6,000 Darwen homes left in dark after TV switchover (From Blackburn Citizen)

Annoyingly one of my digi boxes has not made it through the latest switchover and I have to buy a new one as I it can not get any BBC channels. It seems that freeview is causing many people a lot of problems.
Sky must be very pleased.

Michael@ClitheroeSin
ce58 wrote:
Annoyingly one of my digi boxes has not made it through the latest switchover and I have to buy a new one as I it can not get any BBC channels. It seems that freeview is causing many people a lot of problems. Sky must be very pleased.

You need to reset it to factory settings and start again mate.

Nah i rang the helpline its the box it cost me £250 many years back when ITV Digital first started and now it is no longer compatible. they gave me the manufacturers number as i might get a refund LOL Asda and £20 sounds a better plan.

Don't worry folks, you're not missing anything!
Had a look at the schedules;

C**p

Repeats

Reality B****cks

Programmes about dogs with three legs, and a terminal illness, fashioning meagre, but tasteful kennels, from scraps of MDF donated from the last series of "What does your poo say about you"

Gives you an evening free to sit at the window and keep an eye out for the licence detector van!

I could have told them they would have problems — and I left Darren 25 years ago. Our house, in the Sunnyhurst area (the real one, not the town centre) was unable to get a full signal from Winter Hill because we were basically tucked in its foothills and the only way to get a telly signal was through the old Reduffusion cable — and that was back in the 1960s.

tween to hills, so bleak and barren

Never mind thats means you'll have more time to take in the great countryside.... oh no sorry you havent got any..... what about enjoying the cultural side of Darren.... oh no sorry forgot you only have a couple of idiot filled pubs and millions of takeaways.... what about visiting local attractions..... uhmm .. Museums etc.. well Netto is nice this time of year... err uhm...OK you need to get Sky.

The issue with the Blacksnape relay has been known about for years... It was discussed at length when the first murmurs of a digital switchover were heard all those years ago. The fact is that they simply won’t spend the money on upgrading the mast for what they deem a small minority of people. It's the same with Cable TV and it’s just one more of the joys of living in a moorland backwater.

Sounds to me that Chris Cain needs a course in customer service! Surely he could have said it is just tough and we don't care in a better way than he did.

jackmetickler wrote:
tween to hills, so bleak and barren Never mind thats means you'll have more time to take in the great countryside.... oh no sorry you havent got any..... what about enjoying the cultural side of Darren.... oh no sorry forgot you only have a couple of idiot filled pubs and millions of takeaways.... what about visiting local attractions..... uhmm .. Museums etc.. well Netto is nice this time of year... err uhm...OK you need to get Sky.

Who the hell are you to comment on our country side , some parts of Darwen are peacefull and tranquil,and the most georgeous countryside around for miles and the views are the best. For some one who cant even spell Darwen, if you havent got anything usefull to say dont bother. Oviously you like netto, And museums are not open on a night when most decent people are watching tv as they have been at work all day oviously you dont work during the day if you can do these activities.

mel x wrote:

jackmetickler wrote:
tween to hills, so bleak and barren Never mind thats means you'll have more time to take in the great countryside.... oh no sorry you havent got any..... what about enjoying the cultural side of Darren.... oh no sorry forgot you only have a couple of idiot filled pubs and millions of takeaways.... what about visiting local attractions..... uhmm .. Museums etc.. well Netto is nice this time of year... err uhm...OK you need to get Sky.

Who the hell are you to comment on our country side , some parts of Darwen are peacefull and tranquil,and the most georgeous countryside around for miles and the views are the best. For some one who cant even spell Darwen, if you havent got anything usefull to say dont bother. Oviously you like netto, And museums are not open on a night when most decent people are watching tv as they have been at work all day oviously you dont work during the day if you can do these activities.

I totally agree with Mel about the wonderful, much under-rated, countryside around Darwen, but despite his present location, I get the feeling 'jackmetickler' is an exiled Darrener. 'Darren', for the info of anyone unaware, is the 'nickname' of Darwen, as in the rhyme "'twixt two hills so bleak and barren stands lovely little dirty Darren" from the cotton mill days. It's a bit like 'Accy' for Accrington. 'Ossy' for Oswaldtwistle, 'Rammy' for Ramsbottom, 'Hassy' for Haslingden, 'Rocky' for Rawtenstall, 'Tod' for Todmorden, 'Brig' for Bamber Bridge or 'Barlick' for Barnoldswick. Everyone local uses it over the full name. 'Jack' must have been a local at some stage to know that. To paraphrase the saying about free speech, I might not agree with what he says, but I defend his right to say it. And by the way, when has there ever been a museum in Darwen? There is the library and that's it.

I do think that this problem should have been sorted out by know, it's like when channel 5 came to Darwen only one side of Blackburn Road could get it and that was still the problem now. I do not see why they can't sort it for all Darwen to get Digital TV by either putting a new Digital transmitter up or improve the one thats up. People were promise Digital TV changed over etc and it would be better than what you have now so they should stick to their promise.

