All posts by Pete
Below are all of Pete's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
ONE HUGE PART OF THE TO DO LIST IS TO ENSURE THAT ALL RADIO CHANNELS WHICH ARE CURRENTLY IN STEREO ON FM 24 / 7 eg BBC RADIO 4, CONTINUE TO BE IN STEREO 24 / 7 AFTER ANALOGUE SWICH OFF.
IT WOULD ALSO BE GOOD TO HAVE OTHER RADIO CHANNELS WHICH ARE CURRENTLY BROADCAST IN STEREO ON TV, ALSO BROADCAST IN STEREO ON DAB RADIO (AFTER ALL THEY ARE "RADIO" CHANNELS NOT TV CHANNELS !!). EG BBC RADIO 4 EXTRA.
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Not much point expanding DAB when the quality is so poor after almost 15 years Radio 4 Extra is still in mono 24 hours a day the World Service is in mono and even Radio 4 is in mono most evenings such that programmes paid for by the licence fee payer made in stereo can only be heard in stereo on BBC Radio 4 FM (online on on Digital TV) for Radio 4), in the case of the World Service (programmes are in stereo from 1am to 5:20am on Radio 4 FM) but not on the World Service DAB channel and on line and Radio 4 Extra can only be heard in stereo online and on Digital TV (except in Scotland in the evenings on Freeview due to BBC Alba stealing its bits).
I am very upset at the recent removal, without any warning or notice, of
the BBC RADIO I-PLAYER from connected / Smart TVs and HUMAX boxes a few
weeks ago.
I have recently invested well over £600 over the last two years in a
connected TV, Freesat and a Humax connected TV box, not to mention the cost
of the cables (HDMI, Ethernet and optical sound cables, which are all
relatively expensive) to receive not just BBC TV i-player but particularly
the BBC Radio i-player through my TV/Freesat Box and cabled into various
recording devices, which allowed me to play radio recorded on CDs in the
car.
This service, which people are paying for out of their TV licence fee, has
been withdrawn, with no notice and with no immediate prospect (or any
prospect) of it returning. It is now just a computer / online service only,
available ONLY to people who do not pay a licence fee.
Similarly BBC THREE /BBC THREE HD is going the same way next year.
The BBC Radio i-player was in very high quality in stereo on BBC Radio 4
Extra whereas the Radio 4 Extra DAB service is always in mono as is Radio 4
DAB most evenings, such that programmes made in stereo can only be heard on
DAB in mono (e.g. The Archers). In Scotland there is no live radio on
Freeview in the evenings due to BBC ALBA, so the BBC Connected TV Radio
i-player was a must to hear BBC radio in remote locations.
I hear that the BBC are saying the uptake of the radio TV i-player was low,
but how many people have you asked? They certainly haven't asked me !!
There are many ways the BBC can save money before taking such drastic
measures. Not wasting the BBC Radio 4 budget for a year on projects run by
a former Labour MP which never see the light of day would be one. Switching
BBC TV and Radio channels off when they duplicate programmes day and night
would be another. BBC ONE broadcasts BBC NEWS almost every night on all its
platforms (including all the regional variations) when everyone can receive
BBC NEWS in HD or SD on its own channel. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts World
Service in better quality and in stereo on DAB & FM during the night whilst
the DAB version is always in mono at a very low bit rate. Not broadcasting
Wimbledon for hours when its raining would be another saving. I can't
imagine your audience on 5 red button channels and one HD channel is high
for this ?
Why also not close down Radio 4 at 1 am and all the national and local
stations that carry both BBC World Service and 5 Live overnight and save
the electricity to fund the i-player and the Alex Lester show on Radio 2
which is also facing cuts in October ? Alex is one of the best radio presenters and makes me laugh out loud and I used listen to his show on the Connected TV radio
i-player, with the option to feed my speakers into the kitchen, whilst
carrying out my household chores. All now impossible.
