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I have been running this site in my own time since July 2002. After nine years I am considering making some changes.
Published on by Brian Butterworth on UK Free TV The purpose of the site is to provide independent (from the broadcasters, infrastructure companies and Digital UK) information about the choice people can make to watch free to air television services in the UK.
Having many years of technical, managerial and communications experience - and particularly after seeing at first hand the failure of ONdigital to communicate the technical difficulties - I thought the would be plenty of people who would need straightforward technical digital TV assistance.
When the site launched the only form of "feedback" was a personal email service, but on 7 October 2005, I introduced a direct commenting service. This has on the whole been very successful and popular - over 88,000 comments have been posted since then.
Many people have assisted people from all over the UK and around the world, and these contributions have made the site a lively and helpful place.
However, 28,500 of these posting are mine, and it is taking an increasingly large amount of my time.
In addition, the number of occasions where personal attacks are being launched on me and my professional knowledge, or I have to deal with uninformed and incorrect answers being given to people has increased.
The main upshot of this is that I spend very little time doing the "top line" site tasks, such as writing articles, upgrading the database information, adding in new sections such as the radio transmitter and YouView pages and so forth.
Whilst I appreciate that visitors can reasonably think that "in a democracy we are free to discuss pros, cons and preferences", this site is not a democracy, UK Free TV is my project.
Therefore I am proposing that:
1. Certain sections pages will be closed to further comments. I really do not have the time to spend going round and round in the same loop discussing same things, such as with the tedious digital radio haters. Such discussions add nothing to helping out people with their reception issues and will be moved to a holding page or deleted if they are insulting.
2. Some sections will be pre-moderated. Comments will not appear until I approve them.
3. Off-topic comments will be deleted or moved. For example, questions posted about Freeview reception in Jersey posted on the Winter Hill page. I will normally move them to the general purpose Feedback page.
4. I will then will have the time to improve the resolution and accuracy of the transmitter coverage pages, upgrade the radio transmitters section and provide information about the upcoming local TV, IPTV and YouView.
Malcolm Franke: Agreed! Why should we have to suffer just because of "strange people" being akward with things on this site? I hope what Braintist is saying won't be true; there are some articles I still like to chip in my thoughts dispite being old topics.
Brian, you render us all a great service. If you wish your site to be an information and problem-solving one, but not a discussion forum, we will all happily respect that. I´m sure you have many ideas for the future. Might I suggest a index prominently accessed from the front-page, so people can quickly find FAQ-style information for individual problems and queries. The current search facility does this well, but searches are always dependent on the choice of keyword, so a front-page accessed index in addition might be worth a thought.
Simon Richards Sunday 27 February 2011 3:10PM Birmingham
I have been using your site for a few years. I really value your help.
I actually think the official information you get on Freeview is very poor- in general is is "you may need an aerial upgrade"!. Other help provided is by organizations who have a vested interest in getting you to spend money.
Your website has provided me help which isn't available elsewhere. Thank You.
Brian: Good luck with whatever you decide. However, I'm sure your knowledge and experience will continue to be invaluable to all of us, especially in May and June of his year.
Following your kind comments, I have decided to create a "sink" page for comments about DAB that I feel are just there to be disruptive.
The "sink page" has a closed comments, and I will reserve the right to close comments on other pages, but I will hold back from doing this on whole sections.
I'm really sorry if you wish to argue at great length about how amazing FM is, but I just find it boring in the extreme that people who really don't understand how digital transmission systems work want to bang on about FM or about how you need to get a new car if you want to use DAB radio in it.
Digital Luddite Steve Green has his site dedicated to how terrible he thinks DAB is if anyone feels the need. One site full of it is quite enough for cyberspace.
I want UK Free TV to be a positive place about finding solutions, choice and saving people money.
Thanks Brian, your proposals for YOUR site are fine with me. Its been a great source of news and information for several years for me and I'm all for you snipping where necessary to reduce the load so you can carry on providing this unique source of accurate information. The PIAs will not be missed!
