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‘Bedlam’ predicted over Shropshire digital TV switchover
Tuesday 5th April 2011, 10:31AM BST.
TV aerial installer Paul Brown at work during the digital switchover
A Shropshire technology expert is predicting “bedlam” when the county’s televisions go digital tomorrow.
Steve Mitchell, who owns and runs the BF Interactive audio visual store in Shrewsbury, said he expects there to be real problems for thousands of TV owners in Shropshire.
The first stage of the switchover from analogue to digital happens tomorrow for many Shropshire TV viewers.
“To be honest I think there may be bedlam for a few months as TV owners try to get to grips with the switchover,” said Mr Mitchell.
“I spoke to a colleague in the Granada region who told me that it was a real problem for thousands there and I see no reason why it shouldn’t be the same here.
“The problem is that a large chunk of the television-owning population, especially the elderly, is suddenly having this technological change forced on them without them asking for it.
“It would only be natural for them to have problems trying to retune their televisions.
“I am fully expecting it to take a fair few months before the households across the county are retuned to digital.”
The central region is one of the last in UK to make the switchover.
The first analogue station to go will be BBC2.
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“Suddenly” having this forced on them? It’s been on the cards for years, there has been plenty of time for people to get organised.
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Bedlam?
Don’t think so.
Upheaval? Confusion? Difficulty? Yes maybe.
But tomorrow they are only switching off BBC2 and bedlam suggests people will be rioting in the streets because they can’t watch Lambing Live.
And he’s not a technology expert. He sells TVs… and will probably sell a few more now as a result of the bedlam.
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I’ve been told by a peron who works for the Digital UK company, that there is no need for a “so-called” digital TV aerial. You will need a Freeview box but depending where you live, your normal analogue aerial may suffice. So before you think you must get a digital aerial try your Freeview box, you may not need one. Also, when the digitl switchover is complete, the new signal will “drop” in the atmosphere and hence be easier to receive.
Don’t believe the hype people.
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correctomondo. A normal TV aerial will pick up the main digital channels ok, but it will struggle with the lower strength broadcasts, which means channels like QVC or The Shopping Channel might not work.
Oh the humanity
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excellent use of the word correctomondo.
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Sky have been peddling nonsense like ‘digital ariels’ for years, quite likely bolstering their subscription numbers in the process. Most people will have no difficulty in installing a box with an old aerial – I have managed to pick up strong enough signal for most services – BBC, ITV etc – using both ancient aerials and even an old set top aerial.
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GET SKY
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“is suddenly having this technological change forced on them without them asking for it.
Suddenly? Digital television was launched in 1998 and a digital switchover was talked about even before then. I think nearly 13 years is more than enough time for people to prepare. I’d argue its another example of peoplenot taking ownership of their own lives.
I’d argue that this ‘Technology Expert’ needs to stop fear mongering and look at the benefits of the switchover – namely faster mobile broadband (once OFCOM auction this off). We’ve been far too slow with switchover, and while citizens in the USA now 4G mobile phones and tablets, UK technophiles are still lets with a patchy – and usually exceptionally slow – 3G network.
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What kind of a non-story is this? It sounds like the type a bloke down the pub tells you. This guy is clearly desperate for a bit of attention, unless it’s this tatty rag that’s looking to sensationalise something that’s not going to be a problem. The switchover has passed with little incident across half the UK already, and as to his comments about the elderly, there’s a scheme set up to help them switch over that gives them boxes and phone support when they run into difficulties.
As for the line about “change forced on them that they didn’t ask for”, if we all took that attitude we’d still be living in caves.
And who is the bloke in the picture? There is no reference to this fellah in the story at all.
Pathetic.
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How lucky you all are to have this fella, business address above, to take advantage, sorry, help all the elderly out.
“It would only be natural for them to have problems trying to retune their televisions” This statement is true, if its an old style Analogue TV they wil be there forever!
All you need is a set top box connected to your aerial cable and a cable from the box to the aerial socket on the TV, not exactly rocket science is it? The difficult bit is getting it to tune to the new channels but as that is mostly automatic now it shouldn’t be an issue.
I now live in the GRANADA region, which it hasn’t been for ages, and it was very easy to sort out.
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The government’s sole purpose in forcing digital TV on us is so that they can sell off the analogue frequencies. All we get in return is a slightly better picture. Ok, there are many additional channels but the programme content is either non existent, such as in the many shopping channels, total rubbish or endless repeats and stuffed full of adverts. The broadcasters don’t seem to care what they put on and how it is presented. Series such as Heartbeat are shown out of sequence so that one day Oscar Blaketon is running the pub, next day he’s back in the police force. One day Gina has a baby, next she’s still pregnant with the same child. Total farce! American TV looked like this years ago. Finally it’s arrived here.