I do not like the computer i-player which is not connected to my devices
and is at the opposite end of my lounge.
I feel they should restore this i-player radio service immediately to people who pay for it and think about charging all those people who get BBC services for free. SKY
can encript their services on line, so why not the BBC. If this situation
continues I find it hard to accept that the BBC can justify increasing the
licence fee or even maintaining it at its current level. The irony is I
like most of what I see and hear on the BBC, I just want to retain the
services in the BEST audio and picture quality possible which is "NOT" Live
DAB which has severe capacity issues and wasn't thought through properly.
FM gives a better quality sound here most of the day (apart from perhaps
BBC Radio 3 DAB at 192 kbits/second).
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Why are the FREESAT channel numbers such a mess. Why not put all the HD channels together in a logical order similar to FREVIEW.
108 (BBC ONE HD), 109 (BBC TWO HD), 119 (ITVHD), 106 (BBC THREE HD), 107(BBC FOUR HD) and 200 (BBC NEWS HD) are hardly memorable numbers are they.
When will FREESAT be broadcasting DRAMA & REALLY if ever ?
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Nedbod
Saturday 12 July 2014 12:59PM
0 minutes ago
Why are the FREESAT channel numbers such a mess?
Why not put all the HD channels together in a logical order similar to FREEVIEW?
108 (BBC ONE HD), 109 (BBC TWO HD), 119 (ITVHD), 106 (BBC THREE HD), 107(BBC FOUR HD); 126 (CHANNEL 4 HD) and 200 (BBC NEWS HD) are hardly memorable numbers are they, with SD channels in between these numbers such as S4C and BBC ALBA which are hardly regular viewing for the majority of us.
If they need to keep the SD channels separate why not put them on 001, 002, 003, 004, 005 etc
When will the BBC English Regions be in HD. The population for the North West is greater than Wales, yet they have their national news in HD as does Scotland & NI.
When will FREESAT be broadcasting DRAMA, DAVE & REALLY if ever ?
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... and within less than two years later the BBC radio i-player has been REMOVED !! such that people paying for it cannot receive it, but people who aren't paying for it (via computers and smartphones) can get it for FREE !!!
Time to charge them and restore it to people who pay methinks !!
Ditto BBC THREE & BBC THREE HD TV which is also going to be an online service next year, despite the fact that I'm paying for it out of my TV Licence.
P.
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There is not much point expanding DAB when the quality is so poor after almost 15 years.
Radio 4 Extra is still in mono 24 hours a day on DAB as is the BBC World Service and even BBC Radio 4 DAB is in mono most evenings and other times when Sport is on 5 Live Sports Xtra, such that programmes paid for by the licence fee payer, made in stereo, can only be heard in stereo on BBC Radio 4 FM and online and on on Digital TV).
In the case of the World Service (programmes are in stereo from 1am to 5:20am on Radio 4 FM & Radio 4 DAB an Digital TV), but not on the BBC World Service's own separate DAB channel and in mono on BBC World Service online.
Radio 4 Extra can only be heard in stereo online and on Digital TV (except in Scotland in the evenings on Freeview where it is removed in the evening along with all other BBC channels, due to BBC Alba (the Gaelic channel) stealing its bits.
I am very upset at the recent removal, without any warning or notice, of the BBC RADIO I-PLAYER from connected / Smart TVs and HUMAX boxes a few
weeks ago.
I have recently invested well over ?600 over the last two years in a connected TV, Freesat and a Humax connected TV box, not to mention the cost of the cables HDMI, Ethernet and optical sound cables, which are all relatively expensive) to receive not just BBC TV i-player but particularly the BBC Radio i-player through my TV/Freesat Box and cabled into various recording devices, which allowed me to play radio recorded on CDs in the car.
This service, which people are paying for out of their TV licence fee, has been withdrawn, with no notice and with no immediate prospect (or any prospect) of it returning. It is now just a computer / online service only, available ONLY to people who do not pay a licence fee.
