Digital television disappointment for Kintyre

[argylltourist]

happybythesea

Firstly check with any neighbours... Being in the west you may only get signal from Ireland,and they don't change over 'til next year.So don't give up your subscription yet!!!

[Ninja Mania]

I bought a digi free view box and flat screen tv about 4 yrs ago, it never worked, what a waste of money or so I thought back then.
I took it out last night and tried it again with an old ariel which is sitting on a roof spar inside my garage, it works great and nearly 40 free channel's too.
Same box and tv today would costs just about double what I paid for it 4 yrs ago. Who's a clever boy now then Kintyre84.

[Ship called Dignity]

Same box and tv today would costs just about double what I paid for it 4 yrs ago. Who's a clever boy now then Kintyre84.

Aye but the same box and tv 4 years ago would today cost half what you paid for it!! Clever boy = numpty

[jamiemcivor]

At the risk of sounding like I'm a self-congratulatory media type, it's worth pointing out that it's no mean achievement that digital switchover has been achieved so smoothly.

As I said the other morning on GMS, if anyone had suggested five years ago that this would have happened they would have been accused of complacency bordering on arrogance.

Because the overwhelming majority of people switched voluntarily, it meant the effort could be focused on the elderly, potentially vulnerable and on people in areas (like Kintyre) where Freeview was not previously available.

There are some big lessons to learn from this for other public information campaigns or before anyone seriously attempts to make moves towards switching off FM radio. (Which is unlikely for several years, despite some stories you may read in the press.)

Incidentally, if you can get a decent analogue picture from Northern Ireland but can only get "Freeview Light" at the moment, you may find that you can get the full range of commercial channels once switchover happens across the North Channel in the second half of 2012. I also know of at least one person in Kirk Street who can get the full Freeview service (rather than just the BBC and the commercial public services) by pointing their aerial at Darvel rather than the local transmitter so some other people in the southern part of the town may be able to do this too. The beauty of digital is that you either get a perfect picture or nothing at all so as long as the signal reaches a certain strength everything looks fine even if the signal isn't really that strong. However a warning: if you use Darvel for ALL services you may find that the picture pixilates occasionally or freezes when atmospherics or whatever knock a relatively weak signal. The trick is to find a way of using Darvel for the extra channels but still using the local transmitter for BBC, STV, ITV and C4 services.

[Mzz pasico]

Need to purchase outdoor ariel for additional tele. Does anyone know if it would be more suitable to buy a high gain one for freeview. Don't know much about them.

[jamiemcivor]

You just need exactly the same sort of aerial as you would have needed for analogue tv before. In some parts of the town, an indoor aerial - which previously would have given a bit of a snowy picture - could actually prove more than adequate.

If you need a new outdoor aerial, a high gain aerial would make no difference if you get an acceptable signal from the Campbeltown transmitter. You only need one if, say, you're in a fringe area reliant on a weak, distant signal - say, parts of the east or west of the peninsula.

To be honest, given the cost of fitting a new outdoor aerial you might find Freesat a better option as you'll get a far wider range of channels than Freeview Light. If you already have a satellite dish you would probably be able to get an engineer to run an additional cable from the dish to the room.

[Mzz pasico]

Thanks for replying Jamie. I've ordered new aerial which i can get installed at side of the building outdoors.I tried an indoor one but couldn't get the signal at all.

[howlsatthemoon]

Going off topic a little, but along the same lines as digital television, will Campbeltown/Kintyre ever be able to recieve DAB radio?

[jamiemcivor]

The short answer is yes - but no date's been set yet. New DAB transmitters are being opened regularly. Oban, Fort William and Rothesay got DAB transmitters last year and Knapdale is supposed to be covered within the next few months.

As with digital tv though, you will not get the full DAB service. Only the BBC multiplex is being extended. The reason, once again, is basically economic.

Just to stress, THERE IS NO DATE SET FOR TURNING OFF FM RADIO. There's no chance of a date being set until DAB coverage matches FM and accounts for a high proportion of listening. It also seems "community" stations like Argyll FM would be allowed to remain on FM - only the BBC and professional commercial radio would be affected.