Wbob-tv is on the air!

[jhalphen]

Hi Guys!

My solution to End-of-Analog, scheduled for 2011 OTA SECAM L norm is personal transmitters.

I currently run:
- 2 x NTSC, VHF, Ch-3 & Ch-12
- 1 x PAL B/G, VHF, Channel E-12

& occasionally
- SECAM L France, VHF
- UK, PAL/I, UHF, Ch-30 something.

All are home-built, 100 mW into the antenna.

If the government sells off the frequencies i will either:
- Move all to VHF Band I (35-60 MHz) abandonned here
or
- Pump Watts into the PA's!

Have stocked up on wideband +30dBm/1 Watt RF power modules, "just in case".

Advantages:
- No coax all over the place to feed numerous TVs
- Use TVs with "Rabbit Ears" (easy)
- Non-broadcast modulators are DSB (Double SideBand) NOT Vestigial SideBand like Broadcast transmitters, therefore channels must be spaced wide apart and there is always a risk of interference because of harmonics.

US Solution: When NTSC goes dead, cable networks will offload Pro-Modulators by the truckload, so there will be good deals to be made.

Just FYI, over here we currently receive 18 free OTA channels encoded in MPEG-2/625/50/i it's called TNT! not meaning dynamite but "Television Numerique Terrestre" (Terrestrial Digital Television)

5 additional channels are encrypted and require a subscription + smartCard.

HD terrestrial started Oct 1st. It is encoded in MPEG-4 which allows transmitting an HD channel using the same bandwith as MPEG-2/625. The standard adopted is 1080i/50. So far, 4 channels are broadcasting Free to Air.

TNT tuners are available from 30 Euros (35 Bucks) to 300 Euros.
30 Euros gets you a basic tuner. All have composite video out + RGB which we use with the 21 pin SCART plug, a requirement since 1980.

For 60 Euros, you get 2 tuners, watch one channel, record another.

For 130 Euros, the same + a Hard Disk for recording, also a slot for memory card recording.

For 200 Euros, you get an HD Tuner + 625 tuner.

For 300 Euros, the same + HDD/SmartCard recording.

My experience: i have 5 TNT tuners, first of which in service May 2005 when experimental programs started. All have the sensitivity of a crystal set "Hello! where have all the good RF Engineers gone".

I'm slap-bang in the heart of metro Paris with the Eiffel Tower transmitter 5 miles away and on certain Multiplex frequencies (8 channels together) reception is touchy. No DX-TV for sure with these tuners...

Such is the status of the market in France as of Jan 2009.

Best Regards

jhalphen
Paris/France