All posts by Michael Perry
Below are all of Michael Perry's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
chris:
I also live in Trowbridge and it is correct that the ITV HD service does not carry the local (HTV West) news. That's because the HD services are 'general' and carry the same programming as everywhere else in the UK. Only the SD services cater for the local news. I gather it's all abouit how muchg it costs to transmit local news in HD and to control the networking so that the correct local news gets shown.
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rob:
Your TV licence is to permit you to view live broadcasting TV. That the Government of the day decides to allocate some of the monies collected from the licence fee and general taxation to run a broadcasting serfvice for public consumption does not give you the excuse to be somewhat abusive, MikeB's politics are a matter for him alone. Please respect his many years experience in the TV industry and so does have some knowledge.
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Vic:
Here, Here. I totally agree having just moved from a rural area that can't get a reliable internet service and certainly not one that achieves 2 Mbps. Even that is too slow for modern usage just for the TV service in SD. Addin other uses (google searches, games, etc) plus Skype of VoIP and it's way too slow. Many homes have more than 1 TV set and would wnat at least the same services from the internet - and often at the same time (family with kids having TV in bedrooms, computer for homework, etc) and 2 Mbps is woefully lacking.
Plus, as you say, there are huge areas that are still 'Not Spots' for internet. And of course there is personal choice. We also have to realiused that many people in the older age range do not have an wish to have anything to do with the internet at all, so it is wrong for people to imagine that 'everyone' wants internet or digital anything.
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With there apparently being an admitted problem at Winter Hill with COM7, it would be interesting to collate the locations being affected. It is just possible that the problem could be with one or more of the aerial elements on the mast. That would affect just those areas served by those elements and not others whose receptioon is from a section unaffected by the reported fault.
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Margorie Robinson:
Would I be right in thinking that you have a SCART lead already connecting the Sky+HD box to your TV set?
If so, the alternative is to connect the the Sky+HD box to the TV set using an HDMI lead (there is no value in buying an expensive 'gold plated' one) and then connecting the VCR through the Sky box with a SCART lead between VCR and Sky box. That assumes your TV set has an HDMI input. Also note that not all equipment connected with HDMI has 'auto-switching' so you may have to manually select the correct input using your remote control so you can watch the Sky programmes and/or the VCR.
If you can give us the make and model number of your TV and VCR, we may be able to assist further.
If you can g
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Betamaxman
BBC on VHF was transmitted on channels 1 - 5, depending on where you lived. It was not called BBC1 until the start of BBC2 in 1964 on UHF. Likewise ITV was on channel 7 - 12, again depending on where you lived and hence which transmitter was serving the area. I lived in North East Surrey (now part of Greater London) and Crystal Palace had BBC1 on Channel 1 (Band 1, vision on 45 MHz and sound on 41.5 MHz) while the Sydenham Hill transmitter provided ITV on channel 9 (Band 3, vision at 194.75, sound at 191.25 MHz). Because VHF signals propogate much further than UHF, fewer transmitters were needed to serve almost the whole country and there were fewer 'not spots' that could not get TV reception.
Just thought the historical links would be interesting.
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Anthony
I don't agree with your assessment. You appear to be ignoring the many people who work shift patterns, such as medical staff, firefighters, and many other professions and occupations. These people have just as much need to watch TV programmes but can't while they are working or sleeping. So the nighttime services are often useful for them. For example, a firefighter would work a shift from 8 AM to 4 PM one week, 4 PM to 12 PM (midnight) another week and 12 midnight to 8 AM another week. Others have different shift patterns but they all have the same problem of watching TV at times when many other people are either at work or asleep.
Add to that the fact that it doesn't actually cost much to keep the servicves going overnight. The programmes already exist so no extra cost there. The transmitters are kept running as they are more efficient and reliable when left 'switched on'. Turniong them off at night is definitely not a good idea.
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Anthony
But in my experience, many of the affected people do not bother with 'catch-up' services as it is far easier and more convenient for them to simply turn on the TV. Plus it is sometimes necessary to have some form of subscription, such as SkyGo, and that's extra expense that many just do not want and cannot afford. Add to that the need to have a halfway decent internet connection to download the 'missed' programmes in a reasonable timescale, it's all extra hassle that is unwanted and actually unnecessary.
Just because a part of the population are happy with loads of gadgets doesn't mean everyone is. In my family one brother is a 'boys toys' enthusiast so has loads of electronic gadgets yet my other brother does not and is not interested - that despite the fact we all grew up with TV from the fifties (Dad worked as a senior electronics engineer for Philips Electrical). But other memebers of our family have trouble with a 'standard' TV let alone a mobile phone! So don't expect everyone to be interested in such things as 'catch up' TV.
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Anthony
What may be 'rubbish' to you may well be very interesting to others. Shift workers has every bit as much reason to watch TV during the night when they are not working as others have to watch during the day.evening. I would not be surprised if they are complaining at not getting the programmes they have missed while at work on channels that do not broadcast at night. Not everyone has the 'catch-up' facility and I know many who are just not interested. As MikeB says, record it if you can and then watch at your own convenience - you can do that without resort to the internet. The Internet and Catch-up is not the solution for everyone.
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Sunday 7 December 2014 9:30PM
Briantist:
When reading this article, I keep getting an annoying but fleeting appearance to the left of the main text area that appears to be some other page's text. It's only there for a brief moment but is enough to 'drag' the eye focus. Not sure what the cause is but it does happen on other pages. I'm not sure whther others have noticed this either.
I use W7Pro and FF34.0 or IE11 (happens on both browsers).
Any ideas?