My ITV/C4 Freeview channels have disappeared - what can I do? Is it my SCART ca
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV It is a feature of television signals that they can be effected by the weather. Aside from the obvious damaged that can be caused by wind or torrential rain, the onset of summer can cause a more intriguing problem called "inversion".
Basically, when the sun heats up the land, the hot air can get trapped below cold air at high level. This creates an "inversion layer" which acts like a polished mirror to TV signals. This causes two problems: you can receive both the original and a reflected signal from your own transmitter (on analogue TV this appears as "ghosting") or interference from TV transmitters that are normally too far distant.
The ITV/C4 multiplex of channels (ITV-1, ITV-2, ITV-3, ITV-4, CITV, C4, More4, E4, Quizcall) use a transmission "mode" called 64QAM, and it is sadly much more prone to these problems.
So, whilst a loft-mounted aerial will provide reception at some time, it will fail at others. The only real solution is to mount the aerial (or a new Class I aerial) outside on a pole, but some people report that changing the cable from the aerial to the set-top box to the high-grade satellite cable can also help.
The SCART connection, by the way, only carries a single TV picture, not the Freeview transmission multiplexes, so if this is disconnected it will result in degradation to every channel at once.
8:27 PM
M Roberts : If the signal into your TV's aerial socket is being fed via the recorder, then try connecting the aerial lead directly into the TV and carry out a retune, if this action doesn't restore ITV then carry out a "first time installation" or "manufacturers default setting" on the TV followed by another retune.
Another point to note being, that dependant on the DVD recorders brand / model, if the problem mentioned only occurs when the DVD is in standby then make sure that its not set on eco mode, as on some models the RF link through from the aerial is disabled when its set on this mode.
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11:28 PM
You say signals "... can be effected by ..." You should replace effected by affected.
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1:06 PM
Hi, on Sat 26th July at approx. 10.30pm I lost all Freeview Channels. Prior to this we had very good reception on all channels. I tried to scan a few times but gave up. Sunday morning the same problem. Got a few back but very poor quality. By Tuesday 29th we had all BBC Channels but generally poor quality. We have a digital aerieal mounted in our loft. We have also had rats recently - almost all dead now. Can anyone relate to these problems or provide a reason.
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9:29 PM
hi for past 5 days itv and other channels was saying no signal on my freeview box,i have a digital aireal on my chimney and never had any problems till now. so i have tried to retune 3-4 times each day before getting annoyed and i still cant get them it skips from ch 2-7 missing all in between no matter what i do please help.
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10:08 PM
dee: If your TV is telling it isn't getting a signal, its because its not getting a signal, which means your aerial has a problem. Could be the cable from the socket to the TV, or the coax up to the aerial, or a loose/corroded connection.
There seems to be a rash of this question at the moment - perhaps its the heavy rain?
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I lost all Freeview channels around 6.30pm 25 Aug 2014. Retuning changes nothing. BBC channels fine, good receptiom. The missing channels don't show on the list of progrannmes anymore. Surely it can't be a problem with the aerial if BBc reception good. Never had thi problem before - any ideas? Dee
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10:46 PM
dee price: We could do with a postcode, but in the meantime, check your aerial system. BBC channels are usually the strongest, so if your system has had a partial failure, then they are the ones that might be OK, with the others vanishing.
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10:54 PM
dee price: Its not really possible for anyone to offer advice on problems of this nature without having knowledge of a persons location, this preferably being in the form of a post code or one from nearby, e.g: a shop / Post Office etc, this enabling access to info regarding the transmitters that cover the area.
On the subject of the channels not showing on the programme list, it has to be assumed that you have carried out a retune? because channel info does not disappear from programme listings except by retuning whilst the transmitter signal is down, and why TV or boxes should never be retuned just because the signal has vanished, as the data is "still" stored in the tuner.
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12:33 PM
I retuned my TVs as advised by the online message yesterday 3 September. The main TV is now showing a list where the ITVs and all channels 4 and 5, film 4 etc are in the 800 series?? The other TVs all tuned in as before.
Any ideas please
Many thanks
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1:18 PM
I also have lost itv channels although do have itv1hd. I am in bh21 area
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