All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Robin Bettridge:
The note "Being removed from Freeview (for 5G use) by 30 June 2020" on this, and many other web-sites is incorrect, & has been for a long time (a lot longer than this year) and has never been corrected. The date was an "ambition" by OFCOM but was never agreed by Arqiva who wanted it pushed back to a later date. The only licence held by Arqiva for COMs 7&8 published on OFCOM's website was updated in July last year and still shows an expiry date of 2026. It does contain a notice about a two year notification for termination, but there is no record of such notification being issued, on OFCOM's website.
On March 13th this year, OFCOM published a number of documents about the auction of the 700MHz spectrum (but no specified date for the auction - (TBD), but that depended on the then current 700MHz Clearance programme being completed on time - where COMs 7&8 moved to UHF 55&56 and all other multiplexes moved to channels below UHF 49. In those documents OFCOM was proposing that whichever MNOs (if any) bought those centre frequencies where C55&56 are, they would give Arqiva 3 months notice of when they wished to start using them (so Arqiva would have time to reorganise programme channels & close COMs 7&8).
Since then the Covid-19 situation took off and the remaining clearance events were postponed - no date was specified. Subsequently a number of Freeview/DUK dociments were updated to show merely a date of 2021 for the remaining clearance.
I'm not sure where rxtvlog has got it's information about November for the auction, there is nothing on OFCOM's website, nor is there anything on Freeview's website, so I'm thinking this could be pure speculation, whilst the auction could take place then, any use of the 700MHz frequencies would still be dependent on the clearance programme being completed. I doubt that would be completed before 2021 as there's likely to be need for significant In-home Support with the Winter Hill changes and I can't see installers wanting to be on roofs changing large numbers of aerials late autumn/winter. In any event, to use those centre frequencies where COMs 7&8 sit (allocated primarily for SDL) means "encoding" hardware has to be developed, as does suitable handsets to use SDL. This is not as straightforward as the current FDD mobile Tx/Rx, and it has to be manufactured/installed (I'm not sure any suitable equipment currently exists) so in reality will the frequencies be used before 2022 - it's all speculation.
To slightly complicate matters Arqiva has recently made a "commercial decision" to close COM8 - quote from Freeview -
"The initial licence period comes to an end in June and Ofcom has issued revised licence terms reflecting the fact that the services may have to terminate at short notice if the spectrum is needed for mobile data services. Given this uncertainty, and through discussions with the channels on Com 7 & 8, Arqiva has taken the decision to rationalise the services onto one multiplex.
The Covid-19 crisis has caused some uncertainty over the precise duration of the licence for some of the channels using Com 7 & 8. This has meant that there was not enough demand to make it financially viable to maintain two multiplexes.
While channels are closing and we do appreciate that this may cause concern, a lot of work has taken place to ensure that viewers will still have access to the same content via main channels and on demand services."
As already mentioned, I can't find any "revised licence" merely the part of the auction rules where Arqiva would get 3 months notice.
A retune event is happening on June 22nd where channels will be moved (and some closed), see 22 Jun 2020 - Important channel broadcast changes | Freeview and COM8 will go off-air on June 30th.
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Stephen Lawson:
When you say that the aerial seems to be pointing away from Llandonna, what direction does it seem to be pointing?
There is a couple of other transmitters that you might receive, but the Freeview Detailed Coverage Checker does not predict good coverage from them other than Arfon almost due S of you, but that only has the 3 PSB multiplexes.
One of the easiest ways to see what transmitter(s) you may be receiving is looking at the TV's tuning section, it may be the manual tuning or signal check section, to what UHF channels numbers each multiplex is tuned to. Post all of them and we can then check. Other than that what information do you see on screen?
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Neil:
There's no reported transmitter issues or maintenance at present, but there has been some variable "Tropospheric Ducting"around recently and it's likely to be so over the next few days (see https://www.bbc.co.uk/rec…iew) which may have been the cause of the issues, it doesn't necessarily affect all frequencies the same at the same time.
