All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
G Page:
Have you checked whether any very near neighbours still have signal?
Like you, can't find any reports of faults, and Tacolnestion is not listed for Planned Engineering.
When you say you've checked all cables, does that include the one from the aerial to wherever the TV connects?
Do you have any splitter/distribution amp running more than one TV or box, or have any aerial pre-amp?
If so, do they still have power?
Did you retune at all when you first lost signal? Have you retuned since?
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Soxley:
Some fairly recent TVs have built-in satellite tuners. Apart from looking at the TV Tuning section which can show a satellite tuner if present, the other clue is the presence of an F-connector on the back of the set, as well as the usual "belling type" coax socket.
I take it there's no TV aerial on the property?
How many outputs does the LNB on the satellite dish appear to have? How many cables coming from it?
Can you ask the seller if it was a standard sky box they had or was it Sky Q?
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alan paterson:
Well this is certainly a bit odd, but note, the previous poster is in a completely different region to you.
Mendip IS listed for Planned Engineering and has been for a couple of weeks, but there are no recent Faults currently listed, and the transmitter is working!
As I mentioned to the previous poster, have you check if a very nearby neighbour has also lost all channels?
"Freeview" can be a bit hopeless when it comes to technical issues like this. Whilst there is some Tropospheric Ducting around, weather conditions such as that, currently do NOT have a continual effect. It's been quite variable, comes and goes, affects some parts of the country at some instances and other parts at others.
As you've had an engineer out and no faults found, then the only "common factor" with you and the previous poster is most likely to be interference from a mobile mast that has recent had some 4G/5G in the 700MHz band switched on. It would be quite likely that such a "switch-on" may happen across different parts of the country at the same time.
I would certainly hassle restoretv.uk for a filter, whatever else they may say. I've come across a few cases where they haven't sent out postcards to affected postcodes when a mast has been switched on!!
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rosi morris:
Hello rosi. HopefullY StevensOnln1 will be able to offer some further information as well.
We're going to need a little bit more information to enable us to give you some constructive advice.
As far as cancelling your Sky subscription, it will depend on whether you are still in some sort of minimum term contract with them as to how easy this is. If you aren't, it should be quite easy.
The next question is what sort of Sky box is it? If it's a more recent SkyQ box, things get more tricky and probably a bit ,more expensive because the LNB (the sort of aerial part) on the satellite dish isn't compatible with most standard satellite receivers as I understand it.
If it's an older Sky box, how long have you had it? Depending on the contract, some Sky boxes would have to be returned, if not, some of them allow you to watch the "free-to-air" channels, others will require a viewing card which may come with a small cost, BUT I'm not the expert of those.
Some modern TVs have in-built satellite tuners so you wouldn't need a box, roughly how old is yours? As long as the dish and LNB are standard, you can connect it direct to the TV.
Do you know if your TV has an in-built satellite tuner? Is there an F-connector socket on the back of the set (similar to the one of the back of the Sky box) which will be in addition to the standard socket for a TV aerial? Do you have a TV aerial at all,?
If you don't know about these things, tell us the make and model of the TV - there'll be a label on the back of the set with such information.
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Lorna Smith :
You may live in Ramsgate but are you getting your reception from the Ramsgate transmitter or one of the main transmitters? There are several Meridian transmitters currently listed for Planned Engineering with Possible effect on TV reception eg. "Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels".
However, just to compound matters there are currently some weather related problems. In the Analogue days it was usually referred to as "Continental Interference" due to "Sporadic E"
Today we can suffer "Tropospheric Ducting" which can result in the same problems - interference from more distant transmitters in Europe or the UK.
Both Freeview and the BBC have issued warnings about short term interference to reception.
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rosi morris:
ukfree.tv is the name of this free technical help website. You may mean Freesat or Freeview!
That said, I've replied to your other posts here
Upgrading from Sky to Freesat
| free and easy if you could reply to the queries.
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Jane:
Current weather conditions are causing "Tropospheric Ducting" which is affecting different parts of the UK at various times, this results in inference from distant transmitters.
Both Freeview and the BBC have issued warning about short term reception problems.
If you were correctly tuned you are advised NEVER to retune when you have No signal or badly pixellated pictures as this usually just clears your correct tuning.
