All posts by Richard Cooper
Below are all of Richard Cooper's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Hani: Hi Hani. You are the second person in Salisbury to report HD reception problems today. Someone in Kent has also posted the same issue, so the problem appears to be affecting transmitters across the South of England! unfortunately, nothing has been publicised about these problems, other than viewers placing postings right here on UKFREE.TV!!! You could always contact individual programme providers, BBC, ITV, Channel 4, etc. to alert them to the issue. in the meantime, I think you're stuck with SD until the HD issues are sorted by the broadcasters! Richard, Norwich.
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Jan Davies: Hi Jan. I was indeed aware that there was a massive petition from Planet Rock listeners. Bearing in mind you've already approached Ofcom, do you think that people should start lobbying Bauer Radio instead, to encourage them to put the Sound Digital Multiplex on to more DAB transmitters? Richard.
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Hani: Hi again Hani. As you probably realise, Film4+1 on channel number 45 is on the same multiplex as the public service HD channels, so if you can get Film4+1, but are still not getting BBC One HD, ITV HD, etc., it's definitely a broadcaster issue and not a problem with your setup! Richard.
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Jan Davies: Hi, again Jan. I've just discovered that the Sound Digital multiplex is transmitted from the Poole DAB transmitter on mux 11A. This may be beyond the reach of our friends in Bovington, however they could do a manual tune of VHF Band III, Block11A, just to have a go and see if they have any luck in retrieving Planet Rock! Regards, Richard.
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DaveN: Hi, DaveN. You are in Solihull where my cousins were born! You would be using the main full Freeview transmitter at Sutton Coldfield if you were using Freeview rather than Sky! Sutton Coldfield transmits on the following channels: 33, 35, 39, 40, 42, 43, 45, 46 and 51, so you should avoid tuning your SKY box to any of these. The Kenilworth relay at 10 watts, is probably too weak and too far away to affect you, but it uses channels 53, 57 and 60. The Allersley Park relay in Coventry, at 7 watts, is probably too weak to worry about as well, but it uses channels 22, 25 and 28. So what could you use after considering that lot? If I were you, I would consider choosing a channel number in the mid fifties such as 55, which, while it might be used by Waltham near Melton Mowbray, is unlikely to affect you unless you were to have a tv aerial on your roof pointing East North East and the down-lead was dangling behind your SKY box!!! For Pete's sake DON'T choose a channel above 58, because anything higher is likely to be used by 4G mobile phone services!!! Good Luck, Richard, Norwich.
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Andy Parrett: Hi, Andy. Let me see if I can help you. I too, use Tacolneston and I also use a booster. My booster is indoors, but my father has what's called a 'mast-head' booster outside near the aerial pole. In his case, there was water ingress over the years and so it had to be replaced. It rather depends whether your booster is indoors like mine or outdoors like my father's. It would be interesting to know the age of the aerial and its cable. Antiference is an excellent brand, however even its aerials don't last forever! Perhaps, if you aerial has been up for many years and hasn't been changed since digital switchover, that you could consider treating yourself to an upgrade! You don't want to keep channels numbered in the 800s because they are secondary to the channels that your receiver prefers and which should have the correct 'logical channel numbers (LCNS). Unwanted channels can usually be deleted easily. If you cannot get ITV, Channel Four or Five in standard definition (SD), then you have something seriously amiss! HD is a little different simply because many correspondents have had HD issues today, which could be down to broadcasters! Have you checked all aerial lead connections are tight (but NOT OVERTIGHTENED)? Come back with some more info and we'll see if we can give you further advice. what's your exact and full postcode by the way? All seven alphanumeric characters please if you are outside of Norwich city boundary! Regards, Richard.
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Jo Bryan: Hi, Jo. The next Audience Research statistics are not published until August this year by an organisation called RAJAR. This organisation might be able to give you some idea of the popularity of TCM, bearing in mind it is a subscription channel these days, which viewers have to pay out for. Once you have found out the viewing figures, then, Yes, you could complain to Ofcom, however I would not be holding my breath for a positive response from them! Sorry, Richard.
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joanna s : Hi, Joanna. The channel vacated by BBC3 HD was given to Channel 5HD, now on 105, where I believe BBC3HD used to be. BBC4HD is on Freeview HD, channel number 106, carried by the group of channels or 'multiplex called 'COM7' or 'ArqC'. The difficulty viewers such as yourself may experience is that COM7 is not carried by all Freeview transmitters. If, for example, you were to be living in the Lewes area of East Sussex, you would be using the Lewes relay tv transmitter, which only carries three groups of channels: PSB1 (aka BBCA), PSB2 ( aka D3+4) and PSB3 (aka BBCB). As you may know, PSB1 carries BBC1,BBC2, BBC4, CBBC, CBeebies, BBCNews, BBC Parliament and BBC Radio stations. The tv channels in this group are all transmitted in standard definition (SD).PSB2 carries ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, ITV2, More4, Film4, ITV4, E4, ITV+1 andFreeview Info screen, again, all in SD. Finally, PSB3 carries: BBC1HD, BBC2HD, ITVHD, Channel 4 HD and Channel Five HD, so the BBC were gracious enough to give up what, as you say, could have been theirs, to Channel Five! Hope this enlightens you sufficiently! Any queries, come back for more info! Richard, Norwich.
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nicholas: Hi, nicholas. You have provided an excellent piece of advice to radio listeners who have a poor DAB signal. My friend has a 5 element VHF Band III tv aerial in his loft and I've told him it will make an excellent DAB aerial, but he'd need to re-mount it so the elements are vertical. It was clearly used by a previous owner of the property to pick up ITV Anglia from Mendlesham in the 1960s, 70s and even early 80s. Interestingly, Mendlesham is now a DAB transmission site for BBC national, Digital One and the Norfolk local multiplex, so he can leave it pointing in the same direction: it's just the polarisation that needs changing! You can even see a few VHF Band III aerials that have been left on chimneys around here! I dare say some residents could even be pleased if radio buffs offered to remove them for them at no charge other than a cup of coffee! Richard, Norwich.
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Friday 17 June 2016 12:48PM
Norwich
Jay: Hi again, Jay. Further to my last post: firstly, I'm sorry that your tv doesn't allow a manual re-tune. Secondly, someone in Kent has posted to say that they are not getting the PSB3 HD channels this morning either, and so i'm beginning to wonder if there is some distribution problem that hasn't been made public? Perhaps, if after doing a full re-tune, the PSB3 HD channels are still not there, then you might have to wait until something has been publicised as to the reason. In the meantime, I imagine you will only be able to watch the main PSB channels in SD until the situation has been resolved. Kind regards, Richard, Norwich.