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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.


John Clark:

Do NOT retune, it serves no purpose whatsoever. You are correctly tuned at present. if you retune when you have no signal (or very weak or badly pixellated) on most devices it will just clear the correct tuning.
I'm afraid it's a case of sit it out. I assume you must be in a location that does not have the strongest of signals but need a full postcode to look at the predicted reception in your locale.

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Christopher Smith:

Glad you've had some channels restored, this new temporary transmitter is reported to be providing signals to about 100,000 households
The new Sutton Bank transmitter (near Thirsk) serves households across North York, Harrogate, Pickering, Ripon, Masham, and Leyburn according to Arqiva and Freeview.

Arqiva have updated their information at
https://www.arqiva.com/ne…mast
and Freeview's information is at Help - Bilsdale Transmitter | Freeview

The Sutton Bank transmitter is currently providing the 3 PSB multiplexes on UHF channels C27, C24, C21.
Freeview have provided an updated technical FAQ page at
Channel information for Bilsdale Temporary Mast, Eston Nab, and Arncliffe Wood | Freeview

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Cornelius O'Donovan:

Please try a further retune if you haven't already. A new temporary transmitter has been set up today near Thirsk.
See the post before this one for details.

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Spreadsheetpete:

The BBC are normally very good at listing any faults with their services, I had a look yesterday and again today and nothing has been listed for Holme Moss.
One can only assume that it might either have been a very brief power interruption or you suffered some local interference which thankfully cleared up quickly.

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Dorothea Margaret Barker: David Andrews: Ian johnon:

A Retune may restore some services from the new temporary transmitter at Sutton Bank near Thirsk.
See 2 posts before this for details.

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John Clark:

I can't normally tell whether it's weather or the transmitter as I'm not at your locale or aware of what your normal signal strength readings and quality or error count readings are for each of the mulitplexes.
For future reference, when things are "back to normal", make a note of the typical signal strength and quality or error counts figures for each multiplex in the set's tuning section.

What I can say is that it's slightly odd that you are getting ITV HD and not the BBC HD channels as they are carried on the same multiplex, so this is unlikely to be anything to do with the weather.

If you have retuned at some previous point whilst work was being carried out and the BBC channels were not present that could be the reason. There is work taking place to replace coders for HD channels so it's possible this oddity may have arisen and providing you have a good signal and high (ideally 100%) quality or very low error count figures, then trying a retune may resolve the problem.

As far as "normal" reception is concerned, you aren't in the best of locales. Whilst reception of the BBCA/PSB1 and D3&4/PSB2 multiplexes is predicted to be "good" it is not the best, and the BBCB HD/PSB3 multiplex is not quite as good as them but nevertheless classed as variable as is the SDN/COM4 multiplex. ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6 and COM7 are predicted to be less reliable with more variable reception.
You are not predicted to receive the Local (Norwich) multiplex on UHF C32.

As far as weather related problems are concerned, whilst you may see changes in signals strength, the most common observation is a reduction in the quality figure or an increase in the error count eventually to the point where the set cannot successfully decode the signal and pixellation or sound breaks occur perhaps to the point of "no signal".

None of that means that under normal circumstances you won't get reliable reception for most of the time. A lot will also depend on the quality of your aerial installation. Roughly how old is it, have you had it replaced since 2013?

Some of the multiplexes UHF channels have not been updated in the listings above as the site owner has not had time to do all the update from the 700MHz Clearance program, so do check that you are tuned to the correct UHF channels
The full current list is as follows -
C40, C43, C46, C42, C45, C39, C55, C32 in the order PSBs1-3, COMs4-7, Local.
Note, satisfactory reception of all multiplexes will depend upon your location.
FYI see Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels (LCNs) are carried on which multiplex.

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C
Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter
Thursday 9 September 2021 12:10AM

Dave Barter:

It could well be weather related issues, there has been some variable periodic problems around in recent weeks.
The conditions cause signals from distant transmitters to travel (sometimes a lot) further than normal thus causing interference. The frequencies affected will depend upon the conditions and not all multiplexes would be affected or necessarily at the same time.

In your general locale, reception of the main multiplexes from Winter Hill is predicted to be very good. However reception of COM7 is predicted to be quite variable and the Local (Preston) multiplex a bit less so, which means those could be less reliable and more prone to disruption/interference.

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Graeme Robertson:

As I said previously "Please be aware that posts don't always appear immediately...."
If you clicked "Post" twice, then that is the reason, exactly as now, saying you haven't posted twice is rather nit-picking.
Quoting the report of what Mr. France has said is rather meaningless without reading the full report, he's only repeating what Arqiva have told him, he is not (AFAIK) a structural engineer.
Whilst it's true the temporary 80m mast will not restore perfect coverage for everyone, it can be provided quickly.
If you go to the Bilsdale transmitter page, starting at Bilsdale (North Yorkshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter | free and easy (there have been previous updates) you will find links to Arqiva's and Freeview's updates including the most recent (8th Sept). You'll see from the reports by Arqiva (and thus Freeview) what is proposed and why. The timescales for replacing the main Bilsdale mast itself and not doing anything else would leave many thousands without service for an even longer period!

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Graeme Robertson:

Oh, forgot to mention that the site does have software that eventually removes duplicate posts, so one of your above will get removed eventually.

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Anyone who is interested:

Arqiva CEO on BBC Radio Tees https://www.bbc.co.uk/sou…nc5b starts after 1hr35mins45secs in.

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