All posts by Michael Perry
Below are all of Michael Perry's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Martyn crookes:
Which transmitter are you trying to receive PSB2 from? Having worked in the area I would suspect you are likely to be using Waltham but a few hills either side of the Trent may be causing problems.
If you give a full post code, we can look up the reception conditions in Calverton.
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nicholas:
Several years ago there was a problem with reception of BBC2 on UHF from Crustal Palace but affecting just a few houses on one street in South Croydon. These were in Beechcroft Road, Mulgrave Road and Woodstock Road, south of Fairfield Halls that had just been built.
After much investigation by BBC and others (including the major TV rental companies) it was found that the curved copper roof of the Halls was causing signal bending. That meant that a small section of the roads mentioned did not get any signals at all at normal aerial heights. The solution was to mount the aerial on each house either lower (only worked on 3 houses if I remember correctly) or much higher on very long poles with stay wires to stop the aerial from moving in the wind.
Such effects are not uncommon in areas with tall buildings or curved metal roofed buildings. When Canary Wharf was built, much of the Lee Valley area lost TV reception as the office building blocked the signals from Crystal Palace, so a new repeater transmitter had to be built. That's a classic example of planning rules not being very helpful to ordinary people.
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MikeB, et al:
I have a Bose FM radio/CD player as well as a Bose DAB radio CD player.The sound quality of both when playing good CDs is acceptable. When listening to FM it is better than CDs. The DAB version of the same device is not as good sound quality. I suspect that bit rates have been reduced too far for the sort of sound reproduction needed for some instruments to be heard reasonably well. I have sung in many churches and concert halls for more than fifty years and pipe organs present a particular problem for digital systems as the overtones they produce are not reproduced at all by any digital system - the sample rate is too low. It would need to be much, much higher if the Nyquist effect were to not interfere with the higher tonal quality sounds.
FM has its limitations as well but the sound quality is not as 'harsh' as with CDs.
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Nottingham (Nottinghamshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter
Wednesday 21 September 2016 12:41PM
Nottingham
Wednesday 21 September 2016 12:41PM
Nottingham
Martyn Crookes:
If you are trying to receive from Waltham, there is a bit of a hill in direct line-of-sight, so that may be causing your problem. Best to asked neighbours if they are having the same problem.
For Waltham your aerial would be aimed approximately south-east. You have not told us which transmitter you are trying to use. There is no reported problem with the PSB2 transmissions from Waltham.
You should also check what channel numbers (not the programme numbers) you are receiving and in particular note which is/are giving the problems. The reason for aski g for the check is that you may also get signals from Belmont, near Lincoln.
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dale:
It is shown as being on channel 426. See List of Virgin Media television channels - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for a listing.
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Richard:
That's a well known oddity that all television engineers will check on every service visit. We always checked the RF connection between the aerial and TV/VCR/etc as they are known to cause strange effects if the connections are not perfect. A common cause is the slight degree of moisture in the indoor atmosphere that causes gradual surface corrosion that has a frequency selective effect - hence some services work fine but others don't.
The advice often given on these pages is to check the connections first! If in doubt about the plugs, either replace them or replace the whole flylead (they're very cheap) and make sure the plugs and sockets are firm and not loose.
So there is nothing particularly 'odd' about your connection problems causing reception difficulties.
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David:
Above your posting is a statement to the effect that Mendip may be on reduced power currently due to engineering works. That can be the cause of your problem so do not try to retune until the work is completed.
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Mariakurczynsky:
As you live in a building with a shared communal aerial, you first step should be to check with your immediate neighbours in the block to see if they have exactly the same problem as you report. If they do then you must contact the managing agents for them to have the aerial system checked professionally. You cannot do it yourself as it is not your property.
If your neighbours do not have the problem, then it is either you equipment that has failed or esle the connections from the aerial socket on the wall to your TV, etc, Start by swapping the flylead between the wall aerial socket and the equipment, they are very cheap to buy. If that does not cure the problem you will need to test whether your TV gets the signals in a neighbour's flat with their permission. If that works then your aerial socket feed is faulty. If that doesn't work then your TV is faulty.
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anthony:
Sorry, I had to have a titter when I read your post and then saw the entry below yours!
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Sunday 18 September 2016 10:42AM
Michael:
None of that changes my answer. MW transmissions are not intended to be receivable outside of the service area. That they often can be is a matter of physics. Tropospheric ducting/temperature inversions often occur during high atmospheric pressure and hot weather, and are usually experienced with UHF signals - but they do affect lower frequency signals too. Radio Luxemberg was famous for fading in and out on their 208 metres transmissions - because of atmospheric effects.
Transmitter aerials are often designed to be directional so as to serve particular area(s) that would otherwise have little or no service.