All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
M walker:
Well there you are, StevensOnln1 was typing his reply not knowing I was doing mine at the same time and has covered the Sky issues.
So as we've both said, full postcodes to look at predicted reception, but your decision may in any event be easier with the information we've both posted.
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Michael Donlan:
I can't find any recent reports of transmitter problems either by Freeview or the BBC. There have been some instances when certain weather conditions may have caused disruption of signals, but none very recently.
If you retuned when there was no or very poor signals, it might just have cleared the correct tuning and tuned to another weaker transmitter with poor/no signals. Have you retuned again recently?
When you say "aerial is in the roof" do you mean the loft? If so this will limit your options slightly and reception can be affected by all sorts of things such as water tanks, solar panels, the roof tiles, party walls, metal chimneys & etc.
Has anything changed in your installation? Has the aerial maybe moved in the loft, have you put anything extra in the loft? Any external scaffolding on your house or neighbours?
Do you have a splitter for signals to more than one TV?
I'd suggest you check that your aerial seems intact and pointing in the correct direction and that your downlead looks undamaged (especially if it is old). Also check all your coax plugs, connections, flyleads etc, unplug connectors check for corrosion or other problems and reconnect them. Flyleads are a common problem, try swapping/changing them. See what signal strengths and quality you are getting for the multiplexes (groups of channels) shown in your TV's tuning section.
Problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just an individual or several multiplexes.
There's a possibility you might also get good signals from the Winter Hill transmitter (and a larger choice of channels) but this is very dependent on location and might be difficult with an aerial in the loft. What do your neighbours get?
Post back with more detail if you are still having problems.
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Allan Wilkins:
Your response to Lez Ellingham is complete cobblers. There is NO conflict with Emergency or any other channels.
StevensOnln1 has given a perfectly correct response. The channels that are missing may be temporarily missing due to transmitter maintenance, so without further details a correct answer can't be given.
Retuning when there is no signal or badly pixellated signals generally just clears the correct tuning and you end up without those channels when signals return to normal UNLESS you then retune again (that's assuming it's not due to a fault on the user's installation).
Advise is never to retune unless prompted by an on-screen pop-up message. 700 Mhz clearance has been completed so there are no further retunes due to transmitter changes. It's only if a Broadcaster ceases a service or introduces a new one, or has it moved to another multiplex would a retune might be needed. Any such changes are usually detailed at Updates and alerts | Freeview
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david sims:
No, as listed above, and on their website, it's only on Sky and Freesat.
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Alan Bromage:
The Sony Classic channels (and some of their others) are on Local multiplexes, see Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
The Local multiplex at Rowridge is on UHF C37 and your aerial needs to be horizontal polarisation. The Local multiplex is not transmitted in vertical polarisation from Rowridge (neither is COM7).
It will depend on your location as to whether you can receive the multiplex. Try a manual tune on C37, if the signal is weak, an automatic tune may not find it.
If your provide a full postcode, we can look at the predicted reception in your locale.
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sandy gardiner:
I've not been able to find any reports of problems at the Knockmore transmitter, either from Freeview or the BBC. Have you had any power cuts at all in the bad weather? Have your signals returned?
IF you retuned when you had lost signal (this is NOT advised) it usually just clears all the correct tuning as no signals found. You'll then need to retune again once signals are back to normal.
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Des:
I assume that you mean all the correct UHF channels for the Sutton Coldfield transmitter.
All the multiplexes (groups of TV programmes) are on C43, C46, C40+, C42, C45, C39+, C55, C36/C48 that's in the multiplex order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6, COM7 and Local L-BRM.
If you need that actual frequency to tune to, just hover your mouse over each of those channel (C) numbers.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which TV programmes are on which multiplex.
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Roger Bricker:
This is always one of the most trickiest problems to deal with, and not always successfully I'm sorry to say. The problem is not helped by the fact that the railway line is more or less on the line of sight to the transmitter at your location.
However, a number of questions to start. You say you've recently moved to this address, how recently?
