Channel 5 FTA

[Martin963]

Channel 5 ("FIVE") now testing free to air on 10773 MHz,  Horizontal,  22000 kbps,  FEC 5/6

 

They've finally found a home on a BBC transponder.   

 

I found it quite by accident whilst installing a dish at friends in Hereforshire,   when my FTA box produced FIVE on a channel formerly used for BBC News 24.

 

It is a test,   it isn't as yet an official "freesat" channel so expect interruptions.

[Anton Redman]

Many thanks :

Channel ID shows up as 6335 on a Sky Box after you have used :

Services - 4 Set Up - 4 Add Channels

Input the paparameters shown, ticked with the yellow button, and saved

you access it with

Services - 6 Extra Channels - then seletc 6335

 

[Tim]

They did something something like this a couple of months ago on a different transponder - just for a few days. It will be interesting to see if this time it lasts a little longer.

There is talk that their contract with Sky comes up for renewal sometime this month so perhaps it will.

Regards - Tim

[Bugsy]

Thanks Martin...................

[Martin963]

Can you remember which transponder Tim?

The fact this one is on 2D is a very good sign I suspect.   The BBC and ch 5 are co-operating elsewhere in the DTT switch-over programme,  I believe ch 5 is on a BBC MUX now in the Border area.   Not applicable to most of you in France of course!

[Tim]

No I can't Martin - I had a suspicion at the time that it wouldn't last as I vaguely recall it was it was a much higher frequency - close to their usual one. It was probably another test, or perhaps a problem with the encription system.

I think that, as you say, that this transmission being on 10773 Astra 2D is a positive sign and just what freesat need - strangely, there seem to be a lot of people around who reluctant to go the 'freesat route' until Five joins.

Interesting about the Mux sharing up in the Borders - don't count me completely out of that - I did receive the BBC Mux from Hannington last summer on the back of my antenna. I was quite pleased - but then things like that amuse me.

Regards - Tim

[AnOther]

Interesting, just done a forced update on my CH5 RX here offshore and now it's in the clear, no card required [8-|]

Let's hope it stays that way [blink]

PS: That's in the standard lineup BTW Ch105

[Martin963]

...  not bad that Tim,   to get a digital MUX from Hannington.    Presumably the analogues were swamped by Rennes St Pern.....

[AnOther]

Just an update on my earlier observation, CH5 reverted back to encrypted and required the card again not long after it seemed clear, very odd and disappointing. Maybe I caught it at a moment when they were doing something who knows [geek]

[Martin963]

There are (still) two versions of Five,  the "Sky" one which has videoguard encryption and shows everything (and is what your Sky boxes tune to when you put in 105),  and the new 6335 version on 2D which is still FTA but (I'm told) has certain progs blanked out,   as their showing in the clear would clash with other operators (such as Sentana) .

The sooner the EU legislates to clip the wings of the rights holders the better in my view.

You'll have to fly back off shore Ernie and use the Add Channels facility to memorise the FTA version.....

[AnOther]

I am offshore Martin [;-)]

[Martin963]

then you're already nice and near that pile of Sky boxes!!

[AnOther]

I can't be ar5ed Martin if truth be told. We have a card for 5 and besides, think for a moment the net effect of using a remote to attempt to control one RX in a rack of 20 [:-))]

Out of interest Sky have this offshore business well and truly screwed down. We pay separately for every channel received, no bouquets, and what we pay is based on number of channels, number of cabins (whether they have their own TV's or not), plus for each communal area with a TV, plus for 50% of the seats in any cinema on board - which we have and with 30 seats.

This all adds up to something like £600/mth last time I saw the bill which was more than a couple of years ago. Oh, and no box office allowed, not that we have any boxes connected to the phone lines anyway !

Now you get some idea why the oil companies need their big profits [;-)]

[Martin963]

I agree Ernie,  and whilst I have nothing against Sky as such it's time their wings were clipped on this sort of "group" rip-off.

For that is what it is.

[Fridgeman]

Hi Martin & Tim

Long time no speak, well at last got my full system up and running complete with new 1 mtr dish (Been using a Lidl stb fixed on 28E) 

Channel 5 a great find Martin have just up dated stb, the girls will be very happy now they can watch "neighbours" (Great [;-) ) Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

How the hell are you both, well I hope, will keep an eye out for your posts.

