TV AND SATELLITE NEWS
Updated
Tuesday, 6 December, 2011
06
CHANNEL FIVE CHANNELS ADDED TO FREESAT
Channel Five's group of channels, FIVE, FIVE USA and FIVE* were added to the Freesat platform today, 6 th. December. They are transmitted on Astra 1N. Channel Five, 5 +1, 5USA, 5USA +1, 5* and 5* +1 are now available free to air and can be viewed on any FTA receiver, not just Freesat. This also means a SKy viewing card is no longer needed when viewing using a Sky box.
Reception will be vastly improved for those viewers in mainland Europe whose Sky cards are currently set for region one, which was previously carried on Astra 2D. Reception is now worse or non-existent for those further out into central Europe and beyond, who previously got the 2A south beam versions of the FIVE group of channels. Most people in mainland Europe will see no change, apart from the added Five +1 channel.
19
Reception reports from Astra 1N: Channels now added
Frequencies now active:-
10964 H 22000 5/6 QPSK DVB-S: Now showing the FIVE group of channels, FIVE, FIVE USA and FIVE*. Encrypted (Sky viewing card needed).
Channel Five +1 likely to be added soon, launches 6th. December.
11053 H 22000 5/6 QPSK DVB-S: Two ITV One regions on this frequency, free to air.
For the first time, it's likely that Freesat ITV One regions will correctly match UK postcodes when all ITV and ITV+1 channels are opened on Astra 1N. This frequency from 1N can be received on relatively small dishes (80-90 cm) in Spain. Previously, a Sky box and active viewing card were needed to receive ITV One on the European south beam as these versions are currently encrypted in NDS.
11127 V 22000 2/3 8PSK DVB-S2 Channel 4 HD:
UK Spot beam.
11127 V is on the UK 'spot' beam, some other 1N channels have been received further east and are likely to be the Europe-wide beam.
The suspected reasons the 'spot' beam is so well received over western Europe are:
•Astra 1N was designed for the 19 east slot, to be utilised by mainland European broadcasters. Amongst these are the services for Spain, which apparently have to cover the Canary Islands. This explains the relative ease of reception of the spot beam in Spain, as small as 80 cm in the costa Blanca.
•Astra 1N has three times the power of Astra 2D
•It is a new satellite, compared to Astra 2D, which is eleven years old this December.
•The spacecraft has a completely different design, it is a Eurostar E3000, compared to the Hughes HS-376HP spinner stabilised Astra 2D.
•There appears to be little daily variation in signal, compared to the marked daily drop off in some polarities on Astra 2D, particularly in spain, where horizontal polarities are very weak in the evenings, and all channels are hard to receive late evening.
There is currently no channel in active service on Astra 1N
.
There is speculation that the FIVE channel group will be added to Freesat at the time of the launch of Five+1 (6th. Deember 2011)
28
The
new satellite at 28.2º east, Astra 1N, opened its first working channel yesterday, 27th. October. Channel Four HD is broadcasting on 11127 V 22000 8PSK 2/3 Now showing Channel Four HD.The switch from the current transmission on Eurobird is expected shortly, and the europe-wide service will cease.
Initial reports suggest the new spot UK beam is not so tight as feared. The signal is much stronger than from Astra 2D, and can be received over most of western Europe, as far east as Budapest, Norway, Sweden and Portugal. It's expected that ITV will move some channels next week. It remains to be seen whether the BBC will take up some space on 1N.
The signal has been reported as having been received on a 90cm dish is the Costa Blanca in Spain. It's likely that an 80 cm dish will get the 1N transmission in Madrid. Note that this is a test transmission. It's possible that the signal strength may be reduced before Astra 1N goes into service fully next month.
24
Press release from SES Astra:
"Luxembourg, 24 October 2011 - SES S.A. today announced that its new ASTRA 1N satellite has entered commercial service at the orbital position of 28.2 degrees East. ASTRA 1N was built by Astrium on the Eurostar E3000 platform and is equipped with 52 transponders in the Ku frequency band. The satellite was successfully launched on board an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guiana, on 6 August 2011. It had a launch mass of 5,325 kg and is the fourth Eurostar satellite in the 49 satellite-strong SES fleet. ASTRA 1N greatly enhances the flexibility of the SES satellite fleet at the orbital slot 28.2 degrees East over Europe. ASTRA 1N is notably being used by Channel 4 and ITV. The new satellite will also allow SES to offer its satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect via 28.2 degrees East and thus complement its service offer from the 23.5 degrees East position. ASTRA2Connect is Europe's largest satellite broadband network with more than 80,000 end users."
