All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
nigel jay:
This isn't the Freeview website! It's an independent help site for people with reception and technical problems.
In any case, your point is probably best addressed to your MP ;)
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Martin Blincow :
It could depend on which transmitter you are receiving as there are several you could get. Which way is your aerial pointing and are the rods vertical or horizontal?
Whilst there's no listed Planned Engineering for any of the likely transmitters, there has been some Tropospheric Ducting Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | Help receiving TV and radio affecting parts of the SE and it may continue for a day or two. It can affect some channels more than others.
Retuning in these circumstances is not a good idea, as you may well lose correct tuning, or get the wrong transmitters or regions, and have to retune again when conditions change.
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Gail Hunter:
Now 80s is on the COM8 multiplex, see Channel listings | Freeview
COMs7&8 are only transmitted from some main transmitters. As StevensOnln1 says we need a full postcode to look at the predicted reception at your location which may indicate which transmitter(s) and multiplexes you might receive if you don't know which transmitter you are getting.
Also the direction your aerial is pointing and whether the rods are horizontal or vertical could be helpful.
The following main transmitters in Scotland have COMs 7&8 (but reception is dependant on location) -
Black Hill, Craigkelly, Darvel, Durris, and Angus.
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Ron Hawkins:
Hi. It's not the high pressure per se that cause the problems, it's usually the "Tropospheric Ducting" that sometimes comes with it.
The effect is you can pick up more distant transmitters, UK or Foreign, and this causes interference. In the old days with B&W 405 line TV, we used to talk about "Continental Interference".
These two articles should help explain in a bit more detail -
How does good weather affect my television? | Help receiving TV and radio
Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | Help receiving TV and radio
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Ken brown:
Forces TV is on the COM8 multiplex, see Channel listings | Freeview
The COMs 7&8 multiplexes aren't transmitted from Fenham, so I'd guess you may be receiving them from Pontop Pike. Is your aerial pointing slightly W of SW with the rods horizontal or is it pointing almost due W with the rods vertical? We would need a full postcode to see what predicted reception is at your location.
I can't find any faults currently listed, although Pontop Pike was listed for Planned Engineering last week and work might be continuing.
Other than that there is some Tropospheric Ducting around at present affecting some parts of the country periodically, and may do so for the next day or two. See -
Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | Help receiving TV and radio
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Malcolm:
Smithsonian is on the ArqA multiplex, see Channel listings | Freeview
Check you are tuned to the correct UHF channel C36 at Emley for this multiplex.
I assume since the last of the 700MHz Clearance retunes on the 5th Feb., you have a Group T or Wideband aerial.
I can't find any faults currently listed (it's not "our" engineers btw, this is an independent help site) other than that there is some "Tropospheric Ducting" around at present which may result in interference in some parts of the country, see -
How does good weather affect my television? | Help receiving TV and radio and
Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | Help receiving TV and radio
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tim johnson:
You may be in Stockport but not necessarily receiving the Stockport Freeview Light transmitter which only transmits the 3 PSB multiplexes, it's a very low power relay covering only a very small area.
We need a full postcode to look at the Freeview Detailed Coverage Checker to see what the predicted reception is at your location and what transmitter(s) and multiplexes you might receive. It would be helpful if you could say which direction your aerial is pointing ( ie. Due W or maybe NW etc.) and whether the rods are horizontal or vertical?
Which channels have you been having a particular problem with?
In any event, I can't find any reports of transmitter problems in your area by Freeview, or any reports from the BBC affecting their channels. That said, there is some Tropospheric Ducting around affecting some parts of the country from time to time, this is causing interference from other transmitters either in the UK or abroad.
See the following for a more detailed explanation -
How does good weather affect my television? | Help receiving TV and radio
Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | Help receiving TV and radio
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Geoff:
In addition to what StevensOnln1 has said, you can stream SOME of the channels using Freeview Play which you should find in your Smart TV's apps (unless it's an older model that won't update to include it). Other than that you can use the various Player from some of the Broadcasters - iPlayer from the BBC, ITV Hub, All4, My5, UKTVPlay being the main ones. Visit Freeview | All your favourite TV shows, all in one place and all for free for more information. You can stream some other individual channels on-line by visiting their websites and see what they provide.
In terms of reception of Freeveiw with an aerial, you may be in Horndean but this "Light" Transmitter only broadcasts the PSB multiplexes however depending on your location you may be able to receive the main Rowridge transmitter which broadcasts all multiplexes. Put your details into the boxes on Freeview | All your favourite TV shows, all in one place and all for free corporate/platform-management for what you may be able to receive with the relevant aerial.
See Freeview | All your favourite TV shows, all in one place and all for free corporate/platform-management/channel-listings for a full list of Freeview Channels (and which multiplex they are on).
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Tuesday 26 May 2020 11:03PM
There needs to be a general discussion and public consultation on what the BBC should provide in the future. When that's decided, then the level of funding the BBC should get for that can be decided in much the same way as at present. However, as what a lot of what the BBC should provide will be Public Service Broadcasting, it should be funded from general taxation IMHO, then whoever can afford to pay is doing so through income tax. The less well off are then not forced to contribute as they currently are with the TV licence.