I seriously hope you don't class me as a Digital Radio "hater" Brian. If only the quality matched the hype, I would be thoroughly satisfied. After all I did embrace the technology at a very early stage (in summer 1999 purchasing a very expensive Technics ST-GT 1000 still going strong but mainly in FM mode these days sadly, even though I recall you didn't believe this date when I first told you). I actually think your site has been one of a very few areas for good reasoned discussion on this subject and although certain arguments may have gone round in a bit of a loop, in the main the contents of the blog have certainly been beneficial to me personally. I have learned an aweful lot whilst admittedly having a bit of a winge from time to time, but without challenge, people can miss such a lot at the planning stage making unnecessary and incorrect assumptions. Hopefully pointing out some of the serious issues, which only time & switch off (whenever that will actually be) will tell accurately. Only then will we see and hear if the promises match the hype and all pitfalls have been fully or even partially resolved. Withouht the concerns expressed by the average and I have to say "caring" listener who is going to take notice. There is no point ringing BBC Information these days, manned by very inexperienced people with very little technical knowledge, who try and fob you off with any old rubbish using the oft trotted out phrase that your views will be paseed on to ... blah de blah, when you know full well they won't be. Digial text is still printing out garbage in the p200 SAVINGS section for certain accounts after over a year since I pointed out a basic error in the display for both Freeview and Freesat viewers !! YOUR SITE IS INVALUABLE !! Please don't get disillusioned. Keep up the good work and try not to redact too much. If you don't want to answer as many queries, fair enough, but let others (especially the well qualified bods) help you, unless they are spouting total rubbish. I am all for fair and well meaning and argued "freedom of speech". Many Thanks for all your hard work over the period, I discovered you quite late in the day in Winter 2009. Finally, my genuine hope is that as many people as possible receive digital radio (especially DAB) across all networks across the country and in cars in the best possible quality, speech and music stations alike. Very best wishes, Nedbod
I must admit though, it does seem weird to see for the first time on this site the "Comments closed" thingy. We can blame that again on those who spoil it for us all.
I agree with everything Michael said. I love the idea of putting Luddite trolls in a sealed room where they can fulminate about DAB or global warming...
But I'm sure you could free up far more time and help a lot more people if the site was redesigned. Rarely has a site had so much unique, top quality content that is so hard to find.
Channelling visitors to FAQ before (and after) they ask questions, as many merchant sites' Contact Us / customer service pages do would help reduce duplication.
And may make it clearer to new visitors where they need to post.
I find even simple vBulletin style forums like AVForums or Digital Spy far easier to navigate. I find the 'From Latest Comments' panel more frustrating than enticing (especially on the e-mail updates) as it often contains just a baffling few words like:
Briantist Mr g collins Please can you;
Briantist michael Can you explain a bit;
Nick T Yes I suppose you can count no;
Mr g collins I have a problem with; etc
That said, it is a helluva site for one person to have created. The info is the most informed and accurate of any such forum and I hope it will go from strength to strength.
Hi Brian - Thanks for sending me here from the thread I posted on.
I knew about that thread from the "Related Stories" panel on the "Delusional Arguments" thread. I knew about that because I got an email linking to it - presumably because I am a DAB delusionee! (Though in fact I have no view on DAB; just want to keep R4 FM!)
Anyway, I join in appreciation of your site, which is very useful. And I hope it make you some money.
Although I have been here a fair amount, I am not entirely clear on the structure of the discussion threads. But i have never looked into it either.
Mark Aberfan Aerials Sunday 27 February 2011 6:47PM
Hi Brian,
Your comment,
"I want UK Free TV to be a positive place about finding solutions, choice and saving people money."
Sums up why I'm willing to give my time to contribute on your site but not on many others. Some other sites appear to have blatent commercial agenda's (or their contributers do).
We may not all agree on everything all the time but at least most bring something usefull to the discussion as for the rest & the agenda boys a closed darkened room may be best for them !
Netbod i may not share your view on dab as my experiance is different however, your view is still noted for two reasons,
1) Your depth of knowledge & interest in radio.
2) You post about many things not just to knock one thing like some do !
steve: I don't mind people occasionally mentioning an opinion, it is when people go on at great length using pseudoscience and don't really wish to have a discussion, every single time you post "oh there's a new DAB transmitter...".
I would agree with others that we are all very grateful for your site which does give alot of information and help to others. I suspect you consider me as a "Digital Radio hater" but actually it is not true. I even bought my wife a digital radio for Christmas although she uses it with upnp, internet or usb stick and not DAB. I am how ever totally opposed to the enormouse amounts of money being spent on DAB just to service 15% of radio listening.
Mark Aberfan Aerials: Yes, a great thumbs up to that.
To be clear, I'm not saying I do not wish people to disagree or argue, or point out errors and mistakes.
There just needs to be a little more focus on helping, to ensure the site continues to be useful for the 99% of people who use it and never post at all.
Brian, these postings may well be the best response you have ever received! We all very much appreciate all your input and expertise. We all wish only to benefit from, and contribute to, your incomparable website. Evidently, there must be boundaries which you must delineate. Your suggestion of a fringe discussion page demonstrates your insightful overview of priority interests.
