All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Nick :
Hi Nick. The predictions for the COM muxes in your locale SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5 & ArqB/COM6 are poor. How well do you normally get/are you getting COMs 5 & 6 ?
There is Planned Engineering at Ridge Hill and you may have just picked a bad moment to retune and if you did that earlier this morning there was still a little bit of this "Tropo" weather conditions about as well, but should be clear now.
What strength and quality figures do you have for the PSB muxes?
Have you got any aerial amp/splitter to feed more than one set/box? Have you got a 5G filter fitted before the amp if you have? You should have had a postcard from https://restoretv.uk
If you haven't got a filter fitted, you can get a free one from them.
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Stephen Benson:
How strange that you are getting no reception. I've just done a quick check and can't find any current reports of any faults and it's not listed for Planned Engineering, nor does there appear to be any predicted "Tropo" about, though there may be some Tuesday morning but not the intensity we've just had.
Do all the obvious checks, aerial still pointing correctly, coax plugs, any powered splitters etc.
Yes, that huge mast IS the likely offender, from the (limited) checks I can do, it seem quite new and most likely will use 700MHz amongst other frequency allocations.
I've come across quite a few postcodes where postcards have "supposedly" been sent but "never" been received!
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Steve Lewis:
You've posted on the DAB transmitter page, but as you haven't given a postcode I assume you do normally receive the Clun Freeview transmitter.
I can't find any reports of faults or outages for the Freeview transmitter, nor any power outages that would affect the transmitter. It's not currently listed for Planned Engineering.and I don't think weather conditions are affecting it this evening.
Check that you are correctly tuned to it's UHF channels which are C29, C31 & C37.
I'd check that you aerial looks intact and is still pointing correctly, that the coax downlead isn't flapping in the wind. Check the coax plugs/connections behind the TV and make sure they are clean, no corrosion or water, likewise any other coax connections. Check that any powered splitter to run more than one TV/Box is powered and connected correctly.
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Mr David Edmonds:
You haven't given a postcode but I also get the impression you are having problems when mobile (in a car?), but having done a few checks, you shouldn't be having any problems receiving the main BBC National multiplex from any of at least 4 transmitters you might receive in your area, I can't find any reports of faults or problems due to essential engineering etc.
Which DAB stations are you having problems with?
At home, is this a portable receiver with it's own rod aerial? Have you moved it from where you previously used it? If somewhere like a kitchen have you moved/added something like a large fridge/freezer?
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Mr David Edmonds:
There won't have been any reductions in power. The greatest DAB coverage will be the BBC National multiplex. The next would be the Commercial D1 multiplex and somewhat less the 2nd Commercial SDL multiplex.
Having said that, all those three are well covered in your area, not all areas are so fortunate,
Local multiplexes available in some areas will have more limited coverage.
You may experience some minor problems in heavily built up areas but these should not be widespread because of the way DAB operates it will automatically switch signals from one transmitter to another with the National networks. The majority of Local multiplexes only have one transmitter except in large urban conurbations. where there may be more than one.
It's also worth remembering that certain types of weather conditions can disrupt reception. We recently had such conditions. There was some quite extreme Tropospheric Ducting (not only for the time of year, but also severity) that came with the high pressure system from around October 7th for the best part of a week. This causes signals from distant transmitters to travel considerably further than normal not only in the TV Bands IV & V, but also FM in Bands II and DAB in BAnd III.
So those signals can disrupt the wanted signals you are trying to receive when they are on the same frequency. Also, it's quite common in the radio bands to receive foreign stations that you wouldn't normally hear. Picking up French stations in the south of the country is something that can occur periodically.
If you have regular problems in some specific locations, try and provide a full postcode for them as well as which multiplex and we could try and see if there's an obvious reason.
One annoying thing with the commercial multiplexes is trying to discovered when there is engineering or faults that'll affect reception!
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Annie Burr:
This has been reported by the BBC -
DAB: Off the air due to a fault from 19 Oct 14:32. .
I'm expecting (and searching) for a report that Freeview is also off air. Found it -
From 2:32pm on 19th Oct 2023 BBC A Off the air due to a fault
From 2:32pm on 19th Oct 2023 BBC B HD Off the air due to a fault.
Further research suggests this is because of a power cut.
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M.Dunn:
BBC Look East is the Local News that is usually broadcast after the main BBC National News. It's normally on BBC1 at 1.30pm, 6.30pm and 10.30pm. There's often bulletins during BBC Breakfast as well, typically at a few minutes to the hour and half-hour.
BBC1 is normally on Button 1 in Standard Definition (SD) or 101 in High Definition (HD) if your set has HD.
If your TV is a "Smart" TV connected to the Internet, you can often watch previous episode using iPlayer.
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Jayne Howard :
As you can see from the post immediately before yours, the Woodbridge transmitter (assuming your aerial is pointing at it) is having Planned Engineering.
When you have no signal, Do NOT retune as this will clear your correct tuning or tune you to weak signals from another transmitter which then disappear, and you'll simply have to try retuning again when signals are back to normal.
You could receive several transmitters at your location (not all with good reception).
If your aerial is pointing at Woodbridge, it should be pointing at compass bearing 9 degrees (that's a few degrees E of due N) with its rods (or squashed Xs) vertical.
Your next best reception is predicted to be the Sudbury main transmitter, but local terrain or obstructions may make that not the case. If your aerial is pointing at Sudbury, that should be compass bearing 252 degrees - approximately WSW, with its rods horizontal.
If you did retune and have lost correct tuning, if your aerial points at Woodbridge, you'd be best manually retuning the UHF channels listed in the top section of this page.
If your aerial points any other way, please advise which way with more detail and we should be able to give further information & advice.
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Geoff. Doxon:
Your question is rather puzzling! Which Digital channels are you referring to?
I take it you are referring to the transmitter to the ESE of Kendal, rather than the Kendal Fell transmitter to the West. In any event both transmit Freeview Digital TV signals (although it's only the 3 PSB multiplexes). Only the Kendal transmitter transmitter DAB radio signals.
However you should have no problem receiving that or several other main transmitters unless you are right in the bottom of a valley in which case we'd need a full postcode to try and check predicted reception. Also you need to be specific as to which digital signals or stations (TV or Radio) you are trying/wanting to receive.
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Sunday 15 October 2023 10:04AM
Stephen Benson:
As you probably know, both those postcodes are in areas where reception is not the best and predicted to be variable. However, from your comments you obviously get quite reasonable reception the rest of the time.
Interference is a likely possibility as both postcodes should have received postcards from https://restoretv.uk and there's probably new/upgraded phone masts near you causing a problem.
You mentioned changing your aerial, which I hope was a Group K and not at Wideband or Group T. You haven't mentioned filters which you can get free from restoretv.
Did you ever get the postcards? We are aware that some people that should have received them, did not!