All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
PETER MARTIN:
It's not clear from the way you commented, whether it's just the HD mux that's 10-20% or all of them?
You say you've checked the strength at all outlets - how did you do this? What have you got that splits the signal to the various outlets?
Does your set give Quality figures? If so, what have you got for those on each of the UHF multiplexes?
If it's just the HD mux at all outlets and the others are good, you may have marginal reception of the HD mux on UHF C30 - do check that you are still correctly tuned to C30.
As you haven't given a full postcode, we can't check your predicted reception from Crystal Palace, or whether you'd get better reception from an alternative transmitter (eg. Hemel Hempstead).
You mention TV Channel 69, that's LEGEND XTRA which is carried on the Local multiplex. What signal strength do you get for that?
It's also possible you may be suffering some interference, maybe from a new/upgraded mobile phone mast, again a full postcode might enable a check on that.
Planned Engineering is always listed as "Week commencing ..(date)" They don't say which days/times or how long.
I'm afraid Arqiva never give details of the work taking place or how long it's going to take especially as a lot of it may be weather dependant. What we do know is that a lot of main transmitters and some of the larger relays have had significant Planned Engineering over the last 12 months or so. We know that extensive work is involved ensuring that the mast structures remain in good condition and safe, such work involves working at height on stay cables and such like, often close to the antenna when there'd be need to operate at reduced power or have brief interruptions. It's worth remembering that it's a good 10 years since DSO when much important similar work would likely have been carried out, although some may also have been done during 800MHz and 700MHz clearance when major antenna work would have been carried out at many transmitters.
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Paul Fearn :
You could also try contacting Arqiva and asking them what work is taking so long and when do they think it may be complete. I'm sure we'd all be interested in the answer.
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nick horrex:
As I mentioned, they can use slightly different Lithium technologies.
AA 1.5v Lithium rechargeables exist but are not particularly cheap, eg. one example, see
https://www.batterystation.co.uk/xtar-1-5v-aa-2200mah-lithium-rechargeable-batteries-4-pack/
There are other (major) sellers who I don't like, so not quoting !!
For your 3v CR2's here's one example which comes with the special charger
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/364242658282 but beware there are some other sellers (major again) who can't seem to distinguish between a 3v and a 3.7v, the latter being slightly longer, and/or non-rechargeables !!!
As for the LP. I'm not sure what you mean by 13 "whole" elements. Each rod is separate on a LP. The lengths of the rods determines the range of frequencies it will receive and the number will determine the gain as well. You can zoom in on the links I gave. I think Blake have been in the business long enough to know what they re doing!!
Here's some additional reading for you -
https://www.donvalley.tv/content/log-periodic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Log-periodic_antenna
If you want to get really technical and understand the maths (I don't have time to !)
https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/9/11/1830
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David:
The BBC don't appear to be reporting any faults at the moment and the transmitter isn't listed for Planned Engineering. However for radio I think it's relay of Pontop Pike and that is listed for Planned Engineering so it's possible there may be interruptions to transmission.
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Chris:
Well that's extremely surprising as you are only 2km from the transmitter. Have you checked that you are correctly tuned to Bluebell Hill's UHF channels as listed in the very top section of this page? C45 for the PSB3/HD multiplex.
If you are correctly tuned, you must either have a very poor aerial installation or possibly be suffering interference, maybe from a nearby mobile phone mast, you are surrounded by at least 4!
You should have received a postcard from Restore TV https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/
If you haven't got a 700MHs ("5G") filter fitted (and/or ideally a Group K aerial) then get in touch with Restore TV for a Free Filter.
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David Austin:
How very odd as Bluebell Hill is not your nearest transmitter, nor predicted to give the best reception for your postcode, it's 32km away, whereas Heathfield is only 12km away. In theory, you are predicted to be able to get signals from 6 transmitters as you have clear line-of-sight to all of them, but by no means good reception!
Also check you are correctly tuned to Bluebell Hill's UHF channels.
Do you perhaps have some significant local obstructions in the direction of Heathfield, compass bearing 213 degrees, that's almost SW being between SSW and SW? Obstructions like large dense trees, tall buildings, metallic farm buildings and so on?
Whilst your postcode hasn't supposedly had postcards https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/ by pointing the aerial at Bluebell Hill, it's pointing straight at 2 mobile masts of the 4 nearby, so I'd think about investigating the possible interference issue as they may well be now operating 700MHz transmissions and causing problems.
In addition to which the recent Planned Engineering at Bluebell Hill may have overrun and could well be affecting your reception of the HD multiplex at the distance you are from it.
