HD Freeview & relay stations

tcr_3

Our transmitter has gone live with HD Freeview, but we get our signal from the local relay station ... will the relay station broadcast HD channels too ? Or does that have to be upgraded as well ?

Just asking before I buy an HD Freeview box :cool:

Kurtis_Blue

No not automatically they need to be upgraded check dates for HD here:

http://stage.freeview.co.uk/availability/main

Colin_London

tcr,

It depends whether your main trainsmitter is broadcasting HD as a result of Digital Switchover.

If it is (i.e. Winter Hill / Granada, Wenvoe, Blaen-Plwyf & Kilvey Hill in Wales, or Mendip in the West from next week) then your relay transmitter should be broadcasting Freeview HD as well.

If the main transmitter is broadcasting HD because it is part of the 'advance HD network' (i.e. Black Hill / Central Scotland, Pontop Pike / Newcastle, Emley Moor / Leeds & Bradford, Lichfield / Birmingham or Crystal Palace / London) then your relay will NOT be broadcasting Freeview HD until your region has been 'switched over'.

tcr_3

Colin, our transmitter is "advance HD" i.e. Black Hill.

So I phoned Freeview today, explained the situation, they said it made no difference & that the relay should be broadcasting Freeview HD too ?

Thoroughly confuzzled.

Loathe to spend ££ now on a Humax box which can't get an HD signal. Will contact a local tv shop, see what they say.

Thanks though for the advice guys !

Colin_London

Doesn't surprise me that the people you phoned at Freeview didn't have a clue - they are call-centre drones reading from a script so are unlikely to know about the difference between main and relay transmitters, or the difference between DSO'd regions (where Relays have been converted) and the Advance Network (where they have not).

Just to confirm, the only transmitter in Scotland broadcasting Freeview HD at the moment is Black Hill itself (at low power).

Black Hill Relay Transmitters will not get Freeview HD until DSO in June 2011.

You can verify this by looking up your relay transmitter here - click on Black Hill for the list.

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/postcodechecker/main/traderegion/stv_central/main/

sickofusernames

I've read all the info etc, various websites but don't trust anything until someone in my region can confirm it all works perfectly before I spend my wonga on a new Humax HD-Fox T2 box.

I understand the Birmingham transmitter is Sutton Coldfield but the HD upgrade was done at the the relay station at Lichfield (bit further north) or so I can gather.

Can anyone in Brum let me know if it's all 100% working without any issues at all?

Colin_London

The Lichfield transmitter was switched on on 31st March.

However, this is a temporary arrangement. The signal won't be up to its full strength from the correct site (Sutton Coldfield) until Digital Switchover happens later in 2011.

Until then, whether you get the signal or not is down to your individual circumstances. The Lichfield Transmitter is on a low power, in a different direction for a lot of people, and on a frequency that some aerials won't pick up as well. If you get an excellent picture from Sutton Coldfield at present you have a good chance of getting HD from Lichfield. If you have a borderline signal you probably will not.

Best I can suggest is put your details into the Postcode Checker on the right hand side of the Digital UK webpage, click the 'I am in the aerial installation trade' box, and look at the prediction numbers for the HD signal to judge for yourself whether the odds make it worth a punt.

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/home

sickofusernames

Can't get any decent reception on the mux which contains the music channels/Film4 etc and it varies depending on the weather so I might give it a miss for now unless someone I know who has the box can let me try before I buy.

Cheers for the info on the link...