My ITV/C4 Freeview channels have disappeared - what can I do? Is it my SCART ca
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV It is a feature of television signals that they can be effected by the weather. Aside from the obvious damaged that can be caused by wind or torrential rain, the onset of summer can cause a more intriguing problem called "inversion".
Basically, when the sun heats up the land, the hot air can get trapped below cold air at high level. This creates an "inversion layer" which acts like a polished mirror to TV signals. This causes two problems: you can receive both the original and a reflected signal from your own transmitter (on analogue TV this appears as "ghosting") or interference from TV transmitters that are normally too far distant.
The ITV/C4 multiplex of channels (ITV-1, ITV-2, ITV-3, ITV-4, CITV, C4, More4, E4, Quizcall) use a transmission "mode" called 64QAM, and it is sadly much more prone to these problems.
So, whilst a loft-mounted aerial will provide reception at some time, it will fail at others. The only real solution is to mount the aerial (or a new Class I aerial) outside on a pole, but some people report that changing the cable from the aerial to the set-top box to the high-grade satellite cable can also help.
The SCART connection, by the way, only carries a single TV picture, not the Freeview transmission multiplexes, so if this is disconnected it will result in degradation to every channel at once.
10:25 AM
MikeB: Re You View Box In the Settings menu under Device Management the RF Loop Through can be turned on or off just wondered if Linda has checked this setting it might be set to off position.
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11:34 PM
Mike : I did wonder about that, but since Linda said that certain channels had vanished, not all of them, I assumed that the RF loop might still be working.
Still, its an excellent point, and now that some of the newer Humax's dont have an RF loop (at least according to the tech support guys where I work), this is going to be more frequent problem. Hopefully Linda has checked to make sure that its still on.
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11:01 PM
I've got the same problem as Linda, my ITV, Channel 4, E4 ect have been missing since the beginning of the World Cup (12/13th June). I've retuned, tried turning off and on again, leaving unplugged for X amount of time and still the problem is present.
I have a loft cable go straight to the back of my TV and the cable is relatively new (3-4 months old), and has no apparent damage to it.
If like the original post suggests, that is may be down to weather, how long does the problem usually persist and is there anything I can do to try and speed up the process.
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10:24 PM
Telford
Looks like I'm also joining the club of people unable to get ITV / channel 4 on freeview.
I live at TF4 2GA and get signal from The Wrekin Transmitter - if I look out the window I can actually see the damn transmitter at the top of the hill.
Looking online ITV / Channel 4 are on UHF23, when I try and connect to this in the manual settings of the TV (Brand = LG, aerial from the tv is connected to the aerial socket which feeds into loft aerial - have checked the bearings on this and it is pointing directly towards The Wrekin transmitter) it says Signal Strength 100% but the signal quality shows 100%, then next second it is 50% then it goes to 0% causing the TV to show "no signal"
Waiting on the same scanning screen shows it going in a loop from 100 to 50 to 0.
Moved into the house on the 6th July and only really started having this problem when the world cup started, have interrogated the wife and she swears its not her.
I've tried using a seperate stand alone aerial and have the same problem.
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Rob's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
8:43 AM
Rob: Too high a signal level sounds a possibility:
Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | Digital switchover | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
Fit an attenuator.
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12:31 PM
Wrexham
My itv channels are missing in the day and come back at night, why is this and will it return to normal
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M's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
12:36 PM
Wrexham
My aerial is on the roof , my post code is ll12 0uw. But itv station keep going in the day and returning at night
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M's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
7:35 PM
M Roberts : Have you as yet checked with a neighbour to find out if they are also suffering from this problem? because if they aren't then you should make sure that your TV is receiving ITV from the Winter Hill transmitter on Mux C59 and not an ITV Mux from one of the other stations that's indicated (in theory) as being possible to receive in your area, all of using lower channel numbers which the TV is liable to latch onto during an auto-tune which starts at C21.
If though your neighbour is also being affected in a similar way to yourself then unfortunately the problem is out with your control, and with the reasons for possibly being atmospheric condition related as no engineering work is taking place at the transmitter.
Just out of curiosity, when your ITV vanishes during daytime can you still view ITV3(10) on Mux channel 58? this question being asked for the purpose of excluding the possibility of the problem being caused by a 4G transmission.
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12:51 PM
Llandudno
My Postcode is LL30 2UL. Problems with ITV past few days at different hours, switches to other channels also (only at certain times).
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Maeve's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
2:19 PM
Wrexham
Why can I only receive itv through dvd recorder?
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M's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage