I can't get Freeview yet, when will it start in my area?
See Your analogue shutdown date
General:In the UK there are over 1,100 TV transmitters. Around 40 of these transmitters serve very large areas with a single strong signal. However the majority are smaller transmitters that "fill in" the signals where the terrain is hilly.
82 of these transmitters carry the Freeview service at the moment. From my understanding, there is still considerable discussion going on about the technical challenge and the cost of upgrading these to carry Freeview.
The reason for this is because it may be considerably cheaper for some areas that are served by a large number of low-power transmitters to switched off, and satellite reception be provided to each home in these areas.
The cost savings of removing the transmitter from service, possible resale to mobile phone companies, and the savings associated with not having to do an expensive transmitter upgrade can be used to fund the equipment and installations of the homes served.
However, this may not be practicable in some areas, because the Astra satellites appears to be lower down in the sky in Scotland than in the South of England. This makes satellite reception more problematic in the very areas it may be supposed to be "filling in".
Because the Freeview service has been developed using low-power signals of frequencies that could not have been used for new analogue services, this also makes adding in Freeview services a technical challenge.
For example, if the people living in your area were given a six-month timeframe to switch over everyone from analogue to Freeview what would happen? This may have to be done so that the frequencies used for the analogue TV could then be reallocated for Freeview services elsewhere.
If new set-top boxes were subsidized, for example, how could this be done in a fair way? There are not just the technical issues, but also general training and assistance for those who need it too.
So is not so much that some areas are "forgotten", more "not yet assessed". I suspect that we will have to await the outcome of the research in the next year from the various government departments and bodies that have been given the task of organising the switchover to digital TV.
Meanwhile, you can still get a digital satellite box from Sky for ã120 without subscription, and get the ã23.50 card for itv-1, Channel 4 and five.
North Cornwall: You may be well advised to consider digital satellite, because I suspect that it going to be a long time (if ever) that the areas around the north Cornwall coast get "filled in".
Eastbourne: Because of the Freeview frequency plan, the transmitters around the south coast are on very low power, because the signals cannot interfere with TV transmissions in France and Belgium. Therefore you can be quite confident that Freeview will not be available in this area for some time.
2:33 PM
Northampton
I have just had a new aerial installed ready for the switchover. (Anglia region) A new freeview box has also been installed. I could receive freeview channels before this installation on my old box but now I cannot receive Freeview and have been told I will not be able to until the switchover in my area on the 31st March. Is this correct please?
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Margaret's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Margaret Ward: No, that is not correct. If you could get Freeview before your "new aerial" was installed, you should still have it.
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8:50 PM
Belfast
I have just bought a new free view box and a new 48 element digital aerial designed for free view.I have installed the aerial in the loft as directed and tried to tune the box,however I have been told by a local aerial installer that free view is not available in this area even though the Black mountain transmitter is less than a mile away.When will this be fixed as you can imagine I have just spent over £100 for the equipment only to be told it wont work,any ideas?
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Liam's: mapL's Freeview map terrainL's terrain plot wavesL's frequency data L's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Liam mc Kenna: Yes, Freeview reception is possible at your location.
You will need to use a rooftop aerial as the signals are not going to be at full levels until 2012.
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10:56 AM
hi liam the problem with loft instalations is that the tiles on your roof and the felt effect your siggnal dramatically if you set it up on your chimney and point it a the right transmitter you have a far greater chance of getting free view channels hope this helps (54.278481,-8.0)
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10:17 AM
Blandford Forum
Complicated issue here.
Just installed new Aerial and 75ohm Cable throughout the house the new Aerial is located on the West side of property facing South toward the Winterbourne Stickland Transmitter 4.9 miles away.
Prior to installing all the new gear I was receiving all Freeview channels through a NEW SAMSUNG TV we purchased that has its own built in Freeview Receiver, this was also the case prior to renewing the Aerial and Coax.
Initially the signal strength was coming in at 36% after fitting the above it increased to just over 60% but the quality is only 10%.
We have two TVs in the children's bedrooms with built in Freeview but these are unable to receive any Freeview at this time, in fact they only just receive 4 of the Analogue channels TV to some satisfactory degree.
In my bedroom I have a HUMAX Freeview Box that I purchased about 4 years ago it was very expensive at the time, I am unable to receive any over the air updates for the system, updates were available this week as I checked the update listings for the model I have specifically, I am also unable to receive any Freeview through the HUMAX due to NO or WEEK SIGNAL yet the signal is showing 60% but as above only 10% on Quality.
Any advice would be welcomed.
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Steve's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Steve: I would guess that you are getting a poor signal from the back of your aerial from the Sailisbury transmitter, as Winterbourne Stickland is analogue only until 2012.
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4:34 PM
Nottingham
I could receive most freeview channels with excellent picture quality before switchover a couple of weeks ago, now I can only get a few channels and the picture is unrecognisable it keeps pixalating and now i cannot watch any tv. I have done factory reset on my tv and still no joy. My postcode is NG5 5TH. Any advice will be greatly appreciated
Thanks
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Andy's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Andy: Two possible reasons.
1) Your equipment is on the condemned list - TVs and boxes that do not support the 8k-mode | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
2) More likely, is that you have too much signal. If you have any booster or amplifiers, remove them from your system. If you don't, you may need to fit an attenuator, which you can get for about a fiver.
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9:15 PM
Sevenoaks
I was able to get all channels on Freeview with no problems at all, up until about 3 or 4 wks ago.
Bought a new HD ready Samsung Regza TV with built in Freeview about 3 mths ago - I could still get all Freeview channels but about 3 wks ago all but the BBC channels are either pixelated or have interference. I was still able to watch them through the Freeview on my Samsung Freeview/DVD player instead, but now that also has all but BBC channels with interference. Why has this started happening now?
Postcode is TN13 2UB.
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Andrew's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage