All posts by Chris.SE
Below are all of Chris.SE's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Jan Tims:
Which channels are you having problems with? How long has it been happening?
Is it always the same channels?
If you provide a full postcode we can check your predicted reception and may be able to offer further advice.
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Constance Hawthorne:
Hi Constance, ah, I see your "predicament". But I have one bit of sad news, the tescard is not on the secret menu anymore - well I can't get it on my LG that has MHEG support, and I know others can't get it either.
I think your best bet will be to look on places like eBay for a suitable box, especially if you can find one with MHEG-IC (so it will have WiFi) which means you can get the Freeview Streamed Channels.
I don't thing there's any new/current boxes out there that might be suitable, but then I haven't double checked.
I've not had any boxes since DSO days, so don't really have any idea what's out there any more.
I don't know if there are any that have MHEG and HbbTV to the latest standard as there's a couple of streamed channels now using the latest HbbTV standard and not MHEG :(
My LG doesn't have the latest HbbTV so I can't get those particular ones.
As a Freeview "geek", you will of course know to check out the spec. of whatever you see thoroughly and ask the seller questions about any detail not given as well as try and check a manufacturer's website. Regrettably these days I'm finding tech info about older equipment of all sorts is becoming more difficult/impossible to find, very annoying!
If I have a moment I'll try and do a search. Let me know if you find something. I'll post if I think I've found something that may interest you.
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Dave C:
Due to those current bugs that StevensOnln1 has mentioned, you need to refresh the page here on this transmitter page to see the posts, once it's loaded - even before posting, it's infuriating. The site owner has been made aware but obviously hasn't had time or yet unable to track the bug causing this which started after one of those automatic OS updates!!
Even with Planned Engineering, you really shouldn't have any problem with reception of any of the multiplexes, you are only 31km from the transmitter with clear line of sight.
Just one quick point regarding "bigger" aerials. It's always better to use a higher gain aerial and an attenuatore than a low gain aerial and an amplifier, as any interference that one might get will always get amplified. Ideally signal strength levels in the low to mid 90's in a TV set's tuning section should be more than adequate. Quality of 100% should be the case at all times, any drop suggests some sort of interference is present.
Considering the checks that have been made on your installation, I'm thinking this could be some sort of intermittent interference which didn't happen to be present when Restore TV used a spectrum analyser. So, a few questions to see if we might be able to narrow down potential causes.
Does the problem occur everyday? When did it most recently occur?
How long does it last when it happens? Does the duration vary with the time of day?
Does it tend to occur at the same time(s) of day? If there any consistency with occurrence and things like sunset?
Are any near neighbours using any electrical equipment eg. lawn movers, hedge trimmers etc when this happens?
Do you have central heating? Any consistency with the boiler starting up?
Any consistency with the use of any other electrical equipment that you can identify? Maybe a fluorescent light being turned on?
Do you have any radio amateurs nearby?
Any other patterns that you might be able to identify?
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Dave C:
Regarding "refreshing" the page, you often have to select the last page number showing.
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Sunday 1 June 2025 2:08PM
Steve:
As currently noted at the top of the page -
"Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 26/05/2025 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels"
As you haven't given a full postcode, we can't check your predicted reception under normal circumstances, you may be in a marginal area for some multiplexes.
There's also the possibility that you may be suffering interference from a new/upgraded phone mast now using the 700MHz band but again we can't check without a full postcode.
Added to which current weather conditions could be causing brief disruption -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/work-warning/weather-warning/waw-high-pressure-26-may-2025
One thing, do NOT retune when you have No signal or badly pixelated pictures, you cannot tune to signals that aren't there or can't be decoded, the usual result is to clear the correct tuning.