All posts by Michael Perry
Below are all of Michael Perry's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
David et al:
FTTC is fibre to the cabinet, FTTH is fibre to the home and FTTP is fibre to the premises.
FTTC is being rolled out by BT, and others, as a means if getting faster broadband services to home via a roadside cabinet. That can be fairly close or may be a mile or more away from the subscriber's home, the last link being done in copper pairs as is the 'traditional' landline.
FTTH is where the fibre is laid by the provider into the home, terminating is a mast connection that contains the electronics needed to recover the data signals from the light in the fibre and convert it into an electronic data stream. The 'box' is a modem designed for that purpose.
FTTP is a commercial project involving BT but other operators are also laying such services. The fibre is run right into the 'premises', which may be a factory, office block, a housing block (such as flats) or commercial premises.
In terms of benefits, FTTC usually shortens the copper length so increases the potential speed deliverable, but much still depends on copper line length and quality. FTTH means there is no copper used at all until the connection converts from fibre to internal telephone wiring and broadband modem/router, so it has considerable potential for fast broadband. FTTP can be expensive as high capacity fibre is brought into the building and signals distributed as required.
As for costs, FTTC is usually cheaper by contract but is quite costly to install because of the cabinets and equipment inside them. FTTP is usually charged at a higher rate as it is felt that those wanting the faster service are prepared to pay more for it. FTTH is again charged at a higher rate but less than FTTP as it's largely, but not exclusively, aimed at the SOHO market, etc.
Does that help clarify?
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Sorry, a few spelling errors crept in.
FTTH arrives at a master connection, not a mast.
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Wayne:
Further to what Neil has said, if you want to record Freeview or FreeSat and your receiver has a SCART socket the Freeview or FreeSat receiver may output the selected programme's audio and video via the scart. That can then be fed to the SCART input of your recorder - assuming it has one.
It would help if you told us the make and model of the 'hard drive recorder' you mention as they vary considerably. It would also help if you tell us what Freeview and/or FreeSat receiver you have, then we can look up the relevant technical data.
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Malcolm, et al:
You can get BT Sports if you have a Sky service, BT can enable the BT Sports service with a simple phone call. That would be provided via the satellites used by Sky.
Or you need a broadband package that is capable of at least 5.6 Mbps download speed (not sync speed) with no limit to the amount that can be downloaded (speed requirement based on details provided bt BT). Infinity from BT can deliver those speeds but not all ADSL services can.
The other alternative is via a Freeview transmitter, but I understand that only 'full service' transmitters can provide the signal and the smaller 'PSB only' transmitters do not have the capability.
The 'support' people at the Indian call centre are only 'trained' on BT Internet or BT Telephone services and are not good at that either in my opinion (as a qualified electronics engineer of 50 years experience!), so they will not know anything about which TV transmitters provide BT Sports.
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To all who are getting intermittent loss of signal on Sky with a message about unplugging, etc.
It is worth waiting for several minutes before trying anything as there are not infrequent loss up the uplink signals to the satellite so none to beam down to us. Worth changing programme to see if others are also affected. For example, tonight we lost Alibi for some 10 minutes - but BBC1 was fine all that time. The signal returned with us doing nothing.
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Thomas
You need to use a coaxial splitter, that has 1 input and 2 or more outputs. The input is fed from the source, you aerial if you are using Freeview and all TVs have built in Freeview reception or the output from you Set Top Box (which could be Freeview, Freesat or Sky) if that is what you use. The outputs should be connected separately to each TV that you want to use.
Be careful not to amplify the signal too much if your current reception is OK, the best splitters are powered to overcome inherent losses but the amplification can cause the signal to be too strong and result in loss of programmes, etc. But if your signal is already very strong, you may (?) get away with an unpowered splitter - but they rarely come in more than 2-way splits. And a cable must be plugged into every outlet and feed into a TV set else it will not work properly (impedance matching demands that).
You don't give either a location post code nor details of the equipment you have so it is difficult to be more specific.
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Michael Flynn
So you either have a Sky box or a Freesat box? To my certain knowledge there is no interruption of transmissions on a regular basis of the programmes giving you problems. Have you checked with your neighbours who use the Sky services whether they have the same sort of problems? If they don't then it is likely to be some problem with your equipment.
Incidentally, the 28.2 figure is not a frequency but an orbital position, that is to say the place in space where the Astra satellites are positioned and that is directly above an African state on the Equator.
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Darren:
You could try a 'hard reset'. To do this switch the box off using either the remote or the on/off button on the box. Then unplug the mains supply to the box at the wall socket. Wait 5 minutes and then plug in again at the wall socket, switch on the box and wait for it to acquire the services again, that could take a few minutes. Then check the channel information again.
Hope that helps?
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I note with dismay that Wiltshire, where I live, will not have any new DAB transmitters so large parts of the county will remain with poor or no service still.
As far as new cars being fitted with DAB radios 'as standard', I believe this to be an error in how the research was conducted. Many new cars have several options of trim and equipment levels and some may offer an optional DAB radio in some trim packs - but very few actually offer it as 'standard equipment' on all models and trim levels. It may well be that some 40% of cars offered for sale have an option to have a DAB radio as part of a trim pack.
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Thursday 10 October 2013 9:56PM
john, et al:
I used to be Senior Engineer for a very large TV rental firm in their Oadby centre, which is not far from Wigston, and we covered the whole if Leicestershire. The reception from Waltham was normally pretty good as far as Coalville and Whitwick at least, and gives East Midlands services. Sutton Coldfield was variable in the west of the county, depending on exact location, and very poor around Leicester and unusable further east. Plus it gives West Midlands services which is not always what viewers want.