You then have to retune again when signals are normal which might mean several attempts as yoyu won't know when that may be.
But as you have only lost signal on one set, I would check all your aerial connections behind that TV first. Do they both share the same aerial?
If you don't normally have problems getting correctly tuned when you have retuned with previous channel changes, best to try again. Otherwise we'd need to know which way your aerial points and a full postcode to advise which transmitter you may be receiving.and so which UHF channels to tune to. IF you are actually pointing at the Ramsey transmitter the UHF channels are C39, C45 plus C42 for the HD ones if you have an HD/T2 tuner.
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Karl:
This is an independent technical help-site which doesn't have any direct connection with any broadcasters or transmitter companies.
What I can say is that I can't find any reports from the BBC about faults affecting their DAB services in your area - are you having any problems with BBC stations?
As for any of the Commercial multiplexes other than those carrying a BBC Local service, trying to find fault or maintenance information is like trying to get blood from a stone!
There has been disruption to DAB (& Freeview) reception in recent days due to current weather conditions, but this should be short term and is quite variable.
If problems continue, you may be best trying to contact one of the affected stations (eg.Talk Sport) directly to see if they can check up on any problems.
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Paul williams :
A group K aerial is fine, it is in fact the "new" wideband, as no transmitter in the UK broadcasts above UHF C48 now that COM7 has closed. It may have better gain than similar traditional "wideband" aerials.
How many rods (or squashed Xs) has it got? What model does it say on the box?
The site might be a bit tricky if there any local obstructions nearby on the line of sight, ideally the aerial should be above roof height.
There are two transmitters you might get, the first thing to do is look which way everybody's is pointing, that gives you a clue as to what MAY be best.
The Main transmitter at Caradon Hill is predicted to give the most likely best reception for the PSB multiplexes, but the the COM multiplexes could be very variable.
The Local(ish) Relay at Kingsbridge is predicted to potentially have variable reception of the PSBs (no COMs)
A nearby Relay at Newton Ferrers is predicted to give very poor to no reception, as is one further away at Slapton..
So for Caradon Hill, it should be pointing at compass bearing 309 degrees, that's very slightly west of NW, with its rods/squahed Xs horizontal.
If you want to try the relay at Kingsbridge, it should be pointing at bearing 102 degrees, that's 12 degrees S of due E, with its rods Vertical.
If auto-tuning doesn't find the channels (it can miss weaker signals) then do a manual tune.
For Caradon Hill UHF channels are C28, C25 and C22 (if you have HD) for the PSBs, and C21, C24, C27 for the COMs.
For Kingsbridge C39, C43, and C48 if you have HD.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
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Tuesday 16 August 2022 2:26PM
Alan Goss:
Hi Alan, so just to be clear if the Xs are taller than they are wide, that is vertical polarisation.
There are two ways to check what you are receiving.
The easiest way to check what channels you have. If you are tuned to just Bexhill it won't have any of the COM multiplexes, so you won't get LCN's such as LCN11 Sky Arts, LCN 12, Quest, LCN19 Dave, LCN20 drama, LCN27 Yesterday, LCN84 PBS America to name just a few of them.
Now because Bexhill is horizontal (but you are very close to it) you may still get it but at a reduced strength - which could still be adequate. If the aerial is actually pointing nearer to Hastings (bearing 74 degrees) Bexhill is still likely to be within the beamwidth but the wrong polarisation for Bexhill may reduce the strength enough to be unreliable.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex. There is no Local multiplex that is predicted that you could receive.
The best way to see which transmitter(s) you are actually receiving, is to look int eh TV Tuning Section for the UHF channel for each Multiplex. However some TVs display some/all that information when you select a channel.
The higher numbers in your postcode generally do better with reception but especially from Heathfield.
If you are only getting the PSBs from Bexhill, you could try just for a test, a manual tune on UHF C30 to try and add in the ArqB multiplex from Hastings (predicted to be a bit stronger than the others).
Occasionally people get good signals of the back of an aerial even with the wrong polarisation! Even local buildings. trees etc can make a difference. The best way to check what your set has tuned to - which could be a mixture - is to look for the UHF channels it's got.