anybody know if it is happening yet.

Over the last week I appear to have "lost" BBC2 & Channel 5. At first I thought it was the kids messing with the tv but I cant find the channels again, the DVD player/recorder has suffered the same way .. I can still get them via the cable tv (not surprising).

Based in North East Hampshire if that helps

Stick your details in here:
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch

We were supposed to retune a month ago in NW Hampshire, we lost BBC1 & 2 following this but just retuned today and got them back albeit they are not in the right place in the channel positions.

Doesn't everyone have a digi-box yet?? 😯

Have you lost the channels on your analogue reciever or terrestial digital channels. I'm guessing the later. if so you need to retune your box. The area that has recently gone properly digital is the northwest. We've now lost all analogue channels.

its on the terrestial channels, I have tried re-tuning the tv a couple of times on auto or manual but no sign of either channel. I have not tried to retune the dvd recorder so I do have a start point … however no sign of either channel anywhere.

I have looked at the link from Grahams & I am supposed to be ok until 2012. The cable box works fine so I am just using that at the mo. I guess the only time I will have a problem is if I want to watch BBC2 & record channel 5, otherwise I have a work around & it will come back at some point; or I will need to get a digi box.

Cheers for the input 🙂

If you can do a manual channel tune try setting the frequency or channel number [21-68] rather than searching
Details of what they should be are available here
If your TV doesn't display the channel numbers in the tuning menu & want a specific frequency there's a conversion chart here

Thanks Uplink, I can tune by channel no. I had been looking for (& failing to find) a list of transmitters, I will give that a try tonight 🙂

Ch5 is no great loss IMO. I can't think of anything I've ever watched on 5

I can't think of anything I've ever watched on 5

Suzie Perry on the Gadget Show?

My TV signal is fluctulating like a good 'un on certain muxes at the 'mo and we are not due to switch over until 2011?? We are hanging off the Belmont transmitter.

Over the last week I appear to have "lost"… Channel 5
meh

There's a lot going on on the switchover that we are not being told. There is an extra channel being introduced to carry what is thought to be the BBC HD transmission. This is now being test broadcast from Winter Hill for the NW watchers, although I've yet to meet anyone with a set top HD box. Power levels are up and down like a bride's nightie. Stations are being moved around due to higher power transmitters "out of area" swamping your usual signal. We've had BBC1 on a wide range of the 800 numbers for the last 2 months, and only now has it revereted to #1. Channels 4 & 5 went AWOL at the weekend even though all works are supposed to be completed.

It's a total shambles. We are being sh@t upon from a great height, just so Gordon can sell of the analogue wavebands to get some funds to rectify his tax and spend mistakes.

I'm afraid you might have to just keep trawling around until you find Channel 5, or be patient and wait for it all to settle down. Don't believe a word of what the switchover people will tell you.

Interesting, that probably explains why I have lots of ITV & channel 4's

Sir Neil Dementure – Member
There's a lot going on on the switchover that we are not being told. There is an extra channel being introduced to carry what is thought to be the BBC HD transmission. This is now being test broadcast from Winter Hill for the NW watchers, although I've yet to meet anyone with a set top HD box. Power levels are up and down like a bride's nightie. Stations are being moved around due to higher power transmitters "out of area" swamping your usual signal. We've had BBC1 on a wide range of the 800 numbers for the last 2 months, and only now has it revereted to #1. Channels 4 & 5 went AWOL at the weekend even though all works are supposed to be completed.

It's a total shambles. We are being sh@t upon from a great height, just so Gordon can sell of the analogue wavebands to get some funds to rectify his tax and spend mistakes.

I'm afraid you might have to just keep trawling around until you find Channel 5, or be patient and wait for it all to settle down. Don't believe a word of what the switchover people will tell you.

Totally agree, I live in the NW area but if I type my postcode into the Digital UK I am told my TV comes from Winter Hill and I can get all channels, however if I add my house number I am told it come from Wrekin (midlands) and I can't get any digital TV.
And guess what despite me having a high gain powered aerial pointing smack on to Winter hill my signal is coming from Moel y Parc in Wales so I have to endure BBC1 Wales & HTV wales in the usual numbers
BBC1 NW etc are 799 onward.

Its the usual lash up you expect from a gov run scheme

It's a total shambles. We are being sh@t upon from a great height, just so Gordon can sell of the analogue wavebands to get some funds to rectify his tax and spend mistakes.

That's one way to look at it. Though I'm pretty sure we committed to the digital switchover looong before the current recession.

Another way to see it is we are leading the world in over-the-air HD broadcast and we are the first country to start using the new DVB-T2 standard.

Would you be happier if the UK kept everything analogue while the rest of the world moved onto interactive digital, HDTV and IPTV? 🙄

Totally agree, I live in the NW area

You live on The Wirral don't you? Your lucky that Moel y Parc isn't swamping everything from Winter Hill.We even had an aerial man round, and he said that a better aerial would just give us better reception from Moel y Parc as well as Winter Hill, despite our house blocking everything from Welsh Wales, and a direct line of sight to Winter Hill – I can see it now.