Similarly BBC THREE /BBC THREE HD is going the same way next year.
The BBC Radio i-player was in very high quality in stereo on BBC Radio 4
Extra whereas the Radio 4 Extra DAB service is always in mono as is Radio 4
DAB most evenings, such that programmes made in stereo can only be heard on
DAB in mono (e.g. The Archers). In Scotland there is no live radio on
Freeview in the evenings due to BBC ALBA, so the BBC Connected TV Radio
i-player was a must to hear BBC radio in remote locations.
I hear that the BBC are saying the uptake of the radio TV i-player was low,
but how many people have they asked? They certainly haven't asked me !!
There are many ways the BBC can save money before taking such drastic
measures. Not wasting the BBC Radio 4 budget for a year on projects run by
a former Labour MP which never see the light of day would be one. Switching
BBC TV and Radio channels off when they duplicate programmes day and night
would be another. BBC ONE broadcasts BBC NEWS almost every night on all its
platforms (including all the regional variations) when everyone can receive
BBC NEWS in HD or SD on its own channel. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts World
Service in better quality and in stereo on DAB & FM during the night whilst
the DAB version is always in mono at a very low bit rate. Not broadcasting
Wimbledon for hours when its raining would be another saving. I can't
imagine their audience on 5 red button channels and one HD channel is high
for this ?
Why also not close down Radio 4 at 1 am and all the national and local stations that carry both BBC World Service and 5 Live overnight and save the electricity to fund the i-player and the Alex Lester show on Radio 2 which is also facing cuts in October ? Alex is one of the best radio presenters and makes me laugh out loud and I used listen to his show on the Connected TV radio i-player, with the option to feed my speakers into the kitchen, whilst carrying out my household chores.
All now impossible.
I do not like the computer i-player which is not connected to my devices
and is at the opposite end of my lounge.
I feel they should restore this i-player radio service immediately to people who pay for it and think about charging all those people who get BBC services for free. SKY
can encript their services on line, so why not the BBC. If this situation continues I find it hard to accept that the BBC can justify increasing the licence fee or even maintaining it at its current level. The irony is I like most of what I see and hear on the BBC, I just want them to retain the services in the BEST audio and picture quality possible which is "NOT" Live DAB which has severe capacity issues and wasn't thought through properly. FM gives a better quality sound here most of the day (apart from perhaps BBC Radio 3 DAB at 192 kbits/second).
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Mary: Good luck finding the HD channels ?
BBC ONE HD ENGLAND 108 and 972
BBC ONE HD SCOTLAND and 973
BBC ONE HD WALES 976
BBC ONE HD NORTHERN IRELAND 978 (broadcasts Question Time at 11:10pm on Thurs so don't bother with any interactivity as you are wasting time and money as the programme is broadcast half an hour earlier in the rest of the UK)
BBC TWO HD (NATIONAL) 102
BBC THREE HD 106 (until Autumn 2015 when it will be online only)
BBCFOUR HD 107
ITV HD 119
CHANNEL 4 HD 126
BBC NEWS HD 200
BBC RED BUTTON HD 986 (Wimbledon only).
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The BBC RED BUTTON HD CHANNEL FREESAT 986 is only broadcast during Wimbledon at the moment.
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You cannot get any of the channels you mention above (Disney Channel, National Geographic and Discovery )on FREESAT but you can get mote ITV regions in STB mode in SD or in HD if you change your postcode to one in that region in non-STB mode.
They are there in STB mode but encripted by SKY as are ITV 2HD, 3HD, 4HD and ITV ENCORE.
Nedbod
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Wednesday 29 January 2014 10:34AM
Why are the FREESAT channel numbers such a mess. Why not put all the HD channels together in a logical order similar to FREVIEW.
108, 109, 119, 126, 147 , 148 & 212 are hardly memorable are they.
When will FREESAT be broadcasting DRAMA & REALLY if ever ?