All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Chris HORYNA:
I don't know what's happened to your post (I'll guess the word censor has got it for some reason), but from the opening words that I can view on the list of comments you'll need to refer to the broadcaster's website and schedule for BBC Radio Kent. The following page will cover what you need and you can listen to the programme again with the BBC Sounds App.
BBC Radio Kent - Schedules, Friday 26 February 2021
You can find details on contacting BBC Radio Kent on the following page
BBC - About Radio Kent
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Bob:
Whilst there's clearly parts of your general postcode area that will get perfectly good reception from Crystal Palace as well as Hannington, it could depend on which region you want - London vs Meridian, but as StevensOnln1 says a full postcode is needed to see what is predicted for your locale as not all will enjoy good reception from Crystal Palace. If you've normally got good reception from Crystal Palace the why change.
I'm inclined to agree with StevensOnln1 that bundling the cables together could well be the likley cause of the loss of C55, this interference issue is well known and won't be helped if the aerial cable and any flyleads aren't high quality double screened types. I would separate the HDMI cables from the others.
That said however, you mention 2 Samsung TVs as well as a Youview box. I assume the two TVs aren't in the same spot, how are these fed by the aerial? How old is the aerial? Is the aerial still pointing in the correct direction and is the downlead secure and undamaged.
If there is a splitter/amplifier check all connections, if possible feed the aerial direct to one TV and compare signal and quality information for the other multiplexes as well as C55 with what they are when fed in the normal setup.
Just one last point, Crystal Palace seems to be listed as back on Planned Engineering, which it hasn't been on supposedly since the start of last month, when it was listed during the latter part of January and very early February, so whether this is currently affecting your reception you might be able to judge.
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RichardB:
As you probably know, there is Planned Engineering work listed this week at Tacolneston, but I don't believe that the SDL multiplex is transmitted from Tacolneston unless it's been very very recently added, so this is unlikely to be what's affecting things. I'd have thought you are more likely to be getting it from the Stoke Holy Cross transmitter just to the SSE of Norwich as that multiplex isn't listed as transmitted from the Caister relay. What the predicted reception is gong to be like for your locale is uncertain, it could be marginal.
As you also probably know, it's like trying to get blood out of a stone to get any detailed information about the engineering work on the commercial multiplexes, you could try contacting Arqiva.
If all your other stations on the SDL multiplex are fine, you could try retuning to see if that solves it, otherwise it'll be a wait for them to sort the problem.
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Ken Johnsn:
The Lochwinnoch transmitter is a relay of the Darvel main transmitter which is currently listed for Planned Engineering. It's possible that work may have caused the interruption as I can find no fault listed at this time.
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Sam Evans:
All multiplexes are still transmitted from Wenvoe, nothing has changed. There was some Planned Engineering at Wenvoe back around the beginning of February, but that would have been routine and AFAIK everything is "normal". I can't find any listing of any Faults either by Freeview or the BBC, or any current issues.
As you've been having a problem for some time, there could be a number of reasons.
First perhaps just check that all your coax plugs are properly plugged in, unplug them, check there's no corrosion etc and plug them back in.
Second perhaps to check is that you are tuned to the correct UHF channels for the Wenvoe multiplexes, it's possible you may have got tuned to other transmitters with weak signals at some point when perhaps there there was interference or even no signal from Wenvoe during maintenance or faults.
If you happened to retune (or your set did an automatic one) in such circumstances, it can also just clear the correct tuning.
If you haven't done a retune recently, then try one now, especially if you aren't sure of your technical ability to check things in your TV's tuning section which I'll detail now.
The UHF channels for Wenvoe are C41, C44, C47, C42, C45, C39, C55, C37 that's in the multiplex order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6, COM7, Local.
(C means UHF channel). See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which programmes are carried on which multiplex.
Your location will determine which of those you can receive, particularly you may not get COM7 or the Local multiplex. Also PSB3 and COM7 are HD multiplexes for which your need a set with an HD/T2 tuner. To comment on predicted reception at your locale, a full postcode is needed.
If you look in your TV's tuning section, maybe there's an option for signal strength or manual tuning, you should be able to see the UHF channel number, Signal strength and Quality. Make a note of the figures for each UHF channel as it might help identify and problems with the aerial installation, and of course check you are tuned to the correct UHF channels.