I did have a full explanation of what had gone on from a geek who knows about these things. If I can find it I'll post it on here.

from a geek who knows about these things

steady !!

Yes this retune has been a major British style cock-up. It's what they haven't told people that was important. Adding a 6th channel (frequencies) to each primary transmitter. Increasing the bandwidth and reducing the power. They've also changed the way that digital channels are allocated in the 6th frequencies. Basically laying the foundation for FreeviewHD … which is now being test transmitted from Winter Hill (although who has a FreeviewHD box ??).

Here is a summary of a much longer mail, that I couldn't read as I didn't know what the words were!!! Gives some explanation of the unspoken changes.

I'm not sure what you mean by "unspoken changes"?

They are not exactly secret.
You can read about it in detail at digitaluk, Ofcom, and even Wikipedia.

I suspect that the digital-switchover marketers quite rightly thought that if people were confused by a cutesy robot delivering the "Press the re-tune button" message, then they wouldn't really help by adding a long and ultimate pointless technical explanation of freqencies, bandwidths, multiplexes, DVB-T 2k vs DVB-T 8k etc

Sir Neil Dementure – Member

Totally agree, I live in the NW area

You live on The Wirral don't you? Your lucky that Moel y Parc isn't swamping everything from Winter Hill.We even had an aerial man round, and he said that a better aerial would just give us better reception from Moel y Parc as well as Winter Hill, despite our house blocking everything from Welsh Wales, and a direct line of sight to Winter Hill – I can see it now.

I did have a full explanation of what had gone on from a geek who knows about these things. If I can find it I'll post it on here.

Your very close, the Wirral ends 1/2 mile from my house & I was told exactly the same by a very reputable local aerial installation firm :/

Whay exactly do the welsh have to have such powerful transmitters? I once spoke to a welsh taxi driver from Flint(wales) and he was telling me he was so glad that he was masked from the welsh transmitter by a big hill and so had a clear signal from Winter Hill and didn't have to watch "all that welsh propaganda shite" his words!

Would be interested in the whole email. TBH if its not resolved fairly soon I am considering FreeSat (won't give Murdoc any of my cash)

I'm not sure what you mean by "unspoken changes"?

Before changeover day, analogue and digital were quite merrily co-existing. Viewers could choose which to watch. No special jiggerypokery to watch digital. Then analogue is switched off. What were we told was happening? "Analogue is being switched off". No mention of any changes to digital at all. Why then, have be been re-tuning our digital TV or set top box for the past 6 weeks?

They didn't, and still haven't told us what was going on. But we're only the proletariat, and anyone who asks questions is a threat to national security. Why won't they tell us what's been going on, and what a mess they've made of it?

No mention of any changes to digital at all. Why then, have be been re-tuning our digital TV or set top box for the past 6 weeks?

Erm.. have the "proletariat" actually tried reading any of the information about the switchover?

"When your home switches to digital will depend on where you live in the UK. All households with a Freeview TV or box will need to re-tune at both stages of switchover and from time to time to keep receiving channels and services"

— from the front page of the http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/ (the offical switchover site)

No sign of MI6 showing up yet. 🙄

So tonight, I switch my TV on, and get an automatic re-tune. What does this do? Stops me getting Channel 4 and gives me Wedi 7 and Pobol y Cwm. Why? I don't want to watch that stuff, I'm not in their area, I don't like Wales or the Welsh, so why do I have to watch their TV? Simple. Up at Winter Hill they are ******ing about with digital TV. "No changes to digital, we are only switching off analogue". Lies, lies and more lies.

You haven't explained why we need to re-tune digital equipment when all that was being done was the switch off of analogue (or so we were told). Your arguments show that you know that we've been shafted.

Don't ask too many questions, the State won't like it.

Just got home, have lost BBC 1 now as well …. cosmic … itv or channel 4 only what a crock of shite … about to try setting the tv by channel

"No changes to digital, we are only switching off analogue". Lies, lies and more lies.

Yeah you keep quoting that, so where exactly did you read these lies?

There have always been plans to change digital during the switchover. In fact that is pretty much the entire point of the switchover.

You haven't explained why we need to re-tune digital equipment when all that was being done was the switch off of analogue (or so we were told).

They are switching off the low-power digital signals as well as the analogue signals. Then they consolidate into fewer high-power digital signals, thus improving the signal and freeing up some of the radio spectrum for other things like wireless broadband, IPTV and HDTV.

While they are doing all the switching about you might sometimes get a better signal from another transmitter.

I'm not sure how much more of an explanation you need, but there are plenty of technical details available if you still think it is a space-lizard conspiracy to make you re-tune your TV.

Don't ask too many questions, the State won't like it.

I think you might be a bit mental. 😯