All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Brian Richardson:
Too much gain can also be a bad thing. Depending on the response of that aerial you have (some aerial can have a very peaky response curve), it may still turn out to be a compromise with slightly lower gain to minimise the errors. See how things go on. Tropo still about but not always causing a problem.
Going forwards, you might want to consider a change of aerial (after COM7 closes). I'd probably go for a log periodic with a 700MHz filter (ie ch.21-48) they've got a pretty flat response.
Post back if you need more help/have any queries at any time.
| link to this comment |
Alan Driver:
Hi Alan. Who knows!! Winter Hill is NOT on Freeview's own list (and the checker says there's no Planned Engineering or current outages) but then we know from experience it isn't always correct. Even then, this site has a problem at present and what engineering is being done isn't currently reaching Tx pages and the site owner hasn't been able to sort it (yet?).
Rather than doing what the "bot" said, I'd try manually retuning the correct missing UHF channels until you get them, as auto-tuning will sometimes miss a weaker mux especially as there's some tropo weather conditions around which may upset reception periodically.
In the multiplex order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6, COM7
Winter Hill UHF channels since the 700 MHz clearance are -
The main multiplexes are C32, C34, C35, C29, C31, C37, C55
The Local ones are Local Manchester, Manchester GI on C24 & C27.
Liverpool Local mux on C21, Preston Local mux on C40.
Which Local mux(es) you may get, and possibly COM7 will depend on location.
| link to this comment |
Andrew Turner :
Depends on the TV, check it hasn't already got a built-in Satellite tuner. The Sky dish can't be a SkyQ LNB.
| link to this comment |
Andrew Turner :
Should have added, that Strontian relay is the only one that comes up on the BBC checker as well.
Btw, it's at bearing 17 degrees (nearly NNW) and is 5km away with a power of 6W!
| link to this comment |
James halsey:
For Bluebell Hill the correct UHF channels are C32, C34, C45, C40, C43, C46, C55, C21 for the multiplexes in the order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6, COM7 & the Local multiplex.
Reception of particular multiplexes, especially the temporary COM7 and Local will depend very much on location.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
If you hover over each of those channel numbers, it will give you the frequency.
Unfortunately the entries towards the top of the page haven't been fully updated by the site owner since 700MHz clearance.
| link to this comment |
James halsey:
Ah, now there's an additional problem, C21 used used by a Freeview Light Relay for Faversham!! Although it's vertically polarised and Bluebell Hill horizontal, it'll still most likely be a problem.
The transmitter is located in the Ospringe area and beamed towards Faversham, so it'll very much depend on your location and possibly whether your aerial is screened from the Faversham transmitter.
If you care to provide a full postcode, we can look at predicted reception as many parts of Faversham are not predicted to get good reception from ANY of the main transmitters whose signals may reach the area.
| link to this comment |
Dave D:
As StevensOnln1 has suggested, you may find other COM6 channels in the 800s, that seems to be what happened on my set too.
| link to this comment |
Roger Turner:
This is most likely to be due to current weather conditions. The current high pressure weather system has been accompanied by some "Temperature Inversion/Tropospheric Ducting" where signals from distant transmitters are carried further than normal, due to the particular layers of the atmosphere. It causes interference to your wanted signals. This can result in changes to received signal strength and quality.
The problems can last for seconds, minutes ,hours, sometimes even longer. Do NOT retune, you are likely to just lose your correct tuning.
There are currently no reported transmitter faults or listed Planned Engineering for Oxford.
As the conditions vary you should see changes in those figures and current predicted suggest that it all may clear over the next couple of days.
If you continue to see problems, post back with some more specific figures for each multiplex.
| link to this comment |
James halsey:
The problem is you are right in the middle of the coverage area of the Faversham relay. So it's transmissions on C21 just cause interference to any signal from the Bluebell Hill Local mux, hence all your set can see is a load of "noise" so it sees that as no signal.
Having looked at this in more detail, you only need to go slightly NW outside of the Faversham coverage and you'll find a signal from Bluebell Hill, even as close as the NW edges of Bysing Wood. It's predicted to be poor (as is the Faversham Relay signal) but it's there.
Basically, if you were using an aerial with good cross-polar rejection and screened from the Faversham Relay at Ospringe by say a nice thick stone building wall, you might be in with a chance. However, there's a conflict there, as to get that screening the aerial may need to be too low down to get an adequate signal fro Bluebell Hill. But here is another interesting thing.
There are some Bluebell Hill relays, most significantly one at Sittingbourne Stockers Hill which appear to be operating as a Single Frequency Network (SFN) ie. syncronised and using the same channels as Bluebell Hill (except COM7).
So it's possible that you may be getting some of your signals from that.
Question - do your get COM7 on UHF C55?
Your particular location seems to have Bluebell Hill, Sittingbourne Stockers Hill and Crystal Palace well within the beamwidth of virtually all aerials. In that order, compass bearing 268 degrees, 267 degrees & 278 degrees. so that's why you can get them without any real problem.
As far as the London Local mux is concerned, no chance. That one is beamed (as are most local muxes) from Crystal Palace towards London (unlike the Bluebell Hill one it seems).
So apart from there being no signal in any southerly direction, as London uses C35 you get quite a good signal from Dover for PSB2 which uses C35, it would wipeout anything else.
In summary, unless you are someone with a bit of tech knowledge and want to play with aerials, you might as well forget these Local muxes. If you have a good enough Broadband signal, you could watch KMTV online - (on your TV if it has a browser) at KMTV - Delivering news, sport and entertainment across Kent
HTH.
| link to this comment |
Wednesday 26 January 2022 2:59PM
Terry Mason:
According to Freeview and the BBC checkers, all numbers in your postcode are predicted to get good reception from Dallngton Park despite the tower block.
All numbers are predicted to have variable reception of Sutton Coldfield COMs and high numbers also the PSBs. High numbers may also have variable reception from Sandy Heath, but the lower numbers should get good reception with one or two odd exceptions.
As I've already suggested, the easiest way to discover which signals you are getting is to look in your TV tuning section (or maybe an "info" choice on a given channel - depends on TV set) and see which UHF channel from the lists I've given you are actually getting for the various multiplexes.