Digital television disappointment for Kintyre

[Kintyre Forum News]

Read with interest this article in the Campbeltown Courier this week - any thoughts on this?

Digital television disappointment for Kintyre
Published: 09 January, 2009

KINTYRE is facing a digital disappointment with the switch from terrestrial to digital television.

Many parts of the UK will have up to 50 channels on the basic digital TV service but unless people living in Kintyre, Islay, Jura and Mid Argyll dig into their pockets to buy satellite services they will have the basic 18. Even then reception will vary enormously.

The switch comes between April and June 2011 with relay transmitters in the area receiving the digital signal from the Darvel transmitter in Ayrshire.

Only Southend, which will receive its signal directly from Darvel will have up to 30 channels; though reception might be poor.

A spokesman for Digital UK, which is in charge of the switch over said that the number of channels that can be broadcast from relay transmitters is restricted by the limited availably of airwaves and the ‘very significant cost of upgrading local transmitters’.

Alan Reid MP for Argyll and Bute said: ‘Westminster is making huge profits from selling off the airwaves being made available by switching from analogue to digital television and the government should devote some small part of the money raised to ensure that people in my constituency and elsewhere receive the same television service as the rest of the country.’

[Bonnie Lass]

I wrote to Alan Reid about this ages ago, we get pictures off the Gigha Transmitter, I had a look at the FreeSat website yesterday and their transmitter is way up the road, doubt if we will get that either - looks like unless you can afford Sky - you are going to be without....

There is a "one off" payment package from Sky - http://www.freesatfromsky.co.uk/

[maxmix]

Let's face it.... When the majority here cannot receive C5 in this day and age, what chance have we of receiving Digital

maxmix

[howlsatthemoon]

I had a look at the FreeSat website yesterday and their transmitter is way up the road

I think you may be getting mixed up with freeview.

Freesat is a satellite Service provided by ITV & BBC for a one off payment (no monthly subscription) you can get over 140 tv and radio channels and free HD.

Link to their site: http://www.freesat.co.uk

[Bonnie Lass]

Thanks Howlsatthemoon, I am slightly confused, OK so freeview comes from the transmitters - that option will be out.

We are therefore left with the only option of Satelite, whether it is via Sky or Freesat it looks like a layout of £70/£150 or more, depending on what package you want to purchase - those on a budget will not be able to afford this amount of money.

I think we should lobby hard to get freeview available from all local transmitters, this change was forced upon us, an acceptable "budget" alternative should be made compulsary.

Admin - are we able to vote on this and pass on the votes to Alan Reid ??

[Kintyre Forum News]

Admin - are we able to vote on this and pass on the votes to Alan Reid ??

PM me the questions you want to add and I will add the voting system.

[Beachcomber]

There's a full Freesat kit on Ebay at the moment with a starting bid of only £30: dish, decoder, cabling...

Even if it goes for twice that price it's still just £5 per month.

What's that? One packet of fags? Two pints of beer?

[Kintyre Forum News]

Did anyone else get a book through their post detailing "Your guide to switchover - For ALL TV viewers"?

Doesn't mention variances for people in Kintyre? Is this still the case as posted above? Anyone know?

[Bonnie Lass]

I had a chat with the Digital Team a while back, it appears that Gigha transmitter bounces off Black Hill Glasgow and that will be upgraded, therefore Kintyre should get Digital !!

Guess we'll find out on 8th June

[jamiemcivor]

Basically, anyone served by a relay transmitter - that's anyone in Kintyre who gets Scottish programmes - will only get what's known in the industry as Freeview Light. That's been known since at least 2005.

Freeview Light currently means all the BBC channels (including the additional digital services), STV, STV+1, ITV2, C4, C5, C4+1, More 4 and E4. People with Freeview HD equipment will also be able to receive BBC1 HD, the BBC HD Channel, STV HD and C4 HD.

There are two reasons why the full Freeview service won't be available on relays. The main one is that the other parts of Freeview are a purely commercial operation. It simply doesn't make economic sense for these businesses to invest millions in building a national transmitter network - several hundred transmitters to reach about 10% of the population. This is especially true as the vast bulk of people in "Freeview Light" areas already have satellite tv so can pick up these channels anyway - they'd be spending good money for little or no return. There's also a shortage of frequencies in some areas.

Some people have argued that everybody pays the same tv licence so everybody should get the same level of Freeview service. Well, the tv licence pays for the BBC and has also been used to support digital switchover for other broadcasters with public service commitments. It doesn't exist to allow shopping channels to get extra customers.

The best option for anyone in Kintyre who doesn't want to subscribe to Sky but who feels Freeview Light would be inadequate is to buy Freesat. Basically that means getting a satellite dish and a set top box installed for a one off payment of £150 or so. http://www.freesat.co.uk. That's what I've got at my place in the town.

The leaflet I've seen from Digital UK makes it clear that some services aren't available on relays so I hope there's no local confusion. I've also heard a few people in the town say that they think they NEED to get satellite by May as "aerials will stop working". That's completely inaccurate so I hope nobody's been giving out delberately false information.