If you are still having problems, post back with as much information as possible, where your aerial is located, whether you have any distribution amplifier/splitters, a full postcode, check your aerial is still pointing in the correct direction and seems intact, etc. It's possible your aerial installation and downlead may have deteriorated during some of the abysmal weather we've been having in recent times.
If you've changed anything in your installation over the period, moved any leads etc, post detail. Check that you don't have any HDMI leads close to any aerial or flyleads, especially if the aerial and flyleads aren't high quality double screened cable as HDMI has been known to cause interference.
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David Williams:
As I can't see another post from you here, I'm not certain what your comment refers to, but the context suggests that it's in reference to my reply to Hywel on 30 December 2019!
If so, I'm sorry that you don't appreciate a moderately lengthy technical explanation from this independent (free) helpsite about radio wave propagation and Tropospheric Ducting and how reception can be affected by weather conditions.
You can always talk to some radio amateurs or use your search engine to find similar explanations around the www.
It seems you don't realise that transmitters (of virtually all types) have to share frequencies, not only in the UK, but across Europe and around the world, and this is all subject to international agreements. The transmitter powers have to be such that they don't cause interference to others elsewhere. You can't simply just turn up the power, otherwise you'd have to turn it up somewhere else to make sure their signals weren't wiped out by the other, you'd simply end up in a vicious circle and just wasting electricity to produce the higher powers.
There's also a big difference in making sure that reception of the Public Service Broadcasters is as reliable as possible for I hope obvious reasons, especially if weather conditions could lead to potential interference. Frequency sharing is generally less on the channels the PSB's use. Some of the commercial multiplexes can't have the same "luxury"!
COM7 is a temporary HD multiplex which in any event will be closed by June 2022, and transmits on UHF C55 as a single frequency network shared by the 25 main transmitters that transmit it. Local multiplexes are only intended to cover specific local areas. Both of these multiplexes will be lower power than the main ones.
Briefly, back to Tropospheric Ducting. There just happens to have been some around recently. No doubt climate change has a bearing on it seeming to occur more frequently. Sometimes there is information posted by Freeview and the BBC (poorly explained as it's not just "high pressure" but can often come with it).
There is information at present, but how long before it's removed is unknown, you may find it in the following locations -
Weather affecting reception in Eastern & South Eastern England and the East coast of Scotland | Freeview
https://www.bbc.co.uk/rec…e-uk
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GeordieLad: -
Hi there. I don't think anyone has been getting them for some time, and even having tried to alert the site owner to the problem, it's not made any difference.
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Mark A:
See BBC Three will return to TV screens after six-year break - BBC News
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Thursday 25 February 2021 3:41PM
David Grimshaw:
If the signal strength is still showing as 50-60% (any quality or error figures?), there's a number of possibilities here. Whilst I can't find any current listings of faults for any of the transmitters you might receive (more on that in a moment), that doesn't mean one hasn't occurred. There's nothing reported at present or in the last 5 days by the BBC or Freeview.
Whilst your aerial is in the loft, it's not likely to have deteriorated, the downlead MAY be a problem being that old if it's exposed to the elements especially sunlight. A visual inspection will show if there's any cracks or missing bits of the outer insulation, but again this might NOT be the cause.
The way your post is phrased suggests you believe you are receiving the Keighley relay transmitter, the aerial rods should be vertical and it should be pointing at a bearing of 126 degrees (fractionally E of SE). In roughly the same direction (likely within the beamwidth of the aerial) there's the very low power Keighley Town relay transmitter. There's also the main Emley Moor transmitter which is still predicted to give good signals at your location even though the aerial rods should be horizontal, it may be strong enough to get weak reception on your aerial.
Retuning or resetting when signals are weak or missing whether it be faults, transmitter maintenance, or weather, etc. can result in you becoming inadvertently tuned to weaker signals from another transmitter.
Apart from checking you haven't disturbed the aerial or put or changed anything in the loft that could affect reception, the thing is to check which UHF channels you are actually tuned to by looking in the tuning sections.
I'll list the relevant UHF channels in the multiplex order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6, COM7.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which programmes are on which multiplex. Also note only Emley Moor has COM7, Keighley Town only has the PSBs.
Keighley - C40, C43, C46, C29, C31, C37
Keighley Town - C21, C24, C27
Emley Moor - C47, C44, C41, C33, C36, C48, C55
HTH.