BBC radio Ulster,"On your Behalf?"Today,more confused than the last time?

reboot

Just listened to the second programme on the subject of the Switch Over
The "Digital UK rep,asked why there was a switchover on the 10th,to be followed by another one on the 24th,said .The switchover on the 10th was to make the signal "More robust?"
When callers to the programme asked why they lost ITV,CH4 and 5 channels on the 10th,there was no clear response.Either these people around the table do not know (which I doubt) or they don't want to discuss the subject as follows.
I posted on the 10th,that if people put their aerial from the TV into the STB,and connected the box to the TV,they would only receive BBC channels.To avoid this happening they should also connect a cable from the STB "Loop Through"back into the TV aerial socket,assuming the STB is now connected to the TV via scart or HDMI.This loop through lead,not always provided,would restore the lost analogue channels.
I was told by one installer that he had to split the rf feed prior to the STB,not a good idea to double terminate.This he said was because the STB only had one rf socket,no loop through.
At no point was any of the above discussed,and could I perhaps be forgiven for thinking that they don't want it flagged up that this may happen,and hope that by the 24th.it will all have gone away ,if they keep their head down and remain robust.
A man told me today he was told ,the local TV shop is charging £45 per call out.
Another told me he bought 4 TV's last Christmas from a local store and was told Digital Switchover would be covered.These were for each room in the house ,which now have 4 STB,s from the same store.
Seems to me that the man "behind the glass" during this programme may have known quite a lot more than those on the "Presenter "side,but it may raise the question ,is BBC engineering keeping fairly quite on the whole subject,perhaps they think its not a lot to do with them.?
I won't even get into Saorview questions,on your behalf.

mrdtv2010

reboot wrote: »

Just listened to the second programme on the subject of the Switch Over
The "Digital UK rep,asked why there was a switchover on the 10th,to be followed by another one on the 24th,said .The switchover on the 10th was to make the signal "More robust?"
When callers to the programme asked why they lost ITV,CH4 and 5 channels on the 10th,there was no clear response.Either these people around the table do not know (which I doubt) or they don't want to discuss the subject as follows.
I posted on the 10th,that if people put their aerial from the TV into the STB,and connected the box to the TV,they would only receive BBC channels.To avoid this happening they should also connect a cable from the STB "Loop Through"back into the TV aerial socket,assuming the STB is now connected to the TV via scart or HDMI.This loop through lead,not always provided,would restore the lost analogue channels.
I was told by one installer that he had to split the rf feed prior to the STB,not a good idea to double terminate.This he said was because the STB only had one rf socket,no loop through.
At no point was any of the above discussed,and could I perhaps be forgiven for thinking that they don't want it flagged up that this may happen,and hope that by the 24th.it will all have gone away ,if they keep their head down and remain robust.
A man told me today he was told ,the local TV shop is charging £45 per call out.
Another told me he bought 4 TV's last Christmas from a local store and was told Digital Switchover would be covered.These were for each room in the house ,which now have 4 STB,s from the same store.
Seems to me that the man "behind the glass" during this programme may have known quite a lot more than those on the "Presenter "side,but it may raise the question ,is BBC engineering keeping fairly quite on the whole subject,perhaps they think its not a lot to do with them.?
I won't even get into Saorview questions,on your behalf.

The cheapo STB's don't have all the connectors in the box. It is a case of buyer beware as you must complete the loopthrough from those boxes. Phase 1 of the switchover is straightforward: its to clear out the BBC2 analogue frequency, start the BBCA services, test out the distribution network, activate the repeaters and tell the public thehy have to act. The £45 call out charge is cheaper than UK mainland DSO charges.

reboot

mrdtv2010 wrote: »

The cheapo STB's don't have all the connectors in the box. It is a case of buyer beware as you must complete the loopthrough from those boxes. Phase 1 of the switchover is straightforward: its to clear out the BBC2 analogue frequency, start the BBCA services, test out the distribution network, activate the repeaters and tell the public thehy have to act. The £45 call out charge is cheaper than UK mainland DSO charges.

Many thanks.

Antenna

reboot wrote: »

Another told me he bought 4 TV's last Christmas from a local store and was told Digital Switchover would be covered.These were for each room in the house ,which now have 4 STB,s from the same store.

Whilst the TVs almost surely did have standard definition Freeview built-in, maybe STBs were bought to get RTE - though sounds extravagant to get a box for each TV in the house straight away. There are people I know down here who will only bother have Saorview installed on the main TV, but have existing FTA satellite (Astra 28E) on all (2 or 3 or 4) of their TVs, so only receiving UK TV on them after ASO.

reboot

Antenna wrote: »

Whilst the TVs almost surely did have Freeview (SD) built-in, maybe STBs were bought to get RTE - though sounds extravagant to get a box for each TV in the house straight away. There are people I know down here who will only bother have Saorview installed on the main TV, but have existing FTA satellite (Astra 28E) on all (2 or 3 or 4) of their TVs.

Thanks for that,you make some interesting points.As you know the sports fans find that RTE on Sky if often not available and they will require terrestial.
I have been telling friends for over three years to look out for the Sony range that had T2 from day one.,but then I don't have a TV shop or sell STB or charge call out to explain it to the over 80's.
One "Engineer" called with an old man I know only to tell him the aerial on the chimney would have to be moved to get the new services.
He had been briefed to respond that the aerial was in fact looking at Black Mountain and to move it would result in loosing a lot of services only to go to a freeview light Tx.A compass perhaps would help.

mrdtv2010

Antenna wrote: »

Whilst the TVs almost surely did have standard definition Freeview built-in, maybe STBs were bought to get RTE - though sounds extravagant to get a box for each TV in the house straight away. There are people I know down here who will only bother have Saorview installed on the main TV, but have existing FTA satellite (Astra 28E) on all (2 or 3 or 4) of their TVs, so only receiving UK TV on them after ASO.