Here's exactly what happens.

MAY 11 - BBC2 analogue will be switched off for good overnight. At this point, Freeview boxes will start to work in Campbeltown for the first time and all the BBC's digital channels will be available. If you want Freeview, it might be an idea to buy your box just now ready to install then. Most decent tvs made in the past 5 years or so will have Freeview built into them so will just need to be reset.

MAY 25 - BBC1, STV and C4 analogue will be switched off for good overnight. At this point, the rest of the Freeview Light channels will become available and boxes or tvs with built-in Freeview will need to be rescanned.

Existing aerials should work fine as long as you get a good analogue reception. I think some of the relays in North Kintyre may be switching a month later than Ctown as they are linked to the Blackhill transmitter rather than Darvel. Analogue tv from Northern Ireland will still be available for another year or so...

How many people in Ctown still watch analogue on their main set? I reckon 80-85% of people have Sky or Freesat now judging by the number of dishes. Switchover is increasingly an issue for portable sets. Oddly, though, I know people who still watch, say, BBC1 on analogue and only put on their Sky box when they want one of the other channels. This is madness as the picture on satellite is far superior to the one on analogue. If you have satellite, you'd be better off using it all the time.

[jamiemcivor]

When I was home last weekend, I was surprised that quite a few people who spoke to me still didn't get the basics of switchover and were a wee bit worried or open to buying things they don't need. All this despite the leaflets from Digital UK, info from ourselves and other broadcasters and the excellent support work being done by Argyll Voluntary Action.

I'd be grateful if you could all help nail a few myths if they come up in conversation in the pub or Aqualibrium.

*There is no such thing as a digital aerial. A normal aerial is fine. If you get a good analogue reception just now, you will get a good Freeview digital reception come May 11. (If you're converting a portable with a built in aerial, you might need to buy a simple indoor aerial simply because you might not manage to stretch the cable far enough to plug it into the box... but that's a different matter!)

*Any tv can be converted to Freeview with a cheap set top box - even an old portable or a black and white set. But be careful to make sure you get a set top box with an RF convertor if the tv does not have a scart socket. Any tv made in the past 15 years or so should have a scart though some older ones won't.

*There is no NEED to get satellite tv if you can get a good analogue signal just now. Only get satellite if it's what you actually WANT. In Kintyre Freesat will offer more channels than Freeview although it's significantly more expensive,

*Analogue tv from Northern Ireland will only work for another year or so. It is being switched off too.

There may be a few people out there seeking to take advantage of the situation to make a bit of cash. A bit of helpful advice makes sure they don't succeed.

[easypeasy]

''But be careful to make sure you get a set top box with an RF convertor if the tv does not have a scart socket.''
This is easier said than done. My wife has an excellent TV with a very good picture but the set is over 20 years old. She is very attached to it for sentimental reasons and wants to continue using it after the switch over. The set has no connections at the back other than the aerial socket. I tried to purchase a set top box from John Lewis with an RF convertor but was told they used to stock them a number of years ago. I have tried other sources without sucess.

[jamiemcivor]

I've been speaking to my colleagues who work for Digital UK and we'll be taking the switchover roadshow to Campbeltown around the end of the month for anyone who has questions. I'll post details as soon as the date and exact location are confirmed.

Re the last post. Is your wife's tv connected to a video? If so, does the video have a scart socket? If it does you might be able to connect up that way. (ie watch digital tv through the video.)

I realise it's getting harder to get Freeview boxes with RF convertors as there's relatively little demand for them but they are still available. Digital UK may be able to point you towards models and suppliers if it's proving hard.

Personally I can't get emotionally attached to white goods but I can understand where your wife is coming from. One of my granny's relatives was happy to watch her 405 line 1950s telly until she was effectively "forced" to get a new one when the Redifussion piping system was switched off in the late 70s. The old set was in perfect working order and she had never seen the need to get a new one - she mostly watched STV so wasn't bothered about the fact she couldn't get BBC2 and colour sets were still very expensive then.

While you don't need to buy a new set for digital, I would say to anyone with a 20 year old main set who is not on a tight income that they would probably get far more enjoyment out of a new television - switchover or not. Technology has moved on. Even without HD, colours on a new set are richer and more vivid. For more than 10 years, all programmes on major channels have been made in widescreen and we frame all our shots accordingly. This means that on an old "4x3" set you either miss a third of the picture - sometimes containing a lot of perspective or on some channels text - or you have to watch a letterbox picture with a large amount of black screen at the top and bottom.

[easypeasy]

Thanks for your help. My wife's TV is connected to a fairly modern Panasonic video recorder/ DVD player with scart connections. I will put the aerial into the freeview box and connect it to the video recorder via the scart cable and use the video cable connection to the TV, problem solved.

[jamiemcivor]

The Digital UK Roadshow will be parked in Main Street outside Morrison's on March 29 from 9am to 5pm. Trained experts will be on hand to offer free, independent advice on the switchover. They'll be able to answer any questions on what you do and don't need to do and can also give information on the Switchover Help Scheme.