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All posts by Dave Lindsay

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


chris: On the basis that you are a mile or two from the Crystal Palace transmitter, it is quite likely that the problem is that the signal going into your TV is now overwhelming it. Put an attenuator inline with your aerial lead to reduce the signals' levels.

Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

As a temporary measure, in order to watch television, you need to find a way to put less signal into the TV.

Some suggestions:

- A set-top aerial.
- If the aerial lead is one that screws together, try removing the outer part of the plug so that you can insert only the inner pin into the socket.
- A wire coathanger or large paperclip around 6in long inserted into the inner part of the socket may work.
- You may find that an aerial lead on its own may work, perhaps fixed to the wall.


See which of the above works the best with the BBC channels that you have. The signal strength screen should give you some idea. The signal strength screen should hopefully also be telling you that it is tuned to UHF channel 23 (which is BBC standard definition from Crystal Palace).

Having done this, then use manual tuning instead of automatic, adding each group of programme channels, as shown at the top of this page. If you find that one is unavailable (no signal), then move on to the next, noting which are missing.

As shown above (for tuning):

BBC One=C23
ITV1=C26
BBC One HD=C30
ITV3=C25
Pick TV=C22
Yesterday=C28

If, having done a manual scan of these channels, you are missing one or more, then use the ones you have to guide you as to where to best position your makeshift aerial and then try again manually tuning to the missing channel(s).

As the programme channels are in groups, there is no need to look at the rest in the group. So if BBC One is OK, then you know that BBC Two, BBC Three etc are OK as well. Stick to viewing the strengths and qualities of the above six services.

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C65 (826.0MHz) before switchover
Saturday 21 April 2012 4:57AM

Lucy: Assuming that the four channels were BBC One, BBC Two, ITV and Channel 4, then these were probably the analogue ones, in which case analogue has been switched off now, so your TV will need a separate set-top box to receive TV channels.

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C65 (826.0MHz) before switchover
Saturday 21 April 2012 4:59AM

Lucy: If your TV has a scart socket, then all set-top boxes will work. If it doesn't, then you will need one with an in-built modulator which outputs the box's picture in analogue form (the same type as has just been switched off).

One example of a box with a modulator in is this one:

http://www.comet.co.uk/p/…8737

As I say, if your TV has a scart, then you are free to choose any Freeview set-top box.

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jon: Some boxes and TVs won't work after switchover, so use one that you have found to work with your other (Sudbury/Anglia) aerial.

As I suggested to chris, above, try manually tuning to the five (or six if it's HD) channel numbers. Be aware that the receiver may already have stored them in the 800s, so depending on its design, it may appear to do nothing.

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Better tweeting | Blogs
Saturday 21 April 2012 5:16AM

Mike Davies: Do you normally receive London programming or South East/Meridian programming? I suspect the latter.

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Louisa: According to BBC Reception, Bacup is working. BBC only mentions issues with its own services.

The posting immediately above yours from Transmitter engineering says that BBC TV was off the air from 19:16 to 22:45 on Saturday evening. The source is the BBC (as noted by the "[BBC]" at the end), so could have affected all channels.

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Hannington (Hampshire, England) transmitter
Saturday 21 April 2012 11:08AM

Malcolm H: Maybe this can help if you would like to consider DIYing it:

Hannington Transmitter

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Derek: I wonder if it could be too much signal:

Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

Wideband aerials have much less gain at Group A frequencies (of which 21, 24 and 27 are). See these traces:

Gain (curves), Again

This is what makes me think that your problem could be overload on C57 and C60.

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Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter
Saturday 21 April 2012 11:44AM

PP Ainsworth: Bring up the signal strength screen whilst on one of the HD channels and check that it is tuned to UHF channel 54.

If it is on C54, then perhaps it is signal overload, you being only 7 miles from the transmitter:

Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

Try fitting an attenuator inline with the incoming aerial lead.

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