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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Nicholas Anderson:
Your point being?
The service is aimed primarily at the Southampton area (however you may wish to define that).
It is beamed from Rowridge roughly in a NNE direction - approximately compass bearing 27 degrees.
So, if you live either very close to the transmitter, or on that line of transmission from Rowridge and aren't too far away you'll be able to receive it.
That doesn't detract from the fact that the news programmes are generally Southampton orientated.
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Peter Hayward:
You say you can receive BBC by holding the aerial cable BUT do you know from which transmitter? You'd need to identify the UHF Channel carrying the BBC Multiplex that you are receiving!
That is simply because, considering what you've told us about your elevation, you can possibly receive signals from at least two, probably three transmitters and under certain weather conditions, more, maybe five or six!
General predictions for that area don't show especially good reception from Lark Stoke (but it will be very location specific) particularly the COM multiplexes.
One particular problem with receiving Malvern in your location is that in weather conditions with Tropospheric Ducting, reception may not be reliable as the channels used for the PSB multiplexes are co-channel with Wenvoe which will be roughly on the same line of site within the beamwidth of your aerial.
Malvern (400W) and Lark Stoke (1000W) are low power transmitters. You may be better to see if you can get reliable signals from Sutton Coldfield which although somewhat further away is a much, more powerful main transmitter 200kW at compass bearing 19 degrees (roughly NNE) in your general area BUT a full postcode is needed to check on that.
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Margaret Jones:
iPlayer uses the Internet. Your internet is obviously working as you have posted here.
Whilst the transmitter is currently listed for Planned Engineering this won't affect iPlayer. However if you normally select it via one of the BBC channels or LCN100 then if you don't have reception that affects them, you'd have to use your sets App menu instead.
You are so close to the transmitter that engineering would not normally affect your reception unless any of the multiplexes carrying BBC programmes etc was briefly off-air.
One thing NOT to do if you have no signal is retune! You cannot tune to signals that aren't there or can't be decoded. The usual result is to clear the correct tuning.
IF you did retune when you had no signal, and you have none of the BBC channels listed in your EPG, then you are going to have to retune again when signals are received to restore your channels.
In the meantime, as already mentioned, select iPlayer via the TV's App menu.
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Darren Brown:
Hi again.
Firstly, Chatton is listed for Planned Engineering again, so that will have a bearing on received signal which maybe on reduced power or the reserve antenna.
Secondly, there's been variable tropospheric conditions on and off for several weeks. So co-channel signals from other transmitters in the UK or Europe may start affecting your wanted signals. The usual initial effect is a reduction in the Quality %, if the interfering signals get strong enough ultimately signal strength goes to zero, because all that the set sees is noise!
Those signals you are seeing on C27, C39 and C43 will be coming from another transmitter, maybe more than one transmitter, it just depends on the tropo conditions at the time.
Unfortunately, nothing you can do about the tropo, you have to grin and bear it until conditions change but do NOT retune, unless, you are up for some experimenting to try and discover which multiplexes are on those channels that come and go, which may help identify the transmitter. Do so by Manual tuning of the UHF channel BUT in such conditions you may struggle to get your own tuning for Chatton back easily!
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Paul Morrish:
Whilst you've posted on the DAB transmitter page rather than the Freeview one, no worries, the warning about Planned Engineering also appears at the top of this page.
I assume you've seen this moderately simplistic explanation of how/why this sort of problem exists and occurs occasionally -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/work-warning/weather-warning/waw-high-pressure
The reason that you are currently finding the BBC (SD?) channels affected more than any others is at least two fold at this time.
The BBC SD channels are transmitted on one multiplex, ITV, Ch4, Ch5 and their sister channels are transmitted on another, these are on different UHF channels, as are a number of the other "commercial channels" on other multiplexes (groups of TV programme channels).
1) The propagation issues are somewhat frequency dependant, the current state of the atmosphere determining how particular frequencies are affected
2) Depending on where the particular current interference is coming from (it won't necessarily be the same each time) not all UHF channels will be the same as Mendip, so not all multiplexes might be affected.
3) The BBC SD multiplex (last time I checked) was on reduced power or on the Reserve antenna (lower on the mast) so your wanted received signal strength will be lower, so interfering signals will be relatively greater.
4) You may have better reception at present watching the HD version of the channels - ITV, CH.4 and Ch5 are also on the same BBCB HD multiplex.
5) IIRC some parts of Thornbury don't get the best of reception from Mendip, but as you haven't given a full postcode I can't advise further on that.
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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.