All posts by MikeB
Below are all of MikeB's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
MikeP: Mike, I totally agree - this statement:
'If the transmission is dropping and/or s/s is low on only some channels it's the transmitter, atmospherics, nearby interference or user aerial system- in that order.'
would seem to be the exact opposite of the reality of people asking questions on this site. Just trawl through the posts which ask about reception, and automatically assume that there is a problem with the transmitter, and demand that the BBC/Government/'them' do something about it, often accompanied by the phrase 'I pay my licence fee!'
When you ask the essential questions: 'what is the signal strength, have you checked with neighbours', and have you checked that all the wires are OK and not loose', your surprised at the lack of feedback, which is possibly largely explained by people checking out the rear of the TV and discovering that the aerial lead has fallen out of the back.
Discounting possible high pressure system problems (which do occur occasionally), when you check the actual status of the transmitter, its usually fine. Yes, there are delays in updating the information sometimes, where a rash of questions about reception lose predate a warning, but most of the time, the transmitter is fine. Even if its on lower power for a short period, that power level is still generally higher than pre-digital switchover levels.
Its strange that people automatically assume that a transmitter is at fault, even though it may serve many thousands of households and has generally backup systems, but discount totally that their system, which ultimately is linked together by wiring just 6mm wide, has plenty of joins in it, may have been installed by the biggest bodgers on the planet, and has an aerial which might be in place for decades battered by all the weather can throw at it should be totally fine. Its a TV Occams Razor.
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Andy: Check your system/signal strength - it sounds like your losing muxes, and thats a classic sign of loose connections, etc.
No, transmitters dont suddenly go to low power, unless there is work being done on them, and thats for only very brief periods.
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Rodney Coleman: You havn't give a postcode, so we have no idea what your signal should be like. However, you've evidently lost a mux, so check signal strength across the board, and other chanels on that mux. If that mux is relatively weak one, and your system is failing (which is the most likely cause), that will tend to go first.
You said that other channels are 'picture perfect' - they might well be, but that doesn't mean there is not a problem. Digital signals are fine until they are not - so something like BBC1 might seem OK, even though its hanging on by a thread.
Most likely cause is a dodgy wire or connection, leading to low signal strenght, and that mux going first, whilst weakening the others.
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Heather: The TV has freeview HD built in - read the manual on how to connect it to an actual aerial.
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steve: Sorry, thats nonsense. The biggest problem with 4G is putting your phone to your ear. Dont worry about it.
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MikeP: My (split leads) were put together by a rigger using F fittings, simply because they are less likely to come apart and are a more reliable signal.
BTW - have you noticed just how many people are reporting problems that sound exactly like problems with their aerial system such as loose connections, cables, etc - and yet the transmitters are always to blame!
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geoff hall: The Americans wernt to the moon, but they checked out systems first.
Look at RTI's link - Malvern currently has a weak signal today, probably due to engineering work. But since your just 8.8km from the transmitter, your signal should be amazingly good, even at the worst of times. Logically, your aerial system is kaput, and I suspect that its at best hanging on by its fingertips, with rainwater getting into the system which pretty much kills it.
At just 9km from a main transmitter, the weakness of the transmitter would not have been the first thing that came to mind...
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Saturday 7 January 2017 7:37PM
M Davis: Look at the top of the page - it says there are no problems with the transmitter. You can put your postcode into the site and it will give a link to check further, and check which transmitter you might be using, but although thats sometimes wrong or slow to update, but mostly, transmitters are very reliable. So check with others in the area, but if they are getting a signal, then its you.
Wires get frayed, rain gets into joints, and the weather batters the aerial and cables. If you've put a portable aerial into the TV and there is nothing, then its more likely to be the transmitter, but nothing is showing up yet, and if its been like that for 24 hours, thats almost certainly your system.