Does anyone know if the central to regional distribution of broadcast
signals has recently gone over to digital.

I normally listen to BBC R3, South Hampshire, IIRC, transmitter at Fareham
and TV signals from Rowridge,IOW.

Today I'm noticing reception of R3, on an analogue radio and another to
confirm, is dropping out for a fraction of a second intermittently, on
announcer as well as recordings.
No announcenments, on air ,of any troubles

Last week I recorded, on analoque video recorder and replayed on  analogue
TV, "Ocean's 12" (I didn't know beforehand  it was junk in comparison to 11)
Most of the last hour had the worst of a DVD or Digibox type digital
decoding errors, like a stop-frame shop CCTV recording and a part broken
image as well. Again no caption or announcement anywhere.

I assume things will only get worse when we will HAVE to have digital as
well.

On 17 Dec, 15:02, "N Cook"  wrote:
> Does anyone know if the central to regional distribution of broadcast
> signals has recently gone over to digital.
>
> I normally listen to BBC R3, South Hampshire, IIRC, transmitter at Fareham
> and TV signals from Rowridge,IOW.
>
> Today I'm noticing reception of R3, on an analogue radio and another to
> confirm, is dropping out for a fraction of a second intermittently, on
> announcer as well as recordings.
> No announcenments, on air ,of any troubles
>
> Last week I recorded, on analoque video recorder and replayed on  analogue
> TV, "Ocean's 12" (I didn't know beforehand  it was junk in comparison to 11)
> Most of the last hour had the worst of a DVD or Digibox type digital
> decoding errors, like a stop-frame shop CCTV recording and a part broken
> image as well. Again no caption or announcement anywhere.
>
> I assume things will only get worse when we will HAVE to have digital as
> well.

Sounds like you are dealing with a number of 'technical / film critic'
issues.

Analogue reception is always prone to increased interference during
high pressure, as to the Ocean's 11/12 issue the quality is prone to
'Hollywood Shite' syndrome.

> I normally listen to BBC R3, South Hampshire, IIRC, transmitter at Fareham
> and TV signals from Rowridge,IOW.
]
R3 comes from Rowridge, Fareham is a MW tx site carrying Radio Solent and R5 
Live.

I think that programme distribution has been digital for a long time now.

Jeff

N Cook wrote:
> Does anyone know if the central to regional distribution of broadcast
> signals has recently gone over to digital.
>
> I normally listen to BBC R3, South Hampshire, IIRC, transmitter at
> Fareham and TV signals from Rowridge,IOW.
>
> Today I'm noticing reception of R3, on an analogue radio and another
> to confirm, is dropping out for a fraction of a second
> intermittently, on announcer as well as recordings.
> No announcenments, on air ,of any troubles
>
> Last week I recorded, on analoque video recorder and replayed on
> analogue TV, "Ocean's 12" (I didn't know beforehand  it was junk in
> comparison to 11) Most of the last hour had the worst of a DVD or
> Digibox type digital decoding errors, like a stop-frame shop CCTV
> recording and a part broken image as well. Again no caption or
> announcement anywhere.
>
> I assume things will only get worse when we will HAVE to have digital
> as well.


All TV and radio (analogue and digital) uses digital distribution these 
days, and it has done for several years. The BBC uses NICAM to distribute 
Radios 1-4 to the FM transmitters, and it has done for probably the last 10 
years (not sure how long though to be honest). The audio quality is still a 
lot better than on DAB though due to the low bit rates used on DAB and the 
ancient audio codec that DAB uses.

BTW, FM won't be switched off until at least 2020, and it'll probably be 
closer to 2025, so there's no need to worry about that at least...


-- 
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

The adoption of DAB was the most incompetent technical
decision ever made in the history of UK broadcasting:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/incompetent_adoption_of_dab.htm

N Cook wrote:

> Today I'm noticing reception of R3, on an analogue radio and another to
> confirm, is dropping out for a fraction of a second intermittently, on
> announcer as well as recordings.
> No announcenments, on air ,of any troubles

Almost certainly due to propagation changes as a result of the high
pressure area sitting out to the east, someone here was mentioning the
existence of VHF/UHF "lifts" so there is longer than normal distance
propagation about.

-- 

Brian Morrison

bdm at fenrir dot org dot uk

it also happened on radio 2 during the  day. I thinksomething is changing.
"N Cook"  wrote in message 
news:fk62vt$e5q$1@inews.gazeta.pl...
> Does anyone know if the central to regional distribution of broadcast
> signals has recently gone over to digital.
>
> I normally listen to BBC R3, South Hampshire, IIRC, transmitter at Fareham
> and TV signals from Rowridge,IOW.
>
> Today I'm noticing reception of R3, on an analogue radio and another to
> confirm, is dropping out for a fraction of a second intermittently, on
> announcer as well as recordings.
> No announcenments, on air ,of any troubles
>
> Last week I recorded, on analoque video recorder and replayed on  analogue
> TV, "Ocean's 12" (I didn't know beforehand  it was junk in comparison to 
> 11)
> Most of the last hour had the worst of a DVD or Digibox type digital
> decoding errors, like a stop-frame shop CCTV recording and a part broken
> image as well. Again no caption or announcement anywhere.
>
> I assume things will only get worse when we will HAVE to have digital as
> well.
>
>
>
>
>

Ian  wrote in message
news:WdA9j.18217$KC3.10916@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...

