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All posts by Chris.SE

Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.


Christopher peachey:

The Freeview site is also listing the transmitter work (if you enter your postcode). Transmitter reports (BBC only) tend to occur later on this site as the scans of the engineering reports are not real-time.

All: Do NOT retune whilst you have no signal, this will just clear all your correctly retuned channels and you will have to retune again when you have normal signals.

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Raymond Bill:

There are no 5G works that will be causing an issue. The 700Mhz frequencies haven't even been auctioned yet!
Brierley Hill is currently listed for Planned Engineering with "Possible weak signal". Not all multiplexes will necessarily be affected and not necessarily all at the same time.

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Annie Bevis:

I somehow doubt that it was CBS Drama +1 you were watching as there is no +1 broadcast on Freeview (or anywhere else AFAIK). If you were watching on LCN71, CBS have moved it to LCN67.
There was a major retune event yesterday (22nd) various channels changed transmission frequency and some closed. See 22 Jun 2020 - Important channel broadcast changes | Freeview
Sounds like you need to do a retune, did you not get any on-screen messages?

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Neil:

Apologies, I should have been clearer.

You should be getting everything with 100% quality, anything less shows something is amiss. Signal 85-100% typically should be fine as long as the quality remains 100%. Some sets don't like 100% signal and irrespective of the figures, it can result in pixellation/breakup of picture/sound. How individual sets cope depends on the design.
You should be aiming to get nearer 100% signal on the strongest multiplexes, you may see less on the weaker ones, but even they may show near 100%.

If your set is currently showing 33/50 then it is coping very well with all the errors if you aren't getting pixellation or breakup!
One of the difficulties with too much signal is that the readings can become incorrect, and the strength figure can actually go down despite you having 100%+ signal !!! Again it all depends on set design.

I assume you want to run more than one TV if you have a booster/splitter, if so, put it back in circuit and see what happens to the figures.
If you only have the one TV, then put your larger aerial back with no booster and see what happens to the figures.
Some sets will cope fairly well with quite low signals, but the quality should always be 100%.
When you put back your HDMI and Ethernet cable make sure you keep them away from any aerial leads/flyleads, especially if those aerial leads are not doubled screened high quality cable. HDMI leads in particular can cause interference issues more commonly with C55.

The Aerial should be pointing at a bearing of 246 degrees (~WSW) with rods horizontal. Check you are tuned to Mendip's UHF channels C32, C34, C35, C48, C33, C36, C55, C30. That's is the order PSBs1-3, COMs 4-7, Local mux. There are other relay/main transmitters that you might accidentally receive at your location.
I've left off COM8 in the list as you don't need it any more since the channel changes on the 22nd although the mux is still on air atm.

Post back with the figures and how you are getting on.


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M Stewart:

The transmitter is listed for Planned Engineering so there may occasions when there is weak signal or it goes off-air.

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Iain Martin:

I was quoting what the Freeview/DUK listing was stating, check it for yourself instead of attempting to imply I wasn't quoting correctly. And irrespective, even if it was a weak signal, if you are far enough from the transmitter in such circumstances it will appear to be no signal, ever heard of the digital cliff edge?
I also pointed out that the Local Multiplex on C35 was unaffected as it is transmitted from a separate transmitter at Madingley, not everyone realises that!
I am fully aware that the transmitter went off-air at 00:01.

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Christopher peachey:

The reception predicters (there are various) even the official DUK/Freeview one is not 100% reliable/accurate. It just depends on how many surveys were done in your specific area many years ago, the rest is extrapolation from the topography. Glad it's all back now, but that doesn't mean work is complete, they don't give details unfortunately.

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Wednesday 24 June 2020 1:47PM

SteveEllard:

Have you tried a further retune, your transmitter may be listed for Planned Engineering and the multiplex may have been on low power or off-air last time you retuned,. You may have to try several times. Without a full postcode, we can't advise on your predicted reception.

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Neil:

This seems to be hinting that currently the signal is a bit too low. What aerial(s) are you using/what coloured bungs (if any) do they have in the ends of the beam?

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Stephen Lawson:

Should have added, if the aerial is pointing at Arfon, the rods should be vertical. If it's pointing at Llanddonna, are there any trees in the line-of-sight?

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