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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
Thursday, 29 September 2016
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:11 PM

Graham: There is currently a transmitter engineering notice on the Chartham transmitter page that it is currently off air. Do not attempt to retune your TV or box as this will delete the channels which are already tuned. Once that transmitter is back on air your channels will return on their own.

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StevensOnln1's 3,670 posts GB flag
Saturday, 1 October 2016
D
daniella
12:26 PM

I live in bristol and use the kingweston transmitter. There has been no tv in my block of flats for 2days now. Who do i contact to sort this issue.

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daniella's 1 post GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:20 PM

daniella: If you have confirmed that your neighbours in the block are suffering the same problem then you need to contact the managing agent or housing association responsible for the building and get them to send someone out to check the communal aerial system.

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StevensOnln1's 3,670 posts GB flag
Sunday, 2 October 2016
P
Peter McWilliams
10:41 AM
Bangor

I live in Bangor, Northern Ireland (BT20 3PZ). I have noticed during the past week (26/09/2016 - 01/10/ 2016) that my Freeview has been having some interference with certain channels. During Friday 30/09/2016 and Saturday 01/10/2016 I have lost all channels at approximately 6.30pm, I have checked the uhf channel numbers and there is no signal strength or quality. This lasts through the night, but channels are back in the morning. Can you check and advise. Many Thanks.

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Peter McWilliams's 1 post GB flag
Peter's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
A
Andrew McClelland
5:02 PM

I live in Shipton Oliffe, Cheltenham and receive main free view channels from the Andoversford transmitter and other channels like tru tv and CBS reality from Ridge Hill transmitter. I have had strength 10 signals from both transmitters but, over recent months, the signals have fluctuated. The last few days have been strength 1 from Ridge hill resulting in no tv picture for chann Lis we have always been able to watch. Technicians have been working at Andoversford and the signal from there has improved to around 5. BBC, ITV, Channels 4 and 5 are good.

I note from the website there are no reported problems at Ridge Hill but my neighbours and I have been experiencing highly unreliable reception for a long time. I would be grateful if this could be investigated please.

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Andrew McClelland's 1 post GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:29 PM

Andrew McClelland:

To be able to help we need a full post code so that we can determine exactly what the reception conditions and terrain are at your location.

It is worth noting that signal strengths of 10/10 are too strong and will result in pixelation and loss of sound quality.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
W
William Chisholm
7:05 PM
Whitby

Located at Newholm (YO21 3QT) with new digital aerial receiving signals from the Bilsdale transmitter.
Until 3 days ago I could receive excellent pictures with 59 channels tuned in from this transmitter. I then lost all signals for a couple of days & retuning resulted in 0 stations (just as if no aerial plugged in). I checked all co-ax cabling etc & ensuring the TV wasn't at fault (Sony with built in Freeview). Yesterday evening, I tried a further set-up & got 36 stations tuned. Sadly this did not include some of my favourites (Dave, Quest etc).
Resetting to factory state & retuning still returns only 36 stations. Why this sudden loss of stations when my equipment has not been changed? Any suggestions welcomed.
Bill Chisholm

PS Use Bilsdale transmitter, rather than the Whitby repeater due to location

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William Chisholm's 1 post GB flag
William's: mapW's Freeview map terrainW's terrain plot wavesW's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:41 PM

William Chisholm: DigitalUK doesn't think you'll get much of anything, so 59 channels is great.

If the signal hasn't changed (unlikely, but you can check the status of the transmitter), and there is no evidence of temp inversion etc, then it has to be you.
Your describing the classic symptoms of a failing system, perhaps via a frayed cable, water in a connection, etc. You've lost a mux, at least, and possibly everything for a bit.

If the coax from the TV to the wall is fine (always worth swapping out, they are very cheap), then it has to be higher up the system. Could be a failing booster (if you've got one), but if you've just had a new aerial fitted, it might be worth asking someone to come out again to check it.

Your Sony has a nicely sensitive but robust tuner, and you can check signal strength easily. Find the Bilsdale page and note down the channel numbers for each mux. Then find a TV channel in each mux and note down signal strength. They are probably all low, and some have gone entirely, which points to cabling.

Check that you are tuned into the right transmitter as well - retunign just means you can lose what you already have.Let us know what happens.

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Thursday, 6 October 2016
J
John Bayliss
10:13 AM
Worthing

I live in BN13 1DG, and had a new aerial fitted 3 months ago. I did not use the freeview service much then, but now my sky box has stopped working, I need freeview, but I cannot get any channels from the Rowridge transmitter on com 7 and com 8, i.e. BBC4 HD, BBC news HD and all the others on channels 31 and 37. I suspect the aerial is the wrong type: the receiving arms are vertical, and I note that everything on freeview is polarised in both the vertical and horizontal except the 2, com7 and com8, which appear to be horizontal only, so is the aerial the problem?
Thanks for any help.

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John Bayliss's 6 posts GB flag
John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:35 AM

John Bayliss:

COM 7 and 8 from Rowridge are only available with horizontal polarisation, so an aerial mounted with the rods vertical will not receive those signals. Not everything on Freeview is polarised both vertical and horizontal. On main transmitters, it is usual for all the services to be horizontal whilst the smaller 'Freeview Lite' transmitters are usually vertical - but not always. Rowridge is unusual in that it provide the main transmissions in both horizontal and vertical polarisations, but the COM7 and COM8 services are only horizontal. Just look at the 'digitaluk trade' box below your posting, it will show the services available.

Note that these services will likely be replaced around 2020 as the 700MHz band is sold off to the mobile phone companies and UHF TV digital services are converted into DVB-T2 transmissions that will allow all channels to be transmitted using a narrower spectrum.

Note also that to get the COM7 and COM8 services you need a TV that is a full HD one with a built-in DVB-T2 tuner and not one that is described as being 'HD ready' as they do not have the needed tuner.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
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