Satellite v Freeview
 

Jim Lesurf wrote:

My Freesat-only customers are only vaguely aware that they get
everything from satellite.

The distinction is having something in place rather than being forced into
a change.

In my case I have

A) A TV and a recorder in one room.

B) A recorder in another room, plus a feed to use a tuner with a computer.

C) Another room, with another feed for a tuner with computer.

So I have four outputs, all independenly tunable/usable. And in fact (C)
comes from a different antenna to (A)/(B) and is aimed at a different TX.

Having someone come and give us even a 'free sat dish with one output'
isn't going to replace that.
Oh no, I wasn't suggesting that the 4G whitewash scheme was a solution.
I was talking from the standpoint of starting from scratch. The typical
scenario: bungalow, terrible DTT, history of problems, great big aerial
about to collapse, cables shot, four tellys, two recorders. What to do?
Profit-wise I'd rather sell them another massive aerial and distribution
amp. But from their point of view, well, everything needs recabling
anyway, a multiswitch isn't that much more expensive than an amp with
filters. Of course they will need to buy some new receivers and
recorders but chances are they need to do that anyway.

Nor will the existing coax dostribution cover
it.
As I say, once the aerial man's on site you might as well get everything
recabled.

So I'd need a fairly fancy system, not "Have a free dish" from MitCo.
Absolutely.


Cost and inconvenience to change. When I have no interest in all the
'extra channels'.
Again, I'm really talking about people who would otherwise be spending a
fortune on terrestrial gear.

So the situation for some already happy with DTTV as was means being
forced to change isn't exactly either convenient or free of cost.
Agreed.


And since both my antennas are in the loft I may not qualify anyway.
Can't see why. It's always worked before.

If you get 4G hassle an outdoor aerial on your Gp A tx might provide
good reliable reception.

Actually, I can get pretty reliable reception *now* from Durris. That's my
'plan B' since a filter stands far more chance of sorting that as it is
low-band.
There's no doubt a cheap filter will sort it out for Gp A channels. The
problem is hardly new. Only yesterday I dealt with a system where the
TETRA is transmitted from the same roof!


However I have used Angus rather than Durris much of the time because for a
few days per year Durris fades due to exceptional weather. Quite a long
path, mainly over the sea and coast. That said, it may well be about as
reliable as Sat given the factors of snow and heavy rain at times here.
Outdoor aerial would go a long way to fix that.


However my basic concern is that I and others should change as a result of
our free preferences and wishs. Not because we've been forced or due to
sanctioned jamming!
Couldn't agree more. But it's the same with everything. Look on the
bright side. You don't have the threat of HS2 coming through your living
room!

Bill

Satellite v Freeview
 

In article , Bill Wright
wrote:
Jim Lesurf wrote:


And since both my antennas are in the loft I may not qualify anyway.
Can't see why. It's always worked before.

AIUI 'MitCo' will provide filters, etc, *provided* you have an external
antenna. Given the level of wriggling I anticipate as the companies duck
costs/blame I expect a loft antenna, just like one in the living room,
"won't qualify".

If you get 4G hassle an outdoor aerial on your Gp A tx might provide
good reliable reception.

Actually, I can get pretty reliable reception *now* from Durris.
That's my 'plan B' since a filter stands far more chance of sorting
that as it is low-band.
There's no doubt a cheap filter will sort it out for Gp A channels. The
problem is hardly new. Only yesterday I dealt with a system where the
TETRA is transmitted from the same roof!

Yes. My main concern about that is adjusting the antenna directions a bit
and being able to survive getting into the loft and out again. :-)


However I have used Angus rather than Durris much of the time because
for a few days per year Durris fades due to exceptional weather. Quite
a long path, mainly over the sea and coast. That said, it may well be
about as reliable as Sat given the factors of snow and heavy rain at
times here.
Outdoor aerial would go a long way to fix that.

May come to that. But Durris has seemed OK, and that was when the ERP was
lower. So I'm hoping a simple plan B of adding a filter and shifting the
loft antenna a bit will do the trick here.

So my real concern is for those like rbel who may not have such an option.

Combined with thinking is should be unacceptable to leave BBC A stuck on
Ch60- in areas like ours. Makes the plan totally absurd and impractical.
Triumph of suits and lawyers over sense.

We're up a hill with a particularly clear view across the sea to Durris.
Half the antennas on our road point to Durris, with the others pointing to
Angus. The local installers seem to choose on the day. :-)


However my basic concern is that I and others should change as a
result of our free preferences and wishs. Not because we've been
forced or due to sanctioned jamming!
Couldn't agree more. But it's the same with everything. Look on the
bright side. You don't have the threat of HS2 coming through your living
room!

We are, however, supporting the campaign to have the railway brought back
to town! Although we'd prefer steam to HS2. 8-]

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Satellite v Freeview
 

Jim Lesurf wrote:

And since both my antennas are in the loft I may not qualify anyway.
Can't see why. It's always worked before.

AIUI 'MitCo' will provide filters, etc, *provided* you have an external
antenna.
That's outrageous. Lots of people on high ground near phone masts will
have loft aerials because that's all they'll need. Some estates ban
outdoor aerials. Could you point me to the reference?

Given the level of wriggling I anticipate as the companies duck
costs/blame I expect a loft antenna, just like one in the living room,
"won't qualify".
Dead right.

Yes. My main concern about that is adjusting the antenna directions a bit
and being able to survive getting into the loft and out again. :-)
I'm finding lofts rather a trial these days.

