Behind the scenes of digital tv switchover

This is a radiator but it doesn't use electricity or hot water to produce heat. Instead this radiator produces warmth using television. That's because the people running the Wrekin television transmitter are testing the new digital television systems. But since they're not being broadcast yet they have to go somewhere and all the energy is dumped into this piece of kit, turning it into a very unusual radiator.

Discussing digital switchover means I don't always get into just how much is involved behind the scenes in making it all work. Apart from this rather special radiator the teams have also used helicopters to lift new digital components into place on the existing transmitters. The one on the Wrekin weighed four tonnes. And tonight those teams will begin the disconnecting, turning off and reconnecting to start digital switchover. They have a big list to make sure they do everything in the right order.

Tomorrow morning if all has gone well then analogue viewers will find BBC Two has gone and BBC One is now in it's place. Meanwhile Freeview viewers will have to retune their tvs and boxes. That's because the BBC digital signal will be turned up to high power. So far digital tv has been broadcast at a lower power level to avoid interfering with the analogue signal.

Then after two weeks all the analogue tv channels will be turned off and the rest of the digital channels will also have their power turned up. Freeview viewers will also have to retune for a second time. And then the whole process starts again in September when the remaining Midlands transmitters, including Sutton Coldfield, make the switch.

If you are still unsure when your transmitter will be going digital there's one final obvious clue to look out for. Analogue tv signals now carry an onscreen caption, like the one shown in this picture, to warn you what is about to happen. And on Freeview there's an onscreen caption warning you you will have to retune. If you can't see a caption there's no need to worry just yet.

In the meantime if you have any questions do call the help line on 08456 50 50 50. They can help with anything you might be worried about. They even have all the manuals for all the tvs, recorders and set top boxes to explain how to go about returning them.

Don't forget there is free help and equipment for those that qualify and you can learn more about that scheme from this earlier blogpost and leave any other questions or thoughts in the comments and we'll do our best to answer them.

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