Full Freeview on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter

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1:11 PM

Sally Clayton: It sounds like there is some source of in the form of a noisy electrical appliance that cuts in by timer. It could be in a neighbour's house.

See here for a suggestion to someone else encountering a similar issue:

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jb38

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7:41 PM

Sally Clayton: In addition to that already said by Dave Lindsay, in cases such as you have described its always advisable (and without exception) to make a few checks with others around your locality (or mothers anyway) for the purpose of finding out if the problem is solely confined to your mothers installation or if others are also being affected, because if its found out that they are then there is obviously no point in making needless checks within your mothers household.

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Thursday, 23 May 2013

Peter Hedges
2:48 PM
Cheltenham

I receive signals from most of which are OK but I have a problem with COM 5 on channel 45. My Samsung TV shows 100% on 43 and 46. Dave comes in at around 10% on channel 45. It's not my PVR interfering. Any ideas?

I tried the suggestion of removing all channels and then retuning. I now have Dave at 100% from on a in on the Wold pointing at Sutton Coldfield. Good suggestion, thanks.

Samsung have told me I can't have a mixture of channels from different transmitters!

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Peter's: P's Freeview map P's terrain plot P's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage

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3:03 PM

Peter Hedges: I suggest that the reason for your difficulty, and the reason that UK suggests such poor of the COMs from , as against its PSBs, is down to the fact that 's PSBs are co-channel.

The allocated to the COMs result in inferior coverage to the PSBs because they are re-used by other transmitters within closer proximity.

If you can move your you may find that you can reduce the level of (without one of the other channels being affected). That said, you don't know how seasonal changes might affect reception. Or perhaps your aerial can be mounted somewhere where Sutton Coldfield's reception is good, but where the signal from Hannington is block, such as by fitting it on one side of your building.

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3:49 PM

Peter Hedges: I think that the reason for that it has been suggested that you can't have a mixture of from different transmitters is down to EPG data and particularly the starting of timed recordings where they are linked to the EPG (so that the recorder starts when the programme starts).

The EPG data for all are carried by all multiplexes from any one . So, for example, the EPG data for BBC One is carried by all multiplexes.

Different transmitters can be of differing regions and therefore may carry different EPG data.

I write here as a technical-bod and not a professional, so this is where my understanding is a bit woolly. Personally I would be trying it out to see if it works!

carries different BBC and ITV regions. I don't know whether the EPG data carried by and Oxford are the same. Perhaps it (using two transmitters) is only likely to be an issue when recording regional programming. I would be interested to find out what the answer is and reasons behind it.

In any case you may not be able to combine the feed from Oxford and Sutton Coldfield and receive all channels because COM4 from Oxford is moving to on Wednesday. If a diplexer is used to combine feeds then COM4 will fall below that and hence be picked up by the Sutton Coldfield-facing .

That said, if it is only Sutton Coldfield's COM5 that you are having difficulty with then COM5 from Oxford won't be affected by the change on Wednesday.

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3:55 PM

Peter Hedges: I now see that you have your pointing to , but are managing to receive COM5 from with it.

Perhaps then, the answer is to look at relocating it in the loft so as to reduce the level of unwanted from .

Hannington is at 154 degrees, so consider where may be better screened from it, but which will get a good signal from Sutton Coldfield.

Saturday, 25 May 2013

Peter Hedges
1:56 PM
Cheltenham

Dave Linsay: Thanks for your interest and comments.

My main reason for posting was that having cleared all of the stored as was suggested I am now able to tune in a mix of and channels whereas before my concentrated on one . Now I have been able to fill in the gaps caused by poor of the COM5 from Sutton Coldfield by receiving the mux from Oxford. I can do this with just the one aerial, no diplexer.

That being the case the possible co-channel reception is not causing me any loss of .

Regarding the EPG, with a mixture of Sutton Coldfield and Oxford my guide shows both Midlands Today on the TV's channel 1 and South Today on channel 800.

You might wonder why I am interested in Sutton Coldfield when I am close to Oxford and could receive its transmissions without too many problems. I am from the Midlands and am not really interested in news about Brighton and the Isle of Wight.

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2:42 PM

Peter Hedges: I'm not one to judge! You've come on here with a technical query and I've offered a hypothesis based on what I can see.

If receiving from two different transmitters does cause an issue then perhaps the answer is to use as your 'main' one with tuned in the 800s for use when regional programming is being broadcast.

I suspect that in some situations it may cause difficulty with recordings starting automatically where they rely on the EPG data (i.e. a sent out by the broadcaster) as opposed to one that is timed and whose start time cannot be altered by the broadcaster.

Let's say you are watching a programme on BBC One but have programmed something on ITV. The programme on ITV starts early but your recorder switches (assuming it has only one tuned). It stands to reason that the EPG signal that 'told' the recorder that the broadcast time had been brought forward must be carried on the BBC because the device can only physically receive one multiplex at a time.

I suspect that sometimes a combination of two transmitters may mean that the EPG data for the timed programme (on another channel from another ) may not be carried by the transmitter/channel being viewed.

As I say, I think it's a "try it and see" sort of thing, being mindful of the possible issue. I don't think that what Samsung told you should forbid you from trying it. It may be that it only affect certain recordings at certain times; as I say I don't know the ins and outs of how it works so can't say with any certainty.

Monday, 27 May 2013

Jill Phillips
8:58 PM
Warwick

My post code is CV34 4JD and I receive free view on my free view box/recorder on Channel 43 for BBC 1 & 2 and Channel 50 for ITV, and 5.
During the last 4-6 weeks I have experienced awful problems with ITV and Chanells 4 and 5. At approx 9pm 2 or 3 nights per week I get "this channel is scambled or not available" I have missed many of my favourite programmes and even worse I have missed the last episode or part of the last episode of several serials e.g. last week Life of Crime.

I would like to know why this keeps happening I have not had this problem before, only in extreme weather conditions when the change over was first taking place, until this last few weeks.

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jb38

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9:48 PM

Jill Phillips: The last time you carried out an auto- on your box it stored 's ITV1 on Ch50 rather than 's ITV on Ch46, this of course being said on the assumption that you use Sutton Coldfield for ? which of course you will do if you can receive ITV3.

If you do receive ITV3 then you could try "manually tuning" in mux Ch46 and storing same as this "might" take up ITV1's EPG3 position, if not then you should carry out another auto-tune whilst observing the progress bar then pulling the connector out as soon as you see Ch47 being passed, this action the possibility of reception from Leamington Spa.

If neither of these procedures work then remove the aerial and carry out an auto-scan as this will delete anything stored, then go into your TV or boxes "manual" tuning menu and enter Sutton Coldfield's mux one at a time, storing the results after each scan before moving on to the next channel.

43(BBC) - Ch46(ITV1) - Ch40(HD) - Ch42(ITV3) - Ch45(ArqA) - Ch39 (ArqB)