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 Lofthouse:
Hmm, sounds like a bit of a cop-out or fob-off to me. I don't personally see what the age of the processor has to do with it, it may just be somewhat slower. I find it strange that your friend with the same model TV has only just had the problem!
If you and your friend could each check what version of firmware your sets have.
You could then possibly check maybe on Panasonic's website if that is the latest firmware for your set.
I've a vague feeling that the EPG format was changed slightly a while ago (it may well be a couple of years ago) and the firmware in use didn't cope with it. There could have been a firmware update, if not try asking Panasonic about firmware updates?
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Brian Lofthouse:
I've also seen it change between 1080i and 1080p during some BBC HD programmes, this may be related to the source of the material at the time rather than the available bit rate capacity at the time which can change dynamically.
I don't know where you'd find the info on your set, it may be on the detailed EPG, or the Guide or using an Info button?
But if you can find it, on BBC 1 & 2 it should tell you its HD, 16:9, 1080p (or i), HE-ACC and whether it's HbbTV, MHEG, and content type (eg. News and Factual).
It's surprising what material/programmes including ITV, Ch.4 and Ch.5 are in 1080p
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Peter Mochol:
That looks as though you may have made a typo with that postcode as it doesn't exist, however Manchester is generally well covered by DAB transmissions and none of the transmitters you may receive the BBC National multiplex from are currently reporting any faults.
The BBC National multiplex is Block 12B: 225.648 MHz and carries all the main BBC national stations including BBC Radio 3 and Radio 4. Are you not getting similar problems with BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio 2 etc.?
What sort of signal are you getting, if you look at its info, what sort or error level is it reporting? Is it breaking up, or is there some sort of continuous background interference/noise?
Where are the radios? Have you tried a window sill? Make sure the radios aren't near any large metal objects such as fridges/freezers etc.
If it is only Radio 3 and Radio 4, then you could try clearing memory and then do a full retune.
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nick:
It's simply a matter of terrain/geography. A lot of the area covered by the Brierley Hill transmitter - eg. from Kingswinford down to Stourbridge and the general Brierley Hill area are not well covered (and many parts not at all) by the Sutton Coldfield Transmitter. Look at the general coverage maps on each transmitter page. Whilst they are not supposed to exactly replicate coverage it should give you a clear idea.
The power required to get adequate signal to an area it covers depends on transmitter location and terrain.
If you look at the coverage of the Sudbury and Tacolneston transmitters, there are many small pockets that the signals don't cover. They are generally small pockets of population which is why the commercial broadcasters are not prepared to pay for the extra transmission equipment (assuming frequencies are available) to add the COM multiplexes.
If you are unfortunate enough to live in an area that only gets Freeview Light reception but want more choice, then consider Freesat. A lot of modern TVs already have an in-built satellite tuner so you only need a Dish and LNB.
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ron langdon:
Unfortunately the lists at the top of the page haven't been fully updated. There are over 1100 transmitters in the UK and the site owner has not had time to update everything correctly since the 700MHz Clearance. The Local mux is on C41 not C26, COM7 is on C55 and COM8 closed in June 2020.
Check that your aerial is still pointing correctly - compass bearing 136 degrees - virtually SE, (rods horizontal). Although you are considerable closer to Waltham (23km), it looks as though you are picking up signals from Belmont (72km, compass bearing 52 degrees, that's fractionally S of NE). Whilst it could be within the beamwidth of your aerial, and as you are predicted to get quite good signals for the PSB multiplexes from Belmont, any recent automatic retune may have picked them up as their UHF channels are lower than Waltham and will be seen first.
Additionally this won't have been helped by some of the weather conditions a short while ago AND Waltham has been listed for Planned Engineering (this last week & again next week) with "Possible Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels" which can mean reduced power (and so a weaker signal).
You mention "Retuning seems to fix problem but after a few days it reverts" is this because you are repeating an automatic retune, or you set is doing one automatically because it saw no signal at some point - if the latter, turn such a function OFF if possible, it's far more trouble that it's worth.
Your best bet (on the rare occasion a retune is needed) is to do a manual tune.
From one of my previous posts here -
In the order PSBs1/BBCA, PSB2/D3&4, PSB3/BBCB HD, COM4/SDN, COM5/ArqA, COM6/ArqB, COM7, Local -
the UHF channels for Waltham are C32, C34, C35, C29, C37, C31, C55, C41.
You may/may not get reliable reception of the Local multiplex as that is lower power and beamed towards the main urban areas of Nottingham and Peterborough/Spalding. You are predicted to get poor reception of the Local mux but that can vary depending on where you are within your postcode and your aerial installation.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview
for which LCNs (channels in your EPG) are carried on which multiplex.
