All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Stuart Tallack:
This is the DAB transmitter page (not that it would prevent anyone responding about Freeview) but someone called "Stuart" raised this on the Freeview transmitter page a couple of months ago, see
Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) Full Freeview transmitter | free and easy
There were two replies, one from StevensOnln1 and one from myself which gave a lot of information and made a few suggestions to which they did not respond. Please read that post and the replies.
Also note, there has been periodic weather related "tropospheric ducting" around again recently which may have disrupted signals. If you retuned when you had pixellated pictures (which it is advised you should NOT do) you can end up either incorrrectly tuned or the correct tuning just cleared and further retunes would be needed when signals are normal.
IF your set has an auto-retune function which it performs when it has no signal, turn it OFF if possible, as you end up with the same result in these situations. These days there is rarely any need to retune at all - the only very occasional situation is when a commercial broadcaster changes one of their channels or the multiplex it is carried on, and you will usually be prompted by an on-screen pop-up if a retune is needed.
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Christopher Smith:
That is NOT correct, it depends where you are in the HG2 area, some places have coverage from Emley and Belmont, but of course that means repositioning the aerial which will not be practical (or cost effective) for most people, and it'll be Yorkshire region instead of Tyne Tees.
You really need to provide a full postcode to look at predicted coverage which you've done in the Freeview checker, so your locale is not in a place where you can get the others and loft aerials don't help either as I'm sure you appreciate.
Rachel:
It'll depend on which temporary transmitter you might be getting your signals from at present. There are two that might be giving coverage - Eston Nab and Arncliffe Wood - Here are the UHF channels for them -
Arncliffe Wood - C40, C43, C46 FOR PSBs1-3
Eston Nab - C27, C24, C21, C23, C26, C48, for PSBs1-3, COMs4-6.
I've seen some reports that some have been struggling with the HD PSB3 mux from Arncliffe Wood.
Have a look in your TV tuning section to see which UHF channels you are getting the SD signals from.
Then try a manual tune for the HD multiplex as autotune sometimes misses weaker signals.
Eg. if you are getting the SD on C40 and C43, try manual tune on C46 (C stands for channel).
See also Channel information for Eston Nab and Arncliffe Wood | Freeview and posts on the previous pages here for links to other information.
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Christopher Smith:
Yes, streaming via the apps is clunky to say the least, still better than nothing.
Your particular postcode may be a no go for Emley, but I wouldn't treat the coverage maps as totally accurate, good for a guide.
The Emley one, on a rough check of one postcode I did, is in the gtreen zone and comes up OK on the Freeview predictor which might be a tad optimistic because there is a small hill on the line of sight about 3km away. That said I've known quite a few locations that have small hills like that in the way, but nevertheless there's still good (and generally) stable reception.
RF (Radio Frequencies) though can very often be more of a black art rather than a precise science, often it's a case of suck it and see.
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Ron:
If it's become persistent, then I would start looking for two possibilities - aerial installation or interference.
Firstly check the connections at the aerial and any masthead amp, the coax cable condition and the termination at the amp/splitter or PSU if it's a masthead amp and connections to the splitter.
Faults/corroded connections can affect a single multiplex (but eventually further deterioration could start to affect more/all of them) this is because standing waves can be set up in the cable, this is frequency dependent and depends on the length of cable from the point of fault. It's not that common, but it does happen.
The installation is always worth a check if it's a few years old.
Interference from a variety of possible electrical/radio(RF) sources can again affect specific frequencies only, others can be more broadband. Does the problem occur at the same sort of times every day? Or is it totally random?
If it occurs at the same sort of time every day, have a look at anything that comes on with a time clock or even a light sensor, even lights you switch on manually. Faulty street lights, fluorescent lights, compact fluorescents, older style LEDs can all generate interference. (Filamentary LEDs - clear or frosted, virtually don't generate any interference and are tons better than those with the big plastic cap on the back).
Unfortunately this type of interference might come from a near neighbour. BTW have you asked if your nearest neighbour has the same problem with COM5, that might help narrow things down.
If it's more random, things like boilers for hot water, arcing thermostats, fridges and freezers starting are possible suspects but these tend to be broader spectrum interference so just affecting COM5 is much less likely.
Other things to consider. Have you changed anything in your installation that might coincide with when this started? Are you using any equipment you hadn't used before (or for some time) eg. something with an RF output that may be set to/near C31 - eg. a recorder, old skybox, games console etc.
Does the problem only occur when certain devices or their PSUs (eg. phone chargers) are turned on?
One final possibility (but odd it's only started recently) is you might be in a location where C31 is vulnerable to frequent interference from another transmitter (it wouldn't necessarily apply to all multiplexes) but we'd need a full postcode to look at the predicted reception in your locale.
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M. Kirkland:
Can you be more specific please - which radio station(s) are you trying to receive, are you talking FM or DAB?
Do you have other symptoms such as lots of noise , buzzing sounds or hash?
There are no reported problems with FM reception on transmitters in the Rosemount area.
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Mr Paul McLennan:
Were you using any other sets before buying this LG? If so, I'm getting the impression from your post that they did not have HD/T2 tuners? Do you get any pixellation issue at all with the SD channels and how many are you getting, it should be around 90 excluding radio and HD? Roughly how old is the aerial installation?
Splitting the signal will reduce it and any aerial amplification must be between the aerial and any splitter.
It will be no good putting an amplifier after the splitter if the signal has been effectively lost - you can't amplify one that isn't there! Have a look in the Tuning section for signal strength and advise what the Signal strength and Quality is for each of the multiplexes that you are receiving.
The UHF channels for Belmont in the order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6, COM7; Local; are as follows -
C22, C25, C28; C30, C23, C26; C55; C32. You ought to be getting the first six of those at least, the predictor shows you should be getting good reception of them all except the Local multiplex.
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Tracey Loasby:
In the TV tuning section, what signal strength and quality figures are showing for the Upstairs TV for each of the UHF channels it is tuned to?
It's worth checking in your TV's tuning section that you are tuned to the correct UHF channels for Sutton Coldfield. All the multiplexes are C43, C46, C40+, C42, C45, C39+, C55, C36/C48 that's in the order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6, COM7 and Local L-BRM.
On your downstairs TV, you could try manual tuning on UHF channels C40 and C55 for the various HD channels, autotune sometimes misses weaker signals.
I replied to your previous query about the engineering here Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) Full Freeview transmitter | free and easy now on the previous page.
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Tuesday 24 August 2021 11:44PM
Steven Ernest Woolley:
A little more information could be useful!
When did you lose them, a full postcode so we can look at predicted reception at your locale and which transmitter(s) and multiplexes you might receive.
Whilst Sutton Coldfield is no longer listed for Planned Engineering, experience says that work might still be going on and the list may not be accurate.
I can't find any current listing of any faults nor any reported affecting the HD channels in the last 5 days.
There is also adverse weather conditions periodically affecting reception in some parts of the country resulting in interference because signals from other transmitters are traveling further.