All posts by Roy
Below are all of Roy's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Yes very like that one you link too. Old and basic. Likely to be post 1995, but wasn't bought by me so can't be sure. Can't easily make out the bung colour, but post 1995 and pre-Freeview makes it likely a typical analogue transmission era aerial.
After moving here I found most of my Freeview channels gone. Taking knowledgeable advice from another forum lead me to a signal booster (Vision V20-4260L 20dB Gold Plated Aerial Masthead Amplifier/Booster from Amazon) which did indeed bring the full set of Sutton Coldfield channels back. This remained fine until the Freeview rearrangements of the last year, when Ch55 & 56 became hit & miss and I complained to UK Freeview. They eventually sent out a contractor, I was expecting an aerial upgrade but instead they diagnosed 4G interference from a transmitter on a not hugely dissimilar angle to the Sutton Coldfield one. They put a filter up in the loft (marked Channel 60) before the booster (which they complimented as not the usual junk they see') and upon still finding 4G interference on their meter downstairs (which had a small built in TV screen), perhaps from poor coaxial able internally, they added another filter down before the PVR, this marked Channel 59. They said the old aerial was still pumping out what it should roughly in the middle of power range' (though this was post amplifier obviously) and was even picking up Waltham as well. The filters have largely fixed things until the latest round of transmitter meddling, or whatever you like to call it.
I no longer have any splitters, I removed these on the basis of the aforementioned Sheffield installer's site warning these made bad situations worse.
Yes the new cheap loft aerial I tried was a Labgear LAB450T, mostly chosen on the basis of many good reviews after loft installs. I agree its Bacofoil, not something I'd expect to last long outdoors and as the Sheffield site says the end mounting puts a hell of a strain on the pole. But if it had worked, the build quality indoors would not have mattered.
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Chris - Waltham is both more distant and less powerful than Sutton Coldfield (50kW vs 200kW per Mux) so I've never considered it an alternative, unless you disagree?
Yes I tried the Labgeat 450T both with and without the amplifier, it certainly needed the amp. I tried various combos but didn't get as far (but may yet) of pulling through some quality satellite cable to replace the run from loft to living room. I had assumed that the remaining 4G interference found by the installers despite a loft filter must mean the old coax was still letting signal in? I agree that a Ch59 filter is rather close to 55 & 56, given these things are a curve not a slot response. I will try without it and report back when I can.
I wouldn't say I'm elevated at all, fairly flat here and uncomfortably close to sea level, as the recent floods here have reminded everyone.
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Chris.SE - Sorry for the delay, I was away for a while. I did try with the downstairs Ch59 filter removed but it didn't make a discernible difference in terms of the crude signal strength measure via TV channel tuning. I am still getting the Com7 & Com8 workably, generally 6/10. Not sure if the increased exposure to a 4G transmitter makes removal unwise in this case. I haven't tried pointing the unsuccessful loft bacofoil aerial at Waltham, it was no mean feat fitting in my loft space as it is but I will try when I get weekend at home and report back. It would be nice to know what the 'end game' is of all these clearances, i.e. if/when standard density channels will be abandoned to return space now slowly being taken for 5G, but I guess no one knows that.
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Well the dark day of 21 June 2020 arrived for the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, when Com7 and Com8 were set to go away for a long and uncertain holiday. True enough, Channel4+1 HD and 4Seven HD vanished, or rather transmit nothing more than a notice redirecting viewers to non their HD or non +1 channels. But also living on Com7 is BBC4 HD, which is still alive and well. I also note that in the last few days, the long set 21 June date has since become 30 June. Assuming this relates to some schedule update somewhere or other, do I assume that BBC4 HD will also be sacrificed by then for the cause of giving the kiddies better video streaming on their mobiles?
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Chris.SE - thanks for that info. It's interesting but about as clear as mud really. Nobody at the consumer end seems to know what's going on. It's just a matter of waiting and seeing. Given the huge market of Freeview TV viewers, I'd really have expected something firmer and more widely accessible, but from what I've learned here, I can't say I'm surprised. I'll just wait for channels to go dead. Thanks again.
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Aerialman - interesting, but BBC4 HD is listed as being Com8 at Sutton Coldfield, but has nevertheless worked all week. Meanwhile the 'still working' Com7 has lost Channel4+1 HD and 4Seven HD, according to Chris.SE that was a voluntary Channel 4 decision. How does the ordinary viewer have any clue if the channels he sets to record programmes on at the start of the week will still exist, or else have moved elsewhere, by the end of it?
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StevensOnln1: I am absolutely not blaming the owners of a private website like this for the lack of detailed/current info. I am impressed that this site comes up No.1 when googling such transmitter queries, but equally unimpressed that the owners of the stations or the Freeview organisation themselves do not come way before ukfreetv does as a source of web info. We are talking about large, high cost commercial ventures operating in the communications industry after all; a simple website kept uptodate with what changes are happening and exactly when, as a matter of plain fact not gifted speculation, should be well within the capabilities of these other organisations.
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Chris.SE - your post was clear thanks, in as much as it can be with some timings still uncertain such as when exactly COM7 will finish for example. Likewise the Freeview info linked to by StevensOnln1 is fine as far as it goes, e.g. confirming COM8 goes on 30 June this year. But the problem for the ordinary user is that they don't record (or typically even know of) multiplexes, they record channels & programmes. So when I read that COM8 is about to go for commercial reasons, the first thing to cross my mind is what will happen to BBC4 HD currently there?. Elsewhere you say that C4+1 HD and 4Seven HD are quitting COM7 for commercial reasons. Does that mean BBC4 HD can move into that vacated COM7 bandwidth for the time being, or does it not work like that? This may be obvious to those working in these industries, but for those simply wanting to record the week ahead in the best definition our lovely big TV's can handle, it is not clear.
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Page 2
Saturday 16 November 2019 6:44PM
Chris.SE - I take it you use the word "interesting" the same way a Doctor would about an illness; rare, poorly understood and difficult to treat...
Anyway, just before you reply fully I wanted to say that C4+1 HD and 4Seven HD have both come back! And yes I was/am getting RT on 113, as you say a Com7 channel. I have no idea where they went to, I'm tempted to say it's a result of being in a difficult area but how come RT remained? I'll await your full response when you have the time.