2009: Time to go Digital TV
If like me you still have a normal analogue TV and don’t have Freeview or satellite services, 2009 is the time to start planning for the Digital Switchover.
According to the timetable published by the BBC, this region will be switched over to Digital TV in 2010:
- Morayshire and Dornoch: Jul – Sep 2010
- Inverness and the Great Glen: Oct – Dec 2010
- South west Highlands and Islands: Oct – Dec 2010
I’m not sure yet whether Nairn would be classed as nearer Morayshire or Inverness as yet (it’s not a council-driven scheme so we may not be classed as part of Inverness!).
However, the warning is clear – it’s time to start preparations for the Digital TV switchover, ideally through 2009 – so that when 2010 comes along you won’t be caught on the back foot.
If you’d like to learn more, the BBC do a decent Q&A about the switchover here.
Further information is available directly on the Digital UK website.
In particular, it’s worth finding out if you may need a new TV:
Do I need to buy a new TV?
No, you don’t need to get a new TV as almost any TV can be converted with a digital box, even black and white ones and televisions without scart sockets. Your television needs to have either a scart or RF input. Unfortunately if your television does not have either of these inputs it cannot be converted to receive digital television.
Most, but not all, digital boxes come with scart sockets so make sure you check if you television has one. If your TV was made after 1996 it will have a scart socket.
Whether your current TV is up for it or not, it seems that subscribing to Freeview is the minimum requirement.
Having looked around, I ended up joining Sky this week. While I’m sure there’s a lot of crap on Sky, and we don’t watch much TV really, I figure the extra choice for the kids will be worth it. I also ordered the Sky+ (Sky Plus) service so I’ll get a PVR recorder so can record programs to disk at will.
I’d have probably held off sooner, only I got an offer of free installation and a free Sky+ box if I joined before December 20th, so figured I may as well get prepared now.
There are still some offers at Sky, though not currently as good: Sky.com – MyOffer.
Having checked out the Freeview site, it also looks as though Freeview access could be pretty limited:
Freeview: Rosemarkie Transmitter
You may not be able to receive all the Freeview channels
Some channels on the Rosemarkie transmitter have lower transmission power so you may receive only some of them.
Your cables, connectors and aerial may need upgrading to get all the Freeview channels.
I’m also getting the warning on the site that I would need a new aerial to receive Freeview:
Group E/W positioned horizontally roof-top TV aerial
To receive some channels on the Rosemarkie transmitter, you will need to upgrade your aerial from group B in a horizontal position (colour code yellow) to a group E/W in a horizontal position (colour code brown)
All in all, it looks like the switch over to digital TV could be quite a hassle, so definitely worth starting to plan now if you haven’t already – the next 18 months are bound to move pretty fast, and I would expect installers to get pretty busy the nearer the shut-down date, so worth considering getting in early.
In the meantime, if you have any questions on the digital TV switch over and how it affects you, there’s a speciality satellite, cable, and digital TV forum that can help – here’s the board for the switchover: UK Digital Switchover forum
Or am I the only one who has left getting prepared until this late? 
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4 Responses to “2009: Time to go Digital TV”
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I’ve had Freeview for several years (must be at least 5 I think) and get all the channels with absolutely no problem whatsoever. By the way, you don’t have to ‘subscribe’ to Freeview; it is free, although you do need either a TV with a freeview digital decoder built-in, or a set-top box (as cheap as £20- for the basic models).
We have Sky dishes on our building, but I don’t use any service provided by Murdoch (I stopped ‘taking’ the Times when News International bought it, except occasionally to read Bernard Levin, but he’s been dead for quite a few years so there’s no longer any need to compromise my anti-Murdoch principles/prejudices).
For those who won’t be able to get a decent Freeview signal, even after the digital signal is boosted when the analogue signals are switched off, then ‘Freesat’ is the alternative to Sky and will apparently be receivable by almost everyone in the UK.
I watch a fair bit of TV, but in the last couple of years I’ve tended to watch quite a bit on the internet instead – much more convenient.
I’ll make a note of the date case be I’m tempted to buy a TV before then. I’ve been TV free for many years now and have yet to miss it – do they still show Beatles films at Christmas?
We’ve had Freeview for a few years, with no problems at all with signal strength. Most people in Nairn will have pretty close to ‘line of site’ to the Rosemarkie transmitter .
We certainly get a minimum 90% signal strength , with a interior loft mounted aerial.
I’ve been looking at Freesat of late. You can now buy TV’s from Panasonic with integrated decoders, which keeps the installation tidier, you just need a dish, which doesn’t seem too expensive.
Main reason for my need to change is that we occasionally watch a ‘TV’ movie on a home cinema system ,and it really needs hi-definition to make it more watchable on a larger screen.
Freesat broadcasts HD transmissions, whereas Freeview doesn’t. The Freesat integrated TV’s still aren’t cheap – but, for iro £1000 for 43″ model, they are cheaper than the ‘normal’ version of the same Plasma/ LCD Tv was 18 months ago.
I’ll keep a watching brief
Actually have an existing dish, so once hooked up to Sky, am hoping to experiment with the second dish and see what I can get set up. I know a lot of satellite hobbyists, and their enthusiasm is infectious.