All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Garry :
You need a Group K aerial, probably med-high gain. You certainly don't want a Wideband or Group T - if you have one of those you may need a Free Filter from https://restoretv.uk
You should have had a postcard from them.
Even with a Group K, if interference from a new/upgraded phone mast is strong enough you may still need a Filter from them, especially if you have any aerial amp/splitter to feed more than one TV..
Such a filter should go before the amp.
The aerial should point at the Bilsdale mast, compass bearing 33 degrees - about halfway between NNEand NE with its rods )or squashed Xs) horizontal.
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Luke:
Without some more detail about exactly what you are experiencing on which channels or multiplexes, and a full postcode, I can only draw your attention to the post before yours.
It'll probably be wise for you to check some obvious things such as is your aerial looking intact and still pointing as it was, is the coax secure and not flapping in the wind? Check all accessible coax connections and ensure there's no corrosion or water. Sometimes these sort of problems can affect one multiplex without an observable effect on the others.
Have you received a postcard from https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/ ?
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Ian Leslie Jackson:
Did you read my reply to you here Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) DAB transmitter | free and easy for 21 years
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Ian Leslie Jackson:
Further to my previous reply to you at Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) DAB transmitter | free and easy for 21 years I've been doing some further research.
A number of very adjacent postcodes to your locale, have received postcards from https://restoretv.uk/
It seems that you may have not, but that does not mean that you aren't suffering interference problems from a new/upgraded mobile phone mast.
Contact them on 0808-1313-800 and explain that you are having persistent problems with your Freeview reception and that this has been happening now for a couple of months and that you understand that neighbours in adjacent postcards have had postcards. Can they please send you a Free Filter.
In the meantime, the HD channels at Sandy Heath are on UHF Channel 21, so try a MANUAL retune of C21 and as previously mentioned make sure that Automatic Retuning on your TV is turned off if possible.
Once correctly tuned, do NOT retune.
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Nicholas Anderson:
What is wrong is not increasing the number of FM and DAB transmitters to cover the areas where there is now no coverage.
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Nicholas Anderson:
Try asking them, and see if you can get a sensible "technical" response as to why the current mode of "streaming" in not supported on the large majority of TVs. I can't get a sensible answer.
They must have lost a large number of viewers.
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Jonathan Brown:
Sadly Arqiva haven't provided any updates recently.
Whilst some of the FM and DAB antennae had been installed at the beginning of September, there were still some FM and DAB antennae to finish installing. The speculation a few weeks ago was that there was still some ongoing groundworks.
Hopefully we may have a bit of an insight on progress later this week. Recent weather conditions will not have helped progress of course.
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Robert jones:
Mendip still appears to be having Engineering work despite not being on the list.
Several multiplexes appear to be on reduced power or the Reserve Antenna at time of posting.
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james innes:
Hello James. This sounds very much as though it could be a local interference problem.
How long has it been going on? Has it been like it all year, if not, when did it start?
Does it continue for a period of time, or is it just a brief interruption?
You say it's ITV that's affected. TV channels are transmitted in groups called multiplexes. ITV is on the D3&4/PSB2 multiplex, so that you should find that other TV channels on the multiplex are affected eg. Ch.4, Ch.5, ITV2 to mention a few.
For which TV Channels are carried on which multiplex, see Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview
(LCN is the Logical Channel Number - the TV Channel number you select on your remote).
We need to find out why this has become a problem.
First we need to establish that you are correctly tuned. You can received two main transmitters in your location, both with predicted good reception of all 6 main multiplexes.
You've posted on the Rosemarkie transmitter page so the assumption is you are/should be tuned to this transmitter rather than Knockmore, the other main transmitter.
That assumption also presumes that your aerial points to Rosemarkie.
For Rosemarkie your aerial should point at compass bearing 207 degrees (that's roughly SSW).
For Knockmore your aerial should point at compass bearing 156 degrees (that's rough;y SSE).
In both case the aerial rods (or squashed Xs) should be horizontal.
Please confirm which way your aerial points.
On the assumption it points to Rosemarkie, check in your TV Tuning section that you are correctly tuned to the UHF channels listed at the very top section of this page for each multiplex.
To be clear these are C45, C39, C42, C43, C46 & C40 (C means UHF channel).
Also check to see what it shows for the Signal Strength and Quality figures for each multiplex, this may be under "Signal Test".
Please post both figures for each multiplex.
One thing you should NOT do, is Retune when you get a No Signal message on the screen. You cannot tune to a signal that is not there. The usual result will be to clear the correct tuning or possibly tune to the other transmitter which will be a weaker signal because your aerial doesn't point at it.
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Saturday 11 November 2023 1:51PM
Robert jones:
You are in quite a good location there, and in normal circumstances should have very good reception of all of Mendip's multiplexes including the Local multiplex.
That said, you may have noticed the post 2 before yours, Mendip is the subject of Planned Engineering, however, most of the time this hasn't had any significant effect although there have been periods of reduced power or use of the Reserve Antennae and on occasion the Local multiplex has been off-air overnight for a few hours.
There have been other issues that may have affected reception - that being the weather. We've had a couple of periods during the last few months when the conditions have brought "Tropospheric Ducting" (more commonly under high pressure, but not always) this causes signals from distant transmitters to travel a lot further and interfere with the normal signals you are trying to receive. However, right at this moment there isn't any affecting this area, and your reception should be near perfect, although the BBC A (SD multiplex) and the ArqA/COM5 multiplex may be on slightly reduced power.
(There is the very remote possibility there could be very slight ducting this evening for a short period)
One thing that is never advised (if you were correctly tuned initially) is to NOT retune if you have badly pixellated pictures, broken sound or no signal. You cannot tune to signals that aren't there or can't be decoded. The net result if you do is it will often clear correct tuning and sometime tune you to weak signals from another transmitter (which can often disappear as conditions change).
The first thing to check is that you are correctly tuned to Mendip's UHF channels.
Look in your TV Tuning section (maybe something like Signal Test)
Mendip's correct UHF channels are C32, C34, C35, C48, C33, C36, & C30. That's is the multiplex order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6 & Local mux.
Select each one in turn and post back the Signal Strength & Quality figures for each.
If you are not correctly tuned to those UHF channels it'll probably be best to clear the current tuning and manually retune to each UHF channel. Do so by unplugging the aerial, doing a full automatic retune which should clear the current tuning as no channels should be found. Plug the aerial back in and Manually tune each UHF channel.
Another possibility is interference from a new/upgraded mobile phone mast. Your postcode should have received cards from restoretv if you put your postcode into https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/ but we know some areas have not received them despite this information.
Your Quality and Signal Strength figures may help identify this possibility.
If you haven't already got a Free filter from them you should contact them.
Do you have any amp/splitter to feed more than one TV? Such a filter should go before the amp.
Post back your tuning information and we might be able to advise further.