CBC's OTA Future: Discussion

[Doppelganger399]

Originally Posted by Goldielover

On-line viewing isn't an option in many areas. My father can only get dial-up and you can't stream much with that. He is reluctantly looking into satellite, as cable isn't available in his area either. (My mother is nowhere near so reluctant)

People in smaller communities with eastlink lost local cbc & had it replaced with a national feed same programming but no local news from ST.Johns they also can not stream because smaller eastlink systems don't have hi speed internet.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfou...ision-802.html

They will get local cbc back in 4 months when shaw adds it to their satellite their only other option is bell tv, why doesn't eastlink buy the feed from bell instead of waiting 4 months for shaw?

[46FD04]

This may be a dumb question.

Can someone tell me why CBC shut down it's analog transmitters in the rural areas of Canada, leaving them in the dark?

Pretty sad, especially when the large urban areas like Toronto get excellent crystal clear HD transmissions.

If CBC wasn't going to spend the money on replacing these 607 transmitters with DTV transmitters, at least leave the analog ones turned on so that anyone with the older equipment could still watch.

I'm very confused by this strange turn of events.

[LONSat]

46FD

The CBC's analog distribution system was coming to end of life. The recent Federal Budget cut their funding. Shutting down the analog transmitters now saves them about 10 million a year in operating costs. All of these transmitters would probably have been shut down in the next couple of years the budget cuts accelerated the process.

[Mike FM]

Technicians were told not to dismantle anything for one month in hopes the government would restore funding. They may as well start stripping everything...

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by 46FD04

If CBC wasn't going to spend the money on replacing these 607 transmitters with DTV transmitters, at least leave the analog ones turned on so that anyone with the older equipment could still watch.

The CBC is not replacing the 607 transmitters with DTV ones. They only replaced 27 of them. The remainder will have no replacement.

[mrvanwinkles]

Originally Posted by LONsat

The recent Federal Budget cut their funding.

Our illustrious leadership.

I warned about majorities in government.

I think the term I used was "scary".

[Marc]

Originally Posted by DrSat

FTA Pros:
- No loss of service during heavy rainfalls

How is this accomplished? Even huge (7.2M) antennas fade.

[DrSat]

It is a known fact that C-Band signals are MUCH more resilient to inclement weather conditions when compared to the higher Ku-Band frequencies which are used by BellTV and Shaw Direct which is why they are favoured for signal distribution even up to this day.

During the last few heavy rainfalls over here in Oakville, we had Shaw Direct running on one TV using their standard 60cm dish and Radio Canada HD off of 107.3W C-band using a 165cm dish as an experiment to see how small of a dish we can use for C-band. As you know Shaw Direct uses the same 107.3W satellite but on Ku-band instead of C-band.

In all cases, immediately before and during these heavy rain downpours, Shaw Direct's signal always went out on all channels but not once did we lose signal on C-band, even with an undersized 165cm dish. The only time that a C-band dish would experience signal fade due to inclement weather is when lots of wet sticky snow collects on the dish but this can easily be solved with a broom.


Regards,

Dr. Sat

[ota_canuck]

C Band dishes are too big for most people who have lost CBC. Investing into a c-band set-up for CBC-SD is a poor quality and only a temporary solution that does not warrant the equipment costs and the size of installing a backyard dish. The newer Big Ugly Dishes [BUD's] designs of smaller diameters are best suited for ku band, but the advantage as Dr.Sat claims is that the larger dish diameter with it's higher gain will resist rain fade,... otherwise a large dish is simply not a practical solution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_receive-only

A C-band dish (often given as BUD, for "big ugly dish") is a colloquial name for a TVRO satellite dish used to receive satellite television signals from FSS-type satellites on the microwave C band. BUDs are usually 6½ to 12 feet or two to 3.5 meters in diameter, and have been a source of much consternation (even local zoning disputes) due to their perception as an eyesore. Neighborhoods with restrictive covenants usually prohibit this size of dish, except where such restrictions are illegal.

Large dishes have higher antenna gain, which can be an advantage when used with DBS signals such as Dish Network and DirecTV, virtually eliminating rain fade. Restored dishes fitted with block upconverters can be used to transmit signals as well. BUDs can still be seen at antenna farms for these reasons, so that video and backhauls can be sent to and from the TV network with which a station is affiliated, without interruption due to inclement weather. BUDs are also still useful for picking-up weak signals at the edge of a satellite's broadcast "footprint" — the area at which a particular satellite is aimed. For this reason, BUDs are helpful in places like Alaska, or parts of the Caribbean.

Large parabolic antennas similar to BUDs are still in production by companies such as Fortec Star and Standard Antenna Manufacturing Inc.. New dishes differ in their construction and materials. New mesh dishes have much smaller perforations and solid dishes are now made with steel instead of fiberglass. New systems usually include a universal LNB which is switched electronically between horizontal and vertical polarization, obviating the need for a failure-prone polarotor. As a complete system they have a much lower noise temperature than old BUDs, and are generally better for digital Ku reception. The prices on these dishes have fallen dramatically since the first BUDs were produced from several thousand dollars to as little as $189 as of 2008. Typical uses for these systems include receiving free-to-air and subscription services.

[Marc]

That's my point, FTA is not immune to rain fade. We get both C and Ku band fades if the weather gets nasty enough. Uplink fades happen too. C band is more reliable than Ku but it's not perfect.

[Jase88]

This thread is regarding OTA--please take satellite discussion to the appropriate forum. Thank you.

[Doppelganger399]

Originally Posted by Jase88

This thread is regarding OTA--please take satellite discussion to the appropriate forum. Thank you.

The OTA shutdown & the satellite discussion are connected the lack of CBC in smaller communities is linked to the transmitters being shut off & the lack of a satellite feed to replace it.

Its all part of the same news story.

[ota_canuck]

For those who have lost their free CBC OTA reception due to the recent obliteration of rural CBC's national funded coverage,.. the only solution is that they are now left without any practical resources to receive free CBC and they are now faced with digging deep into their finances and paying for cable or satelite services or doing without the CBC national broadcasts. Kudos to the CRTC for screwing the general public and condoning favours to the monopoly driven by a handfull of greedy mega-media-corps. CBC is no longer a national broadcaster and they should be left to fend for themselves based on advertising revenues,.. or be sold to one of the mega-media-corps,.. or maybe become a specialty channel for cable/sat pay services. In my opinion,.. other than for HNIC programming,.. CBC is useless anyways,.. and I'm not a hockey watcher! I am just thankfull that I have the good fortune to be residing near the US border where we can still get quality television for free..

[DrSat]

Originally Posted by ota_canuck

c-band set-up for CBC-SD

You mean CBC in HD and the 6 ft. dish size is typically not an issue in rural communities where land lots are much larger than in the city.


Regards,

Dr. Sat

[majortom]

Originally Posted by Jase88

This thread is regarding OTA--please take satellite discussion to the appropriate forum. Thank you.

bring it see ya'll in there.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...6&postcount=35