(3 channels in the range 50-55 are NI region only).
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Marie Ricketts-Rees:
It depends on where you are in Downend. As StevensOnln1 says we need a full postcode.
Are you in a flat or do you have access to a loft?
If you are quite high up the you may be lucky to get signals from the main Mendip transmitter roughly to the SSW with a indoor (set-top) aerial but would need an unobstructed view (no thick walls) etc. ie. a SSW facing window. A loft aerial would be better, but again line-of-sight is important.
You are unlikely to get reliable reception from any of the main relays in Bristol (Kings Weston - almost due W, even less likely Ilchester Crescent). You might get reliable signals for the main stations from the main Welsh transmitter at Wenvoe (almost due W), but that would be Welsh regional programmes.
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George:
There don't appear to be any reported faults for Pontop Pike and it's not currently listed for Planned Engineering.
I would check that your aerial is still on the roof, seems intact and pointing in the correct direction (almost due SW for you) and that your downlead looks undamaged (especially if it is old) and is secure and not flapping in the wind.
Have you checked the connections behind your TV?
Check all your coax plugs, connections, flyleads etc, unplug connectors check for corrosion or other problems and reconnect them. Flyleads are a common problem, try swapping/changing them. See if you have any signal strengths and quality for the multiplexes (groups of channels) shown in your TV's tuning section, that information may indicate issues with your aerial or downlead or possibly any distribution amp/splitter you may have..
Problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just an individual or several multiplexes.
Have you changed anything in your setup at all?
Make sure you don't have any HDMI leads near unscreened/poorly screened flyleads/aerial leads especially if those aren't double screened coax as HDMI has been known to cause interference.
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Greg:
Unfortunately posts can sometimes take an inordinate amount of time to appear on this site!
I can't find any faults listed fro Chesterfield and it's not currently listed for Planned Engineering, so why C31 was missing is a mystery at present.
Yes, C47 is BBCA/PSB1 from Emley. As you haven't given a full postcode I can't tell you at which compass bearing your aerial should point, but it should be vertical polarisation whereas Emley is horizontal. I'd check it hasn't tipped over or accidentally been disturbed.
If you retuned when the recent channel changes took place, there was weather related interference issues affecting some people and that might be how you accidentally got tuned to C47.
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Greg:
Compass bearing 356 degrees (almost due N) for Chesterfield, and 340 degrees (fractionally N of NNW) for Emley. Of course polarisations of received signals change change a bit due to local nearby objects, trees, buildings, walls, chimneys etc. (it's that sort of thing that can make RF a bit of a black art at times!).
Have you looked in your 800 LCNs for any BBCA mux channels. It will be dependant on set brand/model as to how you can view which UHF channels you are tuned to, and if for some reason your Emley signal was/is being picked up a bit stronger when you tuned, it may choose that instead of Chesterfield!
Predicted reception across your postcode shows a bit of variability on random checks, but Emley mainly seems to come out stronger with C55 being variable/poor to non-existent! But they are only predictions, things can be different on the spot!
Manual tuning would be the thing to do, for specific UHF channels.
It's not at all likely that Chesterfield is using C47 (apart from a lot of DUK/Freeview & OFCOM documentation being wrong) they'd have to operate as a SFN and they are listed by OFCOM as two different news regions (North for Emley, South for Chesterfield), so no, highly improbable IMHO.
As far as 5G is concerned, there's a bit of confusion as at present it's mainly operating on much higher frequencies. It could be 4G or 5G operating in the 700MHz band, it depends on the coverage needed to fall in line with OFCOM agreements. Whichever it is, it will depend on how close the mast is, and whether it's on the line-of-sight. Any very strong signal (including Freeview itself) can overload and desensitise a receiver's front end. The most likely impact (initially) would be C55 which in any event being a temporary mux is closing by end of June 2022 in line with the current licence. If the signal strength were to be strong enough to be affecting channels lower down (C48 and lower) you would most likely receive a postcard from restoretv.uk (was at800/DMSL) and be entitled to a free filter.
Ha, seems like I was typing my reply at the same time as StevensOnln1 ;)
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Wednesday 9 February 2022 1:34AM
Mr Ray Hughes:
As far as I can ascertain those masts may carry O2 signals, whether they are 5G or not isn't specifically the issue, it's whether they are in the 700MHz band.
How has your reception been affected, is it all channels or just some/which ones?
Restore TV should have sent a postcard if you were going to be affected, but according to their website they haven't for your postcode. That doesn't mean you shouldn't contact them as advised by StevensOnln1, but it may mean you have some other issue.
What sort of aerial do you use? Have you changed anything in your setup since this started?