Rowridge DTT Changes

Viewers who receive DTT (Freeview, Top Up TV) from Rowridge must rescan their receivers today in order to continue receiving channels. Several of the multiplexes have changed their UHF channel numbers. Here are the old and new UHF channel numbers:

Mux 1 23 -> 34
Mux 2 28 -> 32
Mux A 30 -> 30
Mux B 32 -> 28
Mux C 26 -> 37
Mux D 33 -> 33

I've rescanned my LG RHT 387H HDD/DVD recorder and am still getting all the channls.

Muxes A and D have remained unchanged. Notice the way that muxes 2 and B have swapped their UHF channels. Does anyone know why? That seems a bit pointless, they'd might as well have remained unchanged.

UHF channels 23 (previously Mux 1) and 26 (previously Mux C) are no longer being used for DTT broadcasting at Rowridge. That's understandable because I think neighbouring Stockland Hill will be using UHF 23 and 26 for two of its Muxes from May.

Notice that Mux 1 is now using UHF channel 34 at Rowridge. That explains why analogue Five was turned off at Fawley today; until yesterday it broadcast on UHF channel 34 there.

To me it seems a miracle they've got away with putting mux C on UHF channel 37 at Rowridge. I thought they couldn't use that frequency for analogue Five when that launched Easter 1997, because it would interfere with the continent. Can anyone confirm whether or not that really was the case, and explain how they've got round that for a DTT mux?

For those affected viewers yet to retune, best of British luck to you in retuning your integrated digital TV, integrated digital DVD recorder, Freeview box etc.

Is luck required then?

No luck required, of course, but it's rather a pain if you are one of those people who happen to have re-labelled all the channels as B1, B2...etc as they would have to do it all over again!

*snigger*

Can I have my £500 then? 10/1 that people were going to make those smart comments, and I win.

what a load of tommy rot

so why are these changing frequency anyhow?

Just a guess, but I would imagine the current low power of DTT transmissions aren't strong enough to interfere with foreign signals.

After DSO, the power will be increased significantly, but the frequencies will change again, and channel 37 will no longer be used on Rowridge.

I agree its completely "yuk".

Probably in the same way that they can transmit a digital signal on a frequency a couple of channels away from an analogue signal... a digital signal doesn't interfere with an analogue transmission as much as two analogues interfere.

These changes are to do with Stockland Hill undergoing DSO in a few months - Rowridge has to change to avoid interference from the frquencies and increased powers used there

An element of luck

Today I've had to assist my parents and two elderly relatives with the re-tuning - that's three IDTVs and a PVR.
Plus, for some reason, one of the TVs no longer receives one of the BBC muxes. I wonder who will have to sort that out.. moan moan...

Seriously though, I don't know how they expect some elderly people to cope with this kind of thing - I'm talking about the kind of person who struggles with the concept of two-digit channel numbers. They rely on the good will of friends and family to help them out.
Considering the song and dance made about "re-tuning" when channel 5 started back in 97, you would think more help should be available now.

Apparently, today Radio Solent were advising people to retune their boxes twice because all the channels "might not come back on the first attempt".

My aunt retuned my grandmother's digibox in Bournemouth this morning, but went home without noticing that she'd lost the ITV/C4 mux on the old ITV Digital Pace box.

I managed to talk my grandmother through doing another 'add channels' but it didn't bring in the missing mux.

As you say there are plenty of people out there who find these sorts of changes non-trivial as they simply don't have any concept of the technology involved.

I think a 'Store Channels' rather than an 'Add Chanels' would need to be performed with such frequency changes.