You say "my TV has removed the channels again". Is this because it found no signal and automatically did a retune, or did you instigate a retune? If it was automatically, I suggest you turn off this functionality as you may find channels disappear unexpectedly if there is any signal issues.
Retuning when there is no/very weak signal will usually just clear the correct tuning, you then have to repeat retune when signals are normal.
C48 is the SDN multiplex which is SD, C35 is the BBCB HD mux the other two are COMs 7&8 C55&C56.
You can keep an eye on when a manual retune may be required from this page Service updates | Freeview
As it happens, there is a retune event tomorrow see 22 Jun 2020 - Important channel broadcast changes | Freeview programme channels are moving off COM8, HD ones that aren't closing to COM7 and some SD ones may go to COMs 5 and/or 6, no detail confirmed. Arqiva have made a commercial decision to close COM8 which will go off-air on the 30th June.
Have you previously had any signal problems with C48 SDN/COM4? It maybe that your "normal" reception may be variable. We'd need a full postcode to see what the Freeview Detailed Coverage Checker predicts for your location.
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Sharon Alger-Wells:
Does it have metal sides as well? That's more important. Why can't she have an external aerial, is it a site limitation or is it because you think a chimney is needed?
The transmitter is virtually due East from that location, does she have a clear view in that direction and if so, through any windows from inside the home.
What sort of aerial is being used at present?
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John Stringer:
Whilst there are many errors with some detail on this site, as the site owner hasn't had time to do all the updates for the 700MHz Clearance, I doubt this will get fixed any time soon. "The Flash" FM whose transmitter is at the site gives the co-ordinates you mention. The location on the map is also shown incorrectly and it's not in West Berkshire but is in Hampshire.
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John Stringer:
Yes, correct, The Breeze (FM) transmitter is at the location you have posted. It's also showing at an incorrect map location above and is not in West Berkshire but in Hampshire. As with the others errors you have mentioned, I doubt the site owner will have time to fix this anytime soon.
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John Stringer:
The location shown on the map above is also incorrect. The 4 DAB multiplexes and the FM service broadcasting from this site are listed at location lat/long 50.853922, -1.067587
As mentioned in reply to your other recent posts, as the site owner hasn't had time to do all the updates for the 700MHz Clearance, I doubt this will get fixed any time soon.
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John Stringer:
You may also have noticed that the location shown on the map above is also incorrect, it's not off-shore!!
The FM service, Express FM, broadcasting from this site is listed at location lat/long 50.795443, -1.086912
As mentioned in reply to your other recent posts, as the site owner hasn't had time to do all the updates for the 700MHz Clearance, I doubt this will get fixed any time soon.
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John Stringer:
You may also have noticed that the location shown on the map above is also incorrect, it's not off-shore!!
The 4 FM services and 3 DAB services broadcasting from this site are listed at location lat/long 50.649245, -1.328934
As mentioned in reply to your other recent posts, as the site owner hasn't had time to do all the updates for the 700MHz Clearance, I doubt this will get fixed any time soon.
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Thursday 18 June 2020 5:58PM
MBNA:
Neither Freeview nor the BBC are currently reporting any problems with the Hemel Hempstead relay (6 muxes) nor is it listed for Planned Engineering.
Have you got your signals back now? If you retuned when there was no signal it will have cleared all correct tuning and you'll need to repeat a retune when there is signal.
If you still have no signal, then check all you coax plugs, connections, flyleads etc, unplug connectors check for corrosion or other problems and reconnect them. Flyleads can be a common problem, try swapping them. See what signal strengths (if any) and quality you are getting for the multiplexes shown in your TV's tuning section, this might indicate potential issues with your aerial or downlead. Also check that your downlead looks undamaged and that your aerial seems intact and pointing in the correct direction.
Problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just an individual or several multiplexes.