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My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound o

My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound or the channel line up is wrong

My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+
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.



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Comments
Wednesday, 16 January 2013
W
Willber G
10:01 PM
Southampton

Hi, I have lost some channels.
I first noticed a couple channels had a blank screen although they were listed in EPG. I did an automatic search and these channels disappeared from EPG. I carried out the steps at the top of this page but the channels are still not listed. On investigation it seems the missing channels are all in Multiplex A. My receiver and aerial have not been changed. I am in SO17 3AH. Any help would be much appreciated.

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Willber G's 7 posts GB flag
Willber's: mapW's Freeview map terrainW's terrain plot wavesW's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 17 January 2013
D
Dave Timm
9:33 AM
Rotherham

Thanks jb38, for the responses and information contained, much appreciated.
So it looks like a failed memory chip, faulty power supply and / or tuner.
It's just strange that the problems only occurred immediately following digital switch-over.

As a final question, since changeover we have also noticed that, at random intervals, we loose all signal for a fraction of a second, just long enough for the screen to hang, pixellate seriously and then refresh. This happens on all of out 3 TVs and is suffered by our neighbours - those not converted to SKY. Any thoughts?

We have Virginmedia cable (via a SCART) and suffer no issues when using their service - also a separate Sony Hard Drive recorder (via HDMI) that's just excellent, so I'd suggest the TV display is OK.

So, time for a new TV. Any suggestions for a 40-42" ?

Thanks again...

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Dave Timm's 7 posts GB flag
Dave's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
W
Willber G
12:39 PM

Further to my post yesterday, I have done a re-installation and my missing channels have returned. Temporary glitch, I suppose.

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Willber G's 7 posts GB flag
Friday, 18 January 2013
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:12 AM

Dave Timm: Well on going back over your various postings made and having noted all you have said / tried I still feel that your problem is being caused by a defective tuner or circuitry associated with, as the EPG listings that you see does not from one source such as applies in Sky boxes etc but is made up from the programme channels contained on each of the multiplexes received by the box, and with these programme channels taking up their appropriate positions in the list, duplicates of any programme channels picked up from another transmitter within range generally being stored up the 800 ranges.

However because a Freeview EPG operates in this way then if everything vanishes it really has to be the TV or box at fault, although I would be interested to know the result if you scrubbed everything stored and then "manually" tuned in BBC on mux Ch47, then after storing same enter Ch44 (ITV) and carry out a manual scan on it, once again storing the result, then finally the same again but using Ch51 (ITV3 etc).

After these three have been stored check the EPG, which as would be expected should only show programme channels associated with the three muxes scanned, then switch the TV completely off for a few minutes before powering up again, if the EPG has again vanished then this is another pointer towards a tuner defect, but though if by any chance they have not vanished then just continue with the "manual" tuning exercise and add the two remaining muxes, these being Ch52 (11 Pick tv etc) and Ch51 (15 Film 4 etc) remembering to store the results after the completion of the scan on each mux, then once again as before carry out the switch off test.

My reason for requesting this type of test is because memory chips used in tuners can lose part of their storage capacity, and if a set picks up more channels than it can store then it generally loses the lot when unpowered, but if your TV does not lose them when they are manually tuned in (which eliminates duplicates being picked up) then this can indicate the possibility that your tuner has developed the problem referred to.

As far as purchasing something else is concerned, then if your TV is not wall mounted and you are quite satisfied with the picture then just purchasing a Freeview box would be a less costly way out of your problem, but if you decided that its time for a new TV then you wouldn't go far wrong looking in the direction of the Panasonic ranges, as these type of TV's use superior tuners to that fitted in many other sets, plus they have an excellent wide angle displays that enables viewing at the extreme sides of the screen to a greater extent than most of its rivals.

That said, I admit to being a person that judges TV's on their circuitry as well as general reliability and performance, anything in the category of gimmicky frills and fancies being very much at the bottom of the list.



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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Sunday, 20 January 2013
K
KM
12:09 PM
Galashiels

since re tuning on 14th jan 2012 now have no bbc1 hd or itv hd on my toshiba 40bv801b tv with built in freeview hd box.
the chan ident is in the chan list and tv will go to that chan but info banner states " service is not running. Done all the usual tricks to get these two chans to work all other hd and normal chans all OK Il live in post code TD1 2sp and recieve pictures from selkirk transmitter Help please

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KM's 3 posts GB flag
KM's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
KM
12:10 PM

sorry last post should read since retuning on 14th Jan2013 SORRY

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KM's 3 posts GB flag
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

12:55 PM

KM: Do the missing HD channels appear in the 800s as working channels? If they do, a factory reset will be necessary to clear the memory of the original data in the LCN positions before scanning for channels.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
Monday, 21 January 2013
K
KM
4:01 PM
Galashiels

KM: Sorry dont know what you mean by in the 800's Phoned TV manu. Toshiba who talk me thru a manual tune. The missing HD BBc1 and ITV1HD all appeared in the tune but when selected banner produced " no service running" and their Ident name ie BBC 1HD on screen but no programme BBCHD ok chan 4 HD ok. Toshiba are calling out and engineer. Seems a waist of time
Also if it was poor reception i would have no HD channels. Thanks for the suggestion I will see if i can do a factory reset. Thanks KM

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KM's 3 posts GB flag
KM's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 24 January 2013
K
ken gaston
10:36 AM

Hi I have a Dion freeview recorder ,have tried factory reset but I am still plagued by a continually flashed up message of "LCN changed " is there something I can do to stop this or are so many changes going on that this is a regular thing . My Town is Andover in Hampshire and my antenna is high gain pointing north to Hannington

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ken gaston's 1 post GB flag
D
Dave Timm
12:04 PM
Rotherham

jb38. Once again thanks for your time and the information.
The LG TV has never suffered with having 'the Belmont' issue, detailed earlier, as it appears to select the best of any duplicate signal and so BBC1 from Belomont is super-ceded by BB1 from Emley Moor., however I did wonder if this hidden duplication could have an effect on the EPG.

The channel memory was cleared and (as per your instructions) C47 was manually tuned. The EPG was fully populated and was fine for about 10mins when it cleared....
A retune (manually) of C47 and the C44 was done and the EPG populated. All appeared fine for 10 or so mins when I turned the TV off, left it for 5 mins and then turned it on again only to find that the EPG was totally clear.

A full (manual) tune of C44, 47,48,51,and 52 was done and the EPG certainly appears 'better', but now sometimes a few channels clear and occasionally all channels clear BUT they re-populate very quickly indeed.

So in summary it looks like the Belmont signal was having an effect - albeit slight, but there is a tuner / memory issue.

The EPG of the Freeview tuner in my Sony recorder works without issue - so clearly it's the TV.

Thanks again for your time and the analysis.


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Dave Timm's 7 posts GB flag
Dave's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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