All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Tom Moore:
The BBC did report a fault at the transmitter, but you should now have signals back.
From 8:39am to 9:54am on 30th Dec 2023 Off the air due to a fault.
Hope you did not retune when you had no signal. It doesn't matter if it's due to transmitter faults, engineering, weather conditions or your own aerial system - it's never recommend if you'd been tuned correctly,.
You can't tune to signals that aren't there and the net effect is often just to clear the correct tuning, so you receive nothing until you are correctly tuned again.
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Charlie S:
I've read your post several times to try and sort out and separate the issues.
Firstly for Ridge Hill, the aerial should be pointing at about compass bearing 253 degrees for the quoted postcode. The Rods (or squashed Xs) should be horizontal. That should be visible from ground level without anyone having to climb up.
The predicted reception from Ridge Hill is very good for all multiplexes.
The Malvern transmitter is at compass bearing 280 degrees, which whilst just being within the typical beamwidth of an aerial at 253 degrees, as Steve has pointed out it is Vertical polarisation which will significantly reduce the strength of any signal that might be picked up!
That doesn't mean that there won't be circumstances where those signals will be picked up.
You say the PVR is Internet connected and iPlayer and Channel 4 players work ok, but what about My5 and ITVX, the latter in particular gives some idea about the streaming capabilities of the PVR which will be related to some of your "missing" channels?
The PVR should have some sort of System Menu where you can select how/when it would look for system updates so have a look for that and make sure it has the latest - you should be able to find out from the PVR maker's Support website.
The TV set should be capable of doing Software Updates without any satellite dish connected if the Ethernet port is connected to a router with internet connection. See p50 of the TV's manual. It should be possible to set it to "Auto Update Search in Standby" set to On, or "System Update Search Now" then when prompted "OK". How long it will take to download depends on the Internet connection.
For which TV channels are carried on which multiplex (this site/page isn't always fully up-to-date), see Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview
There is no Local multiplex at Ridge Hill (or Malvern). Steve has explained about the possible co-channel issues between Malvern and The Wrekin, nevertheless predicted reception from Malvern is good. However, if you get good reliable reception from Ridge Hill, why change - you'd have to pay an aerial guy to change your aerial providing he can assure you that reception from Malvern will be satisfactory.
Now these "missing" TV channels.
First to say it has nothing to do with which transmitter you use (providing they have all 6 main multiplexes), it has to do with the software & hardware & streaming capabilities of the TV and/or PVR.
Secondly, some of these channels only broadcast very limited hours, and stream outside of them provided the equipment is of a suitable standard (generally it's those channels with LCNs below 100).
Those with LCNs in the 260+ range will only stream (again only with suitable equipment). Whether they appear in the EPG may again be equipment dependent.
There's been cases where a channel about to/should be streaming says an Internet connection is needed - even when you have one - this is to do with the transmission standard and equipment standard (it's not a bug in the equipment).
All channels that stream should warn that you are about to view content via the internet, channels that only stream should show a warning message about proceeding to view non-regulated internet content - that doesn't mean it's anything "nasty", it's just not subject to the same rules as stuff that's transmitted, but I believe there's an upcoming change to OFCOM's rules on that.
Clarification on some TV channel names - both Great! and That's channels often rename some of their channels upto and over the Christmas period (see the link I posted above). Many names will start reverting to "normal" after January 3rd.
Your EPG may not be up-to-date if you haven't retuned a relevant multiplex (COMs only), sometimes it's best to do a full retune as some channels might otherwise end up in the wrong places, usually 800s.
LCN56 That's TV (UK) broadcasts 6.00am to 4.00am
LCN61 GREAT! movies extra broadcasts 4.00am to 6.00am
If the set/PVR is capable, when the channel is streaming, it may see a "Data" logo and eventually a screen that says Press Red to view the service.
LCN62 GREAT! tv +1 broadcasts 3.00am to 5.00am. Outside those hours you may see a screen saying a new service will be launching shortly (which we take to mean the broadcast hours!).
