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All posts by Michael Rogers

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

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Digital radio section | Digital radio
Thursday 8 September 2011 9:12AM

Tracy, if its urgent, this company includes DAB and is well established :- A.T.V (Aerials And Television) TV Aerial, DAB Aerial, FM Aerial.


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M
Mendip (Somerset, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 14 September 2011 10:08AM

Some Mendip data appears to be out-of-date and hence confusing. Could somebody double-check and tabulate what is definitely to happen 28 Sep and therafter, eg dates x-axis, muxes y-axis, channels in boxes. Many thanks!

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Fred, apart from regional news, very few programmes are different in South Wales, so unless you want SouthWest news, there would be little advantage in changing from the strong Kilvey Hill signal. If you have a clear view south, you might be able to receive Huntshaw Cross on channels 62,59,56,55(HD),52 and 48. You might note fluctuations due to the Bristol Channel rise and fall and due to 56,52,48 being weaker. You would need a CD-group high-gain aerial, horizontally polarised.

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Still not sure... Ofcom and DUK seem to have conflicting projections, maybe because not synchronising updates? Does 67 move to 52 or 56? Do Arqiva A and B swap? Where will 61 move to when 800MHz clearance proceeds? It was earlier suggested that general changes would be 62>50, 61>49, 50>40, 49>39. Outdated now? Viewers with manual retune or "intelligent" automatic retune will probably manage. I wonder if there will be an increase in postings on this page...

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M
Kilvey Hill (Swansea, Wales) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 28 September 2011 10:42AM

Blyth, if you are still having trouble receiving Kilvey Hill, the problem must be
in your installation. Reception across the water is near 100%, both signal strenght and quality on an indoor aerial!

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You many now have "too much" signal. Remove any aerial boosters. Use male-to-male coax connectors for shortest run directly from aerial to nearest digibox or receiver. If no signal, do a factory retune, manually by channel if possible. If joy, you have too much signal. Permanently remove booster amplifiers. Consider fiting new sat-grade coax. If inaccessible masttop booster : take great care or consult a professional rigger. If you have a reasonable view from an upstairs window in the direction of the Mendip mast, try pointing a temporary aerial out the window to ascertain whether you have a strong signal or not. If only ch67 remains elusive, see issues relating to its temporarily higher frequency on this page. Confer with neighbours to see if they are similarly affected.

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Check the list below of BBC medium-wave transmitters to be retained. Most will be closed. If BBC FM or DAB local radio is not reliable on a portable or incar radio, in most cases the MW option be lost and a rooftop aerial, satellite or online will be the only remaining options - but not for a portable radio. The "protected" transmitter list is interesting. Might it be intended to provide a public service network in the event of a national emergency?
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"Delivering Quality First / Public consultation
Medium Wave transmission for BBC services would end in areas of England where coverage duplicates FM. Subject to further technical analysis, across the UK the stations which BBC management would expect to continue to transmit in Medium Wave include Radio 5 Live, BBC Asian Network, BBC
Radio Jersey, BBC Radio Guernsey, BBC Gloucester, BBC Derby, Radio Scotland, Radio Wales and Radio Ulster/Foyle

Bearing in mind our ambition to increase thedistinctiveness of BBC services and serve all audiences, and in light of the need to make savings, we would like your views on the
proposals affecting the BBCs programmes and services made specifically for audiences in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the regions of England outlined above."


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Any info on the nature of the engineering works at Ilfracombe (and Combe Martin) masts this week? ERP increase? HD? DAB? FM? G3,G4 mobile?

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A forum such as this lives by exchanging different viewpoints. Unfortunately, deciders take no notice of the good ideas put forward here. I recommend contributing to the DQF consultation in constructive terms. Writing to MPs might also help. Of course, we might end up cancelling out each others opinions, but such is democracy!

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DQF consultation - The section on MW switch-off where FM is deemed to provide cover interestingly omits reference to DAB. One might wonder why. There are areas, in valleys or remote or low-lying, where FM and DAB signals are unreliable or not available. Due to cost, topography or complexity, satellite or internet radio are not an option for many. There are also issues of portable or mobile reception. Many are used to having a number of easy to operate, cheap and battery-powered radios around the house. Being tied to the TV, PC or hifi-system is not exactly progress for local radio listening. The local press should be made aware of these issues, so that those who might lose their local radio station are forewarned and can write to the BBC and their MP to claim the right to MW local radio if FM or DAB are not available or reliable. I also hope there is a viable plan for MW coverage nationwide in the event of a national emergency including significant failure of digital networks.

If the BBC were open as to where costs could be saved, we all see many alternatives, such as presenters, overpaid "celebrities", top echelons, night-time duplication etc. Although the BBC World Service is not as outstanding as once it was, it is not an organ of government and renders an invaluable service to the world, where relatively objective information is ever harder to access. It used to be denied to UK listeners - at least we now have it on DAB (alongside a lot of duplicated commercial stations; but that is another story).

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