All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
John H: If nothing has changed (and it shouldn't have done at the transmitter end), but the signal is getting weaker, check your system. Dodgy fly lead would be a good guess. I'm surprised your getting a good signal with an indoor aerial, but check what the signal level actually is on all muxes - the muxes in question tend to be the weakest, so they are the canary in the coalmine. If they are all low, follow the signal path from the back of the TV upwards, to isolate the problem.
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Nick Anderson: There is actually a really easy answer - money and the number of HD receivers around. It costs more money to transmit both SD and HD programming - your doing the same thing twice. Since the vast majority of people now have at least HD Ready TV's, and for the past 5 years the bulk of those (and pretty much all PVR's) have had HD tuners built in, most of any potential audience already has or can have HD. And that trend will only continue, until Ofcom calls it a day on SD. So its more cost effective to broadcast on an HD mux only, even if its SD, like Movies 4 Men.
Bottom line - if you've got an HD Ready TV, get an HD box (the cheapest is 43 quid), or an HD PVR. Sorted.
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Brian Wright: I suspect its not just about brand awareness, but it also makes it easy to see if anyone is nicking your feed, etc. Think of it as a watermark!
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Sandra Smith: A Samsung TV can record to a usb drive, just like most decent brand TV's. And if you can watch the channel on the TV via Freeview, you can record it. But since the bulk of TV's only have one tuner, you can only record what your watching. So watching BBC1 and recording BBC2 isn't possible. Frankly, I'd just get a PVR - much easier.
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Donnybelle : Check signal strength - is it too high or low? If its 90% or something, its too high. The Mux is full strength and your using a Panasonic, which is known for its sensitive tuners, so too high isn't a bad guess.
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Pat Caulton: Your 19km from your transmitter, so you should get a full set. The modem in theory shouldn't make any difference, but check that it (particularly the power supply) isn't giving out any interference. There was a case a year or two back where someones TV was effected by next doors dodgy Virgin box.
However, its more likely to be a coincidence. Your losing channels, so its more likely that there is a fault somewhere in your system. Start by tracing back the signal path from the back of the TV - it could be nothing more than a damaged aerial lead, which is to swap out. If its closer to the aerial, it could be a frayed cable, loose connection or water getting into the cable.
Let us know how you get on.
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David Mansell: You can't simply assume that there is a transmitter problem, or that its due to transmitter maintainance. Admittedly, the transmitter only puts out 100w tops, and obviously during any maintanence that might be much reduced, but your are only 2km from the transmitter - which means than you might be able to get a perfectly good signal with nothing more than a set top aerial, if that! So if the problem occurs when there is no maintainence, etc, logically, it has to be at your end.
I'd check the muxes for signal strength - too high might be the problem - your just so close. If they are low, then there has to be something very wrong with your system.
Considering the very limited jumber of channels you get from that transmitter, and the small chance of getting any more from another transmitter, Freesat is the obvious way to go.
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jb38: I suggested that his system was up the spout months ago, to no avail. I've given up helping.
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joanna s : Who watches Channel 5? Its got about a 4% audience share last week in total , so a little behind C4. Frankly, C5 in HD has been long overdue.
I love BBC4, but if its not transmitting currently in HD, you have some choices. Its not impossible you might be able to get it via another transmitter, or you could go for Freesat (a good option for anyone in a Freeview lite area), or stream it in HD via Iplayer.
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Monday 13 June 2016 4:59PM
David Mansell: Firstly, put your postcode into the site (or just put in it when commenting) so we can see if you are supposed to get a decent Freeview signal. Remember it is beyond the wit of man to be able to get a TV signal through a hill, so it there is one between you and the transmitter, then geography and physics trumps your desire to just watch Freeview.
Next, if you are supposed to get a decent signal, check your equipment. Loads of people complain that they are getting a lousy signal, etc. And loads of them insist that their system is perfect, put in by experts, etc. But a frayed wire, or water getting into a single joint will cause problems. Transmitters seldom go down, and 'low' power is normally very much a temporray thing - most problems are to do with the system in the home, not anywhere else.
If your prone to get a rubbish signal, and you tried your best to get Freeview - give up. Einstein's adage about 'doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result' is true - if its not going to happen, your just wasting time and money. Freesat works fine (my parent-in-law have it as well as Freeview), and it actually has certain advantages. You can even put up the dish yourself.