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ericgeneric
Member
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# Posted: 13 Feb 2012 21:53
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By the end of April, analogue TV signals across the UK will have been switched off permanently. The spectrum they use will be taken instead by various wi-fi/mobile phone devices and signals.
I'm not especially tech-minded, so perhaps someone could explain what happens to the standard TV aerials which virtually every home in the country has on their property. They are picking up transmissions for the terrestrial TV stations, but when those are gone and the wi-fi signals take over, does this mean those same aerials will be picking up those instead?
Should we be taking down our analogue TV aerials once the switchover/switch-off is complete? I don't want extra wi-fi/mobile phone signals being brought into the home. Or is that the idea, because in all the endless literature about this Switchover, nothing is mentioned about the ramifications of changing the use of such a huge spectrum of the airwaves from analogue to wi-fi.
EG.
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brianct
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# Posted: 14 Feb 2012 21:50
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this seems to be a world wide move...wonder why? its also happening in australia./..is there some corproate entity behind this?
So the wifi is taking over....making sure they make money out of saturating the air with their radiation////And its no surprise the political parties,, which claim to represent us(and dont) are the key to this dodgy sale
so does Digital TV mean effectively WIFI TV?
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ericgeneric
Member
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# Posted: 15 Feb 2012 00:20
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There is a lot of talk (and literature) detailing the need for most freeview boxes to be reset once the switchover begins. So that would suggest that different frequencies will be used by some of the satellite channels, but they do not need the exisiting (analogue) TV aerials. Whatever the then-obsolete TV aerials will be picking up - if anything - is what isn't being made clear, and what I'm needing to know. The lack of clarity is sadly predictable; just the terminology itself - a switchOVER, not a switchOFF which is really what's happening - says it all.
EG.
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ericgeneric
Member
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# Posted: 19 Feb 2012 19:39
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So - does anyone have any ideas or information/knowledge they could share? Alisdair Phillips? charles? Henrik? Anybody?
EG.
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Henrik
Admin
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# Posted: 20 Feb 2012 12:47
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brianct,
Digital Television transmission is called DVB-T and is not the same as Wi-Fi although it's design is closer to WiMax. Instead of transmitting all the data on one carrier-frequency, DVB-T (and WiMax) work by splitting the transmitted data into many seperate carrier-frequencies that are transmitted in parallel. This makes the transmission more resistant to noise interference since each carrier can transmit a lower speed of data (higher speed = more sensistive towards noise). The data from all those carriers is assembled back into original form by the receiver.
It's like you having internet access through 1000 very slow modems that each delivers a small part of the data that your computer then assembles onto the screen.
How it all stacks up with regard to biologial effects is not that clear because (drum roll) no one cared to test this type of transmission for effects before spraying it onto everyone and their dog. However I would think that having many carriers, close to each other in frequency and varying differently in amplitude over time can create so-called "beat frequencies" that can be very low frequency like the electrical human brain-waves.
/Henrik
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ericgeneric
Member
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# Posted: 21 Feb 2012 01:33
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Thanks for the insight! As you say, nobody's made sure to check the implications of all this upon the population. Or if they have, etc....
EG.
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brianct
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# Posted: 21 Feb 2012 21:38
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interesting but you see , Henrik...this sort of talk is the problem: men focus on technical matters and ignore the biological ramifications...its why we have a disaster unfolding with wi fi
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Henrik
Admin
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# Posted: 22 Feb 2012 10:08
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brianct,
True, but if we are going to criticise this technology, its best to have an understanding of it.
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ericgeneric
Member
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# Posted: 22 Feb 2012 12:23
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That's exactly why I want to know what happens with the analogue TV aerials. Information about the switchover/switchoff never mentions this aspect.
EG.
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charles
Member
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# Posted: 22 Feb 2012 14:31
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The analogue TV aerials will be removed from the rooftops, because they are now useless. There are no more analogue TV broadcasts anymore.
These frequency spectrums will now be used with LTE.
450, 700, 800, 900, 1500, 1800, 2000 and 2560MHz.
439MHz is now used by New Holland tractors, who are driven by GPS.
