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Brixton news, rumours and general chat - March 2018

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CH1 said:
Clearly this issue does not affect anyone here - nor in the Beehive apparently where it seems customers are happy to pay Sky £70 per month, but take any means necessary to avoid paying for a TV license.

In case anyone is interested in the technicalities, the HD Freeview channels have been moved to the old channel 59/60.
This can affect some customers such as myself who followed earlier instructions to install a band A aerial to avoid interference from mobiles.

Now that HD channels have been switched to HF channels Band A aerial users will have to install broad bandwidth Band X aerials.

Fortunately in my case this means going into the loft, but people who have aerial installers on their chimney might be more pissed off.

Freeview have given absolutely no information out about this - and help sites link to aerial installers.
Just for editor - can you wonder when look who is bringing us this amazing infrastructure (and Smart Meters too!)
Our Shareholders
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must admit I didn't even know what your first post meant. Being basement dwellers we can't have an rooftop aerial and reception was fairly hit and miss in analogue days, even with a coat hanger added to the set top aerial. We had to tweak the coat hanger everything we wanted to watch BBC2 or C4 and it was impossible to watch tv everytime the helicopter was circling overhead.

We tried to do some research when digital was first introduced - but we couldn't find anyone to say for certain if we could get a good signal in our basement and we didn't want to waste money on stuff that would work. So we got cable which was good for the internet. Would we be able to get a signal arould here for freeview?
 
friendofdorothy said:
must admit I didn't even know what your first post meant. Being basement dwellers we can't have an rooftop aerial and reception was fairly hit and miss in analogue days, even with a coat hanger added to the set top aerial. We had to tweak the coat hanger everything we wanted to watch BBC2 or C4 and it was impossible to watch tv everytime the helicopter was circling overhead.

We tried to do some research when digital was first introduced - but we couldn't find anyone to say for certain if we could get a good signal in our basement and we didn't want to waste money on stuff that would work. So we got cable which was good for the internet. Would we be able to get a signal arould here for freeview?
Click to expand...

From what CH1 has been posting you are better off with cable. If you had poor reception on old TV it's looking like digital Freeview is being comprimised by ofcom handing over bandwidth to mobile phone use.

Reading CH1 posts I'm wondering if ofcom are assuming in near future everyone will use cable / internet for what was TV with an aerial.
 
Gramsci said:
From what CH1 has been posting you are better off with cable. If you had poor reception on old TV it's looking like digital Freeview is being comprimised by ofcom handing over bandwidth to mobile phone use.

Reading CH1 posts I'm wondering if ofcom are assuming in near future everyone will use cable / internet for what was TV with an aerial.
Click to expand...
Quite correct about OFCOM reducing the allocated TV bandwidth - who gets the money from this sell-off I should like to know.

Regarding cable or internet - this may be true, The BBC seem to be altering their iPlayer to link in with licensing confirmation.
They could just as easily make it pay per view.

Regarding cable or satellite alternatives - the customer might find this better if money is no object. I think there is also a legal/moral issue here. If one pays £146 per year for a TV license (as I do) surely one should expect to be able to receive all the services properly?

Apart from cost (I think the cheapest Virgin cable package is £29 to start, rising to £49 per months for the so-called VIP 74 channel package) Freeview has 113 channels Free. Virgin sounds quite a bad deal to me. Not only that - the VIP package does not include Sky Sports channels, or Sky Movies, both of which are extra.

In terms of programming - I notice that whereas Freeview has 4 BBC channels in HD plus 3 Channel 4 HD channels, plus RT in both HD and normal resolution, and Al Jazeera in HD only.

Meanwhile the star news offering on Virgin is Fox News HD ffs. Would YOU want to watch such vile propaganda?
From ferreting around the Freeview website I noticed that they have now added PBS America on Freeview channel 94. This is a UK version of PBS. In America PBS used to take pride in not having advertising, but being paid for by public donations. Freeview have perverted this principle and merrily interrupt the programmes with adverts.

Apart from the recent technical glitch my main problem with Freeview is there is no fully comprehensive listing magazine. The Radio Times in incomplete and very expensive at £2.80 a weekly copy.

Regarding my original issue up thread, I notice that several people in the section of Coldharbour Lane between Loughborough Junction and Lilford Road share my issue. If you look at the outside of the basement and ground floor flats some have high gain TV aerials mounted on the wall. These people will probably like me discover they cannot any more access BBC NEWS BBC Four Al Jazeeera or RT in HD. I suspect it also applies to the QVC shopping channels - though I don have any use for those.