20
ASTRA 1N IN POSITION- WAITING FOR SERVICE
Astra 1N , the new satellite for the UK and ROI, arrived at its service position yesterday, after testing finished at 1.8º east. The transit took three weeks. Expats across Europe are anxiously awaiting news of how tight the UK spot beam will be. It's likely that a number of services currently available on Europe-wide beams will be moved in the next few weeks. It seems likely that FIVE USA and 5• will be amongst them and be added to the Freesat platform before the end of the year. Channel Four HD's move has already been announced (see below). This is the first major change in UK satellite configuration since Astra 2D went into service in 2003.
08
BBC TO CLOSE BBC HD CHANNEL
Amongst the announcements made by the BBC consultation review published on 7th. October were some planned changes to BBC services. The BBC HD channel will close, to be replaced by BBC Two HD, 
simulcast with the main standard definition channel. Budgets and programming will be cut back across almost all channels. BBC Two will show more repeats during the daytime. See the whole press release:-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/news/press_releases/october/delivering_quality_first.shtml
Changes to the BBC's TV channels:
Protecting BBC One and Two in peak time, albeit with small reductions in entertainment programming and acquisitions;
Making BBC One the channel for all new general daytime programmes;
Changing BBC Two's daytime schedule to feature international news and current affairs programmes at lunchtime. Other parts of the daytime schedule would be repeats of mainly factual programmes, including science, history, natural history and arts, as well as live sport;
Re-focusing BBC Three and BBC Four to play supporting roles to the two bigger channels; and
Replacing the HD channel with an HD version of BBC Two to broadcast alongside the existing BBC One HD channel.
Changes to the BBC's radio stations:
Protecting Radio 4 by keeping its underlying budget stable, excluding the impact of productivity savings;
Greater sharing of news bulletins between Radio 2 and 6 Music, Radio 1 and 1Xtra, and Radio 3 and 4;
Reducing the amount of original drama, live music and specially recorded concerts at lunchtime on Radio 3, and reviewing the BBC's orchestras and singers;
Reinvestment in the Proms to maintain quality;
Focusing Radio 5 Live on core output of news and sport;
A new more focused Asian Network with a 34 per cent reduction in its content spend; and
Making savings in radio distribution costs through long term changes to Medium Wave and Long Wave.
08
CHANNEL FOUR HD TO MOVE TO ASTRA 1N
Channel Four HD is likely to move to Astra 1N when the new satelite opens for service in a few weeks' time. Currently C4HD is available europe- wide. Additional services from the Channel Four stable will appear in the next few years. These are likely to include Film Four HD and an HD version of More Four. E4 HD is currently available subscription - only on the Sky platform.
26
BBC NEWS MOVES TO ASTRA 2D
The BBC has moved its news channel to a weak beam on Astra 2D today on the Sky platform. Previously, it was available all over Europe on wide beam. Technical details: ew frequency: transponder 47, Astra 2D, 10803 H, 22000, 5/ 6. The change is intended to restrict programming to the UK and near continent only. Large dishes are needed to receive this channel elsewhere.
27
BBC ANNOUNCES SATELLITE CHANGES
The BBC has announced some cost-saving measures in line with recommendations from the BBC Trust.
The BBC transponder known as Dsat3, transponder 38, 12441 V 2B south, will close on 7th. October 2011.
This currently carries BBC red button streams, 0-6.
BBC News will move to transponder 47, 10803 H, Astra 2D, in the week beginning 19th. September.
BBC Parliament will move to transponder 46 10788V, Astra 2D, at the same time.
BBC Alba moves to transponder 48 10818V, Astra 2D.
In the week beginning 26th. September, the seven ETV streams ('Enhanced TV') will be reduced to five and move from Astra 2D to transponder 13 11954 H 2A south to take the slot vacated by BBC News, Parliament and Alba.
No mention is made of BBC Radio but it seems certain that this will remain on 2A south pan-European beam.
What does this all mean? BBC News, currently on a pan-european beam, will be narrowly restricted to the UK. 10803H is one of the more difficult TP's and needs large dishes in many parts of Spain.
