Major changes to the NZ FreeView DTH service tonight
The existing Optus B1 TVNZ services are due to migrate to Optus D1 tonight. As part of this change they are switching the polarity from Vertical to Horizontal. It appears that there are some technical issues with this switch that is likely to cause service interruptions for a couple of days.
The following information has been sent out from TVNZ -
Urgent Advisory – Change to Previous Notification
This is to update our earlier notification about the transfer of our Free To Air digital test transmissions from Optus B1 to D1.
Engineers carrying out preparatory work overnight on the uplink at Avalon have discovered that re-arranging equipment to make the transfer from B1 to D1 will not be as rapid as originally envisaged. Because of the manner in which the dish was installed as vertical polarity many years ago, changing it to horizontal will now take longer than planned.
This also means TVNZ’s test platform will be off the air longer than anticipated.
Work will begin on schedule, as advised, at 2359 hours on Wednesday 31st January. But it could now take some days to complete, with the bouquet of test channels targeted to return no later than the Saturday 3rd February.
We appreciate this change will affect many in the industry, but there is no alternative. We must migrate from the ailing B1 just as soon as possible and at the same time re-align our equipment for the switch to horizontal.
As was promised in the original plan, an email will be sent out advising you that the test channels are back just as soon as the work is completed and the bouquet restored.
As mentioned in the earlier notification, the future of the bouquet of pass-through test channels (Deutsche Welle, CCTV9 and Bloomberg), is still being considered by members of the Freeview consortium and it’s continuity is by no means assured as we approach the launch of the service.
For further information email digital@tvnz.co.nz or fax (09) 916 7897 or phone (09) 916 7658