All posts by Stuart
Below are all of Stuart's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
I have checked out all this and I am convinced its not a problem. When we lose the mux it is a total loss on all IDTVs, they all show no signal level at all just as if the mux had stopped transmitting. We dont get a low signal level or picture/sound breakup, it is a total loss with zero signal. If I had a problem with interference from another device in the house or even close by I would expect it to affect several channels not just mux 1 which is the only one which disappears.
| link to this comment |
I've been doing some more checking and found that I am picking up mux 1 on channel 45 and not 68 as described here on the website. Can someone explain this please? If I manually search 68 I find the mux OK but a retune of the set will find it on 45.
| link to this comment |
The strange thing is that mux 1 on channel 45 give a much better signal level and quality than the correct one on channel 68, assuming the correct data is given for this transmitter on here. Channel 45 is not scheduled to be used at all on Dover according to here, so I dont know where it is coming from. Plugging the set directly into the aerial is problematic as the amplifier is in the loft space! I could try one small TV and see what happens, unfortunately though that set does not indicate which channel is being used!
| link to this comment |
Having read through that page I think I now understand why I pick up mux 1 on ch 45. This is transmitted by Dover but should not according to the coverage map get anywhere near my location. The problem is that probably because of my location on the N side of Broadstairs at about 130 feet elevation I am high enough that ch 45 gives a better signal than ch 68 most of the time, and my IDTVs all select the strongest signal and will not allow me to save duplicate channels.
The problem is one of coverage, according to all the places I have checked this small part of Broadstairs should not get any Freeview until switchover next year, this is in my view grossly unfair, after all it is not an area of low population numbers. I feel that they should boost the power now in order to provide an adequate Freeview service to this area and not wait for switchover - its not good enough to rely on the chance reception.
All this said t still does not answer my original question about why the signal disappears completely and suddenly. As I said I can understand why the signal might degenerate but this is not what happens, it simply goes to nothing just as if someone switches it off.
| link to this comment |
My point is that the channel disappears completely, I fully understand how the digital signal is transmitted, my point is that the IDTV sees no signal at all on ch 45. In order to find a digital signal it first has to find a signal on ch45 and then tests the signal quality and gives bar graph readings for both. When this happens it cannot find anything on ch45 to test!
I know our local MP is getting involved to try and address the freeview issue locally which is unacceptable. We are completely without support because the powers that control this have decreed we do not have a service so anyone living in the central Broadstairs area cannot get anywhere complaining. This whole thing is just a mess and is being handled very badly.
| link to this comment |
Nick I have no answer for you save to suggest you bend the ear of our local MPs to see if we can get something done to improve it. It is unacceptable to say as Malcolm has done that even after switchover we are unlikely to see significantly improved reception. The analogue service here has been good and in my view the digital one should be made to be the same. Why on earth should I have to invest in one of those ugly satellite dishes just because the powers that be cant get it right.
| link to this comment |
Sunday 17 April 2011 8:11AM
Broadstairs
Over the past couple of weeks mux 1 has disappeared from all our TVs for periods of time. I have checked where I can for planned engineering work but found nothing. Saturday evening (16th April) we lost mux 1 at peak time for some time, dont know how long as we gave up and watched something else.
My aerial is on the roof and normally Freeview reception is good at my postcode even though the coverage map does not include us. When mux 1 disappears all other channels are working fine. All TVs are IDTVs of various makes and I have a 6-way amplifier to distribute the signal. I just dont see how losing mux 1 can be a fault of my equipment.