The 'red button' hack will cease. With this you can view the interactive streams of football, Wimbledon etc, without receiving Astra 2D, by pressing the red button on BBC News.
You should still be able to receive these occasional interactive red button streams on a Free to Air receiver by tuning the stream directly.
On the other hand the ETV streams on Astra 2D currently simulcast the main BBC channels. If this is unchanged, it will enable viewing of BBC One etc on a pan-European basis.
The ETV streams are not currently the same as the red button streams. It's not clear exactly what the content of the ETV streams will be after the change..
27
Astra 1N TESTING
The Astra 1N satellite, which is due to provide extra capacity at the UK slot at 28.2º east, was successfully launched and has achieved a stable orbit. Tests are being carried out at 1.8º east, prior to the spacecraft being moved into position for the UK. It is expected to go into service sometime between late September 2011 and mid-October.
15
Projected footprint for Astra 1N
An early projected footprint for the new Astra 1N satellite has been published on the SES Astra blog. Astra 1N is due to be launched on 26th. July this year and is being used to expand capacity for UK broadcasters. It's likely that a number of free channels on Freesat and Sky will be moved there. It's not yet known how this will affect reception in other parts of Europe, but it is possible that some expats will lose channels they can currently receive. The beam from the new satellite may be more tightly focussed on the British Isles than the current spot beam from Astra 2D. This will be the second launch attempt this month. The first was aborted at literally the last minute in early July, owing to a faulty valve.
15
Problems after BBC converts to DVB-S2 on Astra 2 satellite
Some Sky boxes have been unable to receive the two changed BBC HD channels following the conversion to the DVB S2 standard. Affected models are early Thomson HD boxes with compnent video output. It has also been reported that some Amstrad HD boxes have also been unable to tune BBC HD and BBC ONE HD.
A possible solution is to delete BBC HD in 'other channels' if it has been stored there. It has also been recommended to re-boot the receiver and to carry out a 'new install' via the engineer's menu. (Services > 0,1, Select)
6
BBC converts to DVB-S2 on Astra 2 satellite
BBC channels BBC One HD, BBC HD and ITV One HD this morning converted their signals on the Astra 2D satellite to the more recent format DVB-S2. They were formerly DVB-S. Most recent receivers will be able to continue to tune these channels, but there will be a few HD Free to Air receivers and PC cards which can't.
In most cases, your receiver will have updated itself, but in a few cases, owners of Freesat boxes may have to carry out a re-scan.
DVB-S2 allows
more efficient use of bandwidth, and, in theory, higher quality. It remains to be seen whether the BBC will improve the much-criticised picture quality on its HD channels. The amended frequency is 10847 V, with a symbol rate of 23000, FEC 8/9 on transponder 50.
9
NHK WORLD HD LAUNCHES ON SKY AND FREESAT
Japanese news channel NHK has launched its new HD service, NHK World. It can be found on Freesat channel 209 and Sky 518 (507 if you have the HD pack)
In Spain, this channel can be received on a 60-80 cm dish, depending on location.
18
CHANNEL FOUR HD ON FREESAT
C4HD has launched on the subscription-free satellite TV service. C4HD becomes the fourth HD channel on Freesat, joining BBC ONE HD, BBC HD and ITV1 HD.
C4HD will be available from today on channel 126 following an automatic update on your Freesat receiver or television with built-in Freesat.
Freesat also confirmed last month that NHK World HD will be launching in May, bringing the total number of HD channels on Freesat to five.
Freesat currently offers over 150 TV, radio and interactive channels to its 1.6 million customers.
1
Sky Atlantic arrives on Sky channel 108
Programmes from leading US provider HBO arrive today on Sky, with the launch of Sky Atlantic. The channel is available at no extra cost, for the next year, to all Sky customers with an active subscription.
Following Sky and HBO's multi-year output deal announced in July 2010, Sky Atlantic HD will air all of HBO's new series exclusively in the UK and Ireland, including the already critically acclaimed 'Boardwalk Empire', which features an all-star cast including Steve Buscemi , Michael Pitt and Kelly Macdonald.
Other upcoming HBO productions to be broadcast by Sky Atlantic HD include the fantasy drama 'Game of Thrones', based on the series of books 'A Song of Ice and Fire' by George R.R. Martin, 'Luck', starring two time Oscar® winner Dustin Hoffman, 'Mildred Pierce' starring Oscar® winner Kate Winslet and the new series from David Simon ( The Wire ).