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Henrik
Admin
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# Posted: 23 Feb 2012 00:05
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charles,
LTE being what is marketed as "4G" in some countries?
As far as I understand it's not an entirely new tech. but a "evolved" version of 3G. Correct?
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ericgeneric
Member
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# Posted: 23 Feb 2012 00:12
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Right, so this LTE/4G signal spectrum won't in any way be picked up by the analogue aerials; not in terms of any picture reception, but the EMFs/EMRs involved? I'm curious/concerned as to whether the analogue aerials will become completely turned off and effectively "dead" to any activity, or whether they will act as a beacon (unintended or otherwise) for the signals being now used in the same spectrum.
EG.
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Anonymous
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# Posted: 23 Feb 2012 00:19
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yes it will
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17125468
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ericgeneric
Member
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# Posted: 23 Feb 2012 00:36
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Thank you for that. It's exactly what I needed to know, and pretty much feared/expected. Actually, I recall some discussion of this in the media about 6 months ago or more, but nothing since. They've kept this side of the switchover very much in the background. Nothing in the booklet given to the public mentions the possible interference. Another example of rolling out a new technology and finding a messy solution later.
So, what can someone 100ft from a (currently) 3G mobile phone mast expect in terms of interference? They talk about some homes being more affected than others, and those "close to base stations".
EG.
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eric generic
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# Posted: 3 May 2012 02:55
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Interesting piece on the main news page today. So "non-standard" aerials (I'm guessing Sky dishes etc?) will not be covered if the interference from 4G affects them! Amazing. Another nice little sting for the public to take in the pocket, which was kept conveniently quiet in the publicity for the Switchover.
Wonder how many people would be enthusiastic about a technology which allows you to surf the net wherever you are, but renders your home TV unwatchable (unless you pay more £££) and radiates you and your family until you're electrosensitive.
They call this progress?
EG.
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ericgeneric
Member
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# Posted: 30 Jun 2012 15:51
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"Millions will have to pay to get Freeview TV":
New 4G mobile phone network will leave people facing £200 bills to cut out interference.
URL
Front page news on the i newspaper today, yet tellingly not even a mention in the Daily Mail or Daily Express. Wonder why! So this story is clearly going to run and run, until the mobile companies and the government are brought to account.
EG.
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ME
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# Posted: 30 Jun 2012 19:00
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I have cable TV from Virgin.
I have had a dish [not Sky] for many years so that I can watch German TV.
I wonder what will happen to the German TV reception when the 4G comes along?
ME
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eric generic
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# Posted: 10 Jul 2012 00:14
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Never mind 4G, interference from military-defence style radar is already here.
Finally, after weeks of trying to get to the bottom of the mystery of my freeview box's sound constantly dropping out every 68 seconds, we've identified an actual pulsed audio signal interfering with the TV reception as the cause. Unbeknown to me, it turns out that this 68 seconds is the exact amount of time between each "sweep" of a radar system called Tarsier made by a company called Qinetiq.
Now, it says most major international airports use it for FOD detection, but if you look at their website, they do all kinds of stuff with this technology. Defence-GPS, "Smart Technologies", the works.
We are nowhere near Heathrow, so the pulsed signal is obviously being used by someone else, somewhere else, and of a similar type to Tarsier.
Heathrow began using this system on April 24th, two days after the analogue TV channels were switched off in the South-East area. Coincidence?
What are we supposed to do about a TV signal getting interference from high-powered radar equipment?
EG.
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ES
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# Posted: 10 Jul 2012 19:27
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Be prepared for some testing to be going on with the raqnsmitters before the final switch off of analogue, particularly at night.
I found that between midnight and 6 am particluarly bad. I assume that they were messing about with settings. Something particulalrly bad happened around 3 am. I needed more shielding to stop burning/prickling in bed.
Another ES family living in this borough fled to another county.
ES
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eric generic
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# Posted: 11 Jul 2012 01:22
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ES -
I also find around 3am extremely bad. That's usually when I have to add extra shielding or move rooms. Although evenings and sunday evenings in particular are notably bad in my area.
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