All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Linda Irving:
If you'd posted on the Tacolneston transmitter page rather than here on this DAB transmitter page you probably may have seen the warning that the transmitter was having Planned Engineering "Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 01/11/2021 Possible Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels".
That engineering is listed again for this week. (it's likely that the effect will be worse later in the evening).
(There's also a Freeview page for West Runton - a "Light" transmitter which only has the 3 PSBs but it's also affected by the Planned Engineering).
You are some distance (46km) from Tacolneston and your predicted reception is VERY variable but otherwise good when not affected by weather conditions or engineering. You are only 3km from the West Runton transmitter where your predicted reception is very good.
Even though your aerial is pointing at Tacolneston - should be bearing 191 degrees that's 11 degrees W of due South, rods (or squashed Xs) horizontal, you may still get strong signals from West Runton (vertical polarisation, bearing 281 degrees that's 11 degrees N of due West) as aerials have "side-lobes" and can get reduced signals of a different polarisation. You may even be accidentally tuned to it for some of the multiplexes.
Check in your TV tuning section that you are correctly tuned for Tacolneston's UHF channels, which are -
C40, C43, C46, C42, C45, C39, C55, C32 in the multiplex order -
PSB1/BBC A, PSB2/D3&4, PSB3/BBCB HD, COM4/SDN, COM5/ArqA, COM6/ArqB, COM7, Local.
(C means channel).
Note, satisfactory reception of all multiplexes especially COM7 and the Local mux, will depend upon your location as well as your aerial installation.
On the other hand you may get better reception under current circumstances from West Runton even though your aerial isn't pointing the right way.
Its UHF channels are C31, C37, C29 in the order PSBs 1,2,3.
If you are correctly tuned to Tacolneston, try a manual tune on UHF C31 just to see if you can get a better signal, otherwise stay tuned to C40 for the BBCA mux.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
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Joe Burrows:
Your problem is highly unlikely to be two-frequency interference (or any interference) although some predictions show you might possibly get some weather related interference later on Tuesday!
On the Dover transmitter page it does advise about Planned Engineering taking place (last week and it continues this week) and it has done for some recent weeks - Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 01/11/2021 Possible Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels.
The predicted reception for your Locale is variable for COM5 (also COM4) which won't be helped at all by the engineering!
It's never advised to retune when you have No signal or badly pixellated pictures. It will often just clear the correct tuning that you had, and you'll have to repeat the retune when signals are better or return (might need several tries).
It is possible that you may pick up other transmitters off the back of your aerial, so -
Check in your TV's tuning section that you are correctly tuned for the UHF channels for Dover which are -
C33, C35, C36, C39, C42 & C48
That's in multiplex order PSB1/BBC A, PSB2/D3&4, PSB3/BBCB HD, COM4/SDN, COM5/ArqA, COM6/ArqB,
If you don't have an HD tuner, ignore C36.
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Ray E:
Thanks for the update. Albeit some time ago it's nice to know that the problem was related to my suspicions.
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Robin Buddle:
In normal circumstances you should be getting very good signals from Sandy Heath.
The other things to check is that your aerial looks intact and is still pointing in the correct direction (for you, bearing 192 degrees - that's about 1/2 way between SSW and due S) with the rods (or squashed Xs) horizontal. Also that the downlead is secure and not flapping in the wind.
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Aytchgee:
As you may have noticed from the post before yours, Sudbury had been on Planned Engineering. That work should have been completed as the transmitter is no longer listed, but there have been occasions when we've found the lists to be inaccurate and it's always possible some work may still be continuing.
That said, assuming the work is complete, one thing that is never a good idea is to retune when you have no signal or badly pixellated picture as it will often just clear the correct tuning that you had, and you can end up tuned to a much weaker signal from another transmitter.
Check in your TV's Tuning Section that you are correctly tuned to the UHF channels for Sudbury -
The 6 main multiplexes are on UHF channels C44, C41, C47, C29, C31, C37 that's in multiplex order -
PSBs1/BBCA, PSB2/D3&4, PSB3/BBCB HD, COM4/SDN, COM5/ArqA, COM6/ArqB
There is a relay transmitter close by (although vertical polarisation) and you could have got mistuned to that for any of the PSB muxes.
You should normally get good signals from Sudbury, but if your loft aerial is still pointing through a party wall that won't be helping matters.
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MAURICE CHAPPELL:
Well it depends on what you are looking for! There is a "News" section at the top of the Menu with News Headlines and Read This amongst other things. Some stuff is automated Voice to Text transcripts which don't always come out perfectly - you can always listen to the original source.
Elsewhere, somethings don't change so might appear to be out of date, and there is lots that the site owner has not had time to update since the 700MHz Clearance programme.
There is an Archive section at the bottom of the menu with a few articles, but bear in mind there could be some where the information is out-of-date (as it's and "archive")!
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Ian Hands:
I don't think it's been on Sky for some time, but someone more informed may know. Unless you have an abysmal internet connection, you can watch on-line The Box Plus Network |
HOWEVER
From 27 September 2021, Kerrang! broadcasts a simulcast of The Box after the activation of a fire suppressant system at the premises of Red Bee Media on 25 September 2021. The channel is still not up and running as of November 2021.
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aytchgee:
Hmm. This sounds a bit odd.
I'm not sure that "adding" channels rather than "replacing" is the best option. If you happen to have got/be getting signals from more than one transmitter (several even) then "duplicates" for want of a better way of saying it, may be put in the 800 LCN range - and that might be some/many from Sudbury if the "correct" LCNs are already occupied by channels from another transmitter which may or may not be any longer receivable which could have been weather dependent!
Also having to try tuning late (after 11pm) could also be fraught with problems as certain types of maintenance work may be carried out over night and so not all muxes or channels may be available.
To start off, I'd suggest clearing all current tuning by unplugging the aerial and carrying out a full automatic retune. As no channels should be found, this should clear everything.
Plug the aerial back in and then carry out a MANUALtune of Sudbury's UHF channels as I listed in the previous post.
If for some reason you don't get anything on some of those channels, I'd try a manual tune on them at a different time - just in case there is some unpublished work going on OR the possibility of some sort of external interference.
Once correctly tuned to those UHF channels do NOT retune again. IF some programmes (LCNs) only appear to be watchable at certain time of day, make a note of which they are and when this is occurring and we'll have to consider the possibility of some sort of interference and how to investigate depending on the circumstances.
(As an aside, did you ever get a UHF/VHF diplexer for your aerials?).
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Anka de Souza:
This list from Freeview has all the channels
Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview and which multiplexes they are carried on. Reception of all multiplexes but especially COM7 and Local will depend on location, not all areas are served.
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Monday 8 November 2021 1:23PM
Rupert Jones:
Perhaps you could try answering the questions in my previous reply to you!
I don't know for certain what happened to the content of your last post, my guess is because you posted another identical post, the software on this site automatically removes duplicate posts.