All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
nick :
SFN means Single Frequency Network. They are "linked/synchronised" so that they don't interfere with one another. It's never 100% perfect as in a very small number of locations the signals aren't in perfect sync so you can at worst get a "not spot". All National DAB station transmitters are SFNs as are some local ones where they have more than one transmitter.
Sudbury/Rouncefall aren't the only TV transmitters that are SFNs. There are some eg. around Birmingham - I'd have to look them up if you really wanted to know.
The now deceased COMs 7&8 were SFNs on C55 & C56.
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Michael:
1) Sounds like a plan. I did wonder about you wanting Carmel :o but I didn't looked back to see if you've previously said which way your aerial is pointing as I couldn't remember. Yes that must be irritating if auto retunes get Carmel, doesn't the set have a setting for Region or Postcode? And nowhere to turn off auto-updating?
My LG nearly 7 yrs old now, will sort of auto-update a mux if I select another channel on the mux which is irritating if they've been swapping things about on the COMs depending on which mux is watched first, the new/additional/replacement can end up in the 800s which results in me having to manual retune or edit!
2) Yeah, too many things wanting too much personal info these days, they get the absolute minimum from me and not always 100%.
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Steve Donaldson:
Yes, he is near Ilfracombe, and I'm pretty sure he already knows most of what you've said ;)
There are several locations along that general costal area that have problems with some transmitters in Wales, one I recall is Carhampton co-channel with Kilvey Hill even the same polarisation!!
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Ed:
As per my previous reply here (18th September) Arqiva never give the details of the work of how long it will take, especially if any of it is weather dependent. It'll be very rare to see such work detailed locally.
You may not be in the best of reception locations, there could be other reasons, but as you haven't provided a full postcode, we can advise on that. If you retuned at any time when you had no signal or badly pixellated pictures, it may have just cleared your correct tuning, if correctly tuned, it's never advised to retune whatever the cause of loss of signal.
Please give a full p[ostcode and we should be able to advise further.
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nick :
Only part of the Rouncefall page got updated as I mentioned in a second comment after coverage in the link I gave.
Theoretically the number in an SFN can be unlimited, however the "separation" between them is also a factor and is also related to the guard interval used in transmission but I don't know enough about the maths to comment on that in more detail. HOWEVER the other more major factor is the channels used and hence the capability of the transmit antenna as well as the receive aerials that people already have on their rooftops, never mind the cost of transmitters etc. Changes have to be paid for!
Aldeburgh is outside Sudbury's aerial group and is also a "Light" transmitter. One of the reasons for that is historical, they always been within Group A. Also the number of households in the coverage area is small that the commercial operators have not considered it cost effective to pay for all the antenna changes and the extra transmitters that would be need to provide the COM muxes.
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Ed:
Thanks for the additional information. Two things immediately stand out - 100% Signal, 10% fluctuating Quality and this with the signal booster you mentioned in your first post. This is an immediate red flag for probable interference. This is not helped by the Wrekin appearing not to be your best choice of transmitter these days (unless you have some very local obstructions on the line of site to Brierley Hill).
If you click on the link now on the RHS bottom of your last post "Freeview Detailed Coverage" you'll see for yourself - good prediction figures are in green with higher numbers, and of course Brierley Hill is very close. Strangely, the BBC reception predictor gives good reception for The Wrekin for all 6 multiplexes, so there may be some local line of sight aspects.
That all said, TVs can "sometimes" do their own thing tuning :o so the first thing to check, is in your TV Tuning section that it is still correctly tuned to the Wrekin's UHF channels.
Also check that your aerial still looks intact and is still correctly pointing for The Wrekin, almost NW, compass bearing 312 degrees. Check the downlead isn't flapping in the wind and looks undamaged, that the coax connections at the TV and anywhere else accessible are good with no corrosion or water. You haven't mentioned where the "booster" is. If it's mounted on the pole, check the power unit is plugged in and correctly connected. If it's in the loft, check it has power.
Assuming all that is ok, going back to the most likely problem - I mentioned interference, it's possible that a new/upgraded mobile phone mast is now causing inference to your reception.
At some point you should have received a postcard from Restore TV although we've encountered cases where they haven't been received/sent! Check here https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/
Give then a call on 0808-1313-800 as noted on the contact us page. Tell them since they sent postcards you are now getting severe interference to your reception, you used to have no problems whatsoever (I wouldn't go into elaborate detail).
If your booster is on the mast, tell them so that they need to send an engineer.
If it's internal, loft/back of set, they can send a Free Filter, which you fit (plug in) between the aerial cable and the input to the booster.
If they need to send an engineer, then when on site, they should consider which transmitter is best in your location and install a new aerial etc if needed.
Hope that helps, tell us how you get on.
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Paul Fearn :
Hmm, yes extended work like this doesn't help when you aren't in the best of reception areas. They could be running on the reserve antenna or reduced power at present, which will make things worse when you are much further away.
It should be remembered that it's a good 10 years since DSO and I expect loads of things need checking, some replacing. Lots of main transmitters and some relays have had extended periods of maintenance this year, and of course some work is extremely difficult in winter/bad weather.
The Bilsdale fire may well have made them do thorough checks to ensure similar is not likely anywhere else!
Hopefully the work will be completed soon - Arqiva never give details of the work, or how long it will take especially if some is weather dependent or awaiting spares!
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Brahim:
You've posted on radio transmitter page rather than a Glasgow TV transmitter page, but no problem.
Some of Glasgow's TV transmitters are having Planned Engineering work at present and this could cause interruptions to signals, eg " Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 25/09/2023 Screen may go black on some or all channels [DUK]"
Do NOT retune.
Without your full postcode we can't provided any further detailed help, but if you did retune it may well have cleared your correct tuning and so you'll have to retune again until you get your signals back which you may have to repeat several times as you won't know exactly when that may be.
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Saturday 30 September 2023 11:42PM
Bill:
The frequency sell-off was a result of International agreements regarding the use of the frequencies, it had nothing to do with the "Gov wanting more money"
So you think Smart TVs are Spyware :D :D you sound as paranoid as a friend of mine, so I'd stop using your PC ! You can actually turn off most of the "tracking" type things on your smart TV.
You can derlet cookies as well as not allow some.
Horror website working for me Legend | Sky 148 Virgin 149 Freeview 41 Freesat 137 you can watch many of their programmes on-line there.
They also have 4 different Social Media "outlets" although if you are bothered about spyware then I'd stay clear of Facebook & Instagram as Meta are worse than Google :D