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BBC Trust approves Freesat
"Nigel Cliffe" wrote in message ... Roger R wrote: "DAB is the Betamax of digital radio" [email protected] wrote in message ... http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcas...067033,00.html BBC Trust approves Freesat BBC channels are already FTA available on satellite, so I'm not quite sure what extra the BBC free sat system is going to provide, and why its taking three years to set up. Clearly I have fallen asleep at the back. Why an alternative to Sky FTA is needed ? Easy: current arrangement requires a box from Sky, with Sky supplied card. Sky can turn it off at any point, or decide to charge for it. (subject to commercial contract notice periods). If you want a PVR, you have to take a rental of Sky+. You can't just go to the local electronics shop and buy a satellite receiver with hard drive which behave the same as an analogue VHS recorder and TV. Many people do not want to buy from Sky or want rental arrangements with Sky, regardless of any caveats. (I have a lot of friends who say that). You are mistaken about needing a sky box to receive the BBC FTA on satellite. Any satellite receiver, such as the Lidl box at around 40 ukp will do, and give you access to a wide range of other satellites too. You can buy satellite PVR such as the Targa TSR 5200 that will receive all FTA satellite channels. These too come from Lidl at around 200 UKP. A range of DVD HDD recorders is also available. I'm not especially recommending Lidl, but they are offering the kit you say you is not available - and at a reasonable price. The thing that is not available, as Steve has pointed out elsewhere, is an effective EPG comparable to the Sky EPG. I don't want to rent from sky iether, but recognise that for many of my friends who have reception problems the sky complete installation of dish and box provides a reliable alternative that can also get the BBC channels- and known in advance fixed cost - and a relativly modest one at that. 150 pounds all in, so I don't blame them at all for choosing Sky. If only the BBC had been in there with a similar package offer for BBC freesat. Roger R |
BBC Trust approves Freesat
"DAB is the Betamax of digital radio" [email protected] wrote in message ... Although it doesn't even mention it in this article, I've read elsewhere that Freesat receivers will support MPEG-4 H.264 for HDTV, so Freesat should be the first mass-market system on which we'll get proper free-to-air HDTV - hurrah. And the BBC Trust is apparently holding a Public Value Test (and all that kind of crap that they do) to look at whether the BBC should launch a full-time HDTV channel, so presumably they'll say yes, and hopefully ITV, C4 and Five might follow suit - you can but hope. http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcas...067033,00.html BBC Trust approves Freesat And will they be using this "new platform" to prevent that terrible crime detailed in sections 363 to 368 of the Communications Act 2003. After all they say they take such an offence "very seriously". |
BBC Trust approves Freesat
Roger R wrote:
"Nigel Cliffe" wrote in message ... Roger R wrote: "DAB is the Betamax of digital radio" [email protected] wrote in message ... http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcas...067033,00.html BBC Trust approves Freesat BBC channels are already FTA available on satellite, so I'm not quite sure what extra the BBC free sat system is going to provide, and why its taking three years to set up. Clearly I have fallen asleep at the back. Why an alternative to Sky FTA is needed ? Easy: current arrangement requires a box from Sky, with Sky supplied card. Sky can turn it off at any point, or decide to charge for it. (subject to commercial contract notice periods). If you want a PVR, you have to take a rental of Sky+. You can't just go to the local electronics shop and buy a satellite receiver with hard drive which behave the same as an analogue VHS recorder and TV. Many people do not want to buy from Sky or want rental arrangements with Sky, regardless of any caveats. (I have a lot of friends who say that). You are mistaken about needing a sky box to receive the BBC FTA on satellite. Any satellite receiver, such as the Lidl box at around 40 ukp will do, and give you access to a wide range of other satellites too. But it won't do some combination of ITV/Ch4/Ch5. So, for most people in the UK, this is an incomplete service. You can buy satellite PVR such as the Targa TSR 5200 that will receive all FTA satellite channels. These too come from Lidl at around 200 UKP. A range of DVD HDD recorders is also available. I'm not especially recommending Lidl, but they are offering the kit you say you is not available - and at a reasonable price. I should have phrased it as "doesn't deliver all the commonly expected channels". The thing that is not available, as Steve has pointed out elsewhere, is an effective EPG comparable to the Sky EPG. So you have to get a box which doesn't do basics for PVR functionality (needs an EPG), or receive all standard UK channels. Or you pay rent to Sky for Sky+. - Nigel -- Nigel Cliffe, Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/ |
BBC Trust approves Freesat
Stephen Henson wrote:
They must use giga Watts (anyone have precise figures?) on terrestrial tranmissions. Satellite by comparison uses tiny amounts of power. Most main analogue TV transmitters send 10-15 kW of peak power (during sync bottom) up the feeders. DTT post DSO powers will be about 7 dB down on that, and they will be mean levels, so that's say 4kW up the feeders. If we just concentrate on the two post DSO muxes, and take that 4kW as the average value at a main station, then we have 2x4x50= 400kW. Assume 33% efficiency, then we get 1.2 MW for two muxes on 50 main stations The relays will average 'watts' each for RF output, but I'll assume that's not very efficiently produced. So let's guess at an average value of 50 watts per Tx, at 10% efficiency, that's 500 watts, multiplied by 1100 sites, gives 550kW per mux, so 1.1MW total. Chuck in another 1 MW for good conservative measure, ancillary equipment, distribution equipment etc, and the grand total is 3.3 MW. Compare with 20 million satellite boxes at say 10 watts more than a DTT one, and it's no contest. (I think ?) -- Mark Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply. |
