[opendtv] Re: Broadcasters Nix Low-Power DTS Proposal
- From: "Stessen, Jeroen" <jeroen.stessen@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 4 Feb 2010 14:40:15 +0100
Hey,
Bert Manfredi wrote:
Ø To be clear, of the successful SFNs we have looked into on this list, i.e.
Paris, Berlin, Rome, and Sydney, and maybe even the one in NYC if it exists
today, do any of these NOT involve at least one big stick? And that one
assisted by one or a half-handful of smaller sticks?
Scusa ? Speaking on behalf of this little country below the sea level, we have
only
one big stick, the Gerbrandy tower in Lopik:
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerbrandytoren
and since the introduction of DVB-T it is only 367 meters high anymore.
Nederland is
flat, so it has a long reach. But if you look at the frequency plan, it emits
only a lousy
10 kW in bouquet 1, which is where the 3+1 free-to-air public channels are
located.
See: http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVB-T-frequenties . Many of the lower towers
emit
higher power, up to 40 kW. Bouquet 1 contains one regional program, so I
suppose that
this means that it can not be a SFN for the entire country. The other 3
bouquets contain
the same programs for the entire country. I am not sure why this is not a
complete SFN
then, only partially, but this may well have to do with available frequencies
in relation
to the neighboring countries Belgium and Germany. The precise frequency
allocation
and power figures can be viewed at: http://www.at-ez.nl/dav/index.html (=
official data).
You can see how many (44 !) little transmitters there are everywhere, in such a
small
country. And all these transmitters are managed by a single entity (Novec, with
KPN ?).
Note that every stick broadcasts the same 22 programs, only the 1 regional
program
may differ. So there is NO need to aim an antenna at 2 or more transmitter !
These do
not include any German channels, so very few people would point an antenna
towards
Germany. If you're really into foreign programs, you already have a satellite
receiver.
The coverage is optimized for the densely populated urban areas, e.g. east and
west of
Eindhoven there are 2 transmitters of 10 kW each, using the same frequencies
(SFN).
The intention is to use small active set-top (indoor) antennas, which come with
the tuner.
There are complaints from the neigborhood around the west-side tower about
strong
interference into the cable TV network, which uses the same frequencies for some
popular analog channels. Apparently, a 10 kW tower in your backyard is a
problem !
KPN/Digitenne is not trying too hard to achieve 100% coverage. The people who
live
in the rural areas are kindly referred to CanalDigitaal, where they can get the
same 22
programs (and many many more) over satellite (Astra at 19.2 and 23.5 degrees
East).
A little satellite beats a big stick any time. Their bit-rates are somewhat
higher too.
And I receive both (DVB-T and DVB-S) plus analog cable (but not DVB-C).
DVB-S for the HDTV channels (1 already, soon 3, plus some foreign programs),
and DVB-T for receiving anything at all during heavy rain or snow, and because a
DVB-T / DVB-C tuner and demodulator is now standard in every new TV, so it's
also a case of why-not.
Groeten,
-- Jeroen
Jeroen H. Stessen
Specialist Picture Quality
Philips Consumer Lifestyle
Advanced Technology (Eindhoven)
High Tech Campus 37 - room 8.042
5656 AE Eindhoven - Nederland
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