BBC Plans Three-Hour Fund-Raising Special ‘The Big Night In’
The BBC has announced plans to host a coronavirus telethon on April 23, bringing together its two charity partners, Comic Relief and Children In Need, for the first time.
The Big Night In will be broadcast live from 7pm until 10pm on Thursday 23rd April, adhering to all of the government’s rules regarding social isolation.
Can you watch the 4K Demo channel on the Arris Freesat UHD-X 4K satellite receiver
The Arris Freesat UHD-X 4K satellite receiver is the latest Freesat box on the market.
The Arris Freesat UHD-X 4K satellite receiver replaces the popular Humax Freesat boxes.
According to the specifications the Arris Freesat UHD-X 4K satellite receiver can support 4K broadcasts.
Continue reading »
BBC Satback Update : Intelsat 901 now at 27.5W
The replacement for the Intelsat 907 satellite, that carries the BBC Satback service, Intelsat 901 has now arrived at 27.5 west, thanks to the MEV that was attached to Intelsat 901 and pushed it into place.
Satellite locations :
Intelsat 907 is located at 27,543 W Continue reading »
German channels going HD only in 2021
A number of German channels broadcast on Astra 1 at 19 east will be closing down their standard definition (SD) channels and will only be available in high definition (HD) only.
This will be happening in January 2021.
Channel affected by this are :
Das Erste,
tagesschau24,
ONE ARD-alpha.
Phoenix
Arte
and the ARD regional channels.
So if you watch these channels via satellite, and are using an SD decoder, then you will need to upgrade to a HD decoder before the end of the year.
Six Nations Rugby could go behind TV paywall from 2022???
The UK government has rejected the chance to ensure the Six Nations remains only on free-to-air TV by turning down a call to include the tournament as a category A-listed sporting event.
Current category A events, which must have live coverage made available to free-to-air channels, include the rugby union World Cup final, the football World Cup, Wimbledon, the Grand National and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
However, the Six Nations will remain a category B tournament, meaning live coverage can go behind a paywall provided highlights or a delayed broadcast are shown on terrestrial TV.
Continue reading »
Set up and review of the new Arris Freesat UHD-X 4K satellite receiver
In a previous post we unboxed the latest Freesat box offering from Arris.
( https://www.satandpcguy.com/2020/02/14/unboxing-a-new-arris-freesat-uhd-x-4k-satellite-receiver/ )
Now we show you the on screen set up process, and a few points that we found when setting it up. Continue reading »
Spanish TV Changes in 2020
Spanish TV received via a TV aerial is changing in 2020.
This is because the Spanish TV broadcasters will have to relinquish frequencies in the 694-790 MHz UHF band. The spectrum between 694 and 790 MHz, the so-called 700 MHz, has been auctioned to mobile broadband operators to facilitate the launch of 5G services in Spain.
All Spanish TV channels must move to frequencies below 694 MHz by June 2020.
Temporary Loss of UK satellite TV signals in the morning? Dont worry, it is just the biannual solar outage time
It is that time of year again when the Sun / Solar Outage can affect the power of satellite signals your satellite dish is receiving, resulting in a loss of some of the more weaker UK TV channels via satellite.
Don’t panic – it is the bi-annual sun outage and normal this time of year. This occurrence happens in March and October for a couple of weeks every year, around the time of the Spring and Autumn equinox. In the northern hemisphere, sun outages occur before the March equinox (February, March) and after the September equinox (September and October).
These solar outages occur when the sun is directly behind the satellite and the suns energy swamps the signal with interference.
This “satellite solar outage” happens at around 10.30 – 11.30 am and can last for up to 20 minutes and can take place up to 15 days.
FA Cup TV coverage this week.
This week sees the fifth round of the FA Cup.
With matches on both BBC and BT Sport.
Continue reading »
Some Sky Cinema channel frequency and beam changes
Over the last few days some Sky channels have changed frequencies.
They have also moved from the European beam to the UK beam.
This has meant some viewers of these channels in some areas of Spain getting “no signal” messages, as their satellite dish is now too small to receive those signals for these channels.
The channels affected are : Continue reading »
Sky TV Price Rise on 1st April 2020
Sky TV packages will be having their usual price increase on the 1st April 2020.
This follows BT Sports price increase earlier in the year.
The basic entry Sky Entertainment pack will increase by £2 per month.
The Sky HD pack will increase by £1 per month.
But, as always, if you are paying the full price, you can always contact Sky and ask for a discount, especially if you have their Sports package. Discounts of up to 50% can be had for an 18 month period.
If you dont ask, you dont get.
Intelsat 907 / 901 update at 27.5 West
For more information on the service provided by I907 at 27.t west, please see here : https://www.satandpcguy.com/intelsat-bbc-satback/
We know that the Intelsat 907 satellite used at 27.5 west is low on fuel, and needs replacing.
We know that there is a plan to replace this I907 satellite, as posted here.
Well, this week, MEV1 successfully docked with the Intelsat 901 satellite. The docking was autonomous. The MEV-1 achieved this by driving a probe into the IS-901’s engine nozzle and then opening some “fingers” to lock the two spacecraft together. This will allow Intelsat-901 to extend its 19-year mission of relaying TV and other services by another five years.
Unboxing a new Arris Freesat UHD-X 4K satellite receiver
Freesat – Subscription Free UK TV – 150 Subscription Free UK TV channels.
So I have my hands on a new 4K / UHD Freesat receiver, manufactured by Arris.
Earlier this week Freesat launched this new 4K / UHD satellite receiver, manufactured by Arris.
New Arris Freesat 4K box officially released
Finally, months after Humax stopped producing their popular HB-1100S and HDR-1100S range of Freesat boxes and stocks of the Huamx Freesat boxes virtually zero in the UK, the new and latest Freesat boxes have been launched.
Manufactured by Arris, these boxes will be sold to retailers by Freesat themselves, and not by Arris.
Currently only the non recording box is available, but a recording box, with 500GB, 1TB & 2TB hard dives, will be released in the coming weeks. Continue reading »
FA Cup Fifth Round Dates, Times, and UK TV Matches confirmed.
BBC One will show Liverpool’s FA Cup fifth-round round tie at Chelsea live, as well as holders Manchester City’s game at Sheffield Wednesday.
Chelsea against Liverpool will be one BBC One on 3 March (19:45 GMT), with build-up from 19:30. Highlights of the other fifth-round ties from the night will also be shown.
The FA Cup sixth-round draw will follow the match between Sheffield Wednesday and Premier League champions City on 4 March (19:45).
This season’s fifth-round ties are being played in midweek, with all eight ties to be decided on the night. If ties are level after 90 minutes, extra time and penalties will determine who goes through.
Following the success of BBC iPlayer’s pop-up channel for the fourth round weekend, the FA Cup Channel will be returning to iPlayer for the fifth round, again showing live coverage, all the highlights, and great goals from classic fifth-round games taken from the BBC archive.
Continue reading »