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All posts by Dave Lindsay

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

RTE One (NI)
Friday 7 December 2012 1:26PM

Alexander Atkinson: Some non-Freeview HD receivers will show Saorview pictures. For the NI Mux, a Freeview HD receiver will DEFINATELY be required.

A "Full HD" TV is one which can show HD resolutions up to 1080p, i.e. the "full" is the highest resolution. It gives no qualification to any ability to receive Freeview HD signals; this is usually indicated by a "Freeview HD" logo (and the specifications will indicate a DVB-T2 tuner in addition to a DVB-T one).


Your TV Star would be expected to receive Saorview and/or the NI Mux (if the signals are available). Confirm that it receives RT in Portglenone and Ballymoney on UHF channel 39 (618MHz) which is Black Mountain.

The reason that it doesn't receive it in Ballyclare could be to do with:

- the fact that the coverage of the Divis main Freeview signals and the NI Mux from Black Mountain aren't exactly the same.

- or perhaps the signal is weaker and/or perhaps the Group A aerial isn't sufficient at that location to bring in C39.

- or if you have a second aerial pointing to one of the transmitters in the Republic and this is connected to the downlead, then this might be the issue.

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Connecting it all up | Installing
Friday 7 December 2012 8:44PM

Geoff Stone: No.

Freeview uses a terrestrial aerial and Freesat uses a satellite dish.

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Carl: Log periodics don't have a reflector. Is it one of those?

Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial

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Deb: It does not help spreading misinformation. The article says that "Estimates suggest that between 2.3m and 3m households within 2km of 4G transmitters - face interference with their television pictures, with some losing their signals entirely."

This does not say that all those who live within 2km of 4G transmitter will be affected.

The link does not explain Christine's problem unless you are suggesting that a 4G operator is acting illegally by broadcasting on the 800MHz frequencies which are those that will affect TV reception. These have not been auction off yet and so should be silent.

EE has been allowed to run its 4G network using some of its 1800MHz allocation which is what it uses for GSM/2G services.

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Lesley: Pendle Forest uses only Group A channels, therefore if you use a yagi-type aerial, then a Group A is best as widebands don't have as good a gain on A channels and are less directional.

Yagi aerials are the most common and have a reflector on the back:

Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial

Log periodics don't have a reflector and are wideband but are much more equally sensitive on all channels.


In an area where no transmitter provides a great signal, what is used and what is available can vary house by house.

Looking around your area on Streetview, most aerials appear to be on Pendle Forest with a few on Skipton, some house having one of each.

Winter Hill is only about 20 degrees anti-clockwise of Pendle Forest and aerials will be horizontal, whereas for Pendle and Skipton they are vertical.

For some reason, Digital UK "thinks" that all but one of Winter Hill's channels isn't good at your location. This, of course, doesn't mean that they are as such systems can never be accurate and should be taken with a pinch of salt.

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Phil Simmons: Because they are the only channels that Arfon broadcasts.

The Commercial network operators don't wish to invest in Arfon and many other smaller relays.

See:

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

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Feedback | Feedback
Sunday 9 December 2012 11:41PM

Michael O'Grady: Unfortunately not.

The Commercial (COM) channels, which are those that are at 2kW from Brougher Mountain, aren't available to all who can receive Freeview. See here for an explanation:

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

In most cases, where COM channels are lower power they are at half power to the PSBs (those that are at 20kW).

The only thing I can say is that Brougher Mountain uses only Group A channels and so you should use a Group A aerial if it is a yagi type.

The reason for the severe restriction is down to Divis' PSBs being co-channel with Brougher's COMs. The PSBs have (in theory) as good a coverage as the former four-channel analogue and the COMs fit in around them.

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Wye (Kent, England) DAB transmitter
Monday 10 December 2012 10:35AM

Jim Ballantyne: I think that it is safe to say that when the Kent network was planned (as with any transmitter network) that there were computer-generated coverage maps which would take account of the terrain. So the operator will know where it is and isn't available.

Presumably, the decision "not" to broadcast from a particular transmitting station which might be expected to fill a gap was a cost/benefit one. That is, how many extra listeners are they going to get for the cost of the transmitter and therefore what is the cost per listener?

I imagine that the number of listeners used for such calculations would be those who are *not* served by other transmitters who would be by this one (rather than all who would be served by the transmitter).

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