All posts by Kif
Below are all of Kif's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Hi Chris.
There was no attempt to mislead. It is possible that my memory is foggy when retunes have been required, I must admit. Certainly, the issue is recent.
My TV auto updates based on postcode, so that changed without my input, and thus suggested that there had been a switch of multiplexes. From what you say, Chris, it may have picked up a signal from elsewhere using CH39 (London is more probable than Dover - my postcode is ME10, and had issues with getting London stations in the past), having not found a signal from CH40. I'm not sure if the TV overwrites weaker channels with stronger for the same stations when scanning, but that may be an explanation; CH40 wasn't there to overwrite CH39, mayhaps.
Unfortunately, the TV menu doesn't provide detailed information about which station is on which multiplex channel, or signal values; only when the signal drops out. The only hint was a setting asking if I wanted the booster on or off for CH39 (I was trying to watch a CH40 station at the time). So you can see how I may have been misled.
My DVD-HDDs are better in this regard, and are at the beginning of my RF cabling loop. The first machine to receive the signal from the aerial is not finding any life in CH40; it degraded, then vanished. Signal Quality and Strength values are all at zero, with no fluctuations. Signal Quality on CH43 is also volatile, occasionally dropping to 5 with picture break-up, but Strength is constant at 10. Both CH40 and CH43 degraded at the same time, but the latter appeared to have been resolved, and I didn't investigate further. The problem is less evident unless you go into the machine's settings.
Seems I'll have to contact Freeview advice, as you suggest.
Thanks,
Kif
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Chris.
It's come back! Just before 8pm 13/12/19.
I was posting an update to provide additional info and about to send, with everything still looking dead, then the signal bars sprang to life.
CH40 is showing some quality variance at the upper end. CH43 is still middling, but not fluctuating as wildly as last night. So far Film4+1 (which I'm using as a test subject for CH43) hasn't had picture break-up. Obviously I haven't been able to do the same with CH40 while it's been down.
I'll monitor over the weekend, but in anticipation of things remaining stable or better, I'd like to say Thanks for your comments and advice.
Kif
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Chris.
I had spoken with my immediate neighbour, whose aerial is proximate to mine, and aligned the same. Neither have signs of damage.
They advised that they have been experiencing pixilations, but didn't specify which channels/stations were effected. We didn't have long to talk, and they might not be familiar with how digital works.
CH40 is still up this morning (Saturday), but signal quality is still fluctuating with occasional break up, so a little worse than it was last night.
I'm still monitoring, but obviously can't be stuck in front of the telly all day!
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Additional.
For some reason not all of my post has come up - possibly because I used an emoji, as that's where it cut off.
I'm using Horror Channel as my test subject, as this was where I first encountered the problem trying to watch Star Trek. It's still unstable as I write, with sporadic blips in sound and vision rather than complete picture break-up. Film4+1 on CH43 is poorly again, and worse than CH40 in severity and regularity of disruption. Strength is at 10, Quality is all over the place.
Kif
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Apologies for the long wait - real life got in the way. I've been going through recordings in the interim.
Things seemed to be better over the weekend 14th-15th Dec, but while CH43 and 40 were up they deteriorated over the week. I hadn't noticed that CH46 had also been weak, improved, and fell away a little, using Talking Pictures as my test subject; I had mistakenly believed this was a CH43 station.
On Wednesday, CH40 went off at some point, coming back at around 18:20. Since then, signal quality has been unpredictable, seeming stable for some time, then suddenly dropping off. Interruption levels also vary from minor windowing of a few pixels to losing half the picture. It's like someone is playing around with things, experimenting. It's disappointing, as reception appeared to be fixed in all three when CH40 returned, but then drifted away again.
I checked my connections, and they are fine.
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Thursday 12 December 2019 12:36PM
Re: Bluebell Hill CH40.
It seems CH40 channels (Horror, 5 Select etc.) have moved to CH39. My TV and one retuned DVD-HDD notes the difference. There was a significant retune a week ago, when news appeared (inc. PSBAmerica and Together +1 on a non-HD multiplex).
However, the signal is extremely poor, and an attempt to retune another DVD-HDD cannot find anything on CH39. The problems began after the earlier retune.
My Sony TV's internal booster gives me something on the CH39 channels, but this goes when another machine (earlier in the RF loop) is turned on. Evenings are better, but far from ideal.
There maybe no reported issues, but clearly something has gone awry. A functioning service no longer functions.
Hope this is if help.
Kif