force the three commercial operators to transmit from any new sites. I disagree, but there you are.
Ofcom are currently running a consultation on extending the duration of the Mux C and D licences, see Ofcom | Television Multiplex Licence Renewals . You have until the 18th of August to respond. Unfortunately they've already issued a new licence for Mux A.
Digital UK's predictor reckons you have a reasonable chance of getting the commercial multiplexes by pointing an aerial over the Pennines to Emley Moor, starting some time next year. Again, not too sure about that!