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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.

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Thursday 13 September 2012 12:53PM

Alan McGregor: I have just replied to your identical posting on another page:

Are you using Freeview? | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice

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Diagnostics - old version
Thursday 13 September 2012 1:02PM

Alan McGregor: To add, the first thing that I always confirm is that the receiver is tuned to the signals from the transmitter for which the aerial is installed/faces. These automatic tuning functions are in no way fool-proof and do sometimes result in signals from another transmitter being selected as the "main" ones.

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Anne: You must be receiving from Bilsdale if you could receive Freeview before switchover in the Whitby area.

A number of people using Bilsdale have the same issue.

If your set has manual tuning, try a manual tune on UHF channel 21.

If the aerial goes via a box, e.g. a DVD recorder or PVR (recorder), try removing this temporarily by connecting the aerial directly into the TV. Then perform a manual tune to UHF channel 21 (if doing this whilst the recorder is connected didn't do the trick).

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Danny: The problem is that your TV doesn't like looking to the future whereas you do.

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Stuart Trayner: In addition to the message from jb38, it is worth pointing out that the Commercial multiplexes from Black Hill (those which Taybridge doesn't broadcast) are all co-channel with the three multiplexes from Tay Bridge (albeit that Black Hill is horizontally polarised and Tay Bridge is vertically so).

So unless you can mount your aerial in some way such that the Tay Bridge signals are blocked *and* that the Black Hill ones are still available, then I don't think you have much chance of increasing your viewing choice via terrestrial television.

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Diagnostics - old version
Friday 14 September 2012 1:12AM

Alan McGregor: As per jb38's posting, the first thing I suggest that you do is confirm that your receivers are correctly tuned to Black Hill (assuming that is the transmitter to which the aerial faces).

If the aerial installer either simply replaced the aerial or replaced the aerial and the cable up to the booster (and played no part in installing the booster), then you need to prove whether the part he installed is at fault or not. Obviously any warranty he may provide is not likely to cover parts of the wiring that you've added.

So connect the TV or box directly to the aerial (having confirmed that it is tuned correctly). You could even connect the feed from the aerial directly to each room feed in turn. (I assume here that you have access to the booster's location.)

If this appears OK, then maybe the signal going into the booster is higher than it was before (owing to the change of aerial) and that the net effect of adding the amplifier is that the signals coming out of it are too high for the receivers to cope with. The solution here is to turn down the level of amplification (if there is a variable control on it) or add an attenuator at the input of the amplifier so as to bring down the level of the signal going in.

Variable attenuators (20dB) are available from sources such as eBay from £3 to £4. An attenuator acts to reduce the level of the signal whereas an amplifier increases it.

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Diagnostics - old version
Friday 14 September 2012 10:28AM

Alan McGregor: The term "digital" does not mean that it is more suited to the task than something that doesn't say "digital" on the box.

If there are two sets of receivers (the one in the living and the one elsewhere), then by all means try an unpowered splitter. If you haven't already bought a splitter, then get an all metal one like that shown in the top right of the photograph here:

Television Aerial Boosters / Amplifiers, Splitters, Diplexers & Triplexers

By "two sets of receivers" I'm referring to the receivers in two different locations. So if you have your Humax recorder and TV in your living room, then that is one "set" as it only requires one feed due to the Humax being daisy-chained.

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Diagnostics - old version
Friday 14 September 2012 10:34AM

Alan McGregor: If you have already bought a plastic splitter, then don't be too concerned. The metal one is fully-screened which the plastic one is not.

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Chris Knight: Some receivers won't work with the mode used after switchover.

What's the make and model of the affected box?

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