Some of the most critically lauded series of recent times including 'The Sopranos' , 'The Wire' , 'Six Feet Under' and Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks' 'The Pacific' will also air on the channel.
In a separate deal announced today with Lionsgate Television, Sky Atlantic HD will also be the exclusive UK home to the new series 5 of Mad Men. Mad Men has become one of the most talked about series on television. Set in 1960s New York, Mad Men follows the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising.
1
Sky HD channel EPG swap out
Sky today made a major change to the programme guide for HD customers. Where a Sky channel has two simulcast versions: standard definition and high definition, they will swap places in the guide. Sky One standard definition on 106 will swap places with SKy One HD on channel 171. The change does not affect standard definition Sky and Sky+ boxes. BBC HD channels and Channel Four HD do not move.
8
Vat rise hits Sky sub prices
UK VAT rose to 20% on 4th. January, causing some Sky subscription prices to rise. Others rose last September and have not gone up this time. The HD pack is now £10.25 a month.
The HD pack now reflects the actual channel packs enabled on the viewing card, instead of all HD channels, as previously. For example, to view Sky Arts HD, it's now necessary to subscribe to the Style & Culture pack.
8
Vat rise hits Sky sub prices
UK VAT rose to 20% on 4th. January, causing some Sky subscription prices to rise. Others rose last September and have not gone up this time. The HD pack is now £10.25 a month.
The HD pack now reflects the actual channel packs enabled on the viewing card, instead of all HD channels, as previously. For example, to view Sky Arts HD, it's now necessary to subscribe to the Style & Culture pack.
21
Sky screens La Liga in HD
Spain's La liga can now been seen in HD on Sky Sports. This season, there are matches 6-7 times a week on Sky's four HD channels. For the first time, the big match of the season, 'El Classico', Real Madrid v. Barcelona, was screened in 3D.
18
BBC 1 HD LAUNCHES 3rd. NOVEMBER
BBC One HD, which will simulcast a network version of the BBC One schedule for the first time, will see some of the BBC's most loved programmes including EastEnders, Holby City, The One Show, The Apprentice, The Weakest Link and QI move to HD by the end of the year. They will be broadcast alongside Autumn schedule highlights including Strictly Come Dancing, Human Planet and Waterloo Road. Plans are also underway for HD moves for Songs Of Praise and Casualty, as well as Match Of The Day, A Question Of Sport, and Blue Peter.
18
CHANGES TO BBC CHANNELS
The most significant change to BBC satellite services in many years happened this morning in preparation for the launch of BBC 1 HD.
Some viewers with 1.2 metre dishes will lose BBC 1 on Sky channel 101. The regions are listed below. Use an alternate region from the Sky guide.
Freesat viewers should choose an alternative default BBC 1 region using the receiver's menu.
Many people in Spain will get a reliable BBC 2 signal for the first time since 2003. In the Madrid area, this means a 1.2 metre dish will pick up BBC2 Northern Ireland and Wales in the evenings. Sky and Freesat boxes will update automatically. Free to air receivers will have to be re-scanned on Astra 2. If you viewed BBC 1 Channel Islands on Sky channel 988 because your BBC 1 region on 101 was weak, you will have to choose another from the Sky guide.
BBC Four and CBeebies will get slightly worse in the Madrid region, and both need a 1.8 metre dish.
The following changes have been made:-
BBC 1 South East, Yorks, North West move from 10817 V to 10802 H (1.2 metre to 1.8 metre dish)
BBC 1 West, East and Channel Islands move to 10773 H (1.2 m to 1.8 m dish)
BBC 2 Wales, Northern Ireland move to 10817 and 10788 V (1.8m dish to 1.2 m dish)
BBC 1 Wales moves to 10788 V (1.8m dish to 1.2 m dish)
BBC Four and CBeebies move from TP45 10773 H to TP47, 10802 H
3
ITV 2, ITV 3, ITV 4 IN HD ON SKY THIS AUTUMN
ITV today announced that it has reached a deal with Sky to launch 3 new HD services this autumn, exclusively on the pay-tv platform.
ITV 2HD, ITV 3HD and ITV 4HD will be additional HD channels, starting in 
October with ITV2 HD.