I noticed that Premier Farnell have a Band T aerial at £8.70 including post and carriage.
This Triac model is designed to mitigate mobile interference from 700MHz and above, but also receive all channels from 21-60 (using old analogue channel numbers).
AP03067-40.jpg
I'm waiting with baited breath to see if this sorts everything out.

Meanwhile if anyone else is having a problem it turns out the correct process is to ring Freeview support on 03456 50 50 50
If they agree your problem is not easily customer vorrected, they are supposed to be able to send an engineer to fix it (including a new aerial if necessary) for free. I wish I'd know this earlier - or I would not have paid £8.70 for this aerial http://cpc.farnell.com/triax/108186/aerial-10-element-tx10t-lte/dp/AP03067.
 
friendofdorothy said:
must admit I didn't even know what your first post meant. Being basement dwellers we can't have an rooftop aerial and reception was fairly hit and miss in analogue days, even with a coat hanger added to the set top aerial. We had to tweak the coat hanger everything we wanted to watch BBC2 or C4 and it was impossible to watch tv everytime the helicopter was circling overhead.

We tried to do some research when digital was first introduced - but we couldn't find anyone to say for certain if we could get a good signal in our basement and we didn't want to waste money on stuff that would work. So we got cable which was good for the internet. Would we be able to get a signal arould here for freeview?
Click to expand...
The short answer is - you might be. However if you are happy with your cable service is it necessary?
My own problem is because I'm on a road with buses and lorries going past - causing signal fluctuations (screen & sound going off). Like your helicopter.

If you already have set-top aerial and a modern TV set with built in Freeview you could try doing a "First Time Installation" retune, and see how many channels come up (if any).

If the signal strength is insufficient using a traditional set-top aerial, you can get modern amplified ones in Currys or Argos (or Amazon).
These tend to be omni-directional (you don't have to point them at Crystal Palace apparently). Maybe if you have mates who have a modern aerial like that you could borrow it to try it out.

A further possibility is mounting a conventional aerial on the outside wall. Unless you are into Do it Yourself this is perhaps a job for an installer.
There are several installers locally, according to Google.

If you have space inside or outside for a traditional aerial like the picture in the above post - this appears to be the correct spec. I will update in due course when mine has arrived from Farnell.
 
CH1 said:
Meanwhile if anyone else is having a problem it turns out the correct process is to ring Freeview support on 03456 50 50 50
If they agree your problem is not easily customer vorrected, they are supposed to be able to send an engineer to fix it (including a new aerial if necessary) for free.
Click to expand...

This is a top tip
 
Some pics from the ace Wicked Weds events at Club 414

wicked-weds-club-414-01.jpg


wicked-weds-club-414-02.jpg


wicked-weds-club-414-12.jpg


wicked-weds-club-414-14.jpg


wicked-weds-club-414-26.jpg


In photos: Brixton’s Wicked Wednesday late live jam session at Club 414, March 2018
 
Regarding my original issue up thread, I notice that several people in the section of Coldharbour Lane between Loughborough Junction and Lilford Road share my issue.

This has been a very useful and instructive thread! We are at Lilford Rd end of LJ and have been wondering what the hell happened to our channels. Thanks for the Public Service Broadcast
 
A friend just posted this on FB:

Rah! Just got attacked on my own road! . . Shakespear rd in Brixton. . 7 or 8 hoodies walkin in the road ahead of me as i rode to the shop. 1 of them left the pack and went for me causing me to come off. He grabbed my bike and was trying to punch me as i wernt letting go and a cpl of others were saying 'you best run fam" and trying to intimidate me. .i was fucked but wernt letting go of my bike. Was only because a car stopped he let go and i got the fuck out of there. On my fucking doorstep man! . . Be careful out there people. I was a bit shook up and cautious coming back but no harm done. It just depresses me and leaves a horrible feeling.
Click to expand...
 
The other day 6 or 7 yobs with hoodies piled on the P5 at Somerleyton Rd. Only went one stop. But I got the feeling they were trying to get away from someone/something.
They were talking to each other. One of them shouted to another one "You got him good"
The way they were acting. And by how funny they thought it was. Hate to think what they'd been upto. :(
 
xsunnysuex said:
The other day 6 or 7 yobs with hoodies piled on the P5 at Somerleyton Rd. Only went one stop. But I got the feeling they were trying to get away from someone/something.
They were talking to each other. One of them shouted to another one "You got him good"
The way they were acting. And by how funny they thought it was. Hate to think what they'd been upto. :(
Click to expand...
I've seen a similar incidence on the P5 near the Academy - but rememeber pensioners (and 60+ users like me) are apt to behave the same way. (Just going one stop I mean).
 
theboris said:
I saw this, as I've lost some HD channels I've pointed this towards the managers of our block
Londoners struggle with Freeview frequency changes - a516digital
http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/a...s_and_Property_Managers-Factors_-_Q1_2018.pdf
Click to expand...
Thank you for posting this. More digestible and Crystal Palace specific. I'm sure there may be others who need the information.

