All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Alan Brown:
Sorry for delayed reply, site updates not working at present :(
It sounds like you have an old Group C/D aerial that's not picking up all the new channels too well. Out of Group reception (now Group B) can vary from aerial to aerial, and in some locations you can still get a strong enough signal that they work sufficiently.
Providing you are in your own home with your own aerial, don't have cable or satellite, you can get a free replacement from Freeview. Ring them on 0808-100-0288 and tell them since the 12th August your signals keep pixellating and especially both BBC multiplexes keep dropping out especially in the evening. They'll want to go through retune procedures which you can no doubt tell them you've done several times, they'll check you are receiving from the best transmitter, do emphasise that you had no problem whatsoever before the 12th August.
They should put you through to DMSL to arrange a convenient time to visit and replace your aerial FoC.
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Steve :
Well with that age of aerial, I'd be surprised if it weren't an old Group C/D. However, as you are predicted to get excellent reception of all multiplexes from Angus, it might be that it is/was a transmitter issue causing the problem especially if the problem with ArqA is only recent. The Angus transmitter is still listed for Planned Engineering so maybe it's not yet "fixed". ArqA isn't the lowest frequency channel in use at Angus, SDN and the Local multiplex are lower on C33 & C34.
Keep an eye on this over the next few days, if it doesn't improve post back.
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John Eynon:
Without a full postcode, I can't be certain which transmitter you may be predicted to use, if it's Penmaen Rhos there were no changes, it's a PSB only relay of Moel-y-Parc which had one change when the COM4/SDN multiplex moved from C51 to C33, so that's why the relay may have had the unnecessary retune pop-up!
The missing multiplex(es) may have been off-air when you retuned, so it would just have cleared correct tuning.
Try a retune BUT as follows - Unplug the aerial and do an automatic retune which should clear all previous tuning as nothing should be found. Then plug the aerial back in and repeat the retune, hopefully all channels will be correctly restored.
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Jim fraser:
st year Sony moved a number of its channels to a Local multiplex, and this is one of them. You should get your Local station at LCN7. If by "West Midlands" transmitter, you mean Sutton Coldfield, there are two UHF channels used (unusually) with one broadcasting roughly N and the other towards the SW.
The UHF channels are C36 - 1kW & C48 - 15kW, the latter being the N beamed petal. Both are QSPK modulationwhich gives greater coverage at lower power ( but less bandwidth, so less channels). Which you may get, if either, will depend on your location as without a full postcode I can't check the predicted reception.
(Hover over the UHF channel number above and it'll display the frequency).
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Jim fraser:
Sorry, forgot to add, for which channels are on which multiplexes, see Channel listings | Freeview
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Ian Arthur Laidler:
You should get excellent reception of all main multiplexes and the two Local Manchester ones from Winter Hill.
There's no reported transmitter problems at Winter Hill or a couple of nearer relay transmitters although one of them is lised for Planned Engineering.
It possible when you retuned, you might just have done so at a time when reception of some mutiplexes from Winter Hill reception were affected by interference or engineering and inadvertently got tuned to one of these weaker realy stations.
You could first try a retune BUT done as follows - unplug the aerial and carry out an automatic retune. No channels should be found so this should clear memory of any previous tuning.
Plug the aerial back in and carry out a manual tune if possible, UHF channels are -
The main multiplexes are C32, C34, C35, C29, C31, C37, C55 for PSBs1-3, COMs 4-7.
The Local ones are Local Manchester, Manchester GI on C24 & C27.
If you are unable to do manual tuning then repeat the automatic one and check it tuned to the correct UHF channels in your TV Tuning section.
Now there is another possibility if this is not a very recent problem, but has been occuring continuously since August the 12th. Before that date, were you getting the main BBC channels at LCNs 751, 752 etc. in your EPG rather than the usual 1, 2, 9 etc.? And since that date have you've lost those and had intermittent problems with some of the others as well as the ones you've just mentioned? If so, then it may be that your aerial could be an old Group C/D and is not able to reliably receive the multiplexes on the new UHF channels. If you know you have a Wideband aerial, then there could be other issues.
Check that your aerial looks intact and is pointing in the correct direction ~WNW bearing 298 degrees at your location with the rods horizontal Check all your coax plugs and connections for any bad connections or corrosion. Check your downlead looks intact and undamaged and is secure.
If it turns out it's an old aerial and you had to watch BBC channels at 751, 752 etc. and it's your own home and aerial, and you don't have satellite or cable, then you can get free help from Freeview with a replacement aerial FoC. Ring them on 0808-100-0288.
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Carol Benge:
Normally, you'd plug the aerial into the recorder, then use a "flylead" to connect the TV aerial socket to the recorder's TV aerial output. The scart lead is also used to enable the playback of recordings on the TV. You'd select that input on the TV when you want to do that.
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Andy Donaldson:
The information that's most important is the "Bit Error Level" (BER) being 0 (no errors), Signal Quality 100% - the signal is being received and decoded without any resulting errors. A signal level of 14% does seem rather low, but without a full postcode we can't examine the predicted reception for your location. You could well be in an "awkward" spot and that may be the best that can be expected but a lot depends on the aerial.
Who installed the aerial? What type, make, model is the aerial? How long ago was it installed? Is it low loss double screened coax that is being used?
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Tuesday 25 August 2020 8:06AM
Gregory Obrien :
Nothing to do with us, we are not the Broadcasters, this is an independent technical help site for people with reception problems.