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Would any knowledgeable person be able to shed light on where the 5G Clearance will leave us when finished in a couple of years’ time?
Like many here, the March changes left all my Com7 & Com8 (Sutton Coldfield) channels weaker and unreliable initially. Upon asking the people at https://www.freeview.co.uk/ they eventually agreed to send an engineer, saying that they’d probably fit a new aerial at their cost to recover channels that their power downgrade had taken away.
Six long weeks later, they denied the engineer appointment they’d made had existed (I’d ‘imagined it’, they said…) but they did offer others. Between their time of day inflexibility and my work to home commuting distance, it was clear I’d need a day off work to (maybe) get a free aerial, a borderline trade really. Annoyingly, signal strength of these two MUXs had recovered somewhat in that long wait meaning an engineer might not even agree the problem remained. I haven’t tried rebooking yet due to this uncertainty etc.
So I’m back with just about acceptable Com7 & Com8 for now, and think I read somewhere that in a couple of years’ time they may be going to axe Standard Definition channels as HD becomes the more used variant. If so, that future clearance and rearrangement might make the power reduction of Com7 & Com8 irrelevant and my aerial worries unimportant if space on stronger MUXs has been freed up.
But I’m hoping someone here may know more than me on the subject?
Currently COM 7 and COM 8 are due to close and the channels on it lost.
The UHF channels they use fall in the 700MHz band due to be cleared for mobile device use.
There has afaik been no reduction in power rather a transfer to a single frequency network. They may have been tinkering with the guard interval settings to minimise co-channe l interference from adjacent transmitters also using the same frequencies for COM 7 and 8.
Thanks for the info, which I’ll study shortly. Just to clarify for now what I meant by power reduction, I believe that some relatively popular HD channels (C4+1 HD and C4 247 HD for example) were rearranged onto weaker Com7/Com8 multiplexes in March causing reception difficulties not previously experienced.
I’m aware Com7 & Com8 will go in time, my assumption/hope was that the rumoured removal of SD then in favour of HD channels only would make room for the reduced Multiplex range but at full/normal power.
One reason for the apparent power reduction is that at some transmitters the new channels (55 & 56) are outside the frequency range of the aerials which have been in use for years.
grahamlthompson – 2 hours ago »
Currently COM 7 and COM 8 are due to close and the channels on it lost.
The UHF channels they use fall in the 700MHz band due to be cleared for mobile device use.
There has afaik been no reduction in power rather a transfer to a single frequency network. They may have been tinkering with the guard interval settings to minimise co-channe l interference from adjacent transmitters also using the same frequencies for COM 7 and 8.
That link goes to the Digital UK response to the consultation of May 2016.
The link where ofcom announces what is going to happen (well sort of!) is the October 2016 document:
Roy22 – 4 hours ago »
So I’m back with just about acceptable Com7 & Com8 for now, and think I read somewhere that in a couple of years’ time they may be going to axe Standard Definition channels as HD becomes the more used variant. If so, that future clearance and rearrangement might make the power reduction of Com7 & Com8 irrelevant and my aerial worries unimportant if space on stronger MUXs has been freed up.
I’ve seen some posts where the posters think that as well.
It is confusing the 700Mhz clearance with the switch over to DVB-T2.
The date of 2020 is the target date for 700MHz clearance to be in a position to hand over to the mobile operators. One of the 700MHz clearance considerations was switching over to DVB-T2 at the same time as the 700MHz clearance, but the two are different and do not necessarily go hand in hand. Whatever the dates of the switch to DVB-T2 it won’t be 2020 that DVB-T is totally dropped in favour of DVB-T2. The simultaneous transmission of SD and HD for some channels is going to continue past 700Mhz clearance. The question is for how long. There is not currently an answer. Arqiva do not believe that the uptake in homes of DVB-T2 equipment will be strong enough until at least 2022 for this to start to occur with their commercial multiplexes. The public sector broadcasting multiplexes will need to make a similar decision. But who knows for sure, perhaps everyone no one will have DVB-T only equipment after the next visit by Father Christmas?
Very interesting Luke, I had obviously got caught up in the confusion you refer to. It would at first glance make great sense that the switch over to HD transmission only would coincided with the tail end of the 700 MHz clearance.
From the speed at which ever larger digital TVs seem to replace the previous ones, it would appear that much of the world has left SD broadcasting long behind. Of course, some will hang on to the bitter end.
But if the Broadcast authorities will sanction a new aerial when their plans cause problems to the few, I guess paying towards upgrading of old SD TVs to allow them to move forward is not out of the question either?
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