BBC Trust approves Freesat
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BBC Trust approves Freesat
"Graham" wrote in message ... DABi s the horrid rubber things they used for contraception before latex was invented in the 1920s that were like wanking into a sock' -- or something snappy like that? Latex grows on trees dosn't it? The process for turning it into something useful was 'invented' tim |
BBC Trust approves Freesat
tim..... wrote:
|| "Graham" wrote in message || ... |||| DABi s the horrid rubber things they used for contraception before |||| latex was invented in the 1920s that were like wanking into a |||| sock' -- or something snappy like that? ||| ||| Latex grows on trees dosn't it? || || The process for turning it into something useful was || 'invented' || I've heard they use it in porn films, although I can't think for what reason. || tim |
BBC Trust approves Freesat
"Nigel Cliffe" wrote in message ... Roger R wrote: "Nigel Cliffe" wrote in message ... Roger R wrote: "DAB is the Betamax of digital radio" [email protected] wrote in message ... http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcas...067033,00.html BBC Trust approves Freesat BBC channels are already FTA available on satellite, so I'm not quite sure what extra the BBC free sat system is going to provide, and why its taking three years to set up. Clearly I have fallen asleep at the back. Why an alternative to Sky FTA is needed ? Easy: current arrangement requires a box from Sky, with Sky supplied card. Sky can turn it off at any point, or decide to charge for it. (subject to commercial contract notice periods). If you want a PVR, you have to take a rental of Sky+. You can't just go to the local electronics shop and buy a satellite receiver with hard drive which behave the same as an analogue VHS recorder and TV. Many people do not want to buy from Sky or want rental arrangements with Sky, regardless of any caveats. (I have a lot of friends who say that). You are mistaken about needing a sky box to receive the BBC FTA on satellite. Any satellite receiver, such as the Lidl box at around 40 ukp will do, and give you access to a wide range of other satellites too. But it won't do some combination of ITV/Ch4/Ch5. So, for most people in the UK, this is an incomplete service. You can buy satellite PVR such as the Targa TSR 5200 that will receive all FTA satellite channels. These too come from Lidl at around 200 UKP. A range of DVD HDD recorders is also available. I'm not especially recommending Lidl, but they are offering the kit you say you is not available - and at a reasonable price. I should have phrased it as "doesn't deliver all the commonly expected channels". The thing that is not available, as Steve has pointed out elsewhere, is an effective EPG comparable to the Sky EPG. So you have to get a box which doesn't do basics for PVR functionality (needs an EPG), or receive all standard UK channels. Or you pay rent to Sky for Sky+. Ch4 & Ch5 are commercial channels (Ch4 is a special case) and even with the proposed BBC freesat they may choose to remain within the Sky encryption. So it may always be that if you want all of the colours in all of the sizes then you will have to take out a Sky subscription. However, if you are content with the BBC channels then you can receive them now with any satellite reciever that Mr Murdoch cannot turn off or charge for. Mr Murdoch has some sort of restrictive control over the satellite EPG that apparently cannot be terminated and prevents the BBC from setting up a satellite EPG of their own. I don't quite understand why the BBC has to set up its own Freesat service and take three years doing so in order to acheive it's own EPG. Roger R |
BBC Trust approves Freesat
"Stephen Henson" wrote in message ... In article , lid says... Compare with 20 million satellite boxes at say 10 watts more than a DTT one, and it's no contest. (I think ?) Is there any reason why a satellite box needs 10W more than a DTT one other than bad design? Presumably he is thinking of the extra power supplied to the LBN, though I don't know if 10 watts is representative. Assuming his figures are correct there are other factors to weigh against the extra power used. There will be considerable saving on buildings, site rental, mast maintenance and staff for all the terrestrial stations and relays against just one satellite ground station. Only a short time ago (2 april 07) Mark posted a link to the BBC Reception Survey in Dorset, and if I read that correctly, many viewers were unable to obtain a satisfactory signal mainly due to topography effects and poor aerial installations. IMO the report made a good case that terrestrial transmissions could never acheive the same universal coverage as satellite broadcasting. And I think the certainty of good reception wherever you are, is of importance to viewers. If these considerations and perhaps others, are weighed against the additional energy requirement, the contest is not quite so one sided. There is the small matter of CO2 or other gasses produced in launching the satellite into orbit and the vast cost of satellites compared to terrestrial transmitters, but I won't mention that. (Apologies for making a case for possibly putting you out of work, Mark) Roger R |
BBC Trust approves Freesat
DAB is the Betamax of digital radio wrote:
Also, the BBC "must retain sufficient control over the decisions taken by the [Freesat] joint venture to ensure that the BBC's public service objectives are not undermined" and ensure "there is always an ability to access Freesat on a subscription-free basis". = lock in the present model of tv license payments by developing technology that deliberatly lacks the ability to control subscriptions on a per unique user basis. Just like they (and why they did) did with freeview. Gaz |
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