Freeview Com7 multiplex closes down 30th June 2022 to make room for 5G band 28

[meritez]

Freeview channel switch-off is coming | RXTV info

In June, over a dozen Freeview channels will move or close, as an entire Freeview multiplex is closed to make way for 5G mobile services.

rxtvinfo.com

Currently pulling the above article apart.

Bye bye Freeview HD, hello band 28 5G

 

[Lucian]

Oh ffs. I like my TV Freeview.
Don't like having to use apps to watch TV.
Radio/fm/etc is superior to internet when it comes to broadcasts.
Hope they will allocate more freqs for freeview.

 

[meritez]

Oh ffs. I like my TV Freeview.
Don't like having to use apps to watch TV.
Radio/fm/etc is superior to internet when it comes to broadcasts.
Hope they will allocate more freqs for freeview.

BBC Four, BBC news, cbeebies, quest, QVC, forces TV.

They are expecting smaller broadcasters to switch to streaming services

 

[Norfolk&Signal]

Oh ffs. I like my TV Freeview.
Don't like having to use apps to watch TV.
Radio/fm/etc is superior to internet when it comes to broadcasts.
Hope they will allocate more freqs for freeview.

I use Freesat - my old Sky dish but without any monthly costs.
I use TvHeadend software on Linux and DVB-S tuner cards / USB dongles on an old PC and a Raspberry Pi to receive/record FreeSat (because I'm an IT geek) but decent Freesat set top boxes are available and PVRs.
Much better than faffing around with retuning Freeview terrestrial reception all the time although I have Freeview and some DVB-T2 tuner cards as a backup or when I want to record/view lots of channels at once.

Freeview reception was never great for me as I have a 30+ yr old pre-digital TV aerial on the roof so Freesat was a gamechanger.

Secondhand Sky dish on eBay or FB Marketplace for £peanuts and a set top box or a home-made "TVHeadend" system and you're cooking!

 

[Pheasant]

BBC Four, BBC news, cbeebies, quest, QVC, forces TV.

They are expecting smaller broadcasters to switch to streaming services

We’re told “linear TV”, a funky marketing term for regular TV (be that free to air, satellite or cable) is generally in ‘structural decline’. It’s all gone streaming…

At the same time streaming service are in a tizzy as their seemingly every upwards quarterly revenues hit a speed bump in the road as folks realise there’s now so many streaming services to choose from that they don’t know which ones to keep or chop as global cost of living crises spiral out of control…

Meanwhile CNN+ in the states, brand new steaming service, which cost several hundred million dollars to setup, folds after going for only a month!

World’s gone utterly mad.

 

[Lucian]

I use Freesat - my old Sky dish but without any monthly costs.
I use TvHeadend software on Linux and DVB-S tuner cards / USB dongles on an old PC and a Raspberry Pi to receive/record FreeSat (because I'm an IT geek) but decent Freesat set top boxes are available and PVRs.
Much better than faffing around with retuning Freeview terrestrial reception all the time although I have Freeview and some DVB-T2 tuner cards as a backup or when I want to record/view lots of channels at once.

Freeview reception was never great for me as I have a 30+ yr old pre-digital TV aerial on the roof so Freesat was a gamechanger.

Secondhand Sky dish on eBay or FB Marketplace for £peanuts and a set top box or a home-made "TVHeadend" system and you're cooking!

I'll check how feasible this is.
I already use tvheadend +rpi+dvb-hat for my TV needs.

 

[ewanmclean2005]

The concept of broadcast television is starting to die with younger generations. I find more value in streaming services and it’s inevitable that while some broadcast television will still be available… it won’t be the main way that people consume content anymore.

I used to be a Virgin TV customer, paying about an extra £30 a month but cut the chord to save myself money. I moved to streaming as it’s much cheaper and overall has better content.

I had no idea that 700mhz was still being used for broadcast television. I think eventually almost all UHF bands will be utilised for mobile broadband services. The US MNOs has L600 mobile broadband services and I reckon give it a couple of years. Eventually 600mhz will be cleared for mobile broadband too.

