All posts by Richard Cooper
Below are all of Richard Cooper's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Bob Davies: Hi ,Bob. Here is the link to contact ITV directly to compliment them on their TT coverage. Simply copy and paste the link into your browser, then click on 'Viewer services'. Hope this helps, Richard, Norwich.
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Bob Davies: Hi again Bob. I stupidly forgot to put the link into my last post for you! Here it is now!
Contact Us
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Geoff Benge: Hi Geoff. Channel 108 now carries Al Jazeera English in HD (high definition) but has stopped broadcasting in English on SD (standard definition). In order to receive Al Jazeera in English now, you need a tv receiver capable of decoding HD into a renderable picture and audible sound. The majority of tv viewers in the UK still use SD (standard definition) receivers and so unless your tv or set top box has 'HD' printed on it, you are currently 'out of luck' and cannot watch Al Jazeera in English on standard definition Freeview. You may wish to consider purchasing a Freeview HD set-top box, which would enable you to watch channel 108 again. The box would get its signal from your aerial lead, just as your current setup does, then the box feeds its signal into your tv via what's called the HDMI input. For this suggestion to be successful, your tv must be marked as 'HD ready' and must have the HDMI input. You would also require an HDMI lead to go from the new set top box to your t.v.
The set-top box can be obtained from Amazon for 43 pounds plus delivery and an HDMI lead can be yours for one pound and 99 pence plus p& p. Hope this advice helps, Richard, Norwich.
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liz richards: Hi, Liz. Customers' reviews of their experiences with 'Aerialforce' are, to say the least, very mixed! What you need to do is to put your complaint in writing to Aerialforce's head office at:TV Aerial Company Ltd, Bourne House, 475 Godstone Road, Whyteleafe, Surrey, CR3 0BL If it had been me, I would not have permitted the Aerialforce engineer to remove a perfectly good aerial and for him to take it away with him is simply 'theft' and could be reported to the Police! Generally speaking, aerial contracting companies will not even try to repair an existing aerial, as they will always be out to sell you a new aerial AND new cable and connectors, to make as much money out of the job as they can. To be frank, it's not really economically viable for the contractor or the customer to repair an existing aerial because a brand new one (even a high gain one!) can be bought for just twenty-five pounds. Not bad eh? You say, however, that there was nothing wrong with your old aerial, but I would ask how you knew that? Your best bet is a letter of complaint to the above address. Hope this helps, Richard, Norwich.
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John H: Hi, again, John. Both COM 7 and your local tv station multiplex which includes That's Solent' in your case are indeed transmitted at lower power than the other muxes and indeed, this is usually the case for the full Freeview transmitters around the country. You are, of course, perfectly correct when you say signal is related to the transmitter output power. I had the same issue as you using the full Freeview transmitter called 'Tacolneston' which is only 8 miles from here as the crow flies. What I did was to install a signal amplifier (often called a 'booster'). This worked for me, but I should tell you that there are many correspondents out there that will also tell you that "boosters are no good for Freeview'. The only warning I feel that I can give you is that it is possible to supply your equipment with "too much signal", which can cause the receiver electronics to 'crash' like a computer can crash, and if this happens, the picture will freeze and the sound will mute. You will then find that to re-boot your equipment, you would have to remove any booster altogether, then switch the receiver off AT THE MAINS SOCKET (putting it on standby won't work once it has 'crashed'), wait 5 minutes and then switch your receiver on again. Whether you try a signal amplifier is entirely your choice. I believe I've given you all the necessary warnings. By the way, you didn't say if you're using a set top box or a Freeview HD television receiver: I am assuming you are using the latter, but what I've said above applies regardless of which you're using! Richard, Norwich. PS Let me know how you get on. Suggest you Google 'Maxview' for a booster!
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Ron: Hi, Ron. As far as satellite tv reception is concerned, I would concur with jb38 and recommend that you change your Zone 1 dish for a Zone 2, which works a lot better for people who are in the Midlands because Zone 1 dishes are only really any good for people who live South of Peterborough. It is always best to tackle the problem at source as they say. In the case of Freesat, it is the dish and its LNB that picks up the signal, so improving that by changing to a Zone 2 dish will do you a lot better than buying a booster which would amplify noise too, and in the end could actually give you worse results than you have at the moment. Whilst I remain an advocate of boosters for Freeview tv and for radio receivers, I don't advocate boosters for Freesat. Richard, Norwich.
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Simon: Hi, Simon. There are no faults on or engineering works on the Salisbury transmitter at the moment. Recent works on the site have been for digital radio, not for Freeview TV. Are you sharing your aerial with anyone? Sounds like you need to check your installation even if your neighbour is having problems, bearing in mind no transmitter faults have been reported and no engineering work is going on. The HD multiplex (group of channels) from Salisbury is transmitted at the full power of 2000 watts using the full transmitter aerial height of 153 metres (about 500 feet). Have you thought about looking in your 'Youview' manual to see if there is a troubleshooting guide that you could work through? Hope this helps, Richard, Norwich.
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Jay: Hi, Jay. There are no reported issues or engineering works at the Bluebell Hill transmitter at the moment. It should be outputting the public service HD channels on UHF channel 40+, at a frequency of 626.2 MHz at its full power of 20,000 watts from 99% of its full aerial height of 242 metres (about 800 feet). Have you tried a manual tune of this block or multiplex on its own? A manual re-tune at a particular UHF channel number will not cause the loss of any of your other channels: they will remain stored in the receiver's memory. It is also worth asking a neighbour who has HD whether they have lost the public service HD channels as well, so you can ascertain whether the problem is with your installation or perhaps a temporary geographical issue such as tree foliage. hope this helps. Incidentally, someone in Salisbury, using a completely different transmitter has lost public service HD channels this morning too! Richard, Norwich.
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P Churchfield: Hi, P Churchfield. As you may know, Planet Rock was moved from Digital One, the first licensed national commercial digital multiplex to the second licensed national commercial digital multiplex, called 'Sound Digital'. Whilst this second multiplex is called 'national', it doesn't in fact, cover the whole of the nation, but only about 80% of it! The regulatory body, Ofcom, has only permitted the Sound Digital multiplex to be transmitted from 42 transmitter sites and unfortunately, both Nine Barrow Down and Bincombe were NOT included! This is not a case of what is technologically possible, but the case of a Government regulatory body not permitting it! If you have a 'gripe' then, you should make it known to Ofcom! I gather that Bovington is quite rural, and in that sense, rather like Norfolk, where I live. Rural areas like these tend to be sparsely populated overall, notwithstanding 'pockets' of dense population such as Army camps, and so as a result of the population overall being sparse, it tends not to be commercially viable to provide broadcast and communications services to the same level as those enjoyed by our distant neighbours in the large metropolitan areas! Sorry that this website cannot assist with Planet Rock or a cell phone service in Bovington!
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Thursday 16 June 2016 3:18PM
Norwich
denyse shorrocks: Hi Denyse. You are unlucky that there has been an announcement that viewers who use the Caradon Hill transmitter are likely to experience disruptions today. That's all it says. It would be better if 'they' gave a reason, such as "essential engineering works". it looks like this disruption comes less than a week after there really were engineering works! It does rather seem that our broadcast transmitter network is getting more like railways in terms of the frequency (excuse the pun) of engineering works! Unfortunately there is no replacement bus service apart from Freesat, and unless you can install it yourself, the installation cost, plus the cost of a TV or box that can decode satellite tv signals seems excessive when you've paid 145 pounds and 50 pence for a year's worth of tv already! Richard, Norwich.