Interested to see the Local multiplex was only shifted from Channel 29 to channel 35 - Pickman's model ought not to have had the problem with London Live if using a Band A aerial.

I got my new Band T aerial for delivered £8.70 including p&p, but it turned out to require an F connector (my earlier aerials always just had screw terminals)
F_Connector_Side.jpg
Anyway the go-to place for F connectors in Brixton seems to be Tool Station at 5/6 Elerslie Square (off Kings Avenue near junction with Acre Lane). They cost me £1.86 for a packet of 10. So if anyone else needs an F connector?
When I'm steady and sober tomorrow morning I'm gonna try it all out.
 
CH1 said:
Thank you for posting this. More digestible and Crystal Palace specific. I'm sure there may be others who need the information.

Interested to see the Local multiplex was only shifted from Channel 29 to channel 35 - Pickman's model ought not to have had the problem with London Live if using a Band A aerial.

I got my new Band T aerial for delivered £8.70 including p&p, but it turned out to require an F connector (my earlier aerials always just had screw terminals)
View attachment 131194
Anyway the go-to place for F connectors in Brixton seems to be Tool Station at 5/6 Elerslie Square (off Kings Avenue near junction with Acre Lane). They cost me £1.86 for a packet of 10. So if anyone else needs an F connector?
When I'm steady and sober tomorrow morning I'm gonna try it all out.
Click to expand...
Have some Dutch courage before you go
 
Apologies if not in the best thread.
Had a phone call just now from "Olivia" at Brixton Rec.

This was following up on a bit of canvassing they were doing a few days ago offering free "taster sessions" swimming or doing other things.

I had foolishly taken a voucher they issued in exchange for my phone number.

Naturally I was concerned on being pressed to come on in to find out the real cost. To cut it short she said if I was on a disability benefit I could pay £5.40 annually for a concessionary card, plus if I wanted to do weight training I would need to pay £7.30 for an induction course (even though I used to do it three times a week when the gym was council run). Plus of course there was the £2.45 concessionary sessional fee.

I referred her to the outdoor gym in Albany Road - which is free to all, has no time limits and membership/training restrictions. Olivia had heard of that - but didn't know of one in Brixton!
 
This Friday - free entry on our guest list and cheap beer. Double win!



*PM me if you want to get on the list
 
CH1 said:
Apologies if not in the best thread.
Had a phone call just now from "Olivia" at Brixton Rec.

This was following up on a bit of canvassing they were doing a few days ago offering free "taster sessions" swimming or doing other things.

I had foolishly taken a voucher they issued in exchange for my phone number.

Naturally I was concerned on being pressed to come on in to find out the real cost. To cut it short she said if I was on a disability benefit I could pay £5.40 annually for a concessionary card, plus if I wanted to do weight training I would need to pay £7.30 for an induction course (even though I used to do it three times a week when the gym was council run). Plus of course there was the £2.45 concessionary sessional fee.

I referred her to the outdoor gym in Albany Road - which is free to all, has no time limits and membership/training restrictions. Olivia had heard of that - but didn't know of one in Brixton!
Click to expand...

The concessionary card doesn't give you access to gym. It gives you cheaper rate. It's only applies in off peak times.

The card is the "pay and play" card. PAYG rather then monthly payment.

Not sure if Olivia made that clear.

Finding the PAYG prices on the website is terrible. Plenty of info on full price memberships. The gym monthly membership has just gone up.

Our Prices Brixton Recreation Centre | Lambeth | Better

I think where it says fitness classes that is same price as gym.

So as long as you have the concessionary card and go at off peak times it will cost you £3.90 per visit. Which if you go three times a week will end up more than the adult non concessionary monthly gym membership.

I may be cynical here. Lambeth have policy on getting people more active and healthy. Better are meant to help in this.

Olivia ringing you up to get you to use your free taster may be because it will show Council they have got people along. It's a tick box exercise.

Im really concerned that the Rec is getting to be not affordable to many.

PAYG prices only really work for swimming. Just.

Another look at awful website. Looks to me like a concessionary gym membership for £23.10 a month.

Better : The Feel Good Place

Which isn't that affordable imo.
 
Heard a rumour that Tunde the chap who manages Brixton Rec has left, he had a lot of experience and understanding of the building. If true, it is a concern who Better/GLL might get to replace him.
 
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