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All posts by Chris.SE

Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.


Debs:

Really sorry to hear about your situation. Whilst you have posted on the DAB Radio transmitter page, that makes no difference to your TV reception question or my reply to you.

First I should mention that the Durris transmitter is currently listed for Planned Engineering with "Possible weak signal", so if your issue has only cropped up again recently, this may be the cause. Other than that, I'll make what comment I can.

The trouble with postcode checkers is that they aren't always accurate and if there is very variable terrain within a postcode then some locations can be problematic.
The Freeview Detailed Coverage Checker does say that Durris is the most likely transmitter, but it also says that reception is good from the Angus transmitter (which is much closer but lower power) and this is across most of the postcode you've given - I assume it is correct.

The aerials should have their rods horizontal and be pointing at a bearing of 14 degrees (that's between N and NNE) for Durris at your location. For Angus they should point at a bearing of 332 degrees (that's slighly N of NNW).

If you've had a professional and competent aerial installer, who should be familiar with the local terrain, check signals and installations, then I'm not really sure what else to suggest other than Freesat. As you know Sky requires a monthly subscription. A lot of modern TVs have built-in satellite tuners, so all that's needed is the Dish and LNB for Freesat - but that's still an expense.

I assume that installers have checked that there isn't an issue with local interference either from a very nearby mobile phone mast or any electric equipment (on a farm perhaps), the latter might be the case if your signal problems tend to occur at the same sort of time each day.

If there is enough of you with this problem, one other option would be to club together for an "Active Deflector" - a sort of "relay" which is located at a good reception point and has an aerial pointed at your community. BBC Engineering or a professional engineer might offer some advice on this option.

Sorry not to be more helpful, but it sounds like very local knowledge may be needed.

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Maria:

You have posted about your TV problem on the DAB radio transmitter page, but no worries we'll see what advise we can give.

Without a full postcode we can't tell you what your predicted reception should be at your location, however that won't make any immediate different to this particular problem because if you are getting ITV then you should have Ch.4, Ch.5 and a number of others including some HD versions.

I'd guess that your set's memory may need clearing as sometimes things get "confused" and channels are not allocated correctly to the appropriate LCNs. You may also find channels in the 790s/800s.

Unplug the aerial and do an automatic retune, this should clear all previous tuning as nothing should be found. Switch off the set for 15 minutes.
Plug the aerial back in and switch on and carry out an automatic retune, hopefully all channels will now be correctly restored.

If you are still having problems, reply with a full postcode, any details you can about your aerial installation, boosters/splitters etc.

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Information TV
Monday 7 September 2020 12:08AM

Xerri Jean:

As we aren't the Broadcaster, we're an independent technical helpsite, we can't answer your question directly.
There's a Contact link on their webpage our channels - informationtv: Experienced Broadcast Services

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Upcoming Freeview transmitter changes 2017 to 2020
Thursday 10 September 2020 2:31AM

John Steel:

Sorry you didn't get a reply before. There was no retune at Kendal Fell on the 23rd of August, the UHF channels have remained the same C46, C40, C43 for PSBs 1, 2, 3 and there has been no advertised power change.
If you were seeing a retune pop-up message it was either an error or because of the major retune for the main Kendal transmitter on the 19th August where it moved to UHF channels C39, C42, C45 as you've discovered, but again with no advertised change in power.

As you haven't provided a full postcode I can't advise which transmitter would be predicted to likely give you the best reception and which way your aerial should be pointing at your location, but I can say that for Kendal Fell the aerial rods should be horizontal, whereas for Kendal they should be vertical. This difference in polarisation may account for your signal break up when trying to tune to Kendal assuming both transmitters are in a similar direction.

If your signal from Kendal Fell was previously fine, the only other reason that I can currently think of that's resulted in your problems is that Grasmere also changed on the 19th August to the same UHF channels and depending on direction you may be getting interference. i'm also taking account of the fact that you've said that the signal wasn't very strong yet you are only using a 10 element aerial, and a 20dB amplifier (albeit with splitter).
If you provide a full postcode we might be able to offer some further advice.

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Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter
Thursday 10 September 2020 2:57AM

av7:

We really need a full postcode to look at the predicted reception at your location.
If your aerial is an old Group C/D that would explain why the GMAN (GI) mux is a problem as it moved to UHF C27, but I would also have expected you to be having problems with the L_MAN mux on C24 and possibly COMs 4 & 5 on C29 & C31 as well as may be other multiplexes being weaker than before due to out of Group reception. However that doesn't explain the issue with COM7 which should still be the same as before as it remains on C55 and there's purportedly been no change in power.

If you are getting the BBCA mux and the D3&4 mux on C32 & C34 now with any occasional break-up that you didn't have before, then if you don't have satellite or cable, you might qualify for a free replacement aerial. If so ring Freeview on 0808-100-0288.
You technically need a Group T/Wideband aerial to get all the muxes from Winter Hill but the gain on lower channels is not as good as the higher ones, so a lot depends on predicted reception.

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David Lee:

The ArqA multiplex is now on UHF C31 from Winter Hill since the retune. If you live in flats, then it's the responsibility of the building management to resolve this problem, your neighbours should be getting the same problem. If your neighbours are OK and it's just you, your set's memory may just need clearing.
If so, unplug the aerial and carry out an automatic retune which should clear all previous tuning as nothing should be found. Plug the aerial back in a repeat the retune which will hopefully restore all channels correctly.
Let us know if that solves the problem.

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DAVID GLENNERSTER:

David Warner has correctly advised that your problem is not 5G related but could be the result of any frequency changes last year at your transmitter.

We need a full postcode to look at the predicted reception at your location and which transmitter(s) and multiplexes you may be able to receive.
However, if the previous changes haven't affected the aerial Group, then your issue may be due to interference from some electrical equipment if it's happening at exactly the same time each night. Typical sources at this time of day may be central heating for example.

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BBC Parliament
Thursday 10 September 2020 3:27AM

Carol Handcock :

BBC Parliament could have disappeared from the listings if the publisher has made room for Sky Arts which is coming to Freeview (next week IIRC).

If you are not getting the channel at LCN232 in your EPG, you might be missing other BBC channels and your set's memory may need clearing so do a retune with the aerial unplugged and then repeat it with the aerial plugged back in.

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Gerald May:

The transmittr is currently listed for Planned Engineering, so this is the most likley cause of the current issues you are seeing.

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Arnold Broxup:

You've posted on an analogue radio page, but no matter as without a full postcode we can't be certain which TV transmitter you might be receiving. If it's a relay transmitter, there are many Border relay transmitters listed for Planned Engineering this week which might explain what you are seeing.

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