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Charlie S:
As Arqiva never give details about the engineering work that would be difficult to be certain, so unless someone else receiving Ridge Hill spots your post and has also spotted the same problem, we can't be sure.
As you haven't given a full postcode, we can't check whether you may be in a location that is not predicted to get the best reception of PSB2 and so engineering might make you more susceptible to reception problems.
Also check if you should have had a postcard from Restore TV https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/
You might be suffering interference from a new/upgraded mobile phone mast. If the check says yes and you haven't got a 700MHz Filter, get in touch with them to get a Free Filter.
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Charlie S:
Hi. Well believe it or not you can supposedly get signals from 5 main transmitters, not that all would give you decent reception, so if you haven't already, I would first check that you are correctly tuned to Ridge Hill's UHF channels as shown in the very top section of this page.
Ridge Hill is predicted to be your most likely transmitter, with Sutton Coldfield next best but some considerable further distance away.
I'm getting conflicting information about ground obstructions to both on the line-of-sight depending on which tool I use, but there are some considerable distance from you and this usually means reception predictions could be variable, as the behaviour of signal travelling close to the ground can be somewhat unpredictable.
ITV4+1 is on the SDN multiplex, Dmax is on ArqB.
Quality 100% is what you'd hope to achieve on all multiplexes in normal conditions, so your 62/93 figures are a little disappointing. I wouldn't worry too much about the 62, it would be nice if it were higher but it's ok and the other multiplex on 90 is fine. You don't want to amplify just to achieve more signal because much more than 90 could lead to a different set of problems.
What sort of figures are you getting for PSB2 channels (main ITV, 4, 5 etc.)? If they are similar to 90/100 one can perhaps assume it's brief interruptions due to the engineering.
For what's usually an up-to-date list of which TV channels are on which multiplex, see
Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview
The 93% quality suggests the possibility of some sort of interference or other signal disruption. It won't automatically mean you'll see some sort of visible/audible effect as long as the decoder is able to correct the errors. It might just mean you could be more vulnerable to an issue.
Such things don't necessarily affect all multiplexes in the same way, and can be frequency dependant. Eg. Do you have any trees on the line-of-sight?
What we don't know with Planned Engineering is if any of the multiplexes are on the Reserve Antenna (lower down the mast) or reduced power (or both!) which could lead to more susceptibility to interference. The only way you can guess at that is by knowing your precise figures when everything is operating normally. Do you perchance know what they are?
Are you still getting interruptions on PSB2?
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Chaz Burton:
It's difficult to say what the cause of your issue is, you maybe in a spot that doesn't have good reception and without a full postcode we can't check predicted reception, B32 is a large area. It's highly improbable that it's a transmitter fault - the BBC haven't reported any faults for the transmitter, and there would be many other posts if there was a fault.
The transmitter is listed for Planned Engineering as in the post before yours, so there could be interruptions to service which are usually brief.
Have you checked that your aerial looks intact and is still pointing correctly? Check all your accessible coax connections may sure they are connected correctly with no corrosion or water.
I hope you didn't retune when you lost signal, as this will probably have just cleared all the correct tuning - you cannot tune to signals that are not there or can't be decoded, and you'll just have to retune again when your signals are normal.
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Wednesday 31 January 2024 10:45PM
Oliver:
I'm afraid Arqiva never give details of the work taking place or how long it's going to take especially as a lot of it may be weather dependant. What we do know is that a lot of main transmitters and some of the larger relays have had significant Planned Engineering over the last 12 months or so. We know that extensive work is involved ensuring that the mast structures remain in good condition and safe, such work involves working at height on stay cables and such like, often close to the antenna when there'd be need to operate at reduced power or have brief interruptions. It's worth remembering that it's a good 10 years since DSO when much important similar work would likely have been carried out, although some may also have been done during 880MHz and 700MHz clearance when major antenna work would have been carried out at many transmitters.
In addition to this Planned Engineering you may unfortunately suffer brief interference to some multiplex signals over the next two or three days due to Tropospheric Ducting being present with the current High Pressure weather system. This causes signals to travel a lot further than normal so interfering signals from distant transmitters elsewhere in the UK or Europe disrupt your wanted signals. Do NOT retune, you just have to wait until conditions change, the interference can last seconds, minutes or occasionally sometimes longer. Not all multiplexes are affected at a given instance.
The BBC have currently issued warnings of some possible disrupuption -
High pressure could affect TV & Radio services across parts of the UK - 31 Jan 2024 | Help receiving TV and radio