So my real concern is for those like rbel who may not have such an option.

Combined with thinking is should be unacceptable to leave BBC A stuck on
Ch60- in areas like ours. Makes the plan totally absurd and impractical.
Triumph of suits and lawyers over sense.
It's utterly ridiculous.

Bill

Satellite v Freeview
 

"Bill Wright" wrote in message
...
Jim Lesurf wrote:

It has the disadvantage that you need a separate cable to
each tuner.
That isn't much of an issue really. Just do it.

Plus other complications if you want to tune in to different
stations on a
number of TVs/recorders.
Well, I dunno. I have customers who are Freesat only, and my
own living room is Freesat only. There doesn't seem to be a
problem.

My Freesat-only customers are only vaguely aware that they get
everything from satellite. It just doesn't seem to cause them
any problems. In fact, given they they have all previously
endured years of dreadful terrestrial reception they are pretty
cheerful about the present arrangement.

I look after a 45-flat sheltered complex where terrestrial
reception is provided on the system but is Freeview Lite and is
unreliable (it only takes a motorbike). The tenants have been
advised to treat Freesat or Sky as their main platform and
given that many are very elderly there are very few problems.

A surprising number of people rely entirely on a Sky box for
all their viewing, and don't have an aerial.

Bill


My F-in-L in SW Sheffield is another - well he has an aerial but
the signal is near unusable.

The snow before Christmas put paid to it until some hot water
came to hand!


--
Woody

harrogate three at ntlworld dot com

Satellite v Freeview
 

"Steve Thackery" wrote in message
...
Bill Wright wrote:

The only thing wrong with it is that HD surpasses it. So why not have
the best? You deserve it...

I agree completely. The closer you are, the *more* you need HD, not
the less, because each pixel subtends a larger angle in the visual
field.

Whatever viewing arrangement you have, HD always looks better than SD,
because there is more picture detail and the compression artefacts are
less visible.

Who cares. For most of the TV that I watch I am only interested in the
"story" element. A super sharp pictures adds nothing to that


Honestly, tim, it's money well spent and it isn't another hundred quid,
anyway.

It was last time I looked.

OK It's 50 quid now

tim

Satellite v Freeview
 

In article , Bill Wright
wrote:
Jim Lesurf wrote:

And since both my antennas are in the loft I may not qualify anyway.
Can't see why. It's always worked before.

AIUI 'MitCo' will provide filters, etc, *provided* you have an
external antenna.
That's outrageous. Lots of people on high ground near phone masts will
have loft aerials because that's all they'll need. Some estates ban
outdoor aerials. Could you point me to the reference?

Afraid not. I recall reading it in one report or document, but can't recall
where. The problem is that as I read different reports/proposals/etc I kept
finding conflicting statements. Most obviously, ones that 'estimated' how
many homes would have interference problems. So I started deciding that
they had no real idea and that any specific statement from OfCom, etc, was
just a hand-wave... But I do expect them to duck out of costs to whatever
extent they can manage. SOP for large companies who are thinking of
primarily shareholders and bonuses... Not customers and the impact on
third parties...

So I'm just alert to see how they behave in practice.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html

Satellite v Freeview
 

On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 13:40:00 +0000, Graham. wrote:

On Sun, 24 Feb 2013 12:16:15 +0000, rbel wrote:


From a consumer's perspective does satellite viewing have any
advantages over Freeview other than a wider selection of stations? Is
it less prone to interference/reception problems?

As a general rule, bitrates tend to be more generous on satellite.

It's worth noting that although there are more (mainly dross) FTA
services available on satellite, there are a handful of watchable ones
that are currently FTA on DTT, but not satellite.

There's some watchable channels on Freeview? Please tell ;-)
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) If a man stands in a forest and no woman is around
(")_(") is he still wrong?

Satellite v Freeview
 

On Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:21:22 +0000, Bill Wright
wrote:

--snip--

There's no doubt a cheap filter will sort it out for Gp A channels. The
problem is hardly new. Only yesterday I dealt with a system where the
TETRA is transmitted from the same roof!

Is 4G likely to disrupt even Grp A channels?
--
(\__/) M.
(='.'=) If a man stands in a forest and no woman is around
(")_(") is he still wrong?

Satellite v Freeview
 

On Tue, 26 Feb 2013 09:59:01 +0000, Mark
wrote:


There's some watchable channels on Freeview? Please tell ;-)

BBC4 for sub-titled drama and some documentaries.

--
rbel

Satellite v Freeview
 

In article , Mark
wrote:
On Mon, 25 Feb 2013 16:21:22 +0000, Bill Wright wrote:

--snip--

There's no doubt a cheap filter will sort it out for Gp A channels. The
problem is hardly new. Only yesterday I dealt with a system where the
TETRA is transmitted from the same roof!

Is 4G likely to disrupt even Grp A channels?

It is certainly possible in some cases. Simply by over-powering any
distribution amp or RF gain stages. However the gap in frequencies between
4G and the low end of the UHF TV band make filtering much more likely to
fix such problems without also upsetting TV reception.

How often problems will arise? Dunno. I doubt OfCom know, either.

Very different, though, to where we're expected to get BBC A on ch60- with
4G blasting away just a MHz or so above in frequency.

Slainte,

Jim

--
Please use the address on the audiomisc page if you wish to email me.
Electronics http://www.st-and.ac.uk/~www_pa/Scot...o/electron.htm
Armstrong Audio http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/Armstrong/armstrong.html
Audio Misc http://www.audiomisc.co.uk/index.html