My high gain aerial can't get all the Freeview channels I expected
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV You need a "wideband" aerial rather than a high gain one (see all about aerials). Also, if you use a signal booster in the setup, this can cause problems with digital signals.
Can I suggest that you try the following:
1. Check that all the connectors are OK, in particular that there are no stray wires and that both the outer shield and inner wire are connected;
2. If you are using any signal boosters, turn them off;
3. Check to see if you have anything like a VCR connected via a UHF fly lead - sometimes these can changed to use channels such as 68.
4. If you have a wideband aerial, if you can try raising it up an additional metre;
See also all about aerials.
All questions
In this section
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
J
jb3810:11 AM
Bill: Maybe so! but Caldbeck which I assume you are referring to, is only transmitting on high power on its main PSB services, the commercial multiplexes reportedly on low power until 2012.
Main PSB on 100Kw, COM's on 15Kw, which at your approximate distance of 36 miles away could well be difficult to receive, if not indeed impossible in areas such as yours.
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Mike Dimmick12:46 PM
jb38: Caldbeck COM muxes are on low power until 24 October 2012, to reduce interference to the low-power digital services at Divis (Mux 1, A and B). Divis completes switchover on 24/10/2012.
Bill: You might be using a Freeview Light transmitter such as Kirkby Stephen - in which case replacing the aerial with a good quality Group A design, horizontally polarized and pointed at Caldbeck, may still produce good results. We need a full postcode to give a better answer.
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jb388:51 PM
Mike Dimmick: Thanks for that info, I knew it was sometime 2012 but the exact date, and yes! on reading Bill's posting again it would appear that he is actually stating that his area is not allocated these COM channels, this really confirming what you mentioned regarding his aerial possibly pointing to Kirkby Stephen.
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Wednesday, 9 November 2011
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Bill9:02 AM
Kirkby Stephen
Mike / jb38 - Thanks for that. Full postcode is CA17 4NQ. As far as I know current signal is received from (relay?)xmitter on top of ash fell which is within 1/4 mile and I can actually see it (if I go on the roof!)but I believe it's v low power. In any case it doesn't xmit DAVE or YESTERDAY on freeview!
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Bill's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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Bill1:19 PM
Briantist,
Don,t take this the wrong way, but the relay I refered to on ash fell is no doubt listed as "Ravenstonedale" (which is the village where we live.
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tony2:30 PM
Great Yarmouth
Hi there ,
retuned my digi box today , and have have all channels but not the bbc's ie , BBC 1,2,3, and new24 , my postcode is nr30 2jd , great yarmouth area, as the screen said update i did ,my box worked fine untill with all channnels untill this update !!! if this is how change over is goiner work, what a pain, any1 know whats up
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tony's: ...
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Mike Dimmick2:58 PM
tony: First, make sure you do a full retune - also called first-time installation, full reset, factory reset, virgin mode, default setting. It may be under the Software Update menu rather than under Installation or Tuning. Some boxes won't store channels that they think they already know about, you have to clear the existing channel list. You'll need to do this again on the 23rd.
Check whether your box is on the list of equipment that is known not to work with 8K mode - http://www.digitaluk.co.u…ment . If you haven't retuned for a long time it could also have a problem with a larger Network Information Table - see http://www.digitaluk.co.u…tnit .
There are also some boxes which have a bug meaning they can't pick up transmissions in 8K mode when there is a negative frequency offset. The box will say 'T810' on its sticker somewhere. See Unofficial Vestel PVR Information (UK) - T810 Freeview Recorder and Unofficial Vestel PVR Information (UK) - Digital Switchover for more information on those.
Assuming you didn't have any trouble with BBC Two analogue before switchover, it's unlikely to be single-frequency interference. It could be that the total signal level received is now too large, though, now that the new Great Yarmouth transmitter has started up.
If the BBC channels are stored - after doing the full reset - but are too weak to actually use, your box may have tuned into Great Yarmouth rather than Tacolneston. There may be a working set up at 800 or so in the channel list. In that case, see Digital Region Overlap for thoughts on how to sort this out.
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Mike Dimmick3:08 PM
Bill: Yes, the Ravenstonedale transmitter is 'Freeview Light', it only carries the three public service multiplexes, so you wouldn't expect to get Dave or Yesterday.
The predictor shows a poor chance of getting reliable reception of the commercial muxes from Caldbeck. The PSB muxes offer a good chance of reliable reception. You could try it, but you might need to have a particularly large aerial installation.
If you do this, Digital UK show that your reception of the commercial multiplexes from Caldbeck will get worse after the Bilsdale transmitter switches over next September, for about a month before Divis (Northern Ireland) switches over. Once that's done, Caldbeck's commercial muxes can go up to their full output power, restoring roughly the same (still poor) prediction.
It may be easier to go with satellite, although Dave and Yesterday are both Sky-exclusive subscription channels at present.
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tony3:20 PM
Ahhh well looks like the my settop box is out of date now , done whole retune , first time and all , still no bbc stations , another rip off i guess like the license fee !!! just to make me spend more ohh well
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