All posts by jb38
Below are all of jb38's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Mike M: Well, the aerial having been moved (blown) out of alignment was the other thing that crossed my mind, as the symptoms you describe are generally what one would expect with this type of fault, insomuch, atmospheric changes between day and night resulting in variations in reception levels.
However if this was applicable (aerial out of alignment) it wouldn't just affect these two channels as it would affect all of them, but though the aforementioned situation would apply if your box has stored BBC / ITV from the local relay as your aerial "would" be out of alignment for these two channels, Tacolneston being on a bearing of 211 degrees whereas the Norwich relay is 130 degrees, reception from this station already predicted as being variable even if the aerial was facing towards the transmitter.
Apart from that already said and to clarify a point I am not quite clear about, if you are using the box with a normal Freeview TV, do you receive all channels OK on the TV with the aerial connected directly into it minus the box?, in other words, the problem is only associated with reception via the box?
By the way, BBC / ITV HD does not provide regional local news as yet, both Sandy and Tacolneston broadcasting Meridian area (Southampton) news on ITV HD.
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Joan Hemington: Yes, the problem could well be caused by the person who resides elsewhere at the weekends.
One household device that is capable of causing high levels of interference is a vacuum cleaner of the mains powered variety, as when the motor brushes get worn down after a period of time they become prone to sparking, a common cause of massive levels of interference. Other devices capable of causing similar types of interference being washing machines, food mixers, hair dryers, sewing machines etc, the length of time of the interference giving a clue to as to what its most likely to be caused by.
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Mike M: Re box having possibly picked up channels from both stations, yes!, but only as far as PSB (Public Service Broadcast) channels are concerned, namely BBC / ITV / HD, as anything other than those three (Commercial channels) would have to be received from Tacolneston as Norwich Central only broadcasts PSB channels.
You can easily check if your box has picked up PSB channels from both stations or not as all three will be duplicated up in the EPG800 range of channels, e.g: BBC1 being 800, ITV 801 etc. If you find this applies? then you can use this to check if Norwich Central's BBC has been stored in the EPG1 position by carrying out a test in late evening when the reception of said channel had dropped off, insomuch if the reception is down in EPG1 but OK in EPG800 then thats inclined to indicate that the box has stored Norwich Central in EPG1's position, or indeed vice-versa.
Of course, the other thing you had mentioned about the possibility of the problem being caused by 4G transmissions cannot be discounted either, as BBC and ITV from Tacolneston are indeed received in the range most susceptible to being affected by this type of interference, BBC C55 / ITV C59.
However, the best way to find out if you reside in an area likely to be affected by these transmissions is by contacting AT800 (free of charge) by opening undermentioned link, if you are deemed as being susceptible, they will send you a filter (free of charge) to fit in line with your TV or boxes aerial input socket.
Contact us | Advice or general enquiries | at800
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Mike M: An easy mistake to make!, however it does change a few aspects of that said, insomuch that Tacolneston is now indicated as being 20 miles away @ 241 degrees, the field strength of the signal from said station predicted as being significantly lower than for NR3, and although you still have a clear line-of-sight to the station, the signal might be subject to variations in levels (for reasons previously mentioned) due it being received at an angle running much closer to the ground at approx 2 miles out from the area you reside in.
As far as the possibility of your box picking up / storing duplicate channels is concerned, although less likely, that said (up to a point anyway) is still applicable, although in this case the station involved is the 400 watts Great Yarmouth relay at 7 miles / 108 degrees, the Mux channel numbers used by this station being BBC C47, ITV C41, the field strength of the signal from same predicted as being not that far short of that from the main station.
That previously said re using the EPG800 range to check for duplicate PSB channels (BBC/ITV) is still applicable.
On the subject of AT800 and the free 4G filters. This company was given the task of determining whether or not a viewer is liable to be affected by any 4G transmissions in their area, as phone companies have to notify them with full details of any proposals to install a new transmitter along with its exact location, the company then using this info with reference to the viewers post code to make a decision as to whether or not they are liable to suffer from interference from the 4G transmitter, a filter being sent in the post if they are.
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Chris Averall: Yes!, as far as being able to view it on Freeview is concerned, as its now only viewable via internet connected TV's or boxes and accessed via 240 on the EPG listings.
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fozzy: I'm a bit puzzled by what you are meaning by retune, as retuning shouldn't come into the equation
"if" Motors TV is listed as being EPG 240. However, judging what you have mentioned to MikeB, it would appear that your TV is permanently connected into your router via Wi-Fi, which is somewhat unfortunate because LAN connections are sometimes better for tests over that of Wi-Fi, although I fully appreciate that not everyone can position their router close to the TV.
If though you are able to use a LAN connection, kill the Wi-Fi and connect the LAN cable into the TV followed by selecting EPG 248 Africa Free, do you get the promo screen? try the same on 245 Planet Knowledge, anything iffy about the TV will trigger a caption warning that - some features may not work properly - followed by loading, which might then be followed by - cannot store input values - if anything is amiss compatibility wise with the TV.
I should also have added to my previous reply re compatibility, that this qualification is referring more to the TV being able to be connected into the internet, and not that its fully compatible with the software requirements necessary to be able view a particular programme via same.
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Tim: Interesting!, but though, as I have been unable to find any mention of Sky having changed their policy as far as ex-subscribers being able to retain the recording / playback facilities on their boxes is concerned, at least without the 10.50 or so per month that they normally charge, can you confirm that you are definitely *not* being charged for being able to retain this facility?
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Jeremy Morfey: 704 or any of the others ranging from 700 - 710 works perfectly OK on my Panasonic irrespective of what method is used to select same, i.e: directly or via the EPG listings, reception being from Waltham's PSB1/BBCA Mux C49.
"If" the problem is of the intermittent variety? the next time it happens select BBC1 and carefully observe the quality of the signal over a minute or so, as although you have mentioned the signal strength as being fine, any slight fluctuations in its quality could result in problems of the type mentioned.
It would though have been of assistance if you had mentioned the area you reside in, (post code or one from nearby, e.g: shop / post office) as this would enable the status of the transmitter to be checked out.
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JIM CUNNINGHAM: If your Freeview reception is from the Darvel transmitter, then no faults have been listed against same. If though your reception is from the West Kilbride relay? and which is predicted as providing a superior level of signal to certain parts of Ardrossan, then a warning of "possible service interruptions" is listed against it, the reason for basically down to the engineering work being carried out at the Blackhill transmitter where it receives its signal from, a notice warning of "possible weak signal" currently in force against this station.
That said, any transmitter that's temporarily disabled for safety reasons is never off for any more than 30 minutes or so at the most, although reduced power can be for a whole day or more, this making me wonder if your neighbour and you are both connected into a communal aerial distribution system? as any defects in same will affect everyone connected into the system.
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Saturday 20 February 2016 3:29PM
Mike M: Although you are located at only 11 miles away from Tacolneston transmitter and with a clear line-of-sight to same, reception predicted as being excellent, your box might possibly have stored BBC and ITV from the local Norwich Central relay (@ 1 mile) rather from the main Tacolneston transmitter, as boxes scan upwards from C21 and the Norwich relay's BBC and ITV transmit on lower channel numbers over that used by Tacolneston.
To check whether that said applies or not, select BBC followed by pressing the "Y" main menu button > settings > select TV, then scroll right to "signal and quality", if BBC is being received from Tacolneston C55 will be listed, C46 being the Norwich relay. Repeat the test for ITV, C59 being Tacolneston whereas C43 if the Norwich relay.