The suggestion of an index was intended as exclusively constructive. Along the leftpage margin of every page an index of FAQ-derived
support key-lines would enable anyone accessing your ukfree website to swiftly
find the guidance sought. This would lessen the burden to respond to many a repetative enquiry, as now addressed individually.(As an adept, I am reasonably well able to seek out detailed pointers to relevant links, however I feel that a leftpage margin index would be very helpful to many enquirers.) The basic structures you have built up over years are solid. User-oriented index linking could but enhance this so as to "outflank" lesser online offerings.
Brian: Thanks' so much for a great job! as you know I've only recently found this site.
Can I be checky and ask? Mark Aberfan Aerials
is it possible to connect an aerial that points to a digital Freeview transmiter and connect an analog receiving aerial to the same coax?
Thank you again Brian
Yes it can be done with diplexer / filter but im not sure why you would want to unless you live between two regions where one had switched over & one that had not. Dont fotget switchover ends next year & then there will be no more analogue so it may not be worth the expense.
Mark, if you and other active professionals pick up queries such as this, Brian could concentrate more on the essentials which make this site so valuable to so many. Maybe there could be provision for a group including such as you who could take this on? Brian, what do you think?
Chris Monday 28 February 2011 1:00PM Milton Keynes
Briantist I have found your site extremely helpful, useful and informative. Please do keep the technical, transmitter info and set up details, etc available for us beginners!
Many thanks for your efforts.
Gordon Bennett! I've just made the mistake of looking at the "Delusional DAB Arguments" page. What a bunch of losers. Life is just too short to waste your time with this sort of stuff. More power to your elbow Brian, this site is excellent and the more time you can devote to the important parts the better.
I miss the "report this post" button as its a quick way to report things like spam or when a newbie puts their name address phone number etc on a public forum.
Brian grate site you do a top job, I will try and answer a bit more to help if I can ,some of the questions are a bit vague though, dont know how you do it mate but keep it up .Tom Fletcher
What about issueing a password so that those regular contributors can access it or tie it to the email addresses we use or even link it to only enable for those above a set post count.
Mark
The problem is I don't know much about transmitters from other areas that I don't use, like asking me about Mendips or crystal palace or something, run of the mill TV sky and aerial faults I'm your man,maybe send questions from around my area to me or other riggers in our area, probably Brian would not like that as he is trying to lighten his work load a bit it would mean more up dating for him to do.
Dont worry Mate, answer what you can, when you can, I agree some questions are too vague to answer, but thats just the way it is ! (how many times have you been called out to a faulty aerial when the customer only has a dish !) If those with a bit of knowledge help brian with the general questions when we can, & point out spam & dubious posts when we see them, Brian can do the general upkeep & improving the site to make it even better.
I should add I'm not speaking for Brian, its just my thoughts on how to make the site easier for Brian to manage & so freeing up time for updates & improvements.
Mark Aberfan Aerials: When I originally wrote the backend system, it was supposed to be multi-user, but I have never actually used it that way.
It might need a bit of updating to work properly for other users, but I'll have a look at this evening, as it might be useful for other people to be able to do certain things.
There is to much confusion with so called digital aerials, I would agree that aerials & dishes are both antennas !
It was not a pop at the public not knowing the differance just a point that one persons description of a problem may not be accurate or correct but like the rest of us they are doing the best they can with the information they have.
brian
Can you clear a point up for me? they say there is no such thing as a digitalaerial, so in the past when a customer rang saying can you fit me a digital aerial I would tell them there was no such thing what you call them are yagi aerials,not wanting to get my self in trouble with trading standers ,this became a bit boring so I stared saying yes we do fit digital aerials, are we braking any trading standards saying this ?
Tom Fletcher: There certainly is no such thing as a "digitalaerial". The "digital bit" of the transmission is the COFDM encoding.
COFDM was designed to work with the existing aerials. The digital multiplexes broadcast in the same "channels" as the analogue UHF TV channels.
The main confusion has arose because the digital transmissions were so weak, as they used gaps left in the analogue frequency plan to prevent co-channel interference under "Inversion" conditions.
Therefore a selection of aerials were provided that performed better under these conditions, for people on the fringes of reception.
Remember in the ONdigital days, the output of most digital transmitters was at least half of what it was before switchover.
But the signal that comes of the dipole from any Yagi aerial is just a signal. Until you stick it into a receiver and try to decode it does it become digital.
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