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Digital Rollout: Bunbury & Kalgoorlie Next To Launch!


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OH! then the B Mail should have said the week before last ... Bunbury to get DTV by the END of July and not Bunbury will get DTV next month which implies 1st July. I know it is just a word game but misleading for anyone who has been told time and time again ... soon, soon, soon, by December but never what year...:)

If it happens on July 31 it is still 'July', next month doesn't mean the first of next month.

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I know it is just a word game but misleading for anyone who has been told time and time again ... soon, soon, soon, by December but never what year...:)

I know what you mean. :) In B Mail's defence, it was probably the networks who told them "next month" without being more specific.

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You just have to understand that in these highly changing and quickly moving times that we live in, that things just happen slowly at times for some obscure reason..... :D

I remember when our district was rolling out it's timetables ages ago, I was just as frustrated, and could never understand the broadcasters not informing the peasants of when they would be starting transmissions, and/or even tests. If an insight was publically available, it would have helped to be able to quickly dtermine whether you could rely on that new digital signal getting to you ( new antenna etc already up), and if not, to be able to move to satellite to get an alternative, thus avaoiding any unnecessary delay.

I note nothing changes, and no learning has really been seen to happen, as the roll out goes along....not at our level anyhow. It seems such a shame that this is all like a secret society thing for the broadcasters, when in actual fact, it's just tv??

Edited by viewer
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Which means the stations will be transmitting digital (if only for test) sometime next week? (I'd imagine they'd need at least 2 weeks for testing, or am I wrong?)

I believe in Kalgoorlie & Karratha and the other low powered txers they just went straight on air launch day and then waited for any issues to arrive to deal with, i believe they are still dealing with issues in Karratha some 12 months later given the people complaining on Facebook every time it rains.

Might be different here for a high power txer though, they might need a test period to bed down the txer ?

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Which means the stations will be transmitting digital (if only for test) sometime next week? (I'd imagine they'd need at least 2 weeks for testing, or am I wrong?)

Maybe a week before hand. But I reckon it'll be just like the other existing sites, as Wayne pointed out.

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New press release making the rounds today. Can't seem to find an online source though.

In a joint announcement, GWN7 and WIN Television are pleased to announce the

introduction of digital television to the South West of WA.

The final countdown is now on with work nearing completion at the Mt Lennard transmitter site.

From July 28, the Greater Bunbury area will receive digital signals for the three commercial

television broadcasters and their digital multi-channels:

GWN7, 7Two and 7Mate

WIN, GO! and Gem

TenWest, OneHD and 11

These will complement the existing digital ABC and SBS services:

GWN7/Prime7 Chief Executive Officer Doug Edwards welcomed the new digital era: “Regional

WA viewers will now be able to enjoy the whole digital experience. Put simply – this means more

choice of free-to-air television with superior quality picture and sound. With the addition of 7Two

and 7Mate, we are now offering greater choice for our audience”.

“Digital coverage will be progressively rolled out across the South West by December 2011, with

the remainder of Regional WA in early 2012” says Mr Edwards.

WIN Television Manager Legal, Regulatory & Network Affairs Shirley Brown said “the roll out of

the full suite of digital channels has been a long wait for the viewers of regional WA, we are

pleased that the wait is nearly over and viewers will receive the same services as viewers in

Perth have received for some time” . . .

Viewers wanting to access digital services can contact the Digital Switchover Taskforce on 1800

20 10 13 or go to the website www.australia.gov.au/digital.ready for more information.

Edit: Uploaded it here: http://www.sattvguide.com.au/temp/DTV Bunbury.pdf

Edited by Smacca
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"The final countdown is now on with work nearing completion at the Mt Lennard transmitter site.

From July 28, the Greater Bunbury area will receive digital signals for the three commercial

television broadcasters and their digital multi-channel"

note no year given.... just a month and day :)

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Guest stump_1100
"The final countdown is now on with work nearing completion at the Mt Lennard transmitter site.

From July 28, the Greater Bunbury area will receive digital signals for the three commercial

television broadcasters and their digital multi-channel"

note no year given.... just a month and day :)

I visited the site today and confirm that the scheduled date for activation is 28 July 2011. All the new DTV transmitters have been commissioned and there is still some minor works to be completed. Some additional changes to be made to the WIN ATV service as well - more later if anyone is interested (and I can remember).

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I visited the site today and confirm that the scheduled date for activation is 28 July 2011. All the new DTV transmitters have been commissioned and there is still some minor works to be completed. Some additional changes to be made to the WIN ATV service as well - more later if anyone is interested (and I can remember).

Thanks for the update.