It's possible the problem is related to the transmitter work at Crystal Palace that has been going on for the last 3 weeks. It's still listed for Planned Engineering with Possible weak signal which won't help.
Normally your area in general should get very good signals, leaving aside local interference.
Where is your aerial, and do you know what type it is, can you describe it all, does it have rods that are straight or look like X's? Does the back of the aerial look like a flat plate or is it made up of rods. If you can provide a link to a picture of one that looks similar, have a look around this site Aerials - A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials
How high up is the aerial in relation to the railway line, is it above the line or more in line with it?
How do your neighbours get on with reception, what aerials do they have?
It's possible when the transmitter work is complete, the problem may go away. If the aerial installation is old then it may have deteriorated which will increase the chances of problems such as interference.
The right type of aerial, mounted above the height of the railway line, might be a solution if it is an old aerial.
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john:
Which way is your aerial pointing? If it's pointing at a bearing of 102 degrees that's slightly S of due E, with the rods horizontal, the you should get reception of all multiplexes from Crystal Palace (note Arqiva closed COM8 C56 for commercial reasons at the end of June 2020) but COM7 C55 is still transmitting.
How old is your aerial? If it's still an old Group A aerial, that could be why you have problems with C55. But note COM7 is due to close in June 2022 if not before if MNOs need to use the frequencies before then, so an aerial upgrade may not be cost effective unless it needs replacing anyway.
Make sure you don't have any HDMI cables close to aerial cables or flyleads especially if the latter are not double screened coax as HDMI can cause interference especially to C55.
I'd check all you coax plugs, connections, flyleads etc, unplug connectors check for corrosion or other problems and reconnect them. Flyleads can be a common problem, try swapping them. See what signal strengths (if any) and quality you are getting for the multiplexes shown in your TV's tuning section, this might indicate potential issues with your aerial or downlead. Also check that your downlead looks undamaged and that your aerial seems intact and pointing in the correct direction.
Problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just AN individual or several multiplexes.
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Tuesday 19 January 2021 11:37PM
M Walker:
If when you are at home you are getting your signals from the West Runton transmitter, this is a Freeview "Light" transmitter and only transmits the 3 PSB multiplexes. It would be helpful if you could give some examples of the precise channels you don't get on Freeview.
(As in the post before yours, the transmitter was off-air for essential engineering).
The 3 PSB multiplexes are BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
The COM multiplexes are SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6. There's also COM7 and a Local Multiplex, the latter two only receivable in limited locations.
At Northrepps there is another relay transmitter at Overstrand which is also a "Light" transmitter with only the 3 PSBs, so you should get the same channels as at home.
BUT in both your locations you MIGHT get signals from the Main Tacolneston transmitter where all multiplexes are transmitted - that doesn't mean you can receive them, reception could well be "variable" A full postcode would be needed for both locations to look at predicted reception and which transmitter(s) and multiplexes you might receive.
Because of the potential limited reception you are likely to find BT TV will also be very limited except for some of their special channels like BT Sport which is streamed and you'd need a good internet connection with a large data allowance (or no limit).
All will be somewhat less than the choice you have with Sky. What Sky box do you have?
As long as it isn't SkyQ where if you terminate your subscription, they want the box back (and it will stop working), with an older box and you are out of contract you might be able to receive Freesat from Sky (you might need a viewing card for a one-off fee - I'm no expert on Sky, hopefully a Sky expert will come along and advise).
In your situation I wouldn't recommend BT TV unless you particularly wanted some of its streamed channels that are not available on Freeview or Freesat,
Freesat is your other option. If you have a fairly modern TV, it may have a satellite tuner built -in, in which case, as long as it's not SkyQ, you might find with connection of your Sky dish to the TV, you can get Freesat (no cards or subscription). If the TV doesn't have a Satellite tuner you'd need a Freesat Box - again as long as it's not SkyQ, I think your Sky dish will work but hopefully someone more knowledgeable in this area can advise.