All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
john garratt: You've gone through all the things it cant be - which leaves your system at fault. Retuning of course makes things worse - your TV was tuned fine - its just that there is a fault in your system.
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Richard: Firstly, the World Service/BBC World News is there to give news to the World (as you point out), not just British News. And thats great - you often get a very different running order from the UK news - much more on things that impact people, rather than just the latest Westminster storm in a teacup.
They do of course cover UK events, and will cover them more than Russian, French or India news, for instance, but the mix is not overwhelming. I got a decent overview of the recent election debate, but it was much less than the UK news, but vastly more than, say, French media.
If you want to get up to date on detailed UK news, there are plenty of websites that will do that - but thats not the BBC World Services job. They are broadcasting to an audience worldwide, the vast majority of which are not British. On the other hand, they want balanced, intelligent reporting.
I've just reread a book about the fall of Saigon in 1975. US pilots for the CIA had long given up on the US Forces Network to tell them anything. However, they trusted in the World Service, because it told them things they knew to be true, on the basis that they seen it themselves, and by extension if they were telling the truth about that, then the rest of the news was probably accurate as well. Should the BBC have reported what was going on in Saigon, or what was going on in Chipping Sodbury?
Remember that the hotel, etc is paying for the news channel - its not something that the BBC funds by itself, although thanks to the Tories, the licence fee payer is shelling out for lots of stuff that used to be paid for out of general taxation. CNBC is a commercial channel, Russia Today is a paid for arm of the Kremlin's media state, and the BBC Worldwide is a commercial station in a foreign hotel, but is backed by the BBC's news-gathering resources, which is non-commercial.
if you want to watch UK News whilst abroad, the place where you stay has to come up with a decent business case for it.
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TinaE: You havn't given a postcode, so we dont know if you'd have problems due to 4G or your location. On the other hand, you have a communal aerial, so check that other people aren't having the same problem in your block.
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TinaE: Sorry, I dont think that came up in my browser, but its great that you included the postcode, because you can see for yourself your possible problem. Click on the digitalUK link, and its clear that your just a kilometre from the light transmitter, and only 17km from the main one. If there is a booster etc for your communial aerial, then that would point to your signal being too high.
If you search 'too much of a good thing' on the site, that will give you lots of useful information, Attenuators are really cheap (mine were less than two pounds each from Amazon), and a cheap aerial lead will be all that you might need. Get a number of them at different strengths, and you can put them together to lower the signal yet more.
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TinaE: Ok - you've suggested that if you move the various parts of your system around, you get worse reception, and the wind might be a factor. If the wind was causing problems, then you'd expect other people in your block to have similar problems, although, as David points out, different TV's have different tuners, etc, so its not impossible they are just about Ok, whereas your not.
However, David also pointed out that the problem could well be within your flat - a dodgy aerial lead or socket (which might explain the problem when you move the digibox around).
First thing - check your signal strength and which transmitter your tuned into. If its getting towards 100%, and keeps going towards very low and then very high, then its likely to be too strong.Remember that a transmitter might have been steadily getting more powerful, until it reaches a point that is just too much for your TV's tuner.
If its continually very low, than there is a problem with your system. All you can do is check each part of it, until it becomes apparent what it is. Start with the aerial lead (new ones are really cheap), and just make sure that nothing is loose.
Actually pretty much the same thing might have happened with analogue TV as well. A dodgy socket or cable would have been much the same problem if there was just analogue, the picture would have been snowy rather than blocky.
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TinaE: JB38's advice is excellent, and makes an important point - it sounds like you have a portable aerial.
Since we have no idea of your system, etc other than the information you supply, which makes any diagnosis difficult. could you supply the following:
You say you live in a block with a communial aerial. Is this a freeview aerial system, does it have a booster, does anyone else have a problem, and do you actually use it?
If you have another aerial, such as a indoor aerial, do you use that instead? And if you do, how is it connected - via a digibox, etc?
And what is the signal strength/transmitter the TV/digibox is tuned to?
If we know these facts, we can help get to the root of the problem, or at least narrow it down.
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Paul Brown: You are just one 1 mile from the transmitter! Either your signal strength is massive (check), or there is a severe problem with your aerial system. Whilst it could be 4G, if you fit the filter and nothing changes, its likely to be one of the other problems.
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Mrs Ila Shepherd: You should, according to DigitalUK, get a really good signal from Stockland Hill, and I'm frankly surprised at the need for a booster, although there is some high ground which might be a problem along the signal path.
However, if your getting 'no signal', then your TV is telling you thats its getting nowt (a booster will make no difference). And since there seems to be no prblem with the transmitter, the fault is within your system. If its regualrly going off and coming back on at regular times, thats probably 'single source interference' (you can google it on this site), which is most likely a dodgy timed thermostat, etc.
If its a bit more random, then its more likely to be a frayed/loose connection, water in a connection (a classic after heavy rain), etc. Check each bit of the system back towards the aerial, to make sure everything is OK, and obviously make sure that there is nothing that is coming on at those particular times which might cause interference.
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David Chappell: I'm fine on Windows 7 with Firefox, although I know that very old versions of IE are pants (in so many ways). Try another browser?
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Thursday 9 April 2015 5:47PM
Helen Hassard: You can check on this site if the transmitter is working properly, but transmitters are pretty much never off for two weeks! You've almost certainly got a problem with your aerial.