Always interested hearing from those with accurate, factual information.

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Guest stump_1100
Ditto that. Appreciate the info stump, and yes we'd like for you to get back to us re WIN's ATV situation. :)

Ok, I hope I get this right... doing this from somewhat dodgy memory!

WIN ATV service from Mt Lennard is currently Ch 39 but needs to be on Ch 40 as the DTV service will go to air on Ch39. So, in the very near future, a "new" ATV transmitter will come up on Ch 40 alongside the existing Ch 39 service for testing and then (all going well...) the Ch 39 transmitter will be euthanized (and probably used for spares). Once all this happens the DTV service can go to air on 28 July. Should be fun.

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Ok, I hope I get this right... doing this from somewhat dodgy memory!

WIN ATV service from Mt Lennard is currently Ch 39 but needs to be on Ch 40 as the DTV service will go to air on Ch39. So, in the very near future, a "new" ATV transmitter will come up on Ch 40 alongside the existing Ch 39 service for testing and then (all going well...) the Ch 39 transmitter will be euthanized (and probably used for spares). Once all this happens the DTV service can go to air on 28 July. Should be fun.

Interesting. Didn't know a whole new transmitter was needed just to change to different frequency. Thanks for the update.

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Interesting. Didn't know a whole new transmitter was needed just to change to different frequency. Thanks for the update.

You'd assume it's because they would be simulcasting the two analogue services to allow people to transition. I'd assume they could use this to trial the temporary towers they will be using for the digital restacking. That said, if they were doing that, they'd be best served using the new one on Channel 39 while they retune the existing one for 40, save replacing a perfectly good tower this close to analogue switchoff.

Usually in the past frequency changes have been done without worrying about simulcasting, but I suppose in this situation it's a much bigger market than most other frequency swaps.

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You'd assume it's because they would be simulcasting the two analogue services to allow people to transition. I'd assume they could use this to trial the temporary towers they will be using for the digital restacking. That said, if they were doing that, they'd be best served using the new one on Channel 39 while they retune the existing one for 40, save replacing a perfectly good tower this close to analogue switchoff.

Usually in the past frequency changes have been done without worrying about simulcasting, but I suppose in this situation it's a much bigger market than most other frequency swaps.

Hi

I doubt they will simulcast analog services on adjacent channels - it would cause lots of interference problems!

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Guest stump_1100
You'd assume it's because they would be simulcasting the two analogue services to allow people to transition. I'd assume they could use this to trial the temporary towers they will be using for the digital restacking. That said, if they were doing that, they'd be best served using the new one on Channel 39 while they retune the existing one for 40, save replacing a perfectly good tower this close to analogue switchoff.

Usually in the past frequency changes have been done without worrying about simulcasting, but I suppose in this situation it's a much bigger market than most other frequency swaps.

Who said anything about temporary towers - no plans for that and no need to do so. This is simply to fire up the newer ATV transmitter on the reassigned channel and to retire an older tube transmitter.

Hi

I doubt they will simulcast analog services on adjacent channels - it would cause lots of interference problems!

That is quite likely but apparently that's the plan.

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Who said anything about temporary towers - no plans for that and no need to do so. This is simply to fire up the newer ATV transmitter on the reassigned channel and to retire an older tube transmitter.

Considering you're only getting 2 and a half years out of a new analogue transmitter, I can't see it being a useful investment unless there's a major problem with the current one (which would only be 13 years old, so hardly out of its useful life). It seems a very expensive way to do transitions replacing permanent analogue towers this late in the game.

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Guest stump_1100
Considering you're only getting 2 and a half years out of a new analogue transmitter, I can't see it being a useful investment unless there's a major problem with the current one (which would only be 13 years old, so hardly out of its useful life). It seems a very expensive way to do transitions replacing permanent analogue towers this late in the game.

I think you have the wrong idea here mate. The transmitter is not new but it has solid state Amps (much easier and cheaper to maintain and support), the older one is a tube transmitter which is not 13 years years old (not sure where you got that from) and parts are getting hard to source. Example; a reconditioned tube for the visual PA can cost approx $20K-$23K.

Once again, no one said anything about replacing a tower - only a transmitter.

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This is simply to fire up the newer ATV transmitter on the reassigned channel and to retire an older tube transmitter.

Sounds good. I imagine there won't be too many people on analog in the weeks after digital fires up, but I'd be interested to see how they communicate the change of frequency, if at all?

Edited by Smacca
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the older one is a tube transmitter which is not 13 years years old (not sure where you got that from) and parts are getting hard to source.

Made the (seemingly wrong) assumption WIN would have installed new equipment in 1999 when they launched.

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