All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Richard Smith:
Hi Richard. I'm glad you managed to solve the problem, thanks for the feedback. Your main transmitter is indeed Wenvoe, but you may also get signals from a number of other transmitters in your location, Mendip being the strongest, then the Llangeinor relay (PSBs only), and some weak/variable signals from Stockland Hill and Huntshaw Cross in Devon.
If you happened to retune (or your set did it automatically) when you had no or badly pixellated signals, it often clears correct tuning and can tune to other signals. Maybe COM6 was down during the Engineering if this happened.
Generally it's not recommended to retune in those conditions if you were correctly tuned, just wait until signals return. (Same when adverse weather affects reception).
Best thing is to check you are correctly tuned to Wenvoe's UHF channels (as listed at the very top of this page).
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Darrol:
If you've had a new aerial installed recently, what was the actual signal strength in dBuV at the wall plate socket or the coax plug that goes into the TV if you don't have a wall-plate?
Also not sure why the installer used a Wideband aerial when a Group K would help protect you from possible future interference from any nearby mobile phone mast upgrades.
Whilst 100% Quality is ideal and should ideally be achieved except when there's weather related interference to signals, as you haven't given a full postcode, we don't know how close you are to Rowridge.
Although different sets have different receiver sensitivities and the actual set signal strength figure is not always meaningful, 100% signal means there's a good chance the signal is too strong which is why I asked about the actual measured value at the wall-plate.
Too strong a signal can give the sort of symptoms you are experiencing.
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Darrol:
Hi. Well 60-70dBuV should be fine, but how variable that might be under some weather conditions could be important, this is where a full postcode is need to look at the predicted reception.
Are your aerial rods horizontal or vertical (Rowridge has both polarisations for the 6 main multiplexes)? Do you get the Local multiplex on UHF C37 - News channel at LCN7 and such things as Great TV at LCN50 , Great Romance at LCN52? If the rods are vertical you probably won't get it as the Local multiplex is only horizontally polarised (never understood why they did that because generally reception is mostly better around the area with vertical polarisation!).
If you are in the South of the island reception of the COM multiplexes can be somewhat variable with horizontal polarisation, the more to the West the better it seems to be, as it seems to be in the North, but predicted reception can vary a lot from location to location which is why the full postcode is needed.
Do you have any amp/splitters to feed the signal to more than one TV? If so, does it have a variable gain control?
I did think after I commented about 100% signal that I've come across some sets/boxes in the past that say 100% even when it's poor! It does seem to be better these days, buts that's why it's not always a good guide and signal strength measurement with a proper meter is always best.
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darrol:
All TV channels are transmitted in groups know as multiplexes. The PSBs are the Public Service Broadcast ones, the COMs are purely commercial The channel number in the EPG is its LCN - Logical Channel Number.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which TV channels are carried on which multiplex.
I wouldn't bother going to any expense of changing an aerial as you've just had this one, and a group A might reduce your signal on the local multiplex (a Group K would be a better bet at any future date if/when needed).. The predictions for your postcode with Horizontal polarisation suggest you should have no problem receiving any of the multiplexes.
If in the future you end up with any problems with mobile interference you can get a free filter from https://restoretv.uk
As the predictions are good and there's no other obvious causes, trying an attenuator is certainly the best idea. Let us know how you get on.
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David Ritchie:
At Alnwick you shouldn't have any problems with those commercial stations on FM from Fenham, as well as the main BBC ones, and Lionheart.
But in Holy Island and Branxton, it'll be more likely to be only the main BBC stations on FM. You might fair better with some commercial stations on DAB in Branxton.
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Rosemary :
Depends on where you are in the country, your full postcode (or one from a nearby pub/shop/etc) would do. Sometimes there is one on a Local multiplex, eg. there's one or two on the London multiplexes.
Not all areas are covered, but if you receive the main commercial multiplexes D1 on Block 11D: 222.064MHz (or Block 12A: 223.936MHz in Scotland) or SDL on Block 11A: 216.928 MHz then you've got UCB1 & 2 on the D1 multiplex, and Premier Christian & Premier Praise on the SDL multiplex.
Premier Christian is also on Freeview radio channel LCN725.
There are some stations on FM in some particular areas of the UK.
There's quite a selection online, not just from the UK (choice may depend on the radio player you use).
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Richard Sutton:
My immediate reaction to those figures is either some interference centred around C24, or some quirk of your system that's affecting primarily C24 but having a slight effect on C25.
I'm going to take a closer look at the information here and that you've given before to see what comprehensive checks you might do to find the cause.
But first there's one obvious check - do you have any old analogue devices like games consoles or VHS recorders etc., that have an RF output, connected to your system? If so, what RF channel are those tuned to?
As for autotune always picking C29 instead of C25, do those devices on initial setup ask which region (or postcode)? If so did you select West instead of Central? If it's doing it based on your correct postcode (very strange) try picking any postcode nearer Birmingham - that ought to resolve any "region" issue (he said hopefully)!
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Brian Gooden:
There've been no transmission power changes at Sutton Coldfield (or elsewhere) all the multiplexes transmit at 200kW. The only "transmission" change was the closure of the Temporary COM7 HD multiplex in June 2022, The BBC's HD channels except BBC News are now on PSB3/BBCB HD.
There have been TV channel changes/swaps of the COM multiplexes by some of the commercial operators.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for what should be an up-to-date list of which TV channels are carried on which multiplex.
You won't get a Local multiplex in Redditch.
Sutton Coldfield had been on Planned Engineering in the latter part of March so if your set auto-retuned when COM5/ArqA was down it may have tuned into the weaker Bromsgrove signal which could be on a side-lobe (or even within the beamwidth) of your aerial,
I suggest you turn OFF any auto (re-)tune function if possible, it is generally more trouble that it is worth often clearing correct tuning or tuning to incorrect signals during transmitter maintenance or even weather related signal disruption.
Check in your TV's tuning section that you are correctly tuned to Sutton Coldfield's UHF channels -
The multiplexes are C43, C46, C40+, C42, C45, C39+ that's in the order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6
(ignore the + sets cope with that automatically).
As you haven't given a full postcode I can't give accurate comment about your likely predicted reception, but quite a few locations in the W/NW of Redditch & some other parts can get reliable signals from Sutton Coldfield. Check in your TV Tuning Section for where it may show UHF channel Signal Strength and Quality and post the figures for each one. This may give a clue to anything unusual that might be occurring.
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Saturday 25 March 2023 8:48PM
John J :
You'll be best contacting the owners of the channel (used to be Sony) but now in the UK it's Narrative Entertainment UK Limited, they are unlikely to see your comment here on this independent technical help-site.
See Narrative