Sky Sports news which has been enjoyed by many free of charge on Freeview is going to be turned off on 23rd August (it will be replaced by Sky 3+1). I'm afraid the only way to receive Sky Sports News after this date will be to take out a subscription to Sky TV which costs from £19.00 per month. We can supply a Sky HD receiver & dish free of charge for all new Sky subscribers, only charging for installation.

Since the Beckley transmitter caught fire in May the temporary transmitter will remain in place until the end of September at the earliest, so some reception problems are going to be inevitable at times.

 

We have now been informed that the works being carried out on the Oxford transmitter are going to continue until May.

For those people suffering disruption to their viewing (particularly to the ITV stations) this will not be welcome news!

A date has finally been set for the digital switchover in Oxford.

The date has been given as: ‘30th March or possibly a date a little before this.’ We do not know why there is uncertainty and how much sooner it might be. At this time the analogue UHF broadcasts will be turned off from the Oxford transmitter after over 40 years of broadcasting.

 

The digital signals will then be moved into the part of the frequency band that is now being used for analogue TV. (The C/D band ) The power of the broadcasts will be increased significantly. The BBC and the ITV channels will end up at twice the power of the rest of the channels.

 

The levels are confirmed as follows: Programs Frequency channel Power level BBC (1&2) 53 100kW ITV etc. 60 100kW BBC (Other) 57 100kW Commercial 62 50kW Commercial 59 50kW Commercial 55 50kW We foresee the following problems for householders as the switchover occurs: 1: Extra TV points in a house. Many bedroom and kitchen TV’s are still only showing analogue TV – these pictures will disappear leaving no viewing unless a freeview box and a suitable digital aerial feed are put in place in time. 2: Signal levels too high.

 

After the switchover, the freeview signals are being increased in power dramatically. If aerial systems have an amplifier in circuit and the levels of the signals is high, the increase could overload systems causing them to fail causing blocking and glitching on the screen. 3: Recording. Although many people have upgraded their TV’s by adding freeview, this is not often so for their recorders (VCR’s and DVD recorders).

 

Humax make a decent quality freeview hard disk recorder (PVR 9150) for £150.00 – available from Astley’s of Wallingford 01491 839305.

We are happy to visit you (free of charge if we can do it when we’re reasonably near) and check your system so that you can be confident that you will not lose signals as the switchover approaches. Better to act now than next year when the trade will be extremely busy. Shaun 01865 400141

The digital switchover – latest ‘Digital UK’ have published the final plans for the TV signals to be broadcast from the Oxford transmitter after the 2011 switchover. The signals will all end up back in the part of the frequency band that was used for analogue TV. (The c / d band) The power of the broadcasts will be increased significantly. The BBC and the ITV channels will end up at twice the power of the rest of the channels.

 

Details: Programs frequency channel power level

BBC (1&2) 53 100kW ITV etc. 60 100kW BBC (Other) 57 100kW Commercial 62 50kW Commercial 59 50kW Commercial 55 50kW

 

Recording devices and digital TV:

With the end of analogue TV fast approaching, most people now already have a digital TV source in their living rooms, typically a freeview box. The problem comes when trying to record. We are used to having one tuner in our TV and one our VCR, allowing us to watch one channel and simultaneously record another. With a freeview box this facility is lost as the freeview box can only be set to one channel. (You can’t turn it to BBC1 to view Eastenders and simultaneously switch to it ITV to record Emmerdale.) In order to regain this facility we will all end up with a digital TV (with a freeview tuner built in) and a digital recorder (also with freeview built in). In the switchover period this recording problem will probably be the thing to catch people out in trying to keep up with the switchover.

 

The solution for Sky customers is to upgrade for SkyPlus. For the rest of us it is to buy a digital recording machine. Most of these now use a computer hard drive to record the signals rather than a DVD disk (or a tape). For example Humax make a decent quality freeview hard disk recorder (PVR 9150) for £150.00 – available from Astley’s of Wallingford 01491 839305.