All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
roy rippingale:
Assuming you normally get your signals from the Guildford transmitter depending on your location (you may get several transmitters including Crystal Palace) then I can't find and reports of faults and the transmitter isn't currently listed for Planned Engineering. The Crystal Palace transmitter has had Planned Engineering.
Check in your TV's tuning section that you are correctly tuned to the UHF channels for Guildford - they are -
C41, C44, C47, C37, C31, C32 in the order PSBs 1-3, COMs4-6. Your aerial rods will be vertical for Guildford.
If on the other hand you normally get signals from Crystal Palace, your aerial rods will be horizontal pointing roughly ENE, so the channels will be C23, C26, C30, C25, C22, C28, C55, C35 in the same order but with the addition of COM7 and the Local Multiplex. How well/if you receive the last two will depend on location.
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Tom Davidson:
Unfortunately there's been some inconsistency in the listing of Planned Engineering and Faults, but I did eventually manage to find a report from the BBC - From 9:37am to 2:39pm on 16th Feb 2021 Off the air due to essential engineering.
If you retuned earlier when you had no signal, it'll probably have cleared all correct tuning (or even retuned to some unreliable very weak signals from another transmitter).
If your set did an auto-retune by itself (turn that function off if you can, it's more trouble than its worth), It'd have the same result.
So do another retune now if you haven't got all your signals and programmes back.
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Richard Beaton:
Having tried several checks, I can't find any faults listed for Emley Moor and it's not and hasn't been listed for Planned Engineering.
if you've recently moved your aerial, put it back exactly where it was. Loft aerials can be extremely fussy about position especially if you have things like solar panels, metal chimneys, lead flashing, party walls and etc. to cope with. You haven't recently put anything extra into the loft have you?
Has there been any external changes very close by? Eg. Scaffolding gone up, even on a neighbour's house.
Have you installed any new equipment lately? Any new "toys" since Xmas/New Year?
Have you moved your set or equipment around? If so, check that you don't have any HDMI leads close to any aerial or flyleads, especially if the aerial and flyleads aren't high quality double screened types. HDMI is known to sometimes cause interference, but especially to C55 (COM7).
Have a look for channels in the 800s, if you find some up there instead of normal LCNs (locations), 1, 2, 3 & etc. then try a retune as follows, unplug the aerial and do a full automatic tune which should clear all previous tuning as nothing should be found. Plug the aerial back in and repeat the retune to hopefully restore everything correctly.
Do you have a second set you can check with, if so do you have any splitters/distribution amplifier?
If so, try connecting the aerial direct to only one of the TV outlets.
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. Also check that your downlead looks undamaged.
Aerial mis-alignments, problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just AN individual or several multiplexes.
If you are still having no luck, post back with a full postcode so we can look at the predicted reception for your locale, and details of all the checks you've done.
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John Boyce:
Your postcode does put you in the general direction of the signal radiated from Croydon (also on C35 - it's an SFN iirc without checking) so you may be able to pick it up reliably IF you have a "suitable" aerial. I have encountered cases where for some strange reason C35 on some aerials (Group A especially very old ones) has reduced signal reception. Do you get COM7 signals from Crystal Palace? If so, you may have a Group T/Wideband aerial and some of them don't always have the best gain lower down the channels. Do you know what type of aerial you have and how old it is?
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John Boyce:
Meant to also say that according to the Freeview predictor, reception does change depending on where you are in your postcode, some very top end numbers are better.
Also with your "smart" tele, make sure you don't have any HDMI leads close to aerial and flyleads especially if the aerial and flyleads aren't high quality double screened types. HDMI can cause interference, more so to C55 (COM7).
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Phil Dalton:
The Sutton Coldfield transmitter has for several recent weeks been listed for Planned Engineering with "Possible weak signal", so it's highly probable that is the reason for what you have been seeing. The BBCB HD/PSB2 multiplex is on UHF C40 from Sutton Coldfield, which in light of your comments is unsurprisingly missing from your list.
(The full list of multiplexes is in my post above on p310, 26tyh Dec.). You are not predicted to get the Local L-BRM multiplex at your location (doesn't mean your won't!), your aerial should be pointing at a bearing of 339 degrees (~NNW) rods/squashed x's horizontal.
The transmitter isn't listed this week, but that doesn't mean that some work may not be continuing, we've seen many cases where the lists have not be accurate. No faults are currently listed.
Try a manual retune on UHF C40.
Also worth checking all your coax plugs and connections, make sure your downlead isn't flapping in the wind etc. Also check that you don't have any HDMI leads close to any aerial or flyleads, especially if the aerial and flyleads aren't high quality double screened types. HDMI is known to sometimes cause interference, especially to C55 (COM7)
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Michael Swift:
I agree with what StevensOnln1 has said and his approach to investigating this, but do check that the aerial is pointing the right way - bearing 189 degrees (rods vertical) that's 9 degrees W of due S. Also that the down lead is secure and not flapping in the wind.
It's slightly baffling that the quality is showing as 100% as one would expect it to decrease with overload, but nevertheless remove these small boosters to start with and see what happens to the strength and quality figures.
In addition, make sure you don't have any HDMI cables close to any aerial leads and flyleads, especially if the aerial leads and flyleads are not high quality double screened types. HDMI has been known to cause interference which could produce the effects you are seeing.
If the 4 channel splitter/booster also supplies power to the masthead amp, then it'll be almost impossible to take it out of circuit for tests. I don't suppose it has a variable gain control that you can turn down?
If removal of the set back boosters still leaves the signal the same, then it might be worth trying a variable attenuator at the set back so you can reduce the signal.
Something like this eBay item number: 310039226920
Coax TV Aerial Attenuator Adjustable Variable Between 0-20 dB Reduces signal | eBay
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Gary Whitlie:
Which stations are you having a problem with, is it all of them or just main BBC stations or is it a selection of Commercial ones?
You may be too far away from the Chatton transmitter to get reliable signals from there, and in any event there may be a few not spots for Chatton in your general area.
That said, there is a Local Commercial multiplex transmitted from Peppermore Farm which should carry BBC Radio Newcastle and the new temporary BBC Radio Sunderland, see https://www.bbc.co.uk/rec…0121 and it appears that there's currently no reported problems with that transmitter.
This could be why you are predicted to get good reception of this Local Commercial multiplex and only fair reception of the main BBC stations. Put your postcode into Postcode checker - Digital Radio UK which will show you this.
Because of the addition of this temporary BBC Local station, you might need to retune your radio(s) to receive the multiplex correctly.
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Alan Wilson:
Look in your TV's tuning section and double check you are correctly tuned to the UHF channels for Black Hill.
The correct UHF multiplex channels for Black Hill in the order PSB1-3, COMs4-7, Local -
are C46, C43, C40, C41, C44, C47, C55, C30 (C meaning UHF channel).
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Monday 15 February 2021 1:53PM
Bernard Martin:
The reason those HD channels aren't on other multiplexes is simply there is no space for them and there is only the BBCB mux that is HD and also the other factor is cost. Because of the reduced coverage and temporary nature of COM7 it is considerably cheaper for Broadcasters on that multiplex. Many of us are hoping that one of the other muxs will get converted to HD/T2 broadcasts in the not too distant future, but there's no indication that will happen.
The other thing I should have remembered to mention is HDMI interference. Check that you don't have any HDMI leads close to any aerial or flyleads, especially if the aerial and flyleads aren't high quality double screened types. HDMI is known to sometimes cause interference, especially to C55 (COM7). It's an easy thing to forget when a problem looks as though it's a reception issue. That said, if you provide a full postcode we can look at the predicted reception in your locale.