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Quite right #3 Woody.
There is no such thing as a “digital aerial” (or an “analogue aerial”).
That is not to say that, to receive all the channels which are broadcasting, or, after DSO, to be broadcasting, terrestrial digital television an upgrade to the aerial system won’t be required.
This could be because the channels being used may be outwith the range for which the existing aerial is optimised, or because, with the passage of time, the original installation has developed faults/weaknesses (like waterlogged cable). “Digital” is less forgiving in such circumstances .
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Oh dear oh dear oh dear
I am sure the Star will not be running an editorial piece on Thursday night proclaiming riots in streets of S’Bury, Telford, Newport etc, because of the digital switchover.
And by the way, there is no such thing as a “digital aerial”. There are aerials that are designed to pick up digital signals better than older aerials, but depending upon your location, you may be able to use your existing aerial with a “freeview” TV or digital reciever box to get all the digital TV channels available.
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Well, my mum’s sorted and she’s 88. Even though there’s no cable & precious little satellite where she lives in darkest Shropshire, she does have Freeview and had a new ariel to match. Must have been 5 or 6 years ago now.
But this isn’t a real news story is it, it’s Steve Mitchell frightening elderly people and drumming up business. No fair!
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Is this the third Mitchell bruvver from Eastenders putting the squeeze on all the geezers?
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It’s perfectly possible that people won’t need an aerial upgrade in most cases. There are two factors involved in getting a good signal:
1. The signal strength in your area.
2. The specific bandwidth of your aerial – dictatd by the length of the individual aerial elements and the tuning capacitor within the aerial.
If you have a group A aerial, and the new digital signals fall within the group C/D range for example, your old aerial may not be all that useful. Many people have wideband aerials, and a reasonable signal stength, so other than retune their Freeview TV or Freeview box, they’ll need to do nothing.
For those struggling with signal strength, it’s worth noting that at a later date (later this month as I recall) when the analogue signal is fully switched off, the digital signal will be considerably stepped up – allowing for better reception.
If you’re considering changing your aerial, I’d certainly wait until after that upgrade in signal has taken place.
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Excellent publicity for the store with this non-story.
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How can anyone be taken by surprise on this change? For years this has been coming; lamp post information boards everywhere, TV and newspaper advertisements, leaflets through the letterbox. As for ‘having it forced on them without being asked’ well I have a TV licence, road tax and income tax forced on me without being asked.
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Why don’t the Shropshire Star give bylines any more?
Whoever wrote this should be named and shamed.
Shocking.
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“mild confusion expected for a hand full of Shropshire residents who have missed out on the freeview service that has been available for 9 years, a local shop worker is hoping to make a few extra bob out of the confusion”
That’s what the headline should read.
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somebody trying to drum up work?
Digital has been round here for years I should imagine 99.9% of people have it.
but nothing like a bit of scaremongering
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I live on North Wales Coast and we changed over 18 months ago and everything went smoothly. When all channels change over the signal will be stronger, I am getting a perfect picture using my old indoor ariel which is ten years old
I would’t panic and spend out on new ariel until you see what reception yet get.
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There is actually some truth in this story. We have all been led to believe that there are 2 switchover dates – 6th & 20th April.
In fact there is a third date – the 28th September (known as a technical event) when all receivers will have to be re-tuned again. This is to stop interference with adjacent areas that do not switch over until September.
The trades technical information can be found here:
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/transmitternetwork/tools__and__resources/almanac/installer_newsletters_transmitter_groups2009_pdfs/Broms_Lark_Stoke_and_the_Wrekin_1MO_FINAL.pdf
Basically the following will happen:
1) 6th April:
- BBC2 Analogue will be lost
- Digital Channels will be rearranged, so a re-tune is necessary
- One of the Blocks of digital channels will go to full power (10x current).
2) 20th April:
- All remaining Analogue channels will be lost
- All remaining Blocks of Digital channels will be re-arranged and ‘many’ of the will go to full power (10x current). This will again require a re-tune.
- However, many of the ‘lesser’ channels will remain on low power until September.
3) 28th September (The technical event!):
- The channels still on low power will be rearranged and increased to full power. This will again require a retune.
So if you still have difficulty receiving some of the ‘lesser’ channels after the 20th April, you may want to wait until after the 28th September before deciding to spend money on a new aerial.
