All posts by Peter Henderson
Below are all of Peter Henderson's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Vj: As far as I'm aware, there isn't really any difference these days as anything that's free to air is available on both Freresat and Freesat from Sky. Channels that are free to air but not on the Feresat EPG can be accessed in non Freesat mode.
At one stage 5 USA, 5*, and Pick TV were only available on Feesat from Sky and not Feesat, but these are all free to air now. Both 5 USA and 5* are also on the Freesat EPG.
The main difference, as far as I can see it, is that you can't use a PVR (recorder i.e. Sky plus) with Freesat from sky unless you pay Sky £10 per month, which kind of defeats the purpose. PVR funtions are free on Freesat should you wish to go down this route.
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Your other alternative is Freesat Noel.
However, according Digital UK's poscode checker you should heve good reception from Divis after the 24th October.
Many people still use Freesat even if they good Feeview reception.
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I'm a bit perplexed as well Paul.
Originally I had a group CD 18 element aerial and all the analogue stations from Clermont Cairn were fine. I was also receiving Saorview intermitently (the picture was viewable at times when they were transmitting in MPEG 2).
I then changed the antenna to a triax (36 element I think) and this actually made the situation worse. Slight ghosting on all analogue channels and no reception from Saorview at all. Occasionally, the placeholders appear on my Philps TV but no signal. On a retune my Toshiba sometimes stops on 53 for several minutes but it never finds any channels. I'm wondering if the signal on the triax is too strong (hence the slight ghosting).
When I had the 18 element aerial up every now and again the signal strength went up to around 60% and reception was perfect (as if they'd removed the null) only to disappear again a few days later.
I'm not sure what will happen on the 24th October when the power supposedly will be increased. There is some talk on Digital Spy that this may be delayed until the 61 and 62 clearance in the UK (November 13th I think is the date).
I need some work done on the terrestrial aerials (some damage last winter) so I may very well go back to something a bit smaller (too many large aerials on the mast I think).
I may try a simpler wideband one rather than a group CD.
I take it BT 40 is somewhere around the Larne area Paul ? Digital UK's postcode checker does predict some reception from Black Mountain of the RTE NI mux, despite Craigy Hill being on channel 39 and the NI mux on 39+
How's your reception from Divis ?
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P.S Channel 34 is also has the strongest signal at this location as well. Digital UK predict this will actually decrease after DSO, despite power being increased from 1.365 to 50 kw, which seems a bit strange.
Still, they say channel 23 here has only variable/poor reception yet I can receive it OK most of the time (I only have a problem during lift conditions), so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
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Sounds interesting Paul.
Yes, I know Larne fairly well as I'm involved with the community radio station in the town (Chaine FM). We're planning to be back this Christmas after a 2 year break. I also worked in Premier Power for 13 years (now retired !)
Digital UK's coverage for the RTE NI Mux is interesting as the fact that it's on Black Mountain doesn't seem to make much difference. If anything, coverage is greater than the equivelent Freeview power levels. This may be down to technical parameters. It's been suggested on Boards.ie that 2 kw on the NI mux is really the same as 18kw from a Freeview transmitter. This sounds about right, if Digital UK's postcode checker is to be believed. Even the 16 Watts from Carnmoney Hill seems better.
Lift conditions is a term applied when there's high pressure and all VHF/UHF signals are enhanced. When this happens at this location (Jordanstown) Caldbeck wipes out certain Freeview Channels on Divis e.g 23 and 29. It's very annoying. Hopefully it wont be a problem after October 24th.
I can see the Carnmoney Hill transmitter from my bedroom window, but I also get good reception from Divis most of the time. Signal levels during the high power tests in July looked really good !
You're probably correct about the Whitehead transmitter.
I'm not sure if there's will be a problem with the NI mux being on 39+ and Craigy Hill on 39.
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Saorview from Clermont Cairn moves from 53 to 52 on October 324th by the way Paul.
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No problem Paul.
My background is actually Chmistry (I worked in the laboratory in Ballylumford) but I'm a licenced radio amateur (GI4 KBW) and a keen Dxer etc.
I'm assuming the NI mux will be horizontally polarised as Digital UK have stated on the BBC's "on your behalf" that no additional aerial will be required if you're receiving Channel 5 analogue at the moment (also transmitted from Black Mountain).
October is certainly going to be an interesting month in NI with regard to terrestrial TV. I envisage all sorts of problems (Signal overload etc.) although with most people now having satellite dishes (probably Sky) I may be being a bit pessimistic.
Certainly, if Freeview, Freesat, and the NI mux had been around when I first started paying for Sky, I'd never, ever have bothered with subscription TV.
Once the kids stop watching all those crappy children's shows, I'll seriously consider ditching Sky.
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Yep, similar situation with Clermont Cairn and Carnmoney Hill Paul. Carnmoney Hill is also Freeview Lite post DSO which is a shame. On my old 18 element aerial I could also get a snowy picture from the Newcastle transmitter.
Still, it's horses for courses with regard to Freeview vs Freesat. There's really only 4 or 5 stations that are on Freeview that aren't on Freesat. However,there are also many more stations that are on Freesat that aren't on Freeview. In a freeview Lite area it's a no brainer if you're not interested in Sky.
It's just a pity the NI mux isn't on Freesat for NI viewers, but that's another story. Somehow, I can't see too many people up here bothering with Saorsat(most will probably put up with the Sky service).
Not sure how much actual interest or take up there's been for Saorsat down south.
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Wednesday 8 August 2012 10:55PM
Lost all BBC channels this evening, obviously due to lift conditions.
Roll on October when hopefully this will all be a thing of the past.