All posts by Mike Dimmick
Below are all of Mike Dimmick's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.treherne: It's possible the broadcasters don't know that there's a problem. Go to the BBC Reception page by clicking BBC - Reception problems (BBC Reception Test, next to your first post) and report the problem. (RG47SH)
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Tara: Weather conditions can have an effect on how the signal travels between the transmitter and your aerial. However, you are close enough to the transmitter that this should not be a problem.
Often, cables stop working properly if water can accumulate in junction boxes or get into the cable itself. This tends to cause more problems for higher frequencies. Of the multiplexes, the BBC main one (Mux 1) is lower than most of the others - the ITV/C4 main multiplex (Mux 2) is at the lowest frequency, but needs more signal to work properly because of the different mode used.
If dew is collecting somewhere, it's possible that it's evaporating or draining out by 1pm.
Aerials and cables do deteriorate over time with exposure to the weather, so you probably need to get it checked.
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norm: Sky require you to take one entertainment pack, at £19.50/month, before you can have the Sky Sports subscription.
Sky Sports Pack - Live Football, Cricket, Rugby & More Sports
"£20.25 extra a month
With any basic Sky TV package" (RG47SH)
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Anthony Johnson: It looks like you're probably using the Emley Moor transmitter rather than the Sheffield transmitter.
The Emley Moor transmitter was shut down completely (excepting C5 analogue and the HD service, which come from a different aerial, I believe) this morning until about 6am. This was for some work required before DSO happens in September.
Digital UK did put a note on their Planned Engineering Works page - on Tuesday morning. That's how engineering work is now announced. The days of reserved engineering hours and announcements are long gone.
As far as on-screen warning messages go, I don't think it's possible to only put messages up on multiplex 1 and 2 for Emley Moor itself and not for the other transmitters in the region (Chesterfield, Idle, Keighley and Sheffield). Mux A, B, C and D don't have regional variations in England - the same signal is transmitted by all the English transmitters, and B, C and D by all the transmitters in the UK.
The public-service broadcasters - BBC, ITV1, C4 and C5 - have promised to run captions for two weeks before switchover, telling you that you'll need to retune.
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John Brennan: All your local transmitters have switched over. I'd be very surprised if this was a transmission problem. I suggest doing a full reset on your box or TV.
You should also check whether your box or TV is on the list of equipment that has a problem with a 'Split NIT': http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/splitnit If it does, contact the manufacturer for an upgrade.
Or do you mean that this problem occurs when you retune? I assume you're selecting channel 1 or 3 on the remote, and not a channel 800-and-something? While the first version of a channel found goes to it's preferred logical channel number, there's no guarantee what order any additional versions will show up in, and whether certain variants will show up at all, if they're quite weak.
Cheshire is between the Winter Hill transmitter near Bolton and the Moel-Y-Parc transmitter in North Wales. It's possible you have a 'region overlap' problem. Newer equipment, particularly Freeview HD-branded, should prompt to ask which region you want, if the aerial is picking up both. Even if the aerial is pointing to Winter Hill, enough signal could be picked up from Moel-Y-Parc to confuse the box when you retune it, but not enough that it always reliably picks up all multiplexes. (RG47SH)
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Peter: At that postcode, there are a couple of whacking great hills between you and the Rowridge transmitter. It isn't expected to work, now or ever.
You should get best results (both now and after switchover) from the Salisbury transmitter, for which you need a Group C/D aerial oriented vertically, with the rods pointing up-and-down. If your aerial is currently pointed at Rowridge, it is probably a Group A aerial oriented horizontally (rods going side-to-side).
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Ron, LutonFan: It sounds like there's a bug in the MHEG code that produces the 'Press Red' popup. This could either be a bug in the code that the BBC are transmitting, or a bug in the Humax MHEG interpreter.
Try turning the box off and on again - it may have cached the wrong MHEG program. If that doesn't work, try to hit the green button on your remote immediately after changing to the channel. That may cancel the attempt to show the popup. Otherwise you can only contact the BBC - try BBC Complaints - Hompage (RG47SH)
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Philip: On Freeview, Pick TV is on Multiplex C, RF channel 48/690 MHz. Your box should list it at channel number 11.
Pick TV is not available on Freesat because it is scrambled with Sky's Videoguard system. It is a free-to-view channel if you have a Sky box with a 'Freesat from Sky' viewing card, or an active subscription - it may also be available if you have a recently-expired subscription. It's at channel 152 in Sky's EPG.
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Monday 14 March 2011 6:22PM
Reading
Steve: the main power increases are over 10 dB, a 10x increase in power. It's reckoned that only 1/10th the power (-10dB) is required to serve the same area as analogue. Most transmitters, including The Wrekin, are only having a 1/5th reduction from their analogue power level (-7dB), so are twice as powerful as needed, and should actually cover a larger area than the former analogue coverage area.
Mux 2 and A have always transmitted in 64QAM 2/3. In 1998, all multiplexes used this mode - after ITV Digital failed, the regulator (ITC at the time) required a change of mode for the three re-auctioned multiplexes (B, C and D) to improve coverage. The BBC followed suit with their main multiplex, Mux 1.
The change in modulation increases the capacity of multiplexes 1, C and D by 25%, so you get more channels. The increased capacity on Mux 1 is taken by the BBC services currently on Mux B, because that changes technology and mode to provide HD services.