All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
P Davies: Confirm that your TV is tuned to Winter Hill for ITV4 by bringing up the signal strength screen. It should say UHF channel 55.
C48 is that of Moel-y-Parc and C22 is that of Lancaster.
You can, of course, try Lancaster. The issue (if it turns out that you are indeed tuned correctly to Winter Hill) is probably that you are low down. The signal path (the 'line' between you and the transmitter) is low to the ground for just over a mile which means that there may well be lots of clutter in the way.
For Lancaster you will need to set your aerial for vertical polarisation. Also, if you have a yagi wideband then these are less effective on lower channels, of which Lancaster uses exclusively. Also, the transmission power of Lancaster's COM channels (which carry ITV4 and