All it proves is that at least 'jackmefiddler' has the basic mental capacity to push a mouse around and use Google to look up things about Darwen. And what is someone all the way down in Plymouth doing commenting on something local anyway? Hmmm. I know. Is it really 'Ply' and 'mouth' as in 'stuck in it?' It's amazing but some people living in Darwen don't even know where Whalley is let alone 'Wiswell'. Pronounced 'Wissel' or 'Wissal' or even 'Wizzal' for those who have lived local to it forever more. Maybe they are immune (or living in Narnia) in the South West if they consider only 'idiot filled pubs' are confined to one town or region (I visited a 'yahoo' pub in Kent once for example (yes I know it's in the South East but to make a point here!); it was just as full of idiots whether they had millions in their bank accounts or zero. They were just louder as in 'oinks'. It's how you treat people, respect them that matters. NOT where you are from.) Interesting. Even I know there's no museum in Darwen; and I cannot stand the town! Nothing personal but it could be improved! To my main point.
Even I know there's no museum in Darwen; and I can't stand the place!


Interestingly, the licence centre for TV Licensing IS in Darwen ( or one of them is; or was last time I checked). Hmmm. But this whole Digital thing is a big con. Why? Well, we already pay a licence fee. Now people are spending probably hundreds to get Digital. And when they do can't watch what they did before. Yet we all still are forced to pay the Licence Fee. Yes, let's all get Sky. But, we pay a Licence Fee so we shouldn't have to do that. Oh, then there's this issue - can't watch and record another programme on Digital. Whereas on the alleged 'primitive' analogue we all could. Progress?! Fortunately, I can as it's a matter of routing one box into one VCR/DVDR and the other signal into either TV or recording equipment. So least I can watch and record something eles on at the same time. As to getting Sky. Oh, another con. First you pay for the monthly package. On top of your licence fee. Then, you have to pay through the nose if you want to watch in HD or even Sky Plus things. How much does that all cost a month on top of the monthly subscription fee? Probably around or near the same amount as the annual licence fee does! Yet Sky still rakes it in and is hardly likely to go under in the current financial crisis. I digress. In a reasonable world. But 'reasonable' isn't something that walks with business speak. Profit does. Following the first switchover, some in Darwen have found they cannot receive ITV, Channel Four or Five. A quick Google (and a look on the Digital Spy Forum) has brought up that after the second switch over people will (hopefully). Apparently. As to saying people should buy 'Sky'. Perhaps someone could take up the issue of Freeview and it's misleading advertising on the set top boxes packaging. For they boast all manner of channels - up to 40 even, yes 40!; who would have thought we just had 3 channels in the dim past? progress it's called (or in the case of Digital a 'retrograde' move where people can't get the channels they could before). So, you get them home and set them up. Oops! Oh, dear. But it only receives BBC1, BBC2, CBBC, oh yes, Parliament and ... um. Oh, well. As to factory resetting. Won't work because the second switchover hasn't occured yet. Until it does, no one (according to someone on Digital Spy) will be able to receive the other 3 terrestrial channels because the signal isn't turned on yet. As to the rest of the dross on Freeview (I've had Sky for 10 years BTW) ... oh, well. Dross is dross. 'Cheaps as chips' as David Dickinson says.

Lastly, nice to see local MP Janet Anderson jumping on the bandwagon. Again. Pity the government she is a member of wouldn't find more important issues to discuss other than Digital TV.

I can’t believe that I actually read that last post. It lost me after the first sentence.

The moral of the story:- Buy a Sky-plus box

to Davidoff - Janet Anderson isn't jumping on the bandwagon at all. She has been onto the broadcasting authorities for ages about trying to get the Blacksnape aerial boosted.

haha instead of sitting on your butts watching (or trying) to watch TV get outside into your countryside and get fit

Yes it's a pain (I live in Darwen too), but it's been made very clear by UK Digital in all of the literature, TV ads and the website that if you get your signal from a relay mast then you can't get the full range of channels.

This is not just related to Darwen, it's any relay mast in the country.

As far those who no longer get any channels - have they retuned (I suspect not!). People don't read anything and expect everything to be done for them.

True Darwener wrote:
I do think that this problem should have been sorted out by know, it's like when channel 5 came to Darwen only one side of Blackburn Road could get it and that was still the problem now. I do not see why they can't sort it for all Darwen to get Digital TV by either putting a new Digital transmitter up or improve the one thats up. People were promise Digital TV changed over etc and it would be better than what you have now so they should stick to their promise.

They have stuck to the promise. The article says that people affected by this can now get 15 channels instead of 4. A better situation than prior to the switchover.

The headline of this article is very misleading as it implies that 6000 people in Darwen can't get any TV at all and that's clearly not the case.