 

[JitteryPinger]

Meanwhile CNN+ in the states, brand new steaming service, which cost several hundred million dollars to setup, folds after going for only a month!

Good.

 

[JitteryPinger]

Hope they will allocate more freqs for freeview.

Likely the opposit...

My personal thoughts are that only 1 or 2 multiplexes will exist in future at lowest end of the spectrum and eventually probably be phased out all together.

Would also expect alot of transmitting kit to be taken down and/or replaced.

I know in my part of the country alot of sub-transmitters are still online but not really necessary as the users beyond them can also pickup the tranmissions (even on higher frequencies) just fine without need to reposition aerials.

 

[Lucian]

Likely the opposit...

My personal thoughts are that only 1 or 2 multiplexes will exist in future at lowest end of the spectrum and eventually probably be phased out all together.

Would also expect alot of transmitting kit to be taken down and/or replaced.

I know in my part of the country alot of sub-transmitters are still online but not really necessary as the users beyond them can also pickup the tranmissions (even on higher frequencies) just fine without need to reposition aerials.

A shame. Radio/tv broadcasts scale in ways "Internet" can't - of course, you can't track it, which I guess is one of the primary drives behind obsoleting it.

 

[eccles]

There is scope in future for better compression. Broadcast TS still uses x264 mp4. x265 has the potential to halve data rate and I would guess that most smart TVs can handle it. If SD remained the same x264 to cater for those with older TVs, the number of HD muxes could be halved with no loss of content.

 

[Norfolk&Signal]

I'll check how feasible this is.
I already use tvheadend +rpi+dvb-hat for my TV needs.

I have about 20 Pi or other SBCs deployed around the place. Fantastic bits of kit.
I managed to find some relatively inexpensive USB DVB-S2 adapters that work well with the Pi. They have external power supply for the dish. I've had one of these running faultlessly 24/7/365 since the end of 2017 alongside an old Dell PC with a PCIe card and twin DVB-S2 tuners.

I think I actually prefer the Pi based setup as it's low power and low cost. I use a Raspberry Pi 3A+ but I reckon even the new Pi Zero 2W should be capable enough.

Here's my kit ...

For the Raspberry Pi (via USB) : -

Hauppauge PCTV DVB-S2 Stick 461e (USB tuner, Pi compatible) £93/88 currently (was £79.99 when I bought it back in 2017)

Hauppauge PCTV DVB-S2 Stick 461e Computer TV Tuners - Black : Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Buy

www.amazon.co.uk

For the cheap secondhand i5 Dell PC :-

DVB Sky S952 v3 PCIe card with 2x DVB-S2 (twin tuner) - currently unavailable from the supplier I used in November 2017 when I paid only £64.90 for it

Dvbsky S952 V3 PCIe card (low profile) with 2x DVB-S2 tuner (Dual Twin Tuner), CD with windows software: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

Free delivery and returns on eligible orders. Buy Dvbsky S952 V3 PCIe card (low profile) with 2x DVB-S2 tuner (Dual Twin Tuner), CD with windows software at Amazon UK.

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[Lucian]

@Norfolk&Signal very informative, thanks a lot.

 

[meritez]

@Norfolk&Signal very informative, thanks a lot.

am I the only one who reads that username as no F***ing signal?

 

[The Wee Bear]

am I the only one who reads that username as no F***ing signal?

Yes it's just you meritez, we're all above that sort of thing here.

 

[candlerb]

BBC Four, BBC news, cbeebies, quest, QVC, forces TV.

Only BBC Four *HD* and CBeebies *HD*. I think we can live with those in SD.

COM7 was really only a temporary measure, as the article explains.

 

[Norfolk&Signal]

Yes it's just you meritez, we're all above that sort of thing here.

I am in Norfolk and do have an active interest in mobile network coverage, performance and of course signal