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Freesat Postcode.

Old 6th Mar 2017, 07:14
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Freesat Postcode.

Moved to E Sussex two years ago from London and still like to watch the London local news on the beeb. Hence I still tell my TV my old London postcode. Last Saturday my LG TV did a software update and decided my TV was telling lies, and therefore deleted channel 101. Took me a while to figure out what was going on, and so re-entered my London postcode [which had been deleted]. If I can successfully con my tv that I still live in London, what was the measure taken to delete the channel and why?
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Old 6th Mar 2017, 17:47
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Think it's that your machine gets its location info from the terrestial transmitter you are close to. When it updated it also updated location.


Sometimes it gets it "wrong". My tv thinks I'm in the W. Midlands, so if I'm watching terrestrial I get Brummie news. Now I'm sure they're wonderful people in Brum, but...


Must get out the (digital) handbook when I can be bothered.
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Old 6th Mar 2017, 17:48
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The TV updated its channel guide from the local multiplex system. Your local TV transmitter obviously covers parts of both East Sussex and London, so both local news broadcasts are carried, but the default in your area is to receive the broadcast for East Sussex. The TV possibly just latched onto the strongest signal being received locally, or perhaps East Sussex came up first because it would be ahead of London in an alphabetical index. At least you have the option to select which channel you want to view.

Similar systems seem to operate when using BBC iPlayer software on a computer. It tries to determine your location from the internet address and may refuse to play programmes from other regional areas, or if you are using a virtual private network (VPN), that allows you to pretend to be anywhere in the world, as far as the computer and internet are concerned.
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Old 6th Mar 2017, 19:12
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Sky gives you the option of watching any BBC region you want. Yet if you want your BBC regional news on an iPad then it's London or lump it.
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Old 6th Mar 2017, 19:31
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It used to be that you could select additional channels and add the frequency for the local channel that you require? Is it now not so?

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Old 6th Mar 2017, 20:19
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ImageGear

In a word, no.

the digital cheannels are broadcast in interleaved digital clumps on two or three discrete frequencies. You can only receive the channels that are encoded and broadcast locally.

Depending on your TV antenna set up and receiver type, you could receive multiplex broadcasts from more distant transmitters which will mirror most of the national channels available locally, but with different localised programming available from the more distant multiplex broadcast.

Not like the old analogue days, where you could tune across the entire band and pick up other regions or even continental TV broadcasts (although the sound was at a different spacing from the video signal than in the UK, so you got picture, or sound).
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Old 6th Mar 2017, 22:07
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I'm confused by all the suggestions here. How can gemma's FREESAT TV update itself from its local multiplex system when the dish is pointing at the Astra satellite? How can it get its location info from the local terrestial transmitter? Surely all the answers here are for Freeview not Freesat or am I missing something?
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Old 6th Mar 2017, 23:49
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Democritus

Well spotted!

The responses did refer mostly to the system used to identify local programming for terrestrial DVB broadcasts. FREESAT relies on a telephone link and/or personal registration details to identify suitable local programming for your location. Virtually all media providers require some form of registration for administrative purposes, although this is really used primarily to target you with directed advertising, junk mail, and spam emails. If no area can be identified for some reason, I believe the default setting is London.
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Old 7th Mar 2017, 02:01
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FREESAT relies on a telephone link and/or personal registration details to identify suitable local programming for your location .......
Interesting. My Humax Freesat HDR requires neither a telephone link nor registration, all I had to do was enter my Post Code on first install.

Sky gives you the option of watching any BBC region you want.
Same with Freesat.
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Old 7th Mar 2017, 11:12
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Originally Posted by spekesoftly
Interesting. My Humax Freesat HDR requires neither a telephone link nor registration, all I had to do was enter my Post Code on first install.

Same with Freesat.
Same with my Humax Freesat HDR - no telephone link nor registration. If I move house I just replace my old postcode with the new one.
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Old 7th Mar 2017, 11:12
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As already mentioned the FREESAT box has no link to terrestrial transmitters and no need for an internet link (unless you choose to connect it thus).

What is far more likely in this case is the the FREESAT box was doing some dynamic reallocation of channels and got confused.

101 should be BBC1 for you selected (postcode) region. It is a re-allocation from the channel numbers in the 900+ series. These are often re-arranged - for example when one of the BBC regions upgrades to HD. This is when things may go wrong for your box.

