Freeview Coverage in Charlbury

Fri 13 Jan 2006, 00:28

Colin Critch wrote: "I hasten to add that I have to use windows on my work PC. All my PCs are Linux."

Glad to hear that Colin! Tho' I'm gonna have to install Windows onto at least a couple of PCs here at Chaos Hovel. One for kids to play games on, one for me to keep my hand in with the Great Software Satan's stuff. Otherwise we are all linux penguinistas. I've just installed XP onto one Pooter and am horrified at the driver hell I've just been through to get it working, and also the wasteland of no useable software one is abandoned in the middle of, compared to the plentiful set of stuff one has at hand with a SuSe variant of linux distribution. It's been a nightmare. Oh, and I got a virus before I could find a free of charge firewall ... took about 20 minutes. Bloody Gates.

Although we drift off topic .. but before I go, how many other Linux users are there about Charlbury??

Thu 12 Jan 2006, 21:34

Freeview works in Crawborough Though you need a Tall Digital antenna with a RF booster.
This 40 quid USB2 Gadget enables you to record freeview to a XP laptop in mpeg format.
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=94486

I hasten to add that I have to use windows on my work PC. All my PCs are Linux.

Thu 12 Jan 2006, 19:00

We have freesat from Sky, which I understand includes all the Freeview channels and more. For a one off payment of £150 at Corbetts in Chippy, we had a box, dish,fitting and set up included.

Thu 5 Jan 2006, 15:22

We recieve a perfect freeview reception in Finstock on 90% of the stations (it is really only the TMF and Hits music channels that are affected). Perhaps moving Axel F will solve your problems!!

Also all this chat about ariels and boosters, we did nothing but plug in the FV box, is there something i can do cheaply to help get coverage 100% coverage?

Thu 5 Jan 2006, 11:33

Reception is at extreme range here from Beckley and just how it will be for your precise location is highly variable. We're at the bottom end of The Green, and ours is dodgy, with frequent glitching and dropouts. Channel 5 for example is blank, others are effectively unuseable, radio is unusable.

This is using a 12' (or was it 16'??) pole with an amplified aerial.

I gather that at the moment freeview frequencies are broadcasting at somewhat less than full power so perhaps things might change when the big analogue switch off occurs and they boost transmit power - some fear of interference with existing bandwidths at the moment, but I don't know which ones.

Also, I suppose, repeaters might be set up for coverage into valley areas. Unfortunately high frequency radiowaves don't bend over the hills too well, line of sight stuff, although with a bit of overspill, which can counterintuitively mean better (somewhat) reception slightly further down from the brow of a hill rather than just over the top, but the valley bottom will/can be blank. It all depends upon the topography between your aerial and the transmitter, a few metres can make all the difference.

Does anyone else get periods of completely broken up reception though? I suspect something like helicopter flights east of here can lead to the signals being so chopped up by reflections that the receivers give it up until the machine has moved out of the line of transmission.

Does Sky satellite broadcast freeview free of charge (apart from buying the sky decoder) or do they charge for it?

Thu 5 Jan 2006, 10:05

Many people already do. Look for (usually new) aerials pointing towards the Beckley transmitter (exactly the opposite direction from the Walcot relay). Sometimes people have had the height of their aerial increased, or a booster installed indoors by the aeriel fitter. If someone near you has a Beckley-oriented aeriel, why not ask them if they use it for Freeview, if reception is good, and who installed their aerial?

By the way, I think the Walcot transmitter has to be converted to digital before the analogue signal is cut.

Thu 5 Jan 2006, 08:35

We've got freeview. It works well. We live off Park Street.

Thu 5 Jan 2006, 00:07

Does anyone know when we are likely to be able to receive Freeview in Charlbury? 2012 is only 6 years away and unless something is done we'll get left with no coverage!