All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Chris:
I've had a good scout round. I'm sure that's the Group T version that you've got.
Quite a few of these newer K Band aerials (various makes) have this extra "element" on the front of the dipole connection box. I've never had my hands on one, so not sure if it's a director or connected to the dipole in some way.
I wonder if your lack of COMs7&8 signal might be due to any loss if the output is being split anywhere, or any 4G filtering - some of the cheaper ones might have a fair bit of attenuation still at C55 & C56?
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TIMOTHY WARDLAW:
The date June 2020 was a date by which OFCOM wanted to try and have the frequencies cleared, Arqiva wanted the dates pushed back and subsequently it was never formally agreed.
Additionally the key words in the link that StevensOnln1 has provided are " ...we have also decided to allow the interim multiplexes to continue operating in this spectrum until at least 1 May 2020, or until mobile downlink services in this spectrum are deployed."
It was only on March 13th this year that OFCOM announced all the rules for the auction of the 700MHz spectrum, no date for the auction was or has yet been specified and the whole thing is now on hold because of covid-19.
As the whole process will take some time when it eventually takes place, the MNOs that purchase the relevant parts of the spectrum will still have to get equipment developed, handset manufacturers will need to develop handsets capable of using these SDL/SDO frequencies, it's unlikely that any need to close COMs 7&8 will occur before 2022. Indeed there is some DUK documentation that suggest they may be here until 2025.
It's always been believed that at some point Arqiva will start to convert some of their COM multiplexes to T2 HD which would then make room for some of these other channels. It's been suggested elsewhere that they may start with COM6. BUT this is all total speculation and will continue to be so until clearance has been completed, the auction held, and the MNOs that purchase those frequencies give an indication about when they may want to use the frequencies, and OFCOM make formal announcements. At present OFCOM have suggested that the relevant MNOs would give Arqiva 3 months notice to use the frequencies.
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Paul:
It'll be interesting to hear what the cause is, I'll look forward to your post.
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N James:
The transmitter is currently listed for Planned Engineering with "Possible service interruptions". The BBC have listed "From 10:35pm to 10:53pm on 19th May 2020, BBC A and BBC B HD, Reduced quality due to a fault. Also From 0:24pm to 0:34pm on 22nd May 2020 BBC A and BBC B HD, Off the air due to essential engineering"
so this is likely to be the cause of what you are seeing and could affect all multiplexes whilst any further work takes place.
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Roger Morgan:
The Pontypool relay transmitter has been listed for Planned Engineering the past week with "Possible service interruptions". That work we presume has been completed as it's not on this weeks list, but I don't think that's necessarily guaranteed based on recent experiences.
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David:
How odd. The Freeview Detailed Coverage checker for your postcode say your "most likely" transmitter is Winter Hill yet it's only predicting good coverage from COM7, poor for COM8 and nothing for the other multiplexes!!
Yet is shows Good coverage from the "alternative transmitter" at Moel y Parc. Well we have come across stupid anomalies like this in the coverage checker before.
Looking at the actual terrain, there seems to be a clear line of sight due W to Moel Y Parc but towards the N end of your postcode, Winter Hill (to the NNE) is obscured somewhat by the terrain, also trees may be an issue.
As StevensOnln1 has suggested, going for Freesat may well be the solution if you really can't get a reliable signal from Moel Y Parc. Indeed your TV may already have a built in satellite tuner, many modern sets do.
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Terry:
Unfortunately it's virtually impossible to provide a direct link to the Coverage Checker results these days since Freeview changed the way it's been implemented and so StevensOnln1's link has ended up broken.
The 3 relay transmitters he's mentioned require vertical polarisation, whereas Winter Hill requires horizontal.
If you put the postcode into the boxes on this page Platform management | Freeview it will take you directly to the detailed view where you can see all the detail.
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John Simon Knight:
We really need a full postcode to look at the predicted reception at your location. Without this it's difficult to offer anything other than general advice.
Where is your aerial, does it seem intact and is it still pointing in the correct direction?
Does your downlead look ok and undamaged? How old is it?
Check all the connections of your coax plugs and connectors for corrosion etc. Check flyleads for bad/broken connections usually at the back of the plug.
What does your TV tuning section give for the signal strength and quality on each multiplex?
If your booster has a gain control, turn it down and see what happens to the signal strength.
Take your booster out of circuit, connect the aerial direct to the TV and check the signal level and quality on each multiplex.
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Sunday 24 May 2020 10:53PM
Paul:
I suspect that it is your aerial connections or coax causing your issue especially if the Freeview checker is showing good reception. The only change last March was PSB1 & PSB3 swapping UHF channels, now 27 & 21, 21 & 27 previosuly. All the major channel changes occurred last November. If there had been any ongoing issues with the transmitter rather than just some periodic maintenance, there would be a lot more complaints being made.
Apart from COMs 7&8 moving to UHF 55&56 where you would ideally need a Group T /or wideband aerial, the channels were previously Group K. There are some Group K aerials that would give satisfactory reception of UHF 55&56 as long as the predicted reception was Good.
The HDMI issue primarily seems to affect UHF 55 (COM7) but if the interference was strong enough I would imagine it could cause a bit of front end desensitisation - not experienced it myself and don't believe it's that common.
Hope you can get an aerial installer soon.