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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.

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Sky News
Monday 26 April 2021 2:01AM

keith ramsell:

This isn't Sky News website, you'd have to double check with Sky News for confirmation, but according to IMDb (which is one of the only sources I can readily find that has information!) they were -
Christina Patterson - Journalist & Author, and Kulveer Ranger - Boris Johnson's Former Adviser.
The presenter was Jonathan Samuels.
But you could also check by watching it on YouTube - Press Preview: A first look at Sunday's newspaper headlines - YouTube

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John Pykett:

There are some reports around and it seems to be due to the fact that some more recent sets, especially LG, no longer have support for MHEG turned on in the UK, these sets only have support for HbbTV turned on. Channelbox was still using MHEG when I last checked, but is reportedly going to start using HbbTV in the next few weeks.
On the other hand, if you have an older set that has no HbbTV support, you may have problems after they change.
You can check if you have HbbTV support (and it's turned on) by going to Freeview LCN100. If you get a plain text summary then HbbTV is not supported or turned on (check in your settings, probably somewhere in Programmes and Tuning etc.).
If it is a recent LG set, you could try hassling LG Support for a firmware update that has MHEG turned on for the UK. The support is there in the set, but not enabled for the UK eg. like it is for Eire!!

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Stuart Gwilym MacMillan:

I think the first thing would be to check in your TV's tuning section that you are tuned to the correct UHF channels for your transmitter as there are other relay transmitters that you could receive within the beamwidth of your aerial but would give a weaker signal.
The UHF channels are C40, C43 and C46 - that's for the BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB3 and BBCB HD/PSB3 multiplexes. If your set doesn't have an HD/T2 tuner, ignore C46.

If you are incorrectly tuned then try this first, unplug the aerial and do a full automatic retune. This should clear all previous tuning from memory as no channels will be found. Plug the aerial back in and do a retune - a manual one preferred if possible, for the UHF channels I've just mentioned.

If that isn't the cause or doesn't solve the problem, check that the aerial connection and your downlead looks undamaged (especially if it is old). Also check all your coax plugs, connections, flyleads etc, unplug connectors check for corrosion or other problems and reconnect them. Flyleads are a common problem, try swapping/changing them.

Have you altered anything in your installation recently? Check that you don't have any HDMI leads near unscreened/poorly screened flyleads/aerial leads as HDMI can cause interference.

If you still have problems after that, see what signal strengths and quality you are getting for the multiplexes (groups of channels) shown in your TV's tuning section and post back with those figures for each UHF channel.

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Philip Brown:

There's no particular reason why PSB1 or PSB2 should be more prone to interference. Make sure that you don't have any HDMI leads running close to aerial or flyleads cables, especially when the aerial or flylead cable isn't high quality double screened cable, as HDMI is known to sometimes cause interference.

The transmitter isn't currently listed for Planned Engineering, and hasn't been in recent weeks and I can't find any listed faults. There has been some (by its nature) very variable "Tropospheric Ducting" in some more recent weeks (none at present), it can last seconds, minutes, hours and can affect only one or several frequencies/multiplexes. See Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | RTIS for a simplistic explanation. It can occur more commonly with high pressure (but not all the time). Don't retune in such circumstances as this often just clears correct tuning.

It might be worth just checking that you are correctly tuned Sandy Heath's channels are C27, C24, C21, C33, C36, C48, C55 in the order PSBs1-3, COMs4-7. Also note C35 is a Local multiplex for Cambridge from the nearby Madingley transmitter, which you may or may not receive depending on your location.
If you live nearer the coast (you haven't given a full postcode) you might be more vulnerable to interference from the continent in tropo conditions.

Also I would check that your aerial seems intact and pointing in the correct direction and that your downlead looks undamaged (especially if it is old). Also check all your coax plugs, connections, flyleads etc, unplug connectors check for corrosion or other problems and reconnect them. Flyleads are a common problem, try swapping/changing them. Problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just an individual or several multiplexes.

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Alan Booth:

The chances of this happening, especially in the current climate, are virtually zero. Although the transmitter serves around 10,000 homes, the commercial operators wouldn't consider the capital expenditure that would be required (for the transmitters and links) to be a viable proposition. That's also on the assumption that channels for such additional multiplexes would be available without causing interference to other transmitters.

It could depend on the exact location in your postcode as to whether you'd get any reception from Durris for the commercial multiplexes in particular. For some locations the predictions are zero. for others it's poor and unlikely to be reliable.

Your best option would be to consider Freesat. A lot of modern TVs have a Satellite tuner built-in, so all you'd need would be the Dish and LNB.

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Philip Brown:

In the analogue days, Waltham was Aerial Group C/D and Sandy Heath was Group A until Channel 5 came along when Waltham became Group E and Sandy Heath Group K. When low power DTV first started before DSO, a Wideband aerial became necessary at both transmitters to get all the digital and analogue channels and quite likely some amplification was needed in some areas to get the low power digital.
At DSO, the digital power increased significantly and so "too much signal" causing front end overload would have become an issue for some!

You are predicted to get very good/excellent reception from Sandy Heath, whereas Waltham is predicted to be weaker and (quite) variable. At your location Sandy Heath is at bearing 171 degrees - 9 degrees E of due S, Waltham is NE, 315 degrees, and as you've previously discovered reception off aerial rear side-lobes is quite possible (especially with amplification).

I'm glad rearranging the cabling looks as though it could have resolved the issue. Post back if you need further help or suggestions.

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C
Now Thats What I Call Music
Saturday 1 May 2021 1:53AM

Andrea:

The NOW broadcaster swapping it's NOW 70s/80s/90s channels about is not unheard of and they've done it a few times recently. Since the 28th April, NOW 70s is on Freeview LCN76 and has moved to the COM7 multiplex on UHF Channel 55. You may/may not be able to receive it in your location (we'd need a full postcode to check).
As mentioned by Irn-Bru Kid, Now 80s is currently only on a Manchester (G-MAN) multiplex (as is NOW 90s).

NOW 70s is also on Channelbox Freeview LCN271 but it's a streamed channel over your broadband. You mentioned your provider TalkTalk, if you are using a YouView box, I'm not sure if that service is compatible.

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Miss Jan Bray Wilson :

It's possible that the transmitter you are getting your signals from is having some either Planned or Essential Engineering due to a fault. Whilst you may be in Glasgow City, which transmitter(s) you may be able to receive or are receiving will depend very much on location. We'd need a full postcode to check what is predicted.
In any event. it's quite likely that your signals may be back to normal by the time you read this.

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