All posts by Michael Perry
Below are all of Michael Perry's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
All:
Some Freeview equipment cannot retune without the loss of the existing recording settings. A bit of a bother with programmes you want to do a series recording for as long as they are still broadcasting the series, you can reconfigure the series settings. Where they are between series, it is not possible to reset the series recording as there is no such data present in the Freeview transmissions currently broadcast! That's a real headache for many, hence some of the comments from people that they've lost or missed recordings as they hadn't realised the settings would be lost.
The same doesn't happen with Sky as their implimentation of DVB-S includes the extension that allows for automatic retuning and retention of planned recordings, including series. It could have been included in the DVB-T services but wasn't.
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Shirley Please look at the page shown at A bakers dozen of changes: Freeview channel number changes from 3 September 2014 | Freeview news | ukfree.tv - 12 years of independent, free digital TV advice and follow the retune instructions. You may need to refer to your TV's User Guide to see how to get to the 'new install' settings.
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Luca
The effect that MB is describing is well known to listeners to Radio Luxembourg on 208 metres. That always faded in and out due to the atmospherics effect, more noticable in the evenings as the ionosphere layers change height as the atmosphere cools.
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C Kennedy
A British Freeview receiver will not be able to get any British Freeview programmes in Innsbruck. That is just far too far away from the UK for any of the transmissions to get that far.
You may get some British programmes on FreeSat using your dish, but it needs to be pretty large as Innsbruck is some way outside the targetted area so the signals will be pretty weak.
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Anthony:
The alignment is not to set the azimuth to 28.2 degrees east but to set it at the correct angle for you particular location so it points at the orbital position of 28.2 degrees east.
For a fuller explanation see Azimuth, elevation and skew There are several websites that offer to calculathe the correct azimuth, elevation and skew for the location.
Where I live, Wiltshire, the azimuth is around 35 degrees east!
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Anthony and Ellen
Depending on where in Nottingham Ellen lives it is rare to need a booster. In the experience of many respondents to this website, boosters are often the cause of problems rather than a cure.
Unlike the old analogue services, digital is very sensitive to signal strength. If there is too little then the will be break up of the picture (pixilation) and sound and sometimes total loss of channels, sometimes just some of them and sometimes all of them. If there is too much signal strength the tuner can be swamped (overloaded) by the excessive signal and give much the same problems as with too little signla. That is particularly true for HD equipment with the DVB-T2 type tuners.
So I would strongly advise using just a good, well installed aerial of the log-periodic type (for receptions some years into the future) without a booster/amplifier initially. A check on screen of the signals strength will show whether it is too weak or too strong. Ideally it should be between 60% and 80% but not more and not less. Only if the signal strnegth is significantly less than 605 should you even consider whether a booster/amplifier would help. Remember that they booster the noise and interference as well as the wanted signals, so be wise and avoid if at all possible.
Ellen: could you enter your post code into this site (or that of a nearby shop) so we can work out whether you are using Waltham of Nottingham (Kimberley) thransmitter and whether there are any significant hills (such as at Mapperley Top, Castle Hill, etc) between you and the transmitter. I know the area quite well from when I worked throught Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.
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Brian
From your description it would appear that you are not getting a good signal on both inputs. The Sky+HD box has two inputs so that it can record whilest watching a programme or record two different programmes at the same time. If one input is giving a good signal according the LNB screen but the other is not then there may be a cable problem with the one that is not working correctly. The 'F' connectors must be correctly fitted on the ends of the cables (both ends!) without any stray copper filaments causing a short circuit or the braid./sheath taken too far back so it cannot accept the plug properly. Or maybe the centre 'prong' is too short to make contact in the socket. This applies to both ends as well. It is worth checking these and that they are properly screwed on finger-tight, not with a spanner! If in doubt about these chacks please ask someone locally who would know about these details.
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Briantist
It seems that some do not differentiate between the status of some entities, such as the BBC and Network Rail, etc. I used to be a consultant for Network Rail and they are not a 'not for profit' organisation but rather a 'not for dividend' entity. That then means they can make a profit but it has all to be re-invested into the maintenance and operation of the rail network and the main stations. Some of this 'profit' is now being put back into the 'business' by the electrification of the London to Cardiff and Penzance services (currently run by the First Great Western franchise) and there are further projects being planned for the future of a similar scale.
It will be interesting to see how the Scottish vote will affect track maintenance and provision as it is more costly per mile there than in most of England and much of Wales.
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Sabrina
It could well be a problem with your own equipment as many people are suffering the same problem, even some of the regular contributors to this website. It could be that the recent changes are not being handled well by the software that controls the TVs, PVRs and set top boxes.
Have you asked other people around you who also use Freeview with an aerial (and not Sky or FreeSat via a dish) whether they are having the same problems? And what make equipment are they using?
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Friday 5 September 2014 9:12PM
CFB : Please see A bakers dozen of changes: Freeview channel number changes from 3 September 2014 | Freeview news | ukfree.tv - 12 years of independent, free digital TV advice and follow the retuning advice.