No regionalisation on Bush Box!!

[scarborian]

Hi all,
Just bought a Bush SD Freesat box from Argos for my 10 year olds bedroom as he hasn't had TV in there before, so naturally he's delighted with it!
However.....when I first turned on the box for the first boot up it asked me my postcode so it could set the regional variations for BBC and ITV ( we are BBC 1 North and ITV Yorkshire) but when it had downloaded the channels I found I have BBC 1 London and ITV Central! I tried again using a Scarborough town centre postcode and it did exactly the same??
Now my 10 year old doesn't care which channel he watch's but I wondered if this is the reason why the initial batch of these receivers were withdrawn. My local Curry's had one in stock but had been told NOT to sell it!
Anybody had a similar experience or know why this is happening. I'm not going to return the box based on this fault BUT if it was my only way of watching channels then having the wrong regional news etc would be very irritating!
Regards,
Scarborian

 

[Syphonic]

Don't know about the Bush one mate, but in my store we had the Goodmans ones in. We were told to quarantine them pending a recall due to a fault but then two days later they were cleared for sale. They never said what the fault was.

 

[projectionist]

I have the Humax box and live in Plymouth i have same problem,so i have been told by Freesat they havnt sorted out the regions yet but will in the near future.
By the way i get the same channels as you ITV Central etc.

 

[Bachstrad]

I think you'll find that it's because ITV and the BBC aren't including all the regional channels on the Freesat EPG. If you check the Freesat website you can find out which ones are available to the EPG.

The rest of the regional channels are available FTA, but you'll have to scan for them manually, this could throw your channel listings into disaray though.

ATB

Max

 

[J L Jones]

The rest of the regional channels are available FTA, but you'll have to scan for them manually, this could throw your channel listings into disaray though.

ATB

Max

I don't think that the Alba receivers will allow you to to do this. You're restricted to channels included on the EPG.

 

[Bachstrad]

I don't think that the Alba receivers will allow you to to do this. You're restricted to channels included on the EPG.

Ah, if that is the case then it's quite a serious problem for Freesat and something they will have to address quickly. People in Plymouth won't have a lot of interest in the local news for Birmingham!

ATB

Max

 

[scarborian]

Oh dear!
Thats not good news is it!
My understanding of Freesat is that it is a UK wide satellite delivered version of Freeview where the user can input thier postcode on the box to get the correct regional variation of BBC and ITV services. As there is no way to to do a 'manual tune' on these box's the user is only able to watch what is on the EPG. If this does not offer the regional variations what is the point of unputting the postcode at the initial boot up? Surely these boxes must have a basic postcode database built in so they are able to tune to the correct transponder and frequency etc to show, in my case, BBC North and ITV Yorkshire!
Come on Freesat sort this problem out asap as it could be the difference between a buyer going for Freesat or Freesat, if you see what I mean. At least SKY offers me Calender and Look North if I want it!

 

[Stuff]

Called at Argos in East Kilbride and the Bush HD box is quarantined (well, priced at £999.99) due to a "product issue". Similar story at Comet on the Grundig HD box. Maybe they're all getting new firmware to resolve the regionalization issue?

Humax FoxSat boxes were available at both Currys & Comet.

 

[scarborian]

Asked the question about regionalisation to the Freesat guys direct and this is what they sent back today....

Re: Regional Variations
Sorry it’s taken a while to reply, we’ve had a great response so far, but hope this answers your question.

Not all the regional variants of BBC and ITV services were available at launch. This is due to technical constraints associated with co-existence on the satellite platform, so freesat has adopted a phased service launch.

Twenty BBC and ITV regional services were available at launch, and the remaining twenty eight regional services have been prioritised for launch between the end of May and the end of June.

If you are in an area with a regional service that is not available yet, your temporary default is BBC London and ITV Central West. When your region becomes available, it will automatically become your default.

Services available from launch:

BBC
BBC One London
BBC One Channel Islands
BBC One East (W)
BBC One Northern Ireland (957)
BBC One Scotland
BBC One Wales
BBC Two England
BBC Two Northern Ireland (969)
BBC Two Scotland
BBC Two Wales

ITV
Ulster
STV Scottish East
STV Scottish West
ITV1 Wales
ITV1 Border England
ITV1 Central West
ITV1 Granada
ITV1 Anglia East
Channel TV
STV Grampian North

These following services are being prioritised, and will be available by the end of June:

BBC
BBC One West
BBC One South East
BBC One South
BBC One South West
BBC One N.E & C
BBC One Oxford
BBC One West Midlands
BBC One North West
BBC one Yorks & Lincs
BBC One Yorks
BBC One East Midlands
BBC One East (E)

ITV
ITV1 West
ITV1 Central East
ITV1 Westcountry
ITV1 Central South
ITV1 Border Scotland
ITV1 Meridian South East
ITV1 Meridian North
ITV1 Meridian East
ITV1 Meridian South
ITV1 Yorkshire West
ITV1 Yorkshire East
ITV1 Central South West
ITV1 Anglia West
ITV1 Anglia South
ITV1 Tyne Tees South
ITV1 Tyne Tees North

So it's just a question of waiting it out if you really want to see your 'local' news and programme variants!!
Hope that helps.

 

[Tarbat]

So, with a Freesat box, are you able to watch alternative regions to your "home" region? We live in Scotland, but often tune into England regions of BBC1 and BBC2 (using our Sky box).

 

[Bachstrad]

Asked the question about regionalisation to the Freesat guys direct and this is what they sent back today....

Re: Regional Variations
Sorry it’s taken a while to reply, we’ve had a great response so far, but hope this answers your question.

Not all the regional variants of BBC and ITV services were available at launch. This is due to technical constraints associated with co-existence on the satellite platform, so freesat has adopted a phased service launch.

Twenty BBC and ITV regional services were available at launch, and the remaining twenty eight regional services have been prioritised for launch between the end of May and the end of June.

If you are in an area with a regional service that is not available yet, your temporary default is BBC London and ITV Central West. When your region becomes available, it will automatically become your default.

All the regional channels are there now, they're FTA, isn't it just an EPG issue?

ATB

Max

 

[scarborian]

Re Tarbats question...
No you can't tune into the other regions at the moment on this type of Freesat box. IT should choose the correct region for you at install but as my thread points out, at the moment it doesn't and just installs BBC 1 London and ITV Central by default. There is no way to do a manual scan for 'other' regions on the Bush or Goodmans box but I think the Humax HD box does allow it.
We'll just have to wait for the EPG to sort itself out soon!
Regards,
Scarborian