Freeview intermittent interference
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV There are several different types of interference that cause problems. This page deals with the situation where:
- Freeview reception is perfect or near-perfect most of the time
- The audio on TV and radio channels mutes momentarily a few times each minute
- The picture on a Freeview channel freezes a few times each minute
There are two main causes of this type of intermittent interference:
- 'Induction' interference
- Mobile phone interference
Induction interference
Induction interference is caused by mains-powered household devices that contain a large motor, such as:- Washing machine;
- Tumble dryer;
- Central heating pump or combination boiler;
- Fridge;
- Freezer;
- Power tools (drills, jigsaws etc)
- Vacuum cleaners;
- Water pumps;
- Automatic doors
You can identify if one or more of these devices is causing the Freeview reception problem by powering off the devices.
If one of these devices is causing the problem, then the reception problem can usually be solved by using a mains filter device and use it on the Freeview boxes mains connection.
Such as device is this: Maplin: 6-Way Flat Screen and HDTV Surge Protector and Mains Filter.
Mobile phone interference
If you keep a mobile phone by your Freeview box or digital television, keep it further away!This also applies to other transmitters such as baby monitors, video senders, walkie talkies, and portable phones.
Help with Freeview, aerials?
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
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Jo meaney6:55 AM
As soon as the weather gets better we get interference with freeview. Signal issues, picture freezes, goes off, sound not matching the screen.happened last year top- does not bode well!
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Jo meaney: It is very hard to help without a postcode.
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Mo8:40 AM
Whitstable
This happened to me last night. ITV digital channels broke up on all TVs in the house - mixture of freeview set top boxes and built in. Up until 5 minutes ago they have shown no signal and now have come back but are very stuttery. Post code is CT5 Whitstable.
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Mo's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Mo: Much as you might expect from the predictions for you location at this time.
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Jody8:23 PM
Hi My postcode is NN18, Northamptonshire and our signals are all over the place, (if my husband tunes the tv in again I'm going to scream!) When will the signals settle down?
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Jody: I can't really help without a full postcode, and I don't know what "signals are all over the place" means.
Have you checked everything at the top of the page?
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Jody8:48 PM
Corby
Sorry, It's NN188BS, and the signals are varying from full strength to almost none and pixelating at different times of the day so you can't plan your viewing!
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Jody's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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Mike Dimmick11:35 PM
Jody: Do you know if the aerial points to Waltham, or Sandy Heath? Waltham is nearly due north, while Sandy Heath is roughly south-east.
If the aerial's aligned on Waltham, there is a possibility that you're getting enough signal from Sandy Heath (now that the PSB multiplexes are at full power) for the box to decide to tune in the wrong transmitter. Check to see if there's a working set of channels at different channel numbers, e.g. around 800. If so, delete all the channels and manually tune in the frequencies shown on the Waltham transmitter page. See Digital Region Overlap for some more advice.
If it's definitely aligned on Sandy Heath, it's possible that your TV doesn't support the 8K transmission mode and it's tuning in Waltham instead. Check on the list at TVs and boxes that do not support the 8k-mode | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice . Again, fringe reception of a different transmitter will work sometimes, but not reliably.
The estimated signal strength from Sandy Heath is pretty strong, so if you have a booster or amplifier, try removing it. Very strong signals might be distorted by the amplifier, making it impossible for the TV to decode them. (RG47SH)
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Wednesday, 20 April 2011
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helen10:34 PM
Peterborough
Hi.... been having problem since switch over day .. as my old free view box was not HD ready, bought a new one..... since then when watching through the box,many channels freeze constantly.My postcode is PE14Sl
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helen's: mapH's Freeview map terrainH's terrain plot wavesH's frequency data H's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 21 April 2011
helen: If you have a booster or amplifier, remove it from your system. Also check your cables are in good condition. You should be getting good reception on most multiplexes, and the rest will improve later in the year.
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