BBC Switchover Plans

"Jim" wrote in message ...

I was just thinking about the similarities with the changeover
from VHF to UHF, ....

Well there were 2 changes at once, the change to UHF along with its change
from 405 lines to 625 lines.

(At this time there were also Colour transmission tests going, at this time
people had b/w sets.)

Because of the 625 lines you could not just have an adaptor for the new
frequencies.

My then current set was a convertable to dual standard.
At first the extra bits were expensive and not ecconomical to have fitted
when the UHF/625 transmission started with BBC2 only. In the course of time
when these units had not been selling I got one at a silly cheap price at a
surplus parts dealer. It comprised of a UHF tuner, and as I remember I or
maybe 2 pc panels to plug in. I added a UHF aerial and all worked well
first time.

Later BBC1 and ITV started on UHF/625 and new sets then became this new
single standard.

Sales of sets were were promoted by the extra BBC 2 and better b/w picture
due to the extra lines.

Sales of course were on the up of colour sets, mainly rented due to high
cost and realiabity worrys, same day service with the rental firms.

I would think the introduction of colour would have been the main reason for
the adoption of UHF. So for the several reasons I give above the change and
switch off of VHF/405 then was easier than what we face in the future.

I read somewhere recently of one of the 40 year secrets released that the
few people who still watching on VHF/405 sets were quitely given new UHF/625
sets to enable the VHF/405 transmitter to be turned off.
This being cheasper than keeping the transmitter going.
I talked to an ITV transmitter engineer at that time, his transmitter at
full power used 2 transmitter together, towards the end one was used the
other being used for spares to keep it going. I seem to recall it just
lasted out.

--
Regards,
David

Please reply to News Group.

"Dave Fawthrop" wrote in message

Dual standard UHF VHF sets are still available, I got one from Lidl last
year. It would do the various PALs as well.


Yes other contries still use VHF for Tv as well as UHF.
But remember our 1960's Dual sets were 405 lines and 625 lines as well.

Very much doubt yours is one of these.

--
Regards,
David

Please reply to News Group.

"Mark Carver" wrote in message


..... were the Channel Islands in 1976, (who incidently
are the only TV region of the UK not to have DTT).


Isn't that because we are frightened of the French?

--
Regards,
David

Please reply to News Group.

"David" wrote in message
news:[email protected]

"Jim" wrote in message
...

I was just thinking about the similarities with the
changeover
from VHF to UHF, ....

Well there were 2 changes at once, the change to UHF along with
its change
from 405 lines to 625 lines.

(At this time there were also Colour transmission tests going,
at this time
people had b/w sets.)

snip

Sales of sets were were promoted by the extra BBC 2 and better
b/w picture
due to the extra lines.


Now we have BBC3,4, NEWS24, CBBC, et al, with (mostly) an
improved picture on DTT.

Sales of course were on the up of colour sets, mainly rented
due to high
cost and realiabity worrys, same day service with the rental
firms.

I would think the introduction of colour would have been the
main reason for
the adoption of UHF. So for the several reasons I give above
the change and
switch off of VHF/405 then was easier than what we face in the
future.

snip
You could also add the simpler frequency management, since the
old and new channels occupied different bands (I don't know if
many existing users had to be shifted from UHF). And yet it
still took 20 years to switch off the last VHF transmitter.

I had forgotten about the rental, but then the sets were so
expensive (around £300+ for a colour set around 1970, IIRC, must
have been at least a month's wages). Cost and reliability are
less of an issue these days - a set is around a week's (average)
earnings now, with a STB and a cheap VCR around a day's.

I suppose a colour TV in 1970 would be equivalent in cost to a
large-screen Plasma or LCD TV today.

Is there really such a pressing need for an early national
analogue switch-off?

Most decidedly yes! The Treasury wants to get its hands on the money from a
sale or sales as soon as it can.


--
MESSAGE ENDS.
John Porcella

Dave Farrance wrote in message . ..
(Ed) wrote:

DTG reports (http://www.dtg.org.uk/latest/latest_bbc_switchover.htm)
on the BBC's report on Switchover from analogue to digital.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/policies/switchover.shtml

Much of it seems to show that although I do not think the government
has a clue about Switchover the BBC does.

Well, I do wonder, if the BBC can write a report like this, why the heck
they don't advertise the fact that analogue TV will switch off. Part of
the reason that DTT's penetration is slower than it could be is most
people simply don't know about the switch off. That's why IDTVs are so
slow in taking off.

Part of the problem is that there is not a fixed date, and part of the
problem is that the technology has only recently settled down. For
instance will all the interactive features and the 7 day EPG work with
early IDTV's, I believe the answer to that is no. So people who
forked out an extra two hundred pounds to get an IDTV, will end up
buying a new box if they want these extra features. I suspect that
the better new boxes that are coming out now probably will cope with
any new features, though I am not convinced that that is the case with
all the IDTV's currently on the market.
What people should really be looking for is an IDTV with a hard drive
recorder and dual tuner. People have had VCRs for a long time, and
cable and satellite boxes, so people are quite used to having boxes.
What is more stupid is the way many of the televisions work, I have a
Toshiba bought about 18 months ago. To get the analogue channels you
press the channel number button, wonderfully simple. To get Sky or
Freeview or the DVD player connected through SCART, press a button and
cycle through AV1 AV2 RGB SVHS, when actually most of the time I am
using my boxes so I just want a button that says AV1 on my remote AV2,
or even better the ability to assign a channel number to AV1 rather
than an analogue frequency. I think for most people that is more
important than having an IDTV.
My guess is by 2010 the hot selling item will be Widescreen TFT
screens or one of the thin screen technologies. So long as the remote
is sensible I do not mind if the tuner is on the built into the screen
or in a separate box, to be honest with a TFT I'd probably have it
without any tuner at all, and perhaps that is the way forward.
Separate tuners with better remotes.

but at least we'll still be able to record one channel
while wacthing another, and our TV in the bedroom will still work.

I can with my Pace Twin and Pace DTVA

Is there really such a pressing need for an early national
analogue switch-off?

Yes - we want HDTV on these frequencies

Jim wrote:

I had forgotten about the rental, but then the sets were so
expensive (around £300+ for a colour set around 1970, IIRC, must
have been at least a month's wages).

Nearer three months.
--
Dave

"Jim" wrote in message ...

Is there really such a pressing need for an early national
analogue switch-off? The report makes it clear that conversion
is going to be done on a regional basis anyway, and Germany has
shown it's possible to switch off analogue services in one area
over a period of months, not years.

That was quite different, as in most European counties the switch over in
Berlin was alleviated by the fact that 90% of households have cable or
satellite, broadcast TV is a minority platform only used by a few thousand
households, it was literally cheaper to give boxes away than keep analogue
transmissions going, and in many cases people were given coupons for
subsidised boxes.

It's the directly opposite to the environment in the UK where broadcast PAL
is still the primary platform despite the inroads made by Freeview, Sky and
to a lesser extent cable. What percentage of households still rely on the
analogue signal in some shape or form? I'm sure the majority of people with
DVB or and even Sky+ still have a portable TV kicking around in the kitchen
or bedroom with nothing more than a loop antenna... the sort of application
where DTT signals presently die their arse.

People need to ask what the public really gets out of this transition, aside
from more shopping channels than there are currently analogue broadcasts.

Az.