Analogue Switch-Off Starts Wednesday

Living less than 3 miles away from Pontop Pike at weekends, with a perfect view of the transmitter as well, I can only get DTT in the North facing rooms of the house through an Indoor aerial. Analogue on the other hand is 100% crystal clear.

BTW, it's only just hit me - this is a switch off of BBC1/ITV/S4C only - they've left BBC2 analogue going! Presumably that's because the analogue service is the only way to see some network programmes which are replaced by 2W programming on digital. So in fact this region isn't ready for switchover at all, they still have an analogue dependency which hasn't been taken care of before the switchoff. BBC Wales can't loose analogue and maintain the same level of output at present. 'Ah but they've got 3 years to sort that out' I hear you say? OK then, how? What are they going to do?

So they've kept BBC2 analogue on to avoid complaints of viewers having their network programmes taken away from them! Oh I love it, they've not even gone for a full switchoff, only a switchoff of services whose loss won't come back to bite them on the arse later on.

The one thing that annoys me about digital is that when I bought an integrated digital TV last year I thought it'd make it all easier and I could ditch the old ON-digital crate from under the telly - yet to video any programme from the digital broadcast I have to leave the television switched on - it's bloody stupid and I can't find a way arouind it. If I want to tape one channel and watch another then I have to resort back to anologue. Have I not read the instructions properly or is this a common problem?

No, that's the problem of shops (who to be fair are only taking the same line as the government, the BBC, and any other body promoting a 'sooner rather than later' approach to analogue switchoff) telling you that because you have your digital TV, that you're digital ready.

When in actual fact, you used to have (and still need) two tuners and now you only have one. Which will leave you in a bit of a mess when the option to use 'normal telly' for video recording is taken away from you.

Thanks. I'll have to dust off the old On-digital box and attempt to re-connect it in somehow

Referring to the article on BBC News Online, it seems that the 2008 start of large scale switch off has allready been backpedalled from slightly:


Earlier statements from the DCMS were rather more forceful, suggesting that whilst actual dates had not been selected, the years themselves had been set in stone. Now we're told that they're merely 'working towards' a 2008 start. Methinks this is rather like the first days of digital TV, when 2005 was thrown around as a potential timeframe for having made significant headway into analogue switchoff (and please can we not count this ridiculous publicity stunt in Wales as a serious move towards it) and with 2010 as the date by which analogue would be gone.

Why do I get the feeling that they'll publish a switchover timetable in which 'some time in 2008' becomes '31st December 2008', and then nearer the time that gets backpedalled from again as they merely tell you that they're 'aiming towards' such a date, and then that date will get missed?

I was however pleased to see (and I have to admit, unexpected to see) the acknowledgment that:


Well yes, it would be hard to consider it a blueprint for national rollout, since such a blue print would assume that the government were going to give everyone free DTT equipment for a trial, and then allow them to keep it as a bribe for agreeing to loosing the analogue service.

Nice also to see an acknowledgement of why they are trying to rush through digital switchover ahead of it's time:

Nice to hear it from the horse's mouth. Digital TV is not going to usher in some wonderful new era of British TV (as indeed the absymal technical quality of an allready obsolete system and the clear fact that more channels does not equal more programming has allready shown), it's being done to make money.

And that money won't be made by licencing more DTT multiplexes to provide for more channels (or indeed even something useful, like HDTV) - or at least that won't be his first choice. Instead he wants it to be made by selling off space to telecoms operators.

Which is why the government like to keep up the pretence that analogue switchoff is just around the corner instead of admitting that it's years away - it's a carrot being dangled (and yes I realise I've used that phrase allready in this thread) in the faces of telcos in the hope that they want to buy up some of that capacity (am I right in thinking though, that in order for that capacity to be of any use for anything other than more DTT multiplexes, then the frequencies of existing multiplexes would have to be moved around to create a continuous block of space, which may cause more expense to people who have allready shelled out on aerial upgrades to receive DTT?). But such a dubious policy will not help prepare the consumer marketplace for the loss of analogue, because constantly throwing around dates which have to be quickly backed away from because of their total implausibility only serves to further and further ingrain the subconcious belief that analogue switchoff doesn't need to be a consideration because it's still too far off to worry about.

Analogue switchoff is being done with anything but improving the quality of TV in mind. And with that in mind, the government is acting entirely against the British public's best interests.

What will appear on television screens when the transmitter is turned off?

Snow/Static I'd imagine. Unless they're gonna put out a message, but I would imagine most people will be aware of the switch off?

You can buy a VCR with a digital tuner, but there's only one or two of these about that I know of. Or you could buy a PVR...this is a box with two digital tuners and a hard drive. The programmes are recorded onto the hard drive from one channel while you can watch another. Some PVRs even allow you to record two programmes at the same time, but you won't then be able to watch live digital TV, only a previous recording. You can also archive recorded programmes onto VCR or DVD.

VCRs will soon be obsolete technology, replaced by PVR and DVD.

Edit: Sorry forgot you have an IDTV, but that would be even better. With a PVR you could still record two channels at once, and watch live TV using the tuner in the IDTV.

DVD:- Well until Blu-Ray & / or HD-DVD becomes in general use over here.

I do in my bedroom too. Though the freeview box isn't hookd up at the moment as I recently bought a DVD player and I need to buy one of those multiple Scart things. I need my money for other things at the moment though, and it's not top of my priorities.

I don't get how some people can get Freeview with an indoor aerial, I tried to get On Digital with an indoor antenna a few years ago, my antenna (My OneForAll thing) was able to pick up BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4 without a problem, it couldn't pick up Channel 5. When I did try I only managed to get the BBC MUX, rather badly.

We tried again last Easter for my sister, as she was convinced that it would work (I know I wasn't) and the only thing I could pick up was one of the Crown Castle MUX's, that carried TMF, The Hits, UKTV Bright Ideas/Ftn.

How can people get a good reception with an indoor antenna? Do you all live next to your respective Transmitters or something?