My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound o
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV To deal with the problem you must clear the channel list completely and then rescan - if your box has it in the menus, please the 'installation menu' to do an initial scan or a reset to factory settings or First Time Installation. You MUST delete the entire existing list of channels. On most boxes this technique can be also be used:
Try this:
1) unplug your Freeview box (or idTV) from the mains;
2) unplug the aerial from the Freeview box by disconnecting the cable from the 'RF in' socket;
3) wait 30 seconds;
4) plug Freeview box (or idTV) mains back in;
5) do a complete scan for channels - it will fail without the aerial. (This may be in the installation or initialization menu, and is distinct from any 'add channels option'). Once this is done your channel line up should be empty;
6) reinsert aerial by reconnecting to the 'RF in' connection;
7) do a complete scan for channels again.
The Freeview channel line-up provided by six "multiplexes" - each of which carry five or more TV channels, radio channels, text services and EPG data. In this diagram each ROW represents a multiplex. If you are still missing a whole multiplex (ie everything on the row) you may need to replace your aerial with a wideband type, purchase a larger aerial or you may have interference from a VCR, games console, Sky Digibox or similar.
1:30 PM
Martin: Restore UK is the organisation charged with alleviating interference to TV reception from mobile phone masts that have begun operating on frequencies previously used for TV (on what was previously the top end of the TV band of frequencies). They notify properties they think could have an issue by sending a postcard. I checked by entering your postcode and it says they haven't sent you a postcard, so it would seem that we can rule that out: https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/
At 28 miles out from the transmitter, you have line-of-sight providing there are no local obstructions such as trees or buildings. There are quite a few trees, particularly some bigger ones to the north of Haywards Lane. Many properties on your road could have one or more trees in the way. Some of these are bungalows which are not able to get their aerial up as high as houses. I wonder whether the issue might be a tree. The leaves begin in spring and, being summer now, their foliage is at its densest. Might this account for your degradation in reception?
Another question is whether you have a signal amplifier (booster) connected in your aerial system. If you do and it is to feed multiple rooms, then if it is accessible I would be inclined to try disconnecting it, connecting the incoming aerial feed directly to one of the rooms and see if it resolves the issue.
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2:55 PM
Martin:
I'm afraid we cannot rule out interference from a new/upgraded phone mast as Steve Donaldson has suggested. We encounter a number of instances where the Restore TV site says they haven't sent postcards but nevertheless the problem was solved by fitting the Free Filter.
Whilst the rest of what Steve has suggested may be an issue, you haven't said how "recent" this problem is. Do also check that you are tuned to Mendip UHF C35 for the HD multiplex in case it's inadvertently got tuned to another transmitter at some point.
Mendip had been having Planned Engineering again until the end of last week but is not listed this week and signals at the time of posting appear to be normal (at least in a northerly direction) and I've no reason to think that they aren't normal in your direction.
We could really do with some more information to try and get a better handle on the possible causes.
Is this affecting your TV('s) as well as the Humax box? Have you changed anything about in your installation since the problem started?
What are the % Quality figures in your TV Tuning section for each multiplex's UHF channel?
How old is your aerial (roughly)? Do you have a Masthead pre-amp (on the aerial pole)?
Steve's already asked about amp/splitters.
If the problem is mobile interference and you have a masthead preamp, Restore would send an engineer Free of Charge to fit a filter on the pole before the amp. All filters must be fitted before any amplifier. If the aerial installation is very old, they may even fit a new aerial for you!
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4:09 PM
Martin: Other types of cable running near to an aerial lead can sometimes impact the signal. This could include HDMI, Ethernet and USB cables, among others. Try removing such cables or at least moving them away from the aerial lead and see if it makes a difference. It may be useful to have the signal information/signal strength screen showing on C35 (by selecting one of the HD channels) when you do it as this might give a better indicator than just having one of the HD programme channels on.
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