LCN63 GREAT! christmas mix broadcasts 3.00am to 5.00am displays Press Red when streaming
LCN65 That's Christmas broadcast 9.00am to 3.00am then IIRC Press Red.....
LCN67, LCN68 TRUE CRIME / TRUE CRIME XTRA broadcast 24/7
LCN71 That's 60s broadcasts 4.00am to 6.00am then Press Red......
LCN75 That's 90s broadcasts 3.00am to 9.00am then Press Red.....
LCN85 Create & Craft broadcasts 7.00am to 10.00pm then stream with a choice of two services
(Not sure if I may have missed any in the above range)
None of the following streamed services have broadcast hours, many will give the Press Red or Press OK to View/Watch option usually with the internet warning (some take time to load).
Remember some take a while to load and you think you have a blank screen.
LCNs 263 to 271, 273 to 276, 278 to 284, 286 to 290 can sometimes be a bit iffy loading/selecting options to watch a choice
LCN272 MBC & LCN291 TV Extra will only work on some of the latest equipment
LCN277 is called the UK RADIO PORTAL with a choice of stations
LCN285 can say you need to be connected to the internet
I trust you have checked you are correctly tuned to Ridge Hill's UHF channels -
They are C28, C25, C22, C21, C24, & C27 that's in multiplex order -
BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6
If the PVR has a HD/T2 tuner you should get LCNs 101-107, 204 & 205.
Also remember the BBC children's channels are daytime hours only.
Children's channels 209 to 213 are streaming only.
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Charlie S:
It could probably do with @StevensOnln1 or @js to answer this as I'm no satellite tuning expert so I don't know if the following help -
https://en.satexpat.com/sat/east/28.2/astra2-uk-spotbeam/
https://en.kingofsat.net/sat-astra2e.php
I believe that if the equipment isn't Freesat EPG licenced, the EPG order will be the order you tune them unless you can move them with a programme manager, but I'm not certain.
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Steve Donaldson:
Whilst you may be correct about which transmitter his mother is receiving, we'll have to wait and see, I feel sure you have got the wrong end of the stick with regards to the "missing" channels, they are all related to issues to do with Streaming. What works and what doesn't depend very much on the standard of the receiving equipment as well as the standard being used for transmission which in some cases is the latest standard of HbbTV and no MHEG.
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BRIAN MARTIN:
Because the owner's site software hasn't picked up the full list of channels on the multiplex for some reason.
If you want what is usually a full and up-to date list of which TV channels are on which multiplex. see
Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview
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Charlie S:
As indicated, the lack of certain channels when they are streaming, or to be more precise, one or two just going off-air, has no bearing on which transmitter you receive from. So they're probably little point in posting about your mother's reception from Lark Hill unless there's a different issue.
Freeview's channel listing are never likely to be more detailed, the amount of "air-time" a particular channel may have/use is based on a commercial agreement between the channel owner/provider and the multiplex operator. What's happening in practise is that some TV channels are actually sharing the available space on the multiplex at different times of day(night) as long as they meet the minimum requirements for having an LCN.
There aren't any manuals for your Panasonic here, I found it on another website. It, and any information about software updates might be available on Panasonics website, I didn't have time to do a thorough search. In any event Panasonic Support should be able to tell you what the latest is and whether it's available to download. Some sets can be updated via a USB stick, again Panasonic should be able to advise if that's so.
Do post more if you have any further issues.
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nick horrex:
You are correct in that the channel usage for mobile is above 49 but it is the reception of such strong signals from a mobile cell that can saturate your tuner and produce all sort of spurious signals as a consequence, which can interference with the other channels. Yes we would have expected the channels closer to 49 to be more affected but it seems that's not always the case in practice.
Get the Free Filter.
The Quality figure dropping is an indication that the signal is getting corrupted and that the set's decoder is having to work a lot harder to correct the errors and it will eventually reach a point where it can't correct enough of them and your either have bad pixellation or complete loss.
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Friday 29 December 2023 9:30PM
Alyson Smith:
Radio Solent has two FM frequencies, which is best depends on where you are. There's 96.1 &103.8
You can obviously listen on-line using radio player and also BBC Sounds where there's catch-up as well.