 

 

[Martin963]

Nice to have you back Fridgeman;   the awful spring weather rather stimmied our efforts to get together didn't it.   Will try harder next year,   surely we'll get more than seven nice days in ten weeks in 2009!

Glad you're back up and running,   a lot of my more exotic boxes are "in the cupboard" at the moment.    But I'm sure on a 1 m steerable you've always got something to watch!    My (non steerable)  1 m is sitting on 5 W at the moment,   which in a way is a waste but it's the only dish that gets truly noise free pics on AB3 analogues in Devon;  an 80 cm works but is only sparklie free when the sky is totally clear,  and if you get a big Devon rain cloud passing it virtually wipes them out,  maybe because the French analogues are on the highest Ku band  frequencies....? (I have no trouble with the France Televisions digitals lower down the band,  even on a 60 cm)

[Tim]

Yes, welcome back Fridgeman - glad you've got all your kit working ok. I've not been doing to much with satellite recently - I'm more consumed in keeping my TNT going. There would appear to be a fair amount of work going on with the addition of terrestrial HD.

 

Regards - Tim

[Pierre ZFP]

Slightly off-thred but I happened to be talking with an engineer last evening who works down at Astra at Wasserbillig in Lux.  He said that they have just put up sat Astra 1M to broadcast HD TV.  He did give me more details but I forget.....

The other interesting thing was that the power on the Astra 1 and 2 sat has been turned up quite a lot recently, in fact, to quote he said

 'You could probably receive a signal with a dinner plate'  !!

[Tim]

I think Astra 1M will be put into orbit at their 19.2 east position.

 

Regards - Tim

[Fridgeman]

Hi Pierre

I tried the dinner plate.........don't work[:(]

Martin ....nice to be back, been and still working my nuts off rebuilding our place, did you know that France 2, 3, 5, Arte, KTO, LCP & TV8 Monte Blanc are broadcast FTA on Amos 4W,  also 2STV, Africable & M6 Suisse are FTA on Eutelsat 7E ......yet more useless information, nice to hear from you and Tim, will keep an eye out for your most enlightening posts.

All the very best

 

 

 

[Anton Redman]

The official date for C5 but not C5HD is November 18th according to "What Satellite"

[Tim]

I'm not sure what plans Five have for HD transmissions - they certainly have no HD at the moment.

Regards - Tim

[Martin963]

Honestly,   HD is un repas du chien at the moment.   

BBC available to all,    ITV restricted away from Sky boxes,   (although between last week's Radio Times and this they've changed the small print and now admit that it's available to FTA HD boxes (as well as Freesat boxes via the red button)),  ch 4 HD *only* on Sky,   and ch 5 probably too confused to know what they're planning at all.

I have all the fun of watching HD via a freesat box but displayed on an SD screen,  as I still won't give an LCD set house-room on account of the mess they make of SD pictures!

[Anton Redman]

Broadly agree but even Neil Young has relented on CD quality. Problem is they traded off quality of image versus number of channels

[Martin963]

...   I shall have to get an HD TV fairly soon,  but it is noticeable that the BBC HD channel looks incredibly smooth and artefactless even on SD.

In fact it looks just like how SD channels from Germany used to look on my Nokia 9600 about ten years ago when digital sat was all new and the engineers were still calling the shots as to the bit rates in use.    In other words,  absolutely superb and comme il faut.

Coming up to date I'm far less aware of artefacts on French digital sat TV than - I'm ashamed to say - on Auntie in her SD output.

What was the story on Neil Young Anton?    What I remember about the introduction of CD's was that we were bombarded at the BBC by a number of so-called golden ears who lamented the poor quality of CD's compared to LP's on broadcasts.    They said they could hear digital artefacts.     It was interesting to see how quiet they all went when they were informed that they had been listening to Radio 3 via a digital distribution system since the early 70's (the 13 bit 13 channel 32 kHz-sampling PCM system) - most of them had assumed it was pure analogue from studio to transmitter.     To be fair to them some early CD's and cheaper players were not as good as they should have been,   but this wasn't the case in the sort of equipment that we were using.