All posts by Steve Harris
Below are all of Steve Harris's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Will Local TV for the Solent, which is slated to use Channel 30, be using 64 QAM, 16 QAM or QPSK?
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Friday 5 August 2011 11:49AM
Winchester
Dear Brian,
I am associated with the campaign to bring local TV to Cities and Towns around the UK, and have been associated with the campaign for local TV for many years. I was, for a time, involved in the original analogue local TV services for Portsmouth and Southampton. So, yes, I do remember the bad old days.
Now, the government has created a major opportunity to make this long term ambition a reality, and the most recent DCMS discussion document on the subject has seen a significant improvement in many of the policies - including a guarantee of a high place on the EPG.
However, the one outstanding issue which concerns me is the issue of transmission - which is why I have finished up on your site. The government still seems committed to a top down approach, with a national MUXCO owning and administering all the frequencies and all the transmission.
Given the movement towards a bottom up aproach it seems entirely counter intuitive to stick to this one element of the Top Down model.
Your site helpfully highlights that at most transmitter locations, Ofcom has already identified frequencies which are available for local TV, and many of the local TV campaigners believe that with a real political will, even more could be found for more specifically focussed local TV. But we believe at the heart of that lies the principle that the local TV consortia, whatever form they take, should have ownership and control of their own means of production AND TRANSMISSION.
The government has a consultation process on its latest paper and this closes on September 23rd, and we are looking for support from all quarters to support a lobby to give far greater freedom and flexibility to local groups to make their own arrangements - not least because TV transmission, though a lot more complicated than radio - is not rocket science, and to continue the space analogy, does not have to cost the same as a lunar probe. Indeed, my very specific experience is that it can cost substantially less the conventional approach.
I've tried to find an e-mail for you, but have so far failed, but would be delighted to hear more from you and your followers - and above all enlist your support in this current campaign, because this is technical, and not political issue, and thus far I suspect that Jeremy Hunt has been blinded by science.
Yours,
Steve Harris