All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Sarah-Jane Morris:
Did you mean G21 1XH for the postcode? (There's no G12 1XH in the database!).
Using the G21 postcode in the checker (use the boxes on this page Platform management | Freeview as it goes straight to the Detailed view then scroll down to see figures) it shows Black Hill as the most likely transmitter (a main transmitter) with excellent reception of all multiplexes. It also shows Darvel with Good reception. Depending on the house number (DON'T post that here) it may show some relay transmitters in the list but show no predicted reception or poor/variable reception). The relays listed (you referred to "booster" - not a correct term - if Freeview used that term they are badly trained) may be Cathcart, Glasgow West Central and Netherton Brae - none of which are going to give good reliable signals at your mum's location.
Using street view, there's some slight variation in terrain which will account for which Relays may show in this list, but this doesn't affect predicted reception from Black Hill. All the roof aerials I could see point at Black Hill (bearing 101 degrees - that's fractionally S of due E) and rods horizontal.
If your mum's TV is regularly showing "weak signal" then it's possible there's a problem with the aerial installation OR for some reason the set has become incorrectly tuned to the wrong transmitter. Let's hope it's not the former, the latter is relatively easy to fix.
None of the transmitters including Black Hill have any currently reported problems though the BBC reported a fault 4 days ago on Cathcart From 9:24pm to 10:20pm on 6th May 2020 BBC A (PSB1) Off the air due to a fault (also BBCB HD - PSB3). If Freeview are aware of any faults they will get reported, you don't have to do anything.
It would be worth your mum checking the aerial coax connections first by unplugging them from the set and wall connection (if there is one) or any PVRs etc and plugging them back in. This should help clean any poor connections that could be the cause of problems.
Depending on how technically with it your mum is, we'll take the simple route first.
She needs to unplug the aerial from the back of the set, and then do an automatic retune (might be called first time installation depending on the set) which should clear all the previous (possibly incorrect) tuning as no signals will be found. Then plug the aerial back in and repeat the automatic retune and hopefully all channels will be correctly restored.
I'll now list the correct UHF multiplex channels for Black Hill in the order PSB1-3, COMs4-8, Local.
They are C46, C43, C40, C41, C44, C47, C55, C56, C30 (C meaning UHF channel).
If your mum knows how, she could go to the TV's tuning section and look for something that might be called Signal Test or possibly Manual Tuning and look to see if those are the channels the set has tuned to. It may also show the strength and quality of the signals for each multiplex.
If your mum is not sure/able to do a retune, then get her to phone Freeview on 0808-100-0288 tell them the exact model and make of set and they should be able to take her through a step by step guide on what to do. If they aren't much help, post back here with the make and model.
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Chris:
They are NOT being turned off at the end of June 2020. As you say, the article is quite old, but nevertheless there are many pages and other websites that refer to this date that need updating. There has been no specific date decided yet and in any event this was originally a proposed date by OFCOM but Arqiva wanted to push it back later.
The 700MHz frequencies haven't been auctioned yet, OFCOM only released documentation about how the auction would proceed in March this year. A date for the auction wasn't specified and that is now all delayed because the 700MHz clearance hasn't been completed due to covid-19. This is because much of the final clearances needs In-Home support (new aerials) and that can't be readily provided under social distance rules. Freeview/DUK are currently suggesting final clearance won't proceed until 2021 but this TBD.
OFCOM have proposed that Arqiva be given 3 months notice by whichever MNO(s) (if any) purchase the frequencies allocated for SDL in which COMs 7&8 sit, when they are ready to use them. This is likely to be some considerable time after the auction is complete as "encoding" hardware has to be developed, as do suitable handsets to use SDL. This is not as straightforward as the current FDD mobile Tx/Rx.
The Freeview/DUK Detailed Coverage checker leaves the impression that COMs 7&8 may still be there until 2025 as it shows reception "Final prediction" as 2025 on all transmitters including those with COMs 7&8. So it's all undecided at this time, but practically unlikely to be before 2022 at the very earliest in any event.
There is a hint elsewhere that Arqiva MAY be re-organising the channels on COM6 and that might be because of longer term plans to convert COM6 to T2 transmissions BUT this is all pure speculation!
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Dave S:
It did that back in February, see 26 Feb 2020 - Channel changes | Freeview
I'm afraid there are quite a few listings on this site that are not up-to-date as the site owner had not had time to keep up with all the 700MHz Clearance changes, never mind broadcasters swapping their channels about!
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Gerry:
Without a full postcode it's not possible to look at the predicted reception at your location and which transmitter(s) and multiplexes you might be able to receive. There are many (main) transmitters listed for Planned Engineering at present with "Possible weak signal" which MIGHT be the explanation, but we need to see what the Freeview Detailed Coverage Checker is giving for your location.
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Gerry:
To add to the above, it might be helpful if you could say which direction your aerial is pointing and whether the rods are vertical or horizontal.
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devo:
We really need a full postcode to look at predicted reception at your location. I can't find any faults currently listed for Waltham, but in current circumstances it may take some time for such things to get updated.
Hopefully by now you will find the signals restored satisfactorily.
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devo:
You are quite correct that there is a lot of work going on at many main transmitters (and some relays) at present. At Waltham it won't have anything to do with 5G, the 700MHz clearance program for that was completed on the 4th March. This will be general maintenance as it will be for most transmitters.
Under normal circumstances you are predicted to get good reception of the SDN multiplex, in fact all multiplexes except COMs 7&8 which could be variable. You wouldn't do any better from the Nottingham relay except it doesn't have COMs 7&8, you should get excellent reception from Sutton Coldfield but that is West Midlands whereas Waltham is East Midlands so it depends which region you want.
As you mentioned, Waltham isn't on the list for this week, but I've been finding a number of cases recently where there's been reports similar to yours for other transmitters not on the current week's list, but where I recall the transmitter was on the previous week's list. I'm not at all convinced that the list is always accurate. I think I'll keep a copy of the previous week in future just for reference :o
Depending on what exactly they are doing at the transmitter (they never say) you may find things going off & on, or "weak signal" is the other possibility.
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devo:
To add some more precise information about reception from Waltham, it may change when remaining 700MHz Clearance changes take place at the other remaining transmitters (likely due to co-channel interference) which has now been postponed due to the covid-19 situation. It depends on exactly where you are within your postcode (don't post that here).
If you put your details into the boxes on Platform management | Freeview it will take you directly to the Detailed View where you can see for yourself what's predicted.
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Sunday 10 May 2020 1:04PM
Steph:
This is a problem Brian should know about, but like quite a few things on this site, he's not had the time to fix them. It's not you, one of the oddities of the FM and other Analogue coverage maps is that they aren't showing in virtually every case if Pro-mode is enabled, so make sure Pro Mode is Disabled. Then here, click on "Bristol_East_Dundry_Lane". I'm not sure what the other two links are supposed to be doing, but they don't!
Hope you are not to far away from Dundry, these days it's only BBC Radio Somerset (95.5) that's broadcast from Mendip.
Then the other stupid things is that the page changes to East Dundry (North Somerset, England) analogue radio transmitter | free and easy where you'll find my original reply now copied here!