All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Clare McNeil :
Hi Clare. It's either the engineering work and signals are reduced power and you aren't getting them at the time you tried to retune, or there's a fault on the aerial system - check it's still pointing correctly and the coax plugs are plugged in ok etc.
Whatever you do, don't try and retune the other channels, it may clear the tuning and you'll lose more channels. What is the reception like on the other channels, is it ok or pixellated?
There is another possibility and that is interference from a new/upgraded phone mast. if your father's postcode is the one ending7EP them they should have received a postcard from Restore TV about this possibility. That location is surrounded by phone masts and upgrades are taking place to use the 700MHz spectrum that was sold to mobile operators.
If you put your father's full postcode in here -
https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/
then it will most likely say yes.
Try it and tell me the outcome and what reception of the other channels is like.
BTW, a new TV (mentioned in a previous post) will not help the situation. The only benefit is a new one would get HD channels if this one doesn't (subject to getting the signal!) and it'll be "Smart" - connect to the internet, you'd need a reasonable broadband connection.
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Clare McNeil :
I'm glad you've got the channels back. I would still phone Restore TV and ask for the Free Filter. It should be fitted between the aerial and any splitter if the aerial feeds more than one TV.
If your father perchance has an aerial amplifier on the aerial pole, you should tell Restore TV and they should arrange for an engineer to come FREE of charge to fit an external filter to the mast. We have heard of some cases where they've replaced the aerial as well!
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Clare McNeil :
They are funded under OFCOM's mandatory regulations by the Mobile Operators to sort out these problems. It was a condition of their licences.
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Trevor Hesselwood:
The transmitter was listed for Planned Engineering last week but not this, so that's one possibility.
Finding any BBC reports of any faults more than 5 days ago is not readily possible, so if your recorder has been working fine since, it's probably not worth worrying about that.
Also IIRC there was some Tropospheric weather conditions with the high pressure last weekend which may have caused brief disruptions to reception.
Your location is predicted to get very good signals from Waltham, but it's also possible to get signals from Sutton Coldfield which could be received off a "reception side-lobe" on the rear of the aerial but do check two things - that your aerial is still pointing correctly at Waltham, compass bearing 53 degrees, that's fractionally east of NE, with its rods horizontal. Also that you are correctly tuned to Waltham's UHF channels as listed at the very top of this page, check in the tuning section.
One other possibility is that you are surrounded by mobile phone masts. It's possible that some of them are upgrading 4G/5G services using the 700MHz band and that may cause interference. This might be intermittent if they are testing periodically.
Your postcode should have received postcards from Restore TV. You can check at
https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/
In your TV Tuning section you should find figures for Signal Strength and Signals Quality (or Errors) for each multiplexes UHF channels. If the Quality is not 100% for each and/or the signal strength is quite low, you may already be suffering inetrference but not noticing any visible effects. If you post those figures for each UHF channel we may be able to offer further advise.
If you find that persistent interference problems start affecting pictures and sound then contact Restore TV for the Free Filter giving them details of your aerial installation and any pre-amp or amp/splitters you may have to feed more than one set.
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Dave Barter:
Whilst it is possible that it's a connection issue, it won't be specifically to do with the channels being HD. The HD channels are carried on the BBCB HD multiplex on UHF C35 at Winter Hill.
It's possible reception of this multiplex (and possibly others at vary times) could have been affected by current Tropospheric weather conditions that have come with the High Pressure. The BBC have a current warning about this -
High pressure could affect TV & Radio services across parts of the UK from 16th September | Help receiving TV and radio
IF perchance you had No Signal or badly pixellated pictures AND went and retuned then it may have cleared your correct tuning. It is never advised that if you were previously correctly tuned you should NOT retune when you have No signal etc. You cannot tune to signals that aren't there or can't be decoded. Check in your TV Tuning section that you are tuned to UHF C35 for the HD channels.
It's also possible that you may have inadvertently got tuned to the relay at Barrow-in-Furness on C47 which may not give reliable reception in your location - as you haven't given a full postcode, we can't confirm that, and it could also be disrupted by the current weather conditions. There was a report from the BBC that it was affected on Tuesday.
However, do check your coax connections/flylead between the DVD Player and the set. Also make sure you don't have any other leads like HDMI, power etc running close to your aerial or flyleads as sometimes interference can be picked up from them.
Another possibility is interference from a new/upgraded mobile phone mast. Have you received a postcard from Restore TV?
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Alistair D Cahill:
It's most likely to be down to costs. Broadcasting on a multiplex on Freeview is a lot more costly than having a streaming allocation. They won't have a very large audience on Freeview (cf. BBC/Sky etc.) it's probably been at a loss.
So as StevensOnln1 has said, if you have an Internet connected/Smart TV, you can watch it on LCN251 but that is assuming you receive the SDN multiplex from a main transmitter and not the limited Freeview Light service from a Relay (as you haven't given a full postcode, we can't advise).
Alternatively, you can watch it Live at https://www.aljazeera.com/live
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D peterkin : & M & Phil:
There is Planned Engineering at Durris, I'm not sure why a copy of the detail hasn't appeared here -
STV North Durris Main Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels.
In some locations this may also mean loss of sgnal due to weaker reception on reduced power or use of the Reserve Antenna.
As none of you have given a full postcode, we can't advise on predicted reception or other possible interference issues.
IF you were correctly tuned to start with, and had NO signal or badly pixellated picture, I hope you did not retune, it's probably just cleared your correct tuning. You cannot tune to signals that aren't there or can';t be decoded.
IF you did, check in your TV Tuning section and if need be manually tune the following -
Check you are correctly tuned to the UHF channels for Durris, the 6 main multiplexes are on UHF channels C28, C25, C22, C23, C26, C30 that's in multiplex order -
PSBs1/BBCA, PSB2/D3&4, PSB3/BBCB HD, COM4/SDN, COM5/ArqA, COM6/ArqB
If you normally get the Local Multiplex it's on C41.
There is also the possibility reception could be disrupted by the current weather conditions with the high pressure. Again, do not retune if you've lost signal and were correctly tuned.
High pressure could affect reception across the UK this week | Freeview
High pressure currently affecting TV & Radio services across parts of the UK - 19 September | Help receiving TV and radio
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Sharon Spencer:
There's no reported faults for Bilsdale and the transmitter isn't currently listed for Planned Engineering.
You haven't been specific as to which (groups of) channels are affected. Is it all or just some and which?
It's most likely to be current tropospheric weather conditions accompanying the high pressure.
High pressure could affect reception across the UK this week | Freeview
High pressure currently affecting TV & Radio services across parts of the UK - 19 September | Help receiving TV and radio
I hope you have NOT retuned whilst you had No signal or badly pixellated pictures.
IF you were correctly tuned to start with, then retuning in those situations will most likely just clear you correct tuning. You cannot tune to signals that aren't there or can't be decoded.
Check in your TV Tuning section, If you are no longer correctly tuned, then MANUALLY Retune EACH multiplex's UHF Channel as listed at the very top of this page.
As you haven't given a full postcode we can't comment on your predicted reception or whether you might be vulnerable to other interference such as that from new/upgraded phone masts.
Have you received a postcard from Restore TV?
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Tuesday 10 September 2024 2:24AM
Clare McNeil :
If you recall one of my previous posts to you when you'd lost channels before, I explained about manual tuning.
It sounds like your Dad made the mistake of retuning when he had no signal. If you were correctly tuned to start with then you do not retune when it says No signal or the pictures are badly pixellated, whether it's due to engineering, weather conditions or faults. You have to wait until signals return to normal.
You cannot tune to signals that aren't there or can't be decoded! The usua; resulty is to clear the correct tuning.
You may note from the post previous to yours, there's engineering taking place.
The only sensible way to deal with tuning when this is occurring is manual tuning.
(In the multiplex order) PSB1/BBCA, PSB2/D3&4, PSB3/BBCB HD, COM4/SDN, COM5/ARQA, COM6/ARQB.
Whitehawk Hill's UHF channels are C48, C35, C36, C32, C34, C33.
The LOCAL Multiples L-BTN is on C40.
As it's the BBC channels he's lost you need to tune UHF C48 only. If it's an HD set and those are also missing then they are C36.
You need to tell him that in future if it's just one group of channels with no signal just wait and check for engineering or faults. If all the other channels are ok, leave the set alone and don't retune if you were correctly tuned to start with.