All posts by Charles Stuart
Below are all of Charles Stuart's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
@ Steve Tames - I've never had any trouble with DAB on the M3, or with FM, though I haven't listened to FM for ages. The areas where I'd like to see improvements are to DAB coverage on the A36 Warminster Bypass and the B390 that cuts across Salisbury Plain from Codford in the west to Shrewton in the east, via Chitterne.
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Which free digital TV system will give me the most reliable recMonday 7 October 2013 11:30PM
Bristol
I have a YouView box from Talktalk. I have Talktalk medium fibre broadband and regularly get speeds of 37.5Mbps on my connection. I have almost no connection failures when I'm using my computer to look at the Internet, stream videos on YouTube and listen to music. However, when I use the catch-up service on YouView, I find that BBC iPlayer constantly buffers and fails. In contrast, 4oD, Demand 5 and ITV Player work fine. The only explanation that makes sense to me is that the BBC has insufficient bandwidth on its servers to meet demand from viewer for iPlayer services. Do others have similar problems with iPlayer and is my guess correct? The only time iPlayer has worked OK for me was when I watched a programme at midnight. Even then there was a little buffering.
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Which free digital TV system will give me the most reliable recSunday 13 October 2013 10:26PM
Bristol
I used the BBC's web form to report the problems that I've been having with iPlayer. Today I received a very nice and personal reply telling me that I was not the only person to have reported this problem and that the BBC are investigating possible causes and ways in which the problem can be remedied.
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Newsflash - Freeview HD "COM7" multiplex on air and showing Al Wednesday 16 October 2013 10:47PM
Bristol
Did a channel refresh but there was nothing new from Mendip, though 105 is showing BBC Three HD with a message that it's coming soon. I'm interested to know when the local stations will start tests, in particular Made in Bristol, as that'll be my station.
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Newsflash - Freeview HD "COM7" multiplex on air and showing Al Thursday 17 October 2013 10:21PM
Bristol
"30th January 2014"
Yes, I had seen that but I was wondering when the multiplex would be tested. I assume that there will be a period when people in the coverage area can receive a test transmission, perhaps to evaluate their aerial set-up and decide if it needs modification.
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Newsflash - Freeview HD "COM7" multiplex on air and showing Al Friday 8 November 2013 6:43PM
Bristol
I note that the predictor suggests that I should be able to receive Wenvoe without any problems. I'll probably have to replace my aerial anyway to get these MUXes from Mendip, so I suppose that I could buy a new aerial now, put it in tandem with my aerial facing Mendip and get the HD channels from Wenvoe until Mendip starts transmitting. Apart from a compass (where do I buy a cheap one?) and a piece of coaxial cable, what else do I need? With digital transmissions, do I need one of those things that stops the Wenvoe-facing aerial feeding secondary signals to the Mendip-facing aerial? If yes, what's it called, so I know what to ask for in the shop?
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Is Freeview ready for the first local television service tomorrWednesday 27 November 2013 11:57AM
Bristol
@Peter Challis - I don't know about Estuary TV but I think that some of the local services will benefit from satellite coverage. The satellite system is clever and can, if the station owner requests it, restrict reception to people in its target zone. For instance, Made in Bristol won't reach most of Bath but Bath is so close to Bristol and so intricately a part of the same local economy that it would make sense for satellite coverage to extend Made in Bristol's signal to Bath. Equally, transmissions of London Live from Crystal Palace will have holes in it in areas that are naturally within its target zone. Some stations will cover their target zones fully, so satellite coverage may seem unnecessary, except that some households only receive satellite TV. These local TV companies will have to make business model decisions and I think that some will see real economic returns in making their stations available on satellite.
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Is Freeview ready for the first local television service tomorrWednesday 27 November 2013 7:49PM
Bristol
@Peter - I have no idea of the answers to your questions. Post code is the means of determining location but beyond that I have no knowledge. I don't work in the industry, I'm just interested.
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On the tenth day of Christmas Auntie brought to me ... five morSunday 8 December 2013 11:51PM
Bristol
MikeB refers to the distance that one should sit from one's TV to get the best picture. How far away should I sit from my Panasonic HD-ready 32" TV? I have a YouView box, so I get HD channels.
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Tuesday 3 September 2013 10:20PM
Bristol
@Trevor Harris - I don't understand why you think FM is so superior in cars. In my experience, RDS really doesn't work well. When the signal fails from one transmitter, the radio is supposed to jump immediately to an alternative transmitter. Only it doesn't. It takes an aeon to find the best transmitter and this usually happens when whatever you really want to hear is being transmitted. In this respect, DAB is much better because, as long as there is an available transmitter, the transition is seamless. Also, cars give off so much extraneous noise that I really don't think that sound quality is important. Quite different at home, where I agree that a strong FM signal gives much better reproduction. It's a shame that from my point of view all the decent stations are on DAB.