News
The digital switchover date has now been announced for the Meridian area. The old existing analogue channels will be removed in February 2012.
Dean, Alan, Les and Shaun, the Horizon engineers, have just attended the digital switchover seminar and in our opinion there are 3 main points that we feel could help our customers with the switchover.
Retuning will be required twice in February 2012
For the digital switchover to take place the digital channels will be moved from their existing frequencies to new frequencies twice over a 2 week period in February 2012. All TV’s and Freeview boxes will require retuning for you to continue your viewing.
Although there will be various help lines, and of course Horizon at hand. Keeping your instruction manual ready for retuning is one way you can help yourself. You may be able to retune yourself, but if you are having difficulties and you have your manual at hand we can often help you without having to call out to you, but are always happy to come out to help.
Please call Horizon if you require more advice on 01256 841860.
Using an old TV or Video recorder after the switch over
All old TV’s can be used with the digital channels. You will require a basic Freeview set top box and these can be purchased from about £25, Horizon sell them too. If you’re thinking of changing your TV in 2011 then it’s best to forget the set top box and invest the money you would have spent into a digital ready TV.
Old Video recorders and some older DVD recorders will not work with the Digital channels. We feel this infact is more of an issue with the digital switchover, bearing in mind you don’t need to change your TV to receive digital, you will need to change your video recorder and some older DVD recorders to continue to be able to record your favourite programmes.
New Video recorders are now called PVR’s - Personnel Video Recorder. They do not use the old tape cassettes but record straight onto a hard drive recorder within the box.
You can keep your old VCR for playing old videotapes if you wish and these will still work with any TV.
New PVR’s can be purchased from £180, and from our experience at Horizon we feel there are some brands better to use than others, this is for both ease of use and reliability. Humax is one brand we can highly recommend.
Please call Horizon if you require more advice on 01256 841860.
Do I need a new aerial to receive digital
It is predicted that 70% of existing aerials should work after the digital switchover, but a few may require an upgrade to receive the new digital signal. If you already have a Digital TV or set top box you may be receiving all the channels now, if so, this means there is no need to do anything with your current aerial.
Some customers may not be getting all the channels at the moment, but after the switchover may be able to receive all the channels. Horizon can check this for you now.
In areas where digital may not work then a satellite dish would be an alternative option. If you receive a good analogue signal now, it is likely that you will receive a good digital reception after the switchover, but remember you must also have either a Freeview Set Top Box or digital ready (Freeview) TV. If you get a very snowy or grainy analogue picture now, it is more likely that you will get a bad digital TV picture and a new aerial is more likely to be needed.
Please call Horizon if you require more advice on 01256 841860.
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