Switchover for the Blaenplwyf transmitter group, serving Parts of west and central Wales is a two stage process taking place on Wednesday 10 February and Wednesday 10 March. Here are some questions that could help you troubleshoot any problems.
If you have Sky, Freesat from Sky, Virgin Media or freesat on all your TV sets, you are not receiving your signal through an aerial so you will not be affected by switchover. If you are having problems with these services, please contact your service provider on the numbers below:
Sky 0844 241 0285
Freesat from Sky 0844 241 0595
freesat 0845 313 0053
Virgin Media 0800 052 2525
You need to convert every TV set in your house that you want to continue watching after switchover. Switchover for the Blaenplwyf transmitter group is a two stage process and on Wednesday 10 February analogue BBC Two was switched off and on Wednesday 10 March all remaining analogue services will stop broadcasting permanently. Any TV that is left unconverted will not receive broadcast television at this point.
Please refer to the user guide for your digital TV equipment for full installation instructions. If you choose to install a digital TV box yourself, and don't have your user guide to hand, here are 3 simple steps to follow:
1. Unplug your TV from the electricity supply and do not switch your TV on again until you have connected all your equipment
2.Plug in the SCART and aerial cables and reconnect all equipment to the mains
3.Make sure you switch your TV on first, and then the digital box. Finally tune in the new digital channels.
At each stage, (Wednesday 10 February and Wednesday 10 March), engineering work is carried out at the Blaenplwyf transmitter and each of its relays. Television services will be restored at different times depending on where you live. On both days, services at the Blaenplwyf transmitter and all relays are expected to be restored by mid afternoon. If you have Freeview, BT Vision or Top Up TV, you will need to re-tune your equipment after the work has completed.
The exact number of services you receive will depend on where you receive your TV signal from.
After switchover virtually all households will be able to receive approximately 15 of the most watched Freeview services. Many households will be able to receive more than 40 channels. To find out what services you are expected to receive use our postcode checker.
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 (to receive analogue services) and then back on again (for digital services).
Between the two stages of switchover, analogue ITV1 will be found at the old analogue BBC2 spot.
After switchover in Wales, the Freeview signal will be improved to ensure viewers get clear pictures which are less susceptible to interference and picture break-up, but some older equipment is not compatible with the new signal.
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 telelvisions are not. Owners of affected digital boxes are advised to replace them with a product carrying the 'digital tick'. Affected televisions can be upgraded using a digital box.Digital UK recommends that anyone with affected equipment should contact the relevant manufacturer.
Also, following some technical changes made to the Freeview platform in the summer of 2008, some early models of digital box will stop working following a re-tune. We recommend that any customers with affected equipment should contact Freeview.
Find out if your equipment is affected by checking the two lists linked below.
If our postcode checker predicts that you are likely to receive a good reception of the digital terrestrial services, but you find the level of signal you are receiving is not useable, you may need to get your aerial checked. Most rooftop aerials will continue to work after switchover, but a few may require an upgrade or new cable connections. Viewers whose analogue reception is poor, typically characterised by a snowy picture, may need to get their aerial checked. A test page on analogue Teletext page 284 also provides an indication of whether an existing aerial is likely to receive a digital signal after switchover.
We recommend you wait until after switchover to see if your home will actually be affected to avoid having unnecessary work done.
