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All posts by Mark Fletcher

Below are all of Mark Fletcher's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.

M
Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 23 November 2011 12:21AM
Halifax

Tim C.Thank you very much for filling me in and every other Tacolneston freeview viewers,as far as analogue closedown on the old Taccy mast is concerned.The next stage now turns to the low powered pre-digital Mux's 2,A,B,C,D which here too are due for switch off on Taccy's old mast.On the new mast very soon the new high powered mux's SDN on fr 42,ArqA on fr 45,ArqB on fr 50,D3+4 on fr 59,BBCB (HD) on fr 62 will soon all be gradually turned on,joining BBCA on fr 55 that was already switched on 2 weeks earlier on the new Taccy mast.

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M
Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 23 November 2011 12:29AM
Halifax

Also by the way let me apologise for getting my predictions that i posted on Tue 22 Nov 2011,6:22pm somewhat incorrect.Only my forecast of BBC1 analogue going first and Channel 4 analogue going third or second last (penultimate) were correct,the rest were wrong such as the timings,Sorry folks !

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M
Belmont (Lincolnshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 23 November 2011 12:48AM
Halifax

In relation to the current understrength 4kw mux's ArqA on fr 53 and ArqB on fr 60 from Belmont which is scheduled to increase in power 25 times to 100kw (each) today Wednesday 23 November 2011 probably between 2am and 6am,while i'm texting this analogue transmissions from the old Tacolneston mast ceased completely at around 12:06am (0006) (Channel 5 had the honours there of being the last analogue station switched off) and presently the new higher powered mux's on the new Tacolneston transmitter are in process of gradually being switched on.Any Belmont viewers awaiting the expected ArqA & ArqB power increases due anytime soon have not long to wait !

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M
Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 23 November 2011 12:55AM
Halifax

Tim C.I take that as a compliment.By the way does your digibox have a manual scan facility as well as an automatic one.Try manual scan if yer can.

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M
Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 23 November 2011 1:36AM
Halifax

John Ramsbottom.Thanks for yer kind words of wisdom,although i'm not a professional in relation to mostly freeview,TV,aerials,etc,just an amateur myself with some knowledge in what i described above,i have considerably learned a lot through this website and a few others and basically to the best of my capabilities pass on some useful advice to many others on this website.I do have some experience on TV aerials having toyed around with them since i was a wee kid,getting the best position for TV reception,getting the connections right,fixing and repairing aerials,what aerial groups they belong,etc,(i'm not in the aerial fitting trade i must stress myself) apart from that,i'm also a wee bit of an anorak myself too.Hopefully the transition from analogue/low powered pre-digital to high powered digital only TV from the old Taccy mast to the new Tacolneston transmitter runs much more smoothly here than in neighbouring Sudbury transmitter region centred mainly in Suffolk,Essex,etc,where there are still rumblings of discontent amongst their freeview users still going on,and due to further switchovers in the early part of 2012 namely in Crystal Palace,Bluebell Hill,Dover,Hannington,Heathfield,Rowridge to name a few,some Sudbury viewers until those masts that i had just mentioned above complete DSO will have to put up with low powered SDN,ArqA and more so ArqB mux's until at least Wed 27 June 2012 when their understrength commercial multiplexes i described finally goes to full power 100kw (each) by then and not before.

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M
Belmont (Lincolnshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 23 November 2011 2:15AM
Halifax

Belmont's ArqB mux on fr 60 has had its power recently increased.However at present with my indoor set-top aerial and the signal booster/amplifier turned on it is displaying up to 99% signal quality and 69% strength,plus slightly more elevated than its previous position.Occasion pixellation at present.However if i turn off the signal booster and plug the antenna back into the set-top box i receive no signal as such from ArqB on fr 60 at Belmont.Still no sign of Belmont's ArqA on fr 53 increasing in power just yet.

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M
Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 23 November 2011 2:20AM
Halifax

John,Bury St Edmunds.Try resetting yer appliance and if it allows you manually scan the Tacolneston frequencies instead.These being fr's 42,45,50,55,59,62.

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M
Belmont (Lincolnshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 23 November 2011 2:53AM
Halifax

Update.Now returned the aerial back in its original position still with amplifier on but less pixellation as such on ArqB fr 60 from Belmont.Without signal booster when plugged back into set-top box (ArqB fr 60) still occasional "No signal" mode to occasional signals with heavy break ups and pixellations but an improvement from my earlier text.Still no ArqA from Belmont on fr 53 at this moment in time.

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M
Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 23 November 2011 3:05AM
Halifax

John Ramsbottom.If yer receiving the Thetford relay on vertical polarisation then it is true only three mux's BBCA,D3+4,BBCB (HD) will only ever be transmitted as such.Are there any households in Thetford itself whose antennas are horizontally polarised directly receiving transmissions from Tacolneston itself.Unfortunately i'm off to bed very soon,but i am pleased that in Tacolneston region itself the switchover ran smoothly with few problems as such.Goodnight and happy viewing !

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M
Belmont (Lincolnshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 23 November 2011 5:10PM
Halifax

Update from my earlier posts in relation to the power up of ArqA (fr 53) and ArqB (fr 60) from Belmont.Although in Emley Moor territory myself,location 3/HX2 9JY,the results are very similar to my previous texts,still i'm performing my tests in relation to ArqB.Re-elevated my indoor set-top aerial 12 inches higher from my original location roughly 13 feet off the ground,and with the amplifier turned on (this time) the ArqB signal from Belmont is more or less stabilised on 99% quality & 69% strength,only pixellations and occasional break ups into "No signal mode" that i documented on earlier are rare.However,turn off my amplifier and replug antenna back into set-top box the ArqB signal from Belmont pixellates,breaks up and re/disappears to "No signal" mode,both at its higher antenna elevation and at my original level 12 inches lower (12 feet off the ground).Unfortunately still at present still no ArqA signal on frequency 53 from Belmont,whether the amplifier is on,or off and the latter plugged back directly into my set-top box again.For the rest of Belmont itself,i am still able to receive BBCA (fr 22),D3+4 (fr 25),SDN (fr 30) (no BBCB (HD,fr 28) though non-HD box) via my very same indoor set-top aerial plugged in directly in the back of my digibox without the need to amplify these signals as such,and for now i use Emley Moor's ArqA (fr 52) & ArqB (fr 48) mux's just as before.I will still conduct manual scanning tests now and again especially the ArqA and ArqB mux's from Belmont to monitor the situation as such.

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