Following the precedent for encryption deals with Sky ( ITV One is encrypted on 2A south), it's virtually certain that the new services will not be on Astra 2D.
The move is a stab in the back for Freesat, the consortium of which ITV is a member.
Those familiar with the industry should not be surprised, as it follows the arrival of Adam Crozier as ITV chief executive, who has no previous experience of TV. Taking unsentimental decisions such as weakening Freesat will have lost him no sleep at all. His previous jobs at the Post Office and The Football Association were both characterised by taking unpopular decisions. ITV chairman Archie Norman comes from a similar non- TV background: Asda's Chief Executive, then Chairman and former Conservative MP for Tunbridge Wells.
Adam Crozier, ITV Chief Executive, (left) Archie Norman, ITV Chairman, Pictures: Media Guardian
The broadcaster has made this move in the light of a long-term decline in advertising revenue, in the hope that diversifying its income will protect it from the huge changes in the way media are delivered and consumed. Retreating behind paywalls is becoming a trend amongst media organisations. (News Corp is hoping their wall and Apple's iPad and will save them from oblivion)
Expect to see more charging for previously free content, not less.
Sky have said that there will be 50 HD services by this autumn, and it looks likely this target will be reached. Less clear is whether the £10 HD surcharge will be dropped. Subscribers recently received e-mails informing of a change in the way the HD pack is allocated. An HD channel will now only be available if the pack it belongs to is part of the viewer's package. Previously, the HD pack allowed access to all HD channels on Sky. To receive Sky One HD, for example, it's necessary to subscribe to the entertainment pack.
With Sky making so much money (subscriber numbers and revenue up) it's hard to see this charge being dropped in the way that the Sky+ fee was removed a few years ago.
There will be 3-4 HD services in each Sky entertainment pack, enough to justify the HD surcharge.
Source: Media Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/aug/03/itv-unveils-pay-tv-push
24
FIVE HD LAUNCHED on Sky channel 171
Channel Five HD launched as expected on Sky on 13th. July. Five struck a deal with Sky earlier in the year, following its failure to agree a schedule with OFCOM for C5 on Terrestrial HD via Freeview. The channel is a simulcast with the standard definition channel on 105 in the Sky guide. As the new channel is on the south beam, it can be received easily in Spain with a 60 cm dish. Those who have had difficulty in receiving Five for the past year are recommended to tune to channel 171. It is 'Free To View', needing an active viewing card but it is not part of the pay packages on Sky. There are no plans yet to add Five HD to Freesat, but this is likely at some point in the future.
9
Replacement satellites
SES Astra, which provides satellite delivery for all UK broadcasters, has announced replacements for the ageing fleet at 28.2 degrees east. Astra 2F will be the first to launch, with an expected date of Q4 2012, followed by 2E (Q1 2013) and 2G (Q1 2014). The Eurostar E3000 spacecraft, currently under construction by EADS Astrium, will provide much-needed extra capacity to the the UK and Ireland. The existing satellites, Astra 2A, 2B and 2D, are nearing the end of their projected lives. A number of E3000 satelites have been ordered by SES Astra. The first to be deployed was Astra 1M at 19 degrees east, serving mainland Europe customers. A key feature is the complete control of configuration in software rather than relying on hardware changes to adapt the satellite for different roles. The exact coverage of the UK spot beams will not be known until the new satellites are operating, starting in early 2013. What is uncertain is whether larger dishes will be needed in fringe reception areas such as Spain. Power output will be no lower than present, (there is only just enough now to guarantee reliable reception on 60 cm dishes in the UK), but the beam may have a sharper focus.
See SES ASTRA press release.
9
News HD channels launch
ITV1 HD is to split into six regional vaiants in England. The new channels are:
ITV1 HD (Central)
ITV1 HD (Granada/Border)
ITV1 HD (London/LWT)
ITV1 HD (Meridian/Anglia)
ITV1 HD (Wales/West)
ITV1 HD (Yorkshire/Tyne Tees).
STV HD (Scottish TV in HD) is already on air on Astra 2D. All will be on channel 178 in the Sky Guide, 119 on Freesat. The region you receive will vary by postcode.
At least one of the regions is currently on the south beam, encrypted (needs Sky viewing card).
