menuMENU    UK Free TV logo Archive (2002-)

 

 

Click to see updates

All posts by Dave Lindsay

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


David Jones: Ofcom should indeed have mandated that the Commercial licence holders broadcast from all transmitters. However it felt that it had no legal power to compel them to do so.

This must come down to Parliament for not ensuring that the law was not strong enough to require them to mirror the Public Service Broadcaster networks.

link to this comment
GB flag

Damian: The licence fee goes only to the BBC and, as a Public Service Broadcaster, you have access to the BBC from Newry North transmitter.

The networks that don't broadcast from Newry North operate purely for profit and can pick and choose where they transmit from.

I don't agree with anyone who says that the BBC should get less money from those who the Commercial broadcasters decided not to serve.

See here for another posting I made on this subject:

Londonderry transmitter | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice

link to this comment
GB flag

RitchieRich: A Freeview HD TV or box will allow you to receive Saorview from Holywell Hill for you will need a separate aerial.

link to this comment
GB flag

Jo Pickard: No, "Freeview Light" transmitters are never likely to be upgraded to provide all services because the Commercial broadcasters do not consider them a worthwhile investment.

The Licence fee goes exclusively to the BBC and as a Public Service Broadcaster you have access to all its channels from the St Just transmitter.

See here for a posting I wrote for a further explanation:

Londonderry transmitter | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice

The only likelihood of ever receiving the full service is if you can pick it up from another transmitter.

link to this comment
GB flag
Carnmoney Hill (Northern Ireland) DAB transmitter
Wednesday 26 December 2012 2:40PM

James Luke: Transmitter sites are owned by Arqiva.

The full complement of channels are never likely to broadcast from Carnmoney Hill and 1,000 plus small relays.

The broadcasters who hold the licences for the multiplexes that don't transmit from Carnmoney consider it not worth their while to do so. They operate purely for profit and have no "Public Service" obligation under the law.

It is therefore not down to the transmitting station owner that the Commercial broadcasters don't wish to transmit.

See here for an explanation:

Londonderry transmitter | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice

link to this comment
GB flag

les: Yes, you have to pay $ky for the dubious priviledge of using your box to record.

For satellite reception you need a separate feed (cable) from the dish to the box in order to watch one channel and record another.

From a reception point of view, Sky and Freesat are the same. Thus a Freesat PVR ("Freesat+" box) requires two cables from the dish, just as Sky+ does.

The bit on the arm of the dish to which the cables connect is the LNB. LNBs are available from sources such as eBay for around £10. If your LNB has only one port (one connection) then it can be replaced with a dual or quad and an additional cable run from it to your TV's location.

link to this comment
GB flag

K.Barrett: I think that the far more likely cause is some electrical interference that is present, whether around your aerial, around the receiver or somewhere along the aerial cable.

link to this comment
GB flag

K.Barrett: The answer to your question will come should the source of any interference be found. In general, any interference is likely to be when the noisy appliance is switched on and not all appliances are on at all times!

I don't understand your reasoning for thinking that it isn't local interference, especially as you say it happened before which makes me think that it is more likely to be and that whatever is generating it is only used at this time of year.

link to this comment
GB flag

Paul Delaney: If that is the signal strength, then it could be OTT signal strength. See:

Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice

Unless the 4G operator is broadcasting illegally on the 800MHz spectrum (which hasn't been auctioned yet), then I don't see how it might otherwise affect your reception.

link to this comment
GB flag
Feedback | Feedback
Thursday 27 December 2012 1:45PM

Ann Marie Heaton: I'm not so sure that you've done anything wrong.

The other TVs view Sky using an analogue signal that is carried along the aerial leads. The Sky box puts out the signal on a UHF channel (frequency) which is a number somewhere from 21 to 69. Thus the TVs need to be tuned to the same UHF channel that the Sky box is "transmitting" on.

There are two possibilites:

1. Change the Sky box so that it is putting out its signal on the UHF channel to which the TVs are tuned to (and to which the former Sky box used to use).

2. Change the channel to which the TVs are tuned to, so that they are tuned to the same one used by the new Sky box.


With number 2, if you retune the TVs, you might find that the UHF channel that the Sky box uses now is not suitable as there are digital (Freeview) signals present which interfere, causing the picture to be grainy. In which case you would then have to set too finding another suitable one.

If you know that the current one is fine (good picture), then I would look to using it again (number 1). Some TVs are more helpful than others. What you need to do is see if one of your TVs will tell you what UHF channel it is tuned to (on the Sky channel). A frequency in MHz can be converted to channel number, so that will do (post it here and we can say what channel to tune to).

link to this comment
GB flag