> it also happened on radio 2 during the  day. I thinksomething is changing.

> "N Cook"  wrote in message
> news:fk62vt$e5q$1@inews.gazeta.pl...
>
>



Hampshire ? or somewhere else?

I should have said the corrupted film I'd recorded was on analogue ITV

"Ian"  wrote in message 
news:WdA9j.18217$KC3.10916@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...
> it also happened on radio 2 during the  day. I thinksomething is changing.
> "N Cook"  wrote in message 
> news:fk62vt$e5q$1@inews.gazeta.pl...
>> Does anyone know if the central to regional distribution of broadcast
>> signals has recently gone over to digital.
>>
>> I normally listen to BBC R3, South Hampshire, IIRC, transmitter at 
>> Fareham
>> and TV signals from Rowridge,IOW.
>>
>> Today I'm noticing reception of R3, on an analogue radio and another to
>> confirm, is dropping out for a fraction of a second intermittently, on
>> announcer as well as recordings.
>> No announcenments, on air ,of any troubles
>>
>> Last week I recorded, on analoque video recorder and replayed on 
>> analogue
>> TV, "Ocean's 12" (I didn't know beforehand  it was junk in comparison to 
>> 11)
>> Most of the last hour had the worst of a DVD or Digibox type digital
>> decoding errors, like a stop-frame shop CCTV recording and a part broken
>> image as well. Again no caption or announcement anywhere.
>>
>> I assume things will only get worse when we will HAVE to have digital as
>> well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tonight, just after 7 O'clock while listening to Radio Five Live (909kHz) on 
my Yaesu FT990 I was confronted by a short(ish) transmission of Radio One 
Extra (how awful it was). I thought there was a lift on but no, it seems it 
was a BBC cock up!

KW

"Ken Ward"  wrote in message 
news:H9B9j.11338$Hc3.4817@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...
>
> "Ian"  wrote in message 
> news:WdA9j.18217$KC3.10916@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...
>> it also happened on radio 2 during the  day. I thinksomething is 
>> changing.
>> "N Cook"  wrote in message 
>> news:fk62vt$e5q$1@inews.gazeta.pl...
>>> Does anyone know if the central to regional distribution of broadcast
>>> signals has recently gone over to digital.
>>>
>>> I normally listen to BBC R3, South Hampshire, IIRC, transmitter at 
>>> Fareham
>>> and TV signals from Rowridge,IOW.
>>>
>>> Today I'm noticing reception of R3, on an analogue radio and another to
>>> confirm, is dropping out for a fraction of a second intermittently, on
>>> announcer as well as recordings.
>>> No announcenments, on air ,of any troubles
>>>
>>> Last week I recorded, on analoque video recorder and replayed on 
>>> analogue
>>> TV, "Ocean's 12" (I didn't know beforehand  it was junk in comparison to 
>>> 11)
>>> Most of the last hour had the worst of a DVD or Digibox type digital
>>> decoding errors, like a stop-frame shop CCTV recording and a part broken
>>> image as well. Again no caption or announcement anywhere.
>>>
>>> I assume things will only get worse when we will HAVE to have digital as
>>> well.
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>
> Tonight, just after 7 O'clock while listening to Radio Five Live (909kHz) 
> on my Yaesu FT990 I was confronted by a short(ish) transmission of Radio 
> One Extra (how awful it was). I thought there was a lift on but no, it 
> seems it was a BBC cock up!
>
> KW
>
>
The signal issues are due to directional interference from BBC vans aimed at 
non-payers of theTV licence.

They have a database of all homes who have not got a TV licence and they 
beam at your yagi with a phase multiplexed signal that decodes the IRC chip 
in your digibox and compands the analogue signal to give the blocky effect.

I know this as I drive the van that ciovers the Oxford area

Could this be the cause of blocks and "hiccups" all evening on BBC TV (1 - 
4) Mon 10/12/07 (I think) that rendered BBC TV on Freeview unwatchable?