9
Bad weather affects reception
Torrential rain affects Madrid. See BBC News video story
Why does it happen? Water droplets in weather systems absorb the satellite signals. The more numerous and heavier the drops are, the more signal is stopped. Astra 2D's signals in the microwave range of frequencies are very weak in Spain, only 39 watts in power (less than a normal lighbulb) and very easily stopped by moderate to heavy rain.
The absorbtion effect can be seen by placing a glass of water in a microwave oven. The water heats up to boiling point very quickly, showing that a large amount of microwave energy is easily absorbed.
If there is a large area of rain near to you, in the line of sight to the satellite, signal can be lost, even if it is not raining at your location. The classic example of this is a large thundercloud with heavy rain and hail rising to the south-east.
How to prevent it? Thre's very little you can do apart from wait till the weather improves. If you have a 1.2 metre dish, consider upgrading to a 1.8 metre, as the larger size will be much more resistant to rain fade (but not completely immune). Our installers can fit an "LNB umbrella' which will keep rain off the face of the most important part of the dish. If there is snow covering the dish, carefully brush it off with a soft broom.
9
Sky 3D service starts in April
The ground-breaking new 3D channel is scheduled to begin next month. In a test in January this year, Sky carried live 3D coverage of a Premier League game between Manchester United and Arsenal, which the first of its kind anywhere in the world. The new service will be
rolled out to pubs initially, then to home viewers later in 2010. 3D will work on any existing Sky HD receiver, but needs a new televison to view the pictures. LG, Samsung, Sony and Panasonic have all
announced 3D - ready TVs to go on sale in 2010, all of which will be compatible with Sky 3D. The system uses IMAX polarising 3D technology similar to that used in cinemas and requires the viewer to wear glasses. The early LG LD920 3D TV, which was used in the January test, will not be available to the general public. Sony's Signature models KDL-40LX903 and KDL-60LX903 will go on sale soon in the UK, both of which are 3D ready. See also BBC News story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8558152.stm
18
TT on 4 removed
One of the last ways Channel four viewers with small dishes could watch the channel without a Sky card and box has been removed. The free channel TT on 4 using frequency 12480 V was unencrypted and could be seen in Madrid with a 1.0m dish. It's still possible to see the Irish version of C4 but this requires an active Sky card. Completely free versions of Channel four now need a 1.8 metre dish in Madrid and some other parts of Spain.
27
BBC to start testing iPlayer on Freesat
CLOSED BETA THEN ROLLOUT TO HUMAX HD RECEIVERS The BBC has announced that testing of iPlayer on the Freesat platform will begin on December 7th, followed by a slow rollout to high definition users, if successful. The service will be available via the red button at first, but that could change in the future. The service will be in standard definition, despite being only available on HD receivers. HD will be added at some point in the future. The service requires the Humax box to be connected by cable to an ethernet port on an external router for internet access. Humax HD receivers have had this faciility since the start of Freesat, but it has been disabled until now. There is no Wi-Fi. The bitrate (amount of data- higher bitrates are better) will be 800 kb/sec and 1.5mbit/sec. This higher figure is similar to many digital channels currently broadcasting, such as ITV 2 & 3, but is about half that used by normal BBC channels. Intergrated Freesat HD TVs will also be able to access iPlayer but standard definition boxes, such as those made by Grundig and Goodmans, will not.
23
New Invacom Optical LNB
LONG AWAITED FIBRE OPTIC LNB DISAPPOINTS The new LNB from leading maker Invacom is not suitable for fringe reception, we have discovered after tests. Performance was so poor we decided we returned the unit to the distributor. The LNB uses fibre-optic cable to connect to the receiver instead of traditional copper cable. The new technology enables it to be used in community installations with no loss of signal even on very long runs of cable, up to a 10 km radius. There is no C120 version with a separate feedhorn as yet.
20
Bush, goodmans and Grundig Freesat boxes fixed, new firmware issued.
Harvard fixes broken Freesat receivers The automatic software update of October 13th, version 1.7.48, which was sent over the air to Bush, Goodmans and Grundig HD boxes (from the same manufacturer, Harvard International) has been acknowledged to have caused severe problems for some Freesat viewers. In many cases the box re-booted
itself every few minutes, with loss of channels and audio, and inability to change channel. Harvard initially denied there was a problem, then embarked on a damage limitation excercise after reports appeared in the press. An update to 1.8.1 has now been sent OTA (over the air), which seemed to have cured the issues. The manufacturer had to replace a number of receivers under warranty. The fiasco has been extremely damaging both to Harvard International and the Freesat brand. It's hard to understand why the software went out to users without first being fully tested. Humax Freesat boxes were not affected.