Note: I mention ‘lesser’ channels, but anything that isn’t a public broadcast channel (BBC1, BBC2, ITV1, CH4 & Five) are all seen as ‘lesser’ channels.
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If you look at signal strength settings on your TV the BBC ones are the only ones with a truly strong signal; ITV, C4 and Five are no way near as powerful and glitch a lot more.
Let’s hope this increase in power will solve this.
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Technical Update
6th April – a lot of people have lost all their BBC channels despite retuning!
Maybe Bedlam was the right word after all!
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Bedlam for the technophobes i think Mr. Mitchell ‘cos they never mastered programming their video recorders never mind re-tuning a television set so let’s just wait and see what you and the papers drum up from the changeover. As in corporal Jones’ words “don’t panic,don’t panic !!!!!
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Imprecise article pumped up with inaccurate terms such as ‘suddenly’ and ‘bedlam’ – does the editor actually monitor the tosh he submits for publication?
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There most definitely wont be “Bedlam”. I believe that particular programme is on Sky Living (Satellite & Cable only!) :-)
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Agree with all the comments here: nothing like a bit of scaremongering for what I feel has been a well thought out and informative advertising campaign. Of course there are going to be a few issues, but total chaos? Technology is moving on again as it always has. Don’t believe the hype from electrical shops when all they want is your cash in their tills…..
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No problem tuning in this morning.Thanks DIO for the tech.information didnt realise there was a third date.Incidently I am 77 yrs of age and had no trouble connecting a Freeview box and a hard drive for recording.I did this by myself
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New aerial my foot. I have a Freeview box connected to an old portable TV, picking up the signal from a £1 aerial from a well known pound shop. No problem at all. Our mail loft aerial gives fantastic reception on the main digital TV too.
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Hello this is TV News, Shrewsbury. We were switched off last night because of digitalis. Our boys tell us that our hammer log is now finished so we are no longer transmitting. So for all those who can’t see us any more, here is the weather forecast.
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and those watching the snooker in monochrome the pinks the ball behing the blue
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Did anyone die?
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Tee O’Vee, that post made no sense. It was written in the format of a joke, but actually was not one.
Since the switch-over I have had a couple of intermittent problems with reception; initially I lost BBC1, then this morning (7th) no channels were being received. In both cases a quick re-boot of the PVR fixed the problem. My retired parents managed it all perfectly well.
Along with many others on here, I’ve been using Freeview for years. It’s kind of old news.
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All this talk of “digital aerials”, DTT (Digital) signals are exactly the same as analogue ones, it’s just the modulation which is different.
Aerial installers and the likes of Sky are trying to make a killing ripping off jo public telling them you either need new antennas or, in Sky’s case, saying Sky is the only way to watch TV and then simply putting a budget aside for the ASA fine for misadvertising. That’s what you get with BSkyB when they have too much corporate power but I won’t go there!
If you are suffering poor DTT reception post-switchover then Freesat is another option. If you’ve an existing Satellite dish, or for an equivalent or less cost of a TV aerial replacement, Freesat offers IMHO a more future-proof option. DTT (Freeview) offers four HD services which for the foreseeable future is all there’s the bandwidth for, as the government are to sell the rest, Satellite offers loads of capacity for future HD expansion which is the way TV is going.
You don’t have to subscribe to Sky to get HD channels via satellite so lets also get that one straight (don’t believe Sky’s marketing hype). Freesat offers four HD services, equivalent to Freeview, with a fifth coming in May and more later this year which will outdo the Freeview platform and all still Free to Air without subscription!
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I have both Sky HD and Freesat HD.
If you buy the right Fressat HD box, you can also access the BBC’s Iplayer via a network connection and the ‘red button’ – a very useful feature.
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I have Freesat downstairs and an old Sky digibox upstairs you can ask Sky for a FTA card and it’ll cost about £20.00 (assuming you’ve got a dish)ot just get Sly for a year the cnacell you’ll still have the box, dish and a FTA card.
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That is true Jeff but with Freesat you get an uncluttered programme guide without wading through channels you can’t see as they are all behind a paywall! Using a Sky STB without subscription is a pure numbers memory game as you don’t know what’s free to air and what’s not!!
Another issue with Sky STB’s is that for recording (PVR use) they disable the Sky+ functionality as soon as you stop subscribing, a Freesat PVR of course doesn’t have such issues and so is completely free once you’ve purchased the product.
Sky give you their STB for free but then disable features once you stop subscribing, surely you own the product!! It’s like one of the operators selling you a mobile phone and then telling you once your contract ends you can’t store names/numbers in the phone’s address book!!
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