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All posts by Grumps

Below are all of Grumps's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.


I have a very high gain wideband aerial fitted in the loft, with a masthead amp & PSU. I am getting 50-60% signal strength (from Sutton Coldfield) according to my Freeview+ HD box, but no HD channels.Do I have to wait until September for that to change or do I stand a chance of HD sooner? Any suggestions gratefully received.

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Hi Andy, Just checked and it is not good. The Ch5 picture is clearly visible but there is quite a strong ghost image underneath which appears like a black and white grid pattern.According to the reception checkers/predictors, I should have HD from Sutton Coldfield now.

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Tried to get best Ch5 analogue signal but despite lining the aerial in exactly the right direction and trying all heights possible in the loft, I can't improve the picture dramatically. So obviously I am still not getting HD. Does anyone know if that means it will remain unavailable for me in Solihull (via Sutton Coldfield transmitter) until September or would a roof mounted aerial resolve the problem now (if I can get the permission)?

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The more I look at why I can't get an HD signal, the more confusing it becomes. Briantist suggested that I tune the best Ch5 analogue signal to obtain HD,but I couldn't improve it. The info on this site doesn't suggest that I can get Ch5 from Sutton Coldfield at my postcode B90 4XB but another site suggests I need a Band B aerial whereas I have a high-gain wideband loft mounted. Does anyone know if a change of aerial would improve things?

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Thanks Andy, I will take a look. If I don't want to wait 6 months, do you think that a new aerial will make a difference?

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Hi Wibble,
See the responses to me above as I am also from Solihull area. I have moved my loft mounted wideband aerial to Lichfield (3◦)and I have picked up all 4 HD channels. The signal strength is a bit down from Sutton C for the other digital channels but no noticeable problems. My HD Box doesn't show any signal strength for the HD channels and about 50% quality but they are definitely there and working, so I am not sure what is going on with the signal strength thing. Good luck

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Yes Andy and thanks for your ideas and input. It got me there. Even had Dolby Digital on the Ch4 HD film tonight! I think I am still on the edge of reception because MOTD on HD has frozen a couple of times but nothing serious.

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Wibble, I have a masthead amp and power supply fitted to my loft wideband aerial and I doubt that I would get HD without. If you have those, I would try to improve on the "guesstimation" method because a ittle movement in the right direction could make all the difference. I used the compass on my iPhone to find the transmitter position from the Wolfsbane site's info. It wasn't that responsive but best of 5 readings got me a consistent direction to aim at. Then final adjustment was by phone (intercom) with the wife telling me when the highest readings were reached. My Digibox tells me that I have 0% signal and up to 50% quality of 0 - it jumps up and down for no apparent reason - but I get a stable picture on HD. That will do me until Sutton Coldfield takes over from Lichfield in September when I shall use the same method to reposition the aerial. Good luck

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Terry:How did you get on? If you are still having problems with Wolfbane or Brian's suggestion, put up your post code and I will take a look.

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