Big loss of audience for RTE? Will it be compensated by the number of homes coming in range after the launch of the NIMM on Wednesday: I think that will take time to build up due to inertia and lack of knowledge. Still a £30 Freeview HD box is a better solution than a £150 aerial for CC in some parts of Belfast/East Antrim/ North Down which might or might not work. The audience loss for RTE needs to be understood by advertisers...

Digifriendly

mrdtv2010 wrote: »

Big loss of audience for RTE? Will it be compensated by the number of homes coming in range after the launch of the NIMM on Wednesday: I think that will take time to build up due to inertia and lack of knowledge. Still a £30 Freeview HD box is a better solution than a £150 aerial for CC in some parts of Belfast/East Antrim/ North Down which might or might not work. The audience loss for RTE needs to be understood by advertisers...

Surely with the CC DTT signal boosted some X4 it will reach well into Belfast/East Antrim/North Down will it not?

Iderown

I'm in Bangor (North Down) and will report on Saorview reception on Ch52V from Clermont Carn sometime next Wednesday (24th) afternoon.
Addition : I'm technically outside the service area for Saorview from CC. The analogue channels are fair to good (RTÉ1 is best, TG4 worst). I'll post the aerial, masthead amp and receiver details also.

Antenna

reboot wrote: »

When callers to the programme asked why they lost ITV,CH4 and 5 channels on the 10th,there was no clear response.Either these people around the table do not know (which I doubt) or they don't want to discuss the subject as follows.
I posted on the 10th,that if people put their aerial from the TV into the STB,and connected the box to the TV,they would only receive BBC channels.To avoid this happening they should also connect a cable from the STB "Loop Through"back into the TV aerial socket

Its also likely that some viewers had digital TVs (rather than STBs) but did a reautoinstal for Digital only, without understanding they should have selected a Digital+Analogue autoinstal.

mrdtv2010 wrote: »

Big loss of audience for RTE? Will it be compensated by the number of homes coming in range after the launch of the NIMM on Wednesday: I think that will take time to build up due to inertia and lack of knowledge. Still a £30 Freeview HD box is a better solution than a £150 aerial for CC in some parts of Belfast/East Antrim/ North Down which might or might not work. The audience loss for RTE needs to be understood by advertisers...

The fact that 24th October is approaching the most lucrative time of year for TV advertising (before Christmas) has surely been concern for some within RTE.
I suspect some within RTE would have much preferred if ASO in the south and west of the republic (where there are most issues - with Saorsat etc) had been delayed to early 2013.

Regarding southern viewers with FTA satellite and (so far) no Saorview -
It’s a common situation in County Cork, where in the latter half of 2010, UHF TV deflectors of the UK channels which many people were still using (if no longer financially supporting!) closed down - most viewers concerned just wanted to get the BBCs/ITV/C4 channels they had lost back again with FTA satellite. Two years ago 99% of ordinary people didn't know of Combo boxes or when 'ASO' was to be announced.
If the Co. Cork deflectors had lasted a year or two longer (such as in much of Co. Mayo) viewers would probably have got combo boxes (if they needed them) when they closed down, rather than basic satellite FTA boxes as with so many ex-deflector viewers in Co. Cork

Some people (especially elderly) thought their new satellite receivers would work for RTE digital/Saorview when they first heard publicity about it in 2011!
People are then cranky to hear advise that they ought to dump the FTA satellite box they got not too long ago with a relatively expensive combo box (the other option of using a Saorview STB with an existing FTA satellite box is a lot easier 'said than done' with ordinary people, with viewers bewildered by 3 remote controls just to watch TV, as well as problems with TVs having only one SCART socket etc etc

reboot

Antenna wrote: »

Its also likely that some viewers had digital TVs (rather than STBs) but did a reautoinstal for Digital only, without understanding they should have selected a Digital+Analogue autoinstal.




The fact that 24th October is approaching the most lucrative time of year for TV advertising (before Christmas) has surely been concern for some within RTE.
I suspect some within RTE would have much preferred if ASO in the south and west of the republic (where there are most issues - with Saorsat etc) had been delayed to early 2013.

Regarding southern viewers with FTA satellite and (so far) no Saorview -
It’s a common situation in County Cork, where in the latter half of 2010, UHF TV deflectors of the UK channels which many people were still using (if no longer financially supporting!) closed down - most viewers concerned just wanted to get the BBCs/ITV/C4 channels they had lost back again with FTA satellite. Two years ago 99% of ordinary people didn't know of Combo boxes or when 'ASO' was to be announced.
If the Co. Cork deflectors had lasted a year or two longer (such as in much of Co. Mayo) viewers would probably have got combo boxes (if they needed them) when they closed down, rather than basic satellite FTA boxes as with so many ex-deflector viewers in Co. Cork

Some people (especially elderly) thought their new satellite receivers would work for RTE digital/Saorview when they first heard publicity about it in 2011!
People are then cranky to hear advise that they ought to dump the FTA satellite box they got not too long ago with a relatively expensive combo box (the other option of using a Saorview STB with an existing FTA satellite box is a lot easier 'said than done' with ordinary people, with viewers bewildered by 3 remote controls just to watch TV, as well as problems with TVs having only one SCART socket etc etc

Thanks for the info,I hadn't considered the confusion coming re FTA satellite,but am still left wondering if some "confusion" may be good for business in some aeras?


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