16
Sky card security upgraded
No more card sharing : In the past it was possible to use a Sky viewing card in a CAM (common access module) inserted into a free-to-air receiver, sharing one Sky card amongst a group of people. These options have been closed off by the recent Sky card re- issue. Card chip security (provided by NDS) has been tightened to such an extent that it is no longer worth the hackers' time to try to break. This was one of the intentions of the white Sky card swap-out. NDS have had almost six years to improve security and almost certainly have at least one reserve system waiting in the wings should the current one be hacked.
16
Software Update for Humax Foxsat HD and HDR
Foxsat HD:
goes to version1.00.23 Support for BBC iPlayer service (when launched-UK only)
Resolved lip-sync issue resetting after a power cycle
Improvements for HD subtitles
EPG Genre screen now appears in two columns
Aspect Ratio resolved when exiting the Guide on a 16:9 programme
Resolves issue when right arrow has to be pressed twice to view the next programme on the i-plate
Resolves issues during the Installation Wizard when using a DiSEqC switch.
Humax Foxsat HDR: goes to version 1.00.11
Support for BBC iPlayer service (when launched- UK only)
Ability to delete recorded programmes from the Media List while recording or playing back.
Auto delete function included
Series folders will be removed when the last recording in the folder is removed
User created folders will be removed when the last recording in the folder is removed if the folder was created prior to the software update. User created folders after the update will not be removed
Resolved ITV HD Schedules disappearing after a freesat channel scan
Freesat schedules no longer removed after a manual tune
RGB output available via the TV Scart connection on HD content (live TV and recordings)
Resolved issues playing back encrypted HD content from an external device
Resolved issue with subtitles appearing when use time shift recording. Resolved issues with series schedules failing to record
Now able to access the Guide while playing back a recording or viewing Live TV without the programme continuing to play
Diagnostic Menu now displays the signal levels for both tuners correctly
NEW icon now appears in the Media List (Simple view) on folders with new recordings
Resolved Lip-Sync issue resetting after a power cycle
EPG Genre screen now appears in two columns
Resolved incorrect character appearing on postcode in the Diagnostic menu
Resolved lockup issue when recording 2 TV channels and changing to a radio channel
Resolved intermittent lip-sync issue when accessing ITV-HD
Changes made to some on screen messages regarding conflicts
A small number of users have reported loss of channels after the upgrade. It appears a factory re-set will mostly cure the issues. It's possible the Humax HD boxes may be 'allergic' to some LNBs. This is an issue which used to affect older Panasonic Sky boxes some years ago, so it is surptising to to see this re- appear on a modern design such as the Humax HD.
There are still problems with green screen on some displays after the upgrade.The affected models include some Sony and Pioneer models. It is caused by HDMI 'handshake' incompatibility (falure to recognise the display by the Humax receiver)
13
Rollout of new SKY HD EPG nearly complete
EPG (Electronic Programme Guide) gets mixed reception.
New software for Sky HD receivers has now been sent to nearly all users. The update was sent much later to Samsung and Amstrad Sky HD boxes owing to bugs which emerged in the earlier roll out to Thomson and Pace receivers. That's not to say this version is bug- free, however. There is a problem with the front display on Samsung Sky HD receivers which causes the indicator to keep rolling around at all times. It can be disabled in the settings menu. Also on Samsung, the red button is inoperative on some models. After pressing red, the screen goes blank, then the channel re- appears without entering the interactive service. The new EPG has been subject of much adverse criticism on user forums. The biggest complaint seems to be the increased number of button presses to move around the menu system. Other issues have been allegations that Sky boxes have been 'bricked' by the new software, and general slowness. The colour scheme seems to be based on the road signs around London's M25.
13
Top Gear in HD on the BBC
Top Gear speeds onto screens in top quality
BBC motoring programme Top Gear gets an upgrade to high definition. Series began on Sunday 15th November at 21:00 on BBC HD (and BBC2).See the Top Gear website: http://transmission.blogs.topgear.com/2009/11/05/the-new-series/
See what's on in the BBC HD schedule.
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