Incidentally there are two ASTRA satellites up there at the same focus. ASTRA have in fact been playing musical chairs with the satellites at this focus for a few years now. Channels have been switching across between these satellites also. This is another reason why your box may get confused
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Old 7th Mar 2017, 11:56
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Democritus, well spotted, I was beginning to think I didnt think it through properly

DHU I Think you may be correct. Remember also the tv is connected to the net and a software tv update has decided that ch101 in sussex is not allowed. Why? One reason could be due to the tv also knowing I`m in sussex because of info I inputted for Amazon tv.
If I want to watch local news then that is on ch959
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Old 7th Mar 2017, 15:19
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Originally Posted by gemma10
DHU I Think you may be correct. Remember also the tv is connected to the net and a software tv update has decided that ch101 in sussex is not allowed. Why? One reason could be due to the tv also knowing I`m in sussex because of info I inputted for Amazon tv.
If I want to watch local news then that is on ch959
But you imply you are watching your telly programmes via a Freesat box.

If your Freesat box is not connected to the internet (My Humax Freesat box for example isn't as there is no reason for it to be connected to the outside world) then the telly can 'think' what it likes and it will not affect anything because it only has a video connection to your Freesat box, there is no 'intelligent' connection between the two.

Generally you will have two satellite feeds going into the Freesat box and and a single HDMI lead between the Freesat box and the telly.
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Old 7th Mar 2017, 15:32
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No My LG tv has 2 tuners. Freesat and Freeview. Maybe I should have stated that earlier.
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Old 7th Mar 2017, 17:19
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I have a camper van and the freesat box (bush) has a south east postcode. Obviously when in Scotland I have to adjust the mini sat dish (sat signal meter) I still receive the SE channels.
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Old 8th Mar 2017, 00:04
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I think that what it ultimately comes down to is that the broadcasters want to restrict their audience in some cases for copyright reasons. They also want to have a decently reliable assessment of viewing figures so they can charge advertisers the appropriate amount.

The BBC is available across the UK essentially free, provided you have a TV licence, but the BBC charge other countries for the right to rebroadcast their programs. Satellites have antennas designed to restrict programmes to certain regions, even though they could easily and more cheaply cover the whole of Europe with a simpler antenna design.

It all comes down to how much money these systems can generate, as was always the case. As I recall, quite a few pubs installed large satellite dishes to receive football match broadcasts intended for continental Europe as the decoder cards were much cheaper than Sky's offerings in the UK. Lots of money ended up being paid to Sky by said pubs by the time Sky's lawyers had dragged them through the courts.

It's all about money. Even PPRuNe has adverts!
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Old 8th Mar 2017, 08:34
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Good explanation Gouli, but I still cant figure out how my tv knew. Its all about spying me thinks. See todays news.
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Old 8th Mar 2017, 12:47
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gemma10

You mention that your TV is connected to the Internet. That is almost certainly the answer. Your TV has independently decided where it is living and declared its own form of Brexit.
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Old 8th Mar 2017, 13:49
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Originally Posted by G0ULI
gemma10

You mention that your TV is connected to the Internet. That is almost certainly the answer. Your TV has independently decided where it is living and declared its own form of Brexit.
I think it more likely the TV set (which we now now know is connected to Freeview as well as Freesat) knows exactly where you are in the country as it knows which DTT multiplexes the TV set is receiving and hence where you geographically.

You don't need to be connected to the the internet to receive Freeview or Freesat. (Mine is only connected to the internet to enable us to use internet telly services such as Netflix etc)
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Old 8th Mar 2017, 14:30
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My Humax freesat HD box is connected to the internet to give me access to some on-demand services (IPlayer, 4OD etc). As I understand it the only ways to get a Humax box to change it's location is to do either a factory reset (not recommended) or a channel "retune". In both cases it will ask you for a post code. Both will also delete any schedule settings you havem and any recordings you have in an internal or external hard disk.

My box was the "cheap" HD1000S (single tuner, no disk drive). I was peleasantly surprised to discover that plugging an external hard disk into one of the USB ports instantly gave it recording and pause/rewind functions.

I also have a panasonic freeview/freesat TV, and I found that this would take the location from the freeview receiver and use it for BOTH the freeview and freesat settings. We have almost no usable freeview coverage in my area, so I've simply tuned to freeview receiver to a non-existant channel to stop it updating things without telling me (I can get anything I want on either the freesat or sky sysytems anyway). Like most modern TVs, plugging a hard disk into one of its USB ports also adds record and live TV pause/rewind functions (a surprising number of people never read far enough through the manual to discover this!).

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