All posts by Dale
Below are all of Dale's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Sudbury Arqiva multiplex B changes 16 November - retune require
Friday 18 November 2011 9:48AM
Ipswich
Friday 18 November 2011 9:48AM
Ipswich
Have just found out that my dad can get the channels on some boxes, but not others : he lives near me (IP2) but is a bit higher and has always had slightly better reception, and when he had his new aerial fitted they installed a mast-head amp. This has actually caused problems since DSO as the signal is now too strong on the PSB MUXes and I had to fit an attenuator in one room, but I'm guessing that it is managing to boost CH63 just enough for him to get it. Think I'll put my set booster back in the circuit and see if it changes anything ... though the industry bods on here have always said that set boosters don't help digital channels, so expecting nothing positive! Full report on this experiment later.
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Have just discovered something interesting : I have posted more details here :
www.ukfree.tv/fullstory.php?storyid=1107051928 (IP29XY)
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Sudbury Arqiva multiplex B changes 16 November - retune require
Friday 18 November 2011 10:35AM
Ipswich
Friday 18 November 2011 10:35AM
Ipswich
And here is that 'full report' :
So ... reinstated the Labgear booster that I had used for analogue for many years.
(All the information I've read from the experts here, and elsewhere, is that these old set boosters don't help with digital channels, and in fact are more likely to degrade the signal by boosting the 'noise'...)
I now have a full set of channels on ArqB on CH63 : quality 90% on my TVs and 60% on my PVR. The quality on ArqA has also improved from 50% to 100% : the full-power MUXes are still working OK, so are not now too strong.
Would you Adam & Eve it, as they say!
Don't get me wrong : clearly this change of frequency has drastically reduced power, maybe on a directional basis, even though power levels were supposedly unchanged, BUT it may be worth other people digging their old boosters out of the cupboard like I did, and giving it a go.
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Sorry : I can never paste links on this site so they work!!
Go to my 18th Nov 10.35 post on the 'Sudbury Arqiva multiplex B changes 16 November - retune required' thread. It details how I got the ArqB channels working again!
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Why has ArqB not been pushed up to 2,200 W as promised? Or has it? (in which case why all the problems?)
http://stakeholders.ofcom….pdf (IP29XY)
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Heinz : I posted elsewhere (on the Sudbury Re-tune thread) about also getting the channels back when I re-instated my old signal amp. This despite perceived wisdom on here (and other Digital TV sites/forums) being that they don't help with digital channels! A TV engineer on that thread confirmed that, in his experience, signal amps DO help marginal digital channels.
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Sudbury Arqiva multiplex B changes 16 November - retune require
Saturday 19 November 2011 7:12PM
Ipswich
Saturday 19 November 2011 7:12PM
Ipswich
alan : I find the 'help' you got from Digital UK absolutely disgusting : I'm glad I didn't make that call because I would have been unable to control my temper! This clearly shows that the big-wigs at Digital UK are taking the view that there are simply a load of moaning minnies trying to use crappy aerials around here! Since the media (TV / press) have also declined to take up this issue on our behalf, then Digital UK get away with it : my guess is that 'yes' is pretty close to the truth with his comments.
drgeoff : not knowing much about how UHF waves behave, your comments interest me, because I was starting to wonder about whether higher frequencies at the same power might 'propogate' less well. When I was first married, in the late 70s, we lived in a part of Ipswich that had notoriously poor TV reception, being low-down and surrounded by higher buildings and the railway line! There was significant ghosting but also a weak signal. However, there were marked differences between our reception of the 3 channels (yes, youngsters, just 3 in those days ...). ITV on CH41 was the strongest picture but had the most ghosting and was often difficult to watch for that reason ; BBC1 on CH51 had little ghosting but had a weak and snowy picture ; BBC2 on CH44 was the best of the 3 : some ghosting but no snow (all of this with a mast-head amp I hasten to add). Since all 3 channels were supposedly broadcast at the same power level, from Sudbury, I suspected even back then that higher frequencies didn't 'carry' as well.
Also, 3 years ago, my old group-B aerial, where I am now (an OK signal area) started to fail, and again it was the 'top end' that went first : by the time I had it replaced with my current wideband aerial, BBC 1 (CH51) was snowy and unwatchable ; C4 (CH47) was starting to sparkle ; BBC2 (CH44), ITV (CH41) and even low-power C5 (CH35) were all still fine!
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Sudbury Arqiva multiplex B changes 16 November - retune require
Sunday 20 November 2011 6:39PM
Ipswich
Sunday 20 November 2011 6:39PM
Ipswich
BBC Radio Suffolk was today carrying a news story about someone just outside Ipswich (Kesgrave) losing ArqB : Digital UK's representative informed listeners that people had been warned that they would need to re-tune on 16th Nov, and the reason they had lost channels was that they had not bothered to do so!
I have since been in touch with the station newsdesk (Steve Blower) pointing out that this was a scurrilous response, pointing him towards this forum, and making sure he realised that many people HAVE re-tuned, HAVE got new aerials, DID have all ArqB channels when it was on CH50, and now have lost them on CH63. The following is his reply :
"Dale,
Thanks very much for getting in touch with us.
I am pleased to have someone of your expertise contacting me.
I would like to return to this story in a couple of weeks.
So I will be in touch with you.
Like you everything was fine for me at home before Nov 16th.
Have you heard if they re going to do any tweaks.or will there be nothing else until next summer?
Many thanks
Steve Blower"
(I have email'ed back pointing out that I don't actually have any expertise, before anyone else points this out! I've also told him that nothing now will change until June 2012)
Clearly the fact that he himself is one of the people affected has evoked a response that is different from other parts of the media that I have contacted!
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Sudbury Arqiva multiplex B changes 16 November - retune require
Sunday 20 November 2011 8:06PM
Ipswich
Sunday 20 November 2011 8:06PM
Ipswich
Have 'listened again' to some of the Suffolk output from this morning, and apparently the Digital UK manager for this region (Megan someone?) also told the local BBC that the guy in Kesgrave (who is on the Sudbury transmitter) should get all his channels back after 23rd November - when Tacolneston completes switchover. So either :
a) There IS a further change to CH63 (Arqb) power etc next Wednesday, which is not documented, and this is a temporary state of affairs : in which case, why have they been telling people to re-tune and buy new aerials? ; or
b) She is talking out of her bottom.
Place your bets ...
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Thursday 17 November 2011 5:51PM
Digital UK has solved the problem : there isn't one!!
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So all you people, like me, who have negligently forgotten how to retune, or are using coat hangers and pretending they are a wideband aerial, and, indeed EVERYONE who uses the Sudbury transmitter and is under the illusion that a whole MUX has disappeared .... I hope you all feel as ashamed as I do. (IP29XY)