STOCKLAND HILL DIGITAL SWITCHOVER BRIEFING

Does switchover happen all at the same time for everyone receiving a signal from the Stockland Hill transmitter group?

Switchover for the Stockland Hill transmitter group is a two stage process taking place on Wednesday 6 May and Wednesday 20 May. Engineering work is carried out at the Stockland Hill transmitter and each of its 24 relay transmitters. At each stage, services will be restored at different times depending on where you live. On both days, services at the Stockland Hill transmitter and some relay transmitters are expected to be restored by 6am, and services at all transmitters are expected to be restored by late afternoon. If you have Freeview, BT Vision or Top Up TV, you will then need to re-tune your equipment.

What happens on Wednesday 6 May and Wednesday 20 May?

 On Wednesday 6 May:

At around midnight, the analogue BBC Two service and the low-powered digital BBC services will be switched off at the Stockland Hill transmitter and its 24 relays.

At this stage, analogue BBC Two will stop broadcasting permanently.

The remaining analogue services, BBC One, ITV and Channel 4, will continue to be available but are subject to breaks in service,

The remaining low-powered digital services broadcast from the main Stockland Hill transmitter will remain on-air and are unaffected.

 During the morning, some Freeview channels will be available from local relays for the first time - BBC Two digital, as well as BBC One, BBC Three, BBC Four, CBBC Channel, CBeebies, BBC News, BBC Parliament, BBC Red Button services. Viewers receiving their signal from the main Stockland Hill transmitter will receive the new high powered BBC digital services as well as the existing low powered digital services.

Services at the Stockland Hill transmitter, and the Branscombe, Brushford, Chagford, Rampisham, Beer, Stokeineignhead, Bampton, Beaminster, Crediton, Culm Valley, Bridport, Tiverton, Exeter St. Thomas and Weymouth relays are expected to be restored by 6am.

Services at the Bincombe Hill, Dawlish, Honiton, Pennsylvania and Preston relays are expected to be restored by mid morning.

Services at the Charmouth, Dunsford, Chideock VP/HP, and Buddleigh Salterton relays are expected to be restored by mid afternoon.

 At Pennsylvania, analogue Channel 4 will be found at the old analogue BBC2 spot.

 At Preston, analogue ITV1 will be found at the old analogue BBC2 spot.

 All viewers will then need to install or re-tune Freeview, BT Vision or Top Up TV equipment.

 On Wednesday 20 May:

At around midnight, all analogue services and xisting low powered digital services will be switched off and will stop broadcasting permanently. During the morning, new digital services are launched:

 Services at the Stockland Hill transmitter and the Stokeinteighnhead, Branscombe, Rampisham, Weymouth, Exeter St. Thomas relays are expected to be restored by 6am.

 Services at the Bincombe Hill, Pennsylvania, Tiverton, Honiton, Dawlish, Preston, Crediton and Bridport relays are expected to be restored by mid morning.

 Services at the Brushford, Culm Valley, Beaminister, Chagford, Budleigh Salteron, Charmouth, and Bampton relays are expected to be restored by mid afternoon.

 Services at the Dunsford, Beer, Chideock VP and Chideock HP relays are expected to be restored by late afternoon.

All viewers will then need to install or re-tune Freeview, BT Vision or Top Up TV equipment.

What happens between midnight and the time when switchover is complete?

Before the completion of switchover at each stage, you may find that channels appear at different times. We advise that you wait until the expected completion time for switchover at your transmitter on both dates, before re-tuning your equipment.

I’ve heard some equipment will fail at switchover – can you let me know which?

 • After switchover the Freeview signal will be improved to ensure viewers get clear pictures which are less susceptible to interference and picture break-up. This change in format will happen at each switchover.

• TV equipment with the ‘digital tick’ logo is compatible with the improved signal but some early digital boxes (in particular ONDigital and ITV Digital devices) and early integrated digital televisions are not.

• Owners of affected digital boxes are advised to look for the ‘digital tick’. Affected televisions can be upgraded using a digital box. A list of affected products is available from the Digital UK website. We recommend that anyone with affected equipment should contact the relevant manufacturer.

 A list of affected equipment can be seen on the Digital UK website at www.digitaluk.co.uk/2kequipment.

Will there be any Advice Points taking place in the Stockland Hill area during the switchover period?

 At the point of switchover on Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 May 2009, the Digital UK road show will visit Exeter again. The team of specially trained advisors will be located in Bedford Square between 9am and 5pm both days. Visitors to the road show will have the opportunity to get first-hand advice and put general or technical questions to the team about switchover. The team will return to Exeter on Wednesday 20 May and will be located in the Guildhall Shopping Centre.

 Switchover advice points are running at the following locations on Wednesday 6, Thursday 7, Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 May from 11am-6pm:

 §                    Bridport: Chancery House Day Care Centre, Chancery Lane

§                    Weymouth: Pilgrim House, 1 Hope Street, Weymouth

§                    Tiverton: Beck House, Beck’s Square, Tivertron

§                    Honiton: Community Church, The Kings Centre, Lees Buildings, King Street, Honiton.

 What happens at the Stockland Hill transmitter group between the two switchover dates?

 If you have Freeview, BT Vision or Top Up TV for the first time, you may need to use your TV remote to switch between analogue and digital, to watch the full range of channels until the second switchover date. You can do this as follows: For a digital TV press either “TV” or “DTV” on your remote control For a digital box or recorder connected to your TV by SCART, switch the digital equipment to standby and then back on again or alternatively press the “AV” button on your remote control,

Why am I missing certain channels (Dave, Film 4, Sky News) following a retune of my digital recorder on the 20 May?

 Certain digital TV recorders, typically purchased between mid 2006 and mid 2007, may be unable to receive certain channels following the second stage of the switchover of the Stockland Hill main transmitter. The equipment affected will typically not be able to receive specific groups of channels which include Dave, Film 4 and Sky News. This issue only affects the following makes/models of digital TV recorder if they have T810 written on the base of the unit.  

A software update has been developed by the manufacturers of the equipment listed above and broadcast over-air to fix the affected products. This can either be received by the product initiating an auto update overnight and requires the product to be in standby mode, or by the user initiating the download through the product’s menus. If any customers are affected by this issue Digital UK would recommend that they contact their manufacturer for further information on when this software update will become available. Contact details for the manufacturers are listed below: Customers can also check the website of the Digital TV Group, owners of the Engineering Channel, for details of any forthcoming downloads from the manufacturer of their digital TV recorder. Their website address is as follows:

 http://www.dtg.org.uk/retailer/download_schedule.pl