All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Simon F.:
The Wrekin will come in quite strongly in your location - you're about halfway between it and Sutton Coldfield, so manual tuning may be needed on occasion but there should be very few occasions when that's needed these days.
Sutton Coldfield is one of very few transmitters with two UHF channels for the Local multiplex and signals are usually beamed to the centres of population. C36 beams north towards Lichfield and surrounding districts and you aren't predicted to get reliable reception of it - very variable to poor, because your location is slightly off-beam.
As far as amplification is concerned, as you mention too strong signals can cause problems. It was for that reason I'd like to see the exact signal & quality/BER figures for each multiplex in both set locations. Please also describe how your current downlead is currently split with splitters etc.
How much of the coax was replaced when the aerial was replaced?
I'll post a slightly more comprehensive response later, have to deal with other matters right now.
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Simon F.:
The other channel for the Local mux is beaned South West (towards Birmingham) and you would not get it.
In your location your aerial should be pointing at a bearing of 142 degrees, that's - 7 degrees S of SE and it's rods (or squashed Xs) should be horizontal.
Lower quality can occur when there is interfering signals as well as when the signal is very low and just affected by weather. If you see quality varying with or without signal strength variation, it could be due to weather conditions.
Current Weather conditions are causing Tropospheric Ducting - causing interference from more distant transmitters in Europe or the UK. This can be very variable and is usually short term at any instant but conditions have been persisting for several days, different parts of the UK are being affected at different times. Not all multiplexes will be affected at the same time or at all.
Both Freeview and the BBC have issued warnings about short term interference to reception.
Again do NOT retune if you have badly pixellated pictures or no signal.
For you to have coax outlets in more than one location, the aerial downlead needs a splitter, sometimes an amp/splitter. Look for where the downlead goes and look for a "box" where there is more than one cable out. Check all the connections there.
If you have signal strengths in the 90% range on the main muxes then any amplification runs the risk of too much signal.
If the splitting is done correctly and strengths are OK on the shorter run(s) but much lower on the longer run, you might be able to consider some amplification only on the long run BUT you should use one with a variable gain control so it can be adjusted to avoid overload. It should be inserted just after a split rather than the TV end.
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Elaine:
You should have absolutely no problem with reception from Rowridge in your location, and all Planned Engineering has been suspended in the present circumstances and signals should be normal as no transmitter faults are being reported.
Is this your own aerial or a shared aerial provided by the management of the flats?
You say you are getting a "new cable". Is this the cable from the aerial or a "fly-lead" that's one from the coax outlet to your set (and/or between say a recorder and set). Fly-leads can go faulty often noticed when you move them about.
If your neighbours are having similar problems and it's a shared aerial, then there could be a system fault and you'd need to chase the management of the flats to get it fixed. From your description it doesn't sound like the weather conditions are the cause of your problem.
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Nicola Waller :
This channel is carried on a "Local" multiplex and it sounds like you might not be able to receive the Local multiplex. See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
You should also be missing the other channels on the Local multiplex - quick check no Local Station on LCN7 (or sometimes 8) depending on location.
There are a very limited number of main transmitters that have a Local multiplex which is normally beamed at lower power to the large urban centres of population they serve.
If you provide a full (not partial) postcode we might be able to advise if you may be able to receive a Local multiplex and which way your aerial should be pointing.
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js:
Thanks for the detailed update, much appreciated, hope Tony sees it, and hope you are well.
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B Bentley:
Although you haven't given a full postcode, it seems highly improbable that you are getting your signals from this very very low power Manchester Hulme relay transmitter in the Moston/Charlestown area, you are just too far from it. It's far more likely that you get signals from the main Winter Hill transmitter.
I've checked for listed transmitter faults and can find none for your area. If there was a problem with any of the main transmitters serving your area at the time you mention, there would be 100's and 100's of reports and complaints as well as one from the BBC. It seems more likely that something along the lines of StevensOnln1's suggestion occurred.
If you have access to the BBC's iPlayer you'd be able to watch Charles' speech and much other coverage at your leisure.
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Alan Small:
There's a few posts in this thread that you may find helpful -
Upgrading from Sky to Freesat
| free and easy
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John Thompson:
It is available anywhere that you can receive Freeview as it's carried on the BBCB HD/PSB3 multiplex.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
Does your TV have a T2/HD Tuner and you get HD channels in the LCN range 101-106? If not the you aren't receiving/able to receive the HD multiplex.
As you've posted on the Waltham page, I assume your aerial is pointed at compass bearing 112 degrees with it's rods (or squashed Xs) horizontal and you get Central East Local news. Although you are closer to Waltham than Sutton Coldfield (Central West) you are predicted to get strong signals from there, so it would be wise to ensure you are correctly tuned to Waltham - see the post before yours except ignore COM7 (C55) as this temporary HD multiplex has now closed.
(Addendum, I see StevensOnln1 has posted whilst I was preparing this post with interruptions).
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Thursday 8 September 2022 10:18PM
Simon F.:
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
Apart from the "Christmas" channel name changes it is normally up-to-date and Freeview will normally update the list a day or two after such minor changes.
If you provide a full postcode we should be able to give an indication of how "receivable" the Local mux is in your location, as well as which way your aerial should point for Sutton Coldfield.
Roughly how old is the aerial installation and coax?
Whilst aerial upgrades were not needed for the main 6 multiplexes for Sutton Coldfield with the 700MHz Clearance program, one might have been needed to get the temporary COMs 7&8 (both now closed). However, older installations may have degraded due to moisture ingress etc.
Have a look in your TVs' Tuning sections for indications of Signal Strength and Bit Error Rate (BER) or Quality %, for each multiplex's UHF channel, (An up-to-date channel list is in the post before yours).
Posting all those figures may be helpful.
Obviously check every coax joint that you can and ensure that they are clean and there's no corrosion etc. Make sure you don't have any HDMI leads running close to coax aerial leads as HDMI can sometimes cause interference.
How "moveable" is the Technika? If you can try it at the Samsung and Humax location and see if the Local mux is still receivable (Do NOT retune it) then that may give a feel for how likely the coax length and/or quality may have a bearing on the signal.