-- 

Delboy

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely 
foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

Douglas Adams
"bob martin"  wrote in message 
news:PbC9j.11952$ov2.1600@newsfe5-win.ntli.net...
>
> "Ken Ward"  wrote in message 
> news:H9B9j.11338$Hc3.4817@newsfe1-gui.ntli.net...
>>
>> "Ian"  wrote in message 
>> news:WdA9j.18217$KC3.10916@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...
>>> it also happened on radio 2 during the  day. I thinksomething is 
>>> changing.
>>> "N Cook"  wrote in message 
>>> news:fk62vt$e5q$1@inews.gazeta.pl...
>>>> Does anyone know if the central to regional distribution of broadcast
>>>> signals has recently gone over to digital.
>>>>
>>>> I normally listen to BBC R3, South Hampshire, IIRC, transmitter at 
>>>> Fareham
>>>> and TV signals from Rowridge,IOW.
>>>>
>>>> Today I'm noticing reception of R3, on an analogue radio and another to
>>>> confirm, is dropping out for a fraction of a second intermittently, on
>>>> announcer as well as recordings.
>>>> No announcenments, on air ,of any troubles
>>>>
>>>> Last week I recorded, on analoque video recorder and replayed on 
>>>> analogue
>>>> TV, "Ocean's 12" (I didn't know beforehand  it was junk in comparison 
>>>> to 11)
>>>> Most of the last hour had the worst of a DVD or Digibox type digital
>>>> decoding errors, like a stop-frame shop CCTV recording and a part 
>>>> broken
>>>> image as well. Again no caption or announcement anywhere.
>>>>
>>>> I assume things will only get worse when we will HAVE to have digital 
>>>> as
>>>> well.
>>
>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>
>> Tonight, just after 7 O'clock while listening to Radio Five Live (909kHz) 
>> on my Yaesu FT990 I was confronted by a short(ish) transmission of Radio 
>> One Extra (how awful it was). I thought there was a lift on but no, it 
>> seems it was a BBC cock up!
>>
>> KW
>>
>>
> The signal issues are due to directional interference from BBC vans aimed 
> at non-payers of theTV licence.
>
> They have a database of all homes who have not got a TV licence and they 
> beam at your yagi with a phase multiplexed signal that decodes the IRC 
> chip in your digibox and compands the analogue signal to give the blocky 
> effect.
>
> I know this as I drive the van that ciovers the Oxford area
>
>
>

Delboy wrote:
> Could this be the cause of blocks and "hiccups" all evening on BBC TV
> (1 - 4) Mon 10/12/07 (I think) that rendered BBC TV on Freeview
> unwatchable?


That will probably have been to do with the high pressure making signals 
travel further than they do usually, which Freeview isn't well-suited to 
coping with.


-- 
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

The adoption of DAB was the most incompetent technical
decision ever made in the history of UK broadcasting:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/incompetent_adoption_of_dab.htm

Tks for the comment Steve; and I bow to your superior knowledge, but BBC TV 
1-4 only?

-- 

Delboy

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely 
foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

Douglas Adams
"DAB sounds worse than FM" <dab.is@dead> wrote in message 
news:6%N9j.236$ou3.225@newsfe4-win.ntli.net...
> Delboy wrote:
>> Could this be the cause of blocks and "hiccups" all evening on BBC TV
>> (1 - 4) Mon 10/12/07 (I think) that rendered BBC TV on Freeview
>> unwatchable?
>
>
> That will probably have been to do with the high pressure making signals 
> travel further than they do usually, which Freeview isn't well-suited to 
> coping with.
>
>
> -- 
> Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info
>
> The adoption of DAB was the most incompetent technical
> decision ever made in the history of UK broadcasting:
> http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/incompetent_adoption_of_dab.htm
>

Delboy wrote:
> Tks for the comment Steve; and I bow to your superior knowledge, but
> BBC TV 1-4 only?


If it was definitely BBC 1-4 only then that might have been a BBC problem. 
But if it affected BBC1, 2 and 3 only then that could still be due to 
Freeview reception issues, because BBC1, 2 and 3 are transmitted on the same 
Freeview multiplex:

http://www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/dtt_channels.html


-- 
Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info

The adoption of DAB was the most incompetent technical
decision ever made in the history of UK broadcasting:
http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/incompetent_adoption_of_dab.htm

Tks Steve, Certainly 1 & 2, cant swear to or at the other BBCs

-- 

Delboy

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely 
foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

Douglas Adams
"DAB sounds worse than FM" <dab.is@dead> wrote in message 
news:ZHO9j.21535$zw.13503@newsfe3-win.ntli.net...
> Delboy wrote:
>> Tks for the comment Steve; and I bow to your superior knowledge, but
>> BBC TV 1-4 only?
>
>
> If it was definitely BBC 1-4 only then that might have been a BBC problem. 
> But if it affected BBC1, 2 and 3 only then that could still be due to 
> Freeview reception issues, because BBC1, 2 and 3 are transmitted on the 
> same Freeview multiplex:
>
> http://www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/dtt_channels.html
>
>
> -- 
> Steve - www.digitalradiotech.co.uk - Digital Radio News & Info
>
> The adoption of DAB was the most incompetent technical
> decision ever made in the history of UK broadcasting:
> http://www.digitalradiotech.co.uk/dab/incompetent_adoption_of_dab.htm
>