All posts by John Robinson
Below are all of John Robinson's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Sorry, Ally Pally wasn't transmitting those channels and still isn't, so you must have been and can continue to get them from elsewhere.
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J redgrove: Well, it wasn't my idea in the first place, but in my opinion it's an excellent idea.
For at least 90% of the population, the picture they get (post switchover) on the original five channels is better than they could get on analogue. For the other 10%, the loss is only in slight pixellation in high-motion sequences and a slight loss of colour depth. I think it's a fair trade (even though I was one of the lucky 10%).
For 100% of the population, the audio as broadcast is technically at least equivalent and often superior.
There are also more channels, catering to different preferences, and while everybody will think some of the extra channels are a waste of time, which those are will vary between individuals. The motion pixellation is worse and sound quality poorer on many of the extra channels, but that's a different argument: I think it would be unreasonable to compare the quality of the extra channels to the original analogue channels because it's an apples vs onions comparison.
We've also now got HD, and though there's a whole other argument there about the D not being H enough yet, it's a good start.
Overall, I think the benefits (better picture for most people, more channels and HD) massively outweigh the drawbacks (which are modest and only affect 10% of viewers).
If your picture is breaking up - stuttering, freezing - you probably have a reception problem, and if your audio is substandard, you probably have a substandard receiver. I don't think either of these is the fault of the transmission system.
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My shiny new Humax HDR-Fox T2 PVR won't pick the right frequencies when I do an auto-tune. I'm getting signals from Craigkelly (which I want), Black Hill and Angus. The Craigkelly ones are easily the strongest (~80% vs ~45% from Black Hill and ~30% from Angus).
When I allow a full automatic search to complete, so the box has picked up channels from Craigkelly, Black Hill and Angus transmitters, I am told that "Multiple Regions detected". There's an inset box which says "Scotland, GBR", and below that there's a menu for Central Scotland or North Scotland. The box always picks the channels which come from the Angus transmitter (and must therefore be the North channels), whichever option I pick. This is unfortunate, as they are the weakest and some channels (particularly the HD ones) break up.
When I do an automatic search but stop at channel 46 - i.e. after the box has scanned all the frequencies transmitted from Craigkelly, and already having picked some up from Black Hill, but not yet reached any of those from Angus - I am again offered a choice of region, with the inset box saying "Central Scotland, Scotland, GBR", but this time there are no menu items. I press OK to continue, and again the box chooses the weaker signals from Black Hill over the strong ones from Craigkelly.
Am I right in thinking that I should be being offered a choice of West and East - for example, STV has slightly different outputs on the Black Hill and Craigkelly transmitters (mostly just the local news programme, and of course the adverts).
Even if it is just Central, I think the box should be picking the strongest signal over the weaker ones.
Overall, I think there is a bug in the region selection feature on the box. I've reported this to Humax and I'm waiting for a response, but I don't expect much - when I called about it, they emailed me telling me to tune manually. I don't want to tune manually, in case there are programme or frequency changes, and I definitely don't want to recommend this box to my mum if it has to be tuned manually (she lives round the corner).
Is there anything I can do? Use an attenuator so the extra signals disappear? Get a more directional aerial? (Though this isn't going to stop me getting signals from Angus, the difference from us is about 3°).
Many thanks in advance for any ideas.
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Dave Lindsay: Yes I know I can do a partial scan and use manual tuning, but I don't want to. If the programme line-up changes, or the frequencies change, I want the box to tell me and retune itself.
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Hi Brian, re what Stephen P said - me too. First at 5:15am, then every hour from 9:03am, with the same three new stories. I'm guessing there's a glitch somewhere.
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J
3 days of analogue to go - goodbye to NICAM 728 | SwitchoversSunday 21 October 2012 3:08PM
Edinburgh
I'm still surprised you say it was very rare to find NICAM VCRs; both my VCRs (early 90s JVC, late 90s Sony) decode NICAM. Both will also record stereo from the SCART input. Both play stereo out through the SCART and phono outputs. The Sony has Dolby NR too.
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J
2 days left of analogue television - goodbye teletext | SwitchoMonday 22 October 2012 2:59PM
Edinburgh
I remember Ceefax well. I had some of my software published by the Telesoftware service, and I have a Telesoftware polo shirt somewhere. It's too small now though.
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J
2 days left of analogue television - goodbye teletext | SwitchoMonday 12 November 2012 2:26PM
Edinburgh
Umm... I very much doubt there are any HD services using it since they will be digitally transmitted, as are all the UK's TV services. There might still be analogue services from Astra 19.2°E intended for elsewhere in Europe or Africa that have teletext subtitles though...
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J
Ten more HD channels on two new Freeview HD multiplexes on air Monday 26 November 2012 2:29PM
Edinburgh
KMJ: So the Lords would go for "all TV viewing should be on-line, with the entire UHF band given over for mobile broadband"? If people had to go online to get TV, they'd need all that mobile broadband and much, much more to get enough bandwidth - and people who currently pay only a TV licence would find they had to pay at least the same again for the broadband. I can't see that one going down well. Those Lords are crazy.
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Wednesday 18 April 2012 10:33AM
fatima redwan: Alexandra Palace wasn't transmitting those channels at all up until 4 April, but now it is. If you were getting those channels before, then you must have been getting them from another transmitter. If you haven't already, you need to retune your set-top box or TV, see My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound or the channel line up is wrong | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice and Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
And no, it's not a con to get people to pay for satellite. Quite the opposite, part of the point of switchover is to get more channels to more people.