Digital Switchover - UTV Region (DigitalUK)

Mr. Rabbit

lawhec wrote: »

On my mobile right now and not able to view PDFs so I might have missed something. :~

Well, re. the installers newsletter, nothing we really don't know about already.

Aren't the DSO roadshows starting this week ?

Digifriendly

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

Well, re. the installers newsletter, nothing we really don't know about already.

Aren't the DSO roadshows starting this week ?

Yes, Belfast on Friday - front of City Hall. Might pop along.

Mr. Rabbit

Digifriendly wrote: »

Yes, Belfast on Friday - front of City Hall. Might pop along.

There's one at the Abbey centre on the 24th/25th August, as far as I can remember

The Cush

Full list of roadshow events here on the DigitalUK site - http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch/northernireland/northernireland_events

Digifriendly

Went to City Hall roadshow this afternoon. Very low key - 3 or 4 people on hand to answer queries but not as clued in as I thought they might be. One told me though I was getting analogue RTE that I probably wouldn't get Saorview and I corrected him on this. They seem to put a lot of store by postcode checker which showed my address as not being able to receive Saorview whereas I'm picking it up loud and clear on both my TVs.

Mr. Rabbit

They seem to put a lot of store by postcode checker which showed my address as not being able to receive Saorview whereas I'm picking it up loud and clear on both my TVs.

I didn't know Saorview worked with Digital UK's postcode checker ?

Maybe they were thinking of the NI mux ?

Digifriendly

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

I didn't know Saorview worked with Digital UK's postcode checker ?

Maybe they were thinking of the NI mux ?

You're maybe right there although I pointed out that I was picking up excellent analogue RTE. i'm confident of picking up mini-mux as well.

The Cush

On BBC Radio Ulster's "On Your Behalf" programme today RTÉNL's Business Development Manager Ray Maguire was one of the contributors to the programme and was introduced as "RTÉ's Project Manager for the NI Multiplex"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/oyb#playepisode1

Mr. Rabbit

The Cush wrote: »

On BBC Radio Ulster's "On Your Behalf" programme today RTÉNL's Business Development Manager Ray Maguire was one of the contributors to the programme and was introduced as "RTÉ's Project Manager for the NI Multiplex"

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/oyb#playepisode1

Strange the RTE guy didn't mention Saorsat as an alternative for people in NI who couldn't receive either Saorview or the NI mux.

His only other option for the lady in Newcastle was the Sky subscription service.

Freesat was also completely ignored.

The Cush

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

Strange the RTE guy didn't mention Saorsat as an alternative for people in NI who couldn't receive either Saorview or the NI mux.

His only other option for the lady in Newcastle was the Sky subscription service.

Freesat was also completely ignored.

From an RTÉ pov Saorsat and NI are never mentioned in the same sentence it appears e.g. the Saorsat FAQ show no coverage for NI. Don't know the reason why.

As you already know the Irish channels on Freesat will never happen.

Mr. Rabbit

The Cush wrote: »

From an RTÉ pov Saorsat and NI are never mentioned in the same sentence it appears e.g. the Saorsat FAQ show no coverage for NI. Don't know the reason why.

As you already know the Irish channels on Freesat will never happen.

Looks like the poor woman will have to continue paying Sky then !

Actually, if Digital UK's postcode checker is to be believed, there is some coverage of the NI mux in Newcastle.

reboot

I have been watching BBC HD and RTE HD ,just outside Newcastle for about ten months now.(IOM TX ,only 200 watts but worth a look) Having listened to the above podcast its no wonder people will continue to be confused.
The powers to be were told many years ago that the Freeview system they were about to embark upon was the wrong one,and people would have to change equipment several times along this road.(Parliament Channel comittee,US witness)
Dab and Dab +,3D,etc,anyone in charge?

Ronnie Raygun

reboot wrote: »

The powers to be were told many years ago that the Freeview system they were about to embark upon was the wrong one,and people would have to change equipment several times along this road.(Parliament Channel comittee,US witness)

First of all, what does the part in brackets refer to?

Secondly, what other "Freeview system" was available "many years ago"?

And what equipment changes have been necessary, apart from the failure of some really old receivers that were actually designed for reception of a pay service which later went out of business? You could hardly expect later operators to indefinitely support 2K broadcasts.

Mr. Rabbit

Secondly, what other "Freeview system" was available "many years ago"?

Presumably he means ON Digital.

Ronnie Raygun

Presumably he can answer for himself? ONDigital was a DVB-T system the same as Freeview except that the receivers were mostly limited to a 2K FFT.

It's not particularly relevant to this thread anyway.

STB

The Cush wrote: »

From an RTÉ pov Saorsat and NI are never mentioned in the same sentence it appears e.g. the Saorsat FAQ show no coverage for NI. Don't know the reason why.

They no doubt dont want be giving guarantees. I am not too sure what UTV's position would be if they discovered that RTE's where available on a wholesale basis across Ulster.

Mr. Rabbit

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

Presumably he can answer for himself? ONDigital was a DVB-T system the same as Freeview except that the receivers were mostly limited to a 2K FFT.

It's not particularly relevant to this thread anyway.

I simply assumed he mean't ON digital since the line up included a number of free to air channels.

Freeview did of course start when ITV digital collapsed, so it's perfectly relevant to this thread since there are a number of old ON Digital STBs still floating around.

Had there not been an ON Digital, I reckon digital terrestrial telivision in the UK would now simply consist of the 5 terrestrial channels and nothing more (not even Freeview Lite).

Nor would we have had Freesat.

Woodie40

Apologies if this has already been asked. Will the signal for UK freeview be boosted when analogue is switched off in NI?

MarkK

Woodie40 wrote: »

Apologies if this has already been asked. Will the signal for UK freeview be boosted when analogue is switched off in NI?

Yes it will.

The main BBC channels should be boosted on 10 October, then the rest will be boosted on 24 October.

Mr. Rabbit

MarkK wrote: »

Yes it will.

The main BBC channels should be boosted on 10 October, then the rest will be boosted on 24 October.

Indeed Woodie.

The Divis Mux's will be increased to 100/50kw, Brougher Montain to 20/2 kw, and Limivady to 20/10 kw by the 24th October.

All relay stations will transmit the PSB multipxes.

Woodie40

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

Indeed Woodie.

The Divis Mux's will be increased to 100/50kw, Brougher Montain to 20/2 kw, and Limivady to 20/10 kw by the 24th October.

All relay stations will transmit the PSB multipxes.

Do you think this will give us the NI channels on digital in North Louth. At the moment they are unwatchable, picture breaks up all the time.

FREETV

Woodie40 wrote: »

Do you think this will give us the NI channels on digital in North Louth. At the moment they are unwatchable, picture breaks up all the time.

I have most of the Multiple except in very high pressure weather here near Balbriggan when I receive interference from Caldbeck and Scotland so the signal should be booming in to Louth and Meath and parts of Dublin come October 10 and then October 24 with the proper setup working efficiently.

Mr. Rabbit

Woodie40 wrote: »

Do you think this will give us the NI channels on digital in North Louth. At the moment they are unwatchable, picture breaks up all the time.

Quite possibly Woodie, especially if you're getting something at the moment (even if it is unwatchable). The general rule of thumb (according to Digital UK) is that if analogue reception is OK, then digital should be fine. This should apply to Divis at DSO as well. 100/50 kw is a massive increase from 2.3/1.6 kw.

If it doesn't work post DSO then I'd go for Freesat, rather than wasting time and money on terrestrial aerials.

Peter Rhea

FREETV wrote: »

I have most of the Multiplexes accept in very high pressure weather here near Balbriggan when I receive interference from the Winter Hill transmitter and Scotland

You're not getting interference to Divis from Winter Hill.

Mr. Rabbit

Peter Rhea wrote: »

You're not getting interference to Divis from Winter Hill.

More likely Caldbeck.

mrdtv2010

Definitely! Caldbeck has some frequencies which are cochannel with Divis. Post DSO the main Divis PSB multiplexes will still be cochannel with Caldbeck Scotland PSB muxes but these are run at 50kW ERP with a restricted antenna pattern versus Caldbeck England which will not be cochannel with Divis PSB muxes post DSO.


The general rule is: if analogue works then digital works post DSO. Use the teletext DUK checker on page 284 of BBC1, BBC2, UTV and C4. Its a self-explanatory test.

FREETV

mrdtv2010 wrote: »

Definitely! Caldbeck has some frequencies which are cochannel with Divis. Post DSO the main Divis PSB multiplexes will still be cochannel with Caldbeck Scotland PSB muxes but these are run at 50kW ERP with a restricted antenna pattern versus Caldbeck England which will not be cochannel with Divis PSB muxes post DSO.


The general rule is: if analogue works then digital works post DSO. Use the teletext DUK checker on page 284 of BBC1, BBC2, UTV and C4. Its a self-explanatory test.

Yes you are all correct, it is Caldbeck as I checked the UKTV site last night for the channel frequencies.
Corrected my earlier post, I wonder which Scottish transmitter in the past interfered with my Divis reception?

Nibs05

Do you mind me asking what is going to happen to kilkeel after dso, I'm currently receiving my uk channels from here.

Thanks

tvman2

Kilkeel along with all other local UK relay stations will provide Freeview Light - around 15 channels. Main transmitters provide the full Freeview service of around 40. You could try Divis after the switchover though and get the full service, especially if you are currently using a wideband UHF aerial and amplifier. Change the aerial to horizontal polarisation and see what you receive. If you get the full Freeview service you may have to get an additional UHF aerial for Saorview channels.

Peter Rhea

Kilkeel will transmit the 3 public service multiplexes; BBC A, D3+4 & BBC B, shown under 'after switchover configuration' here: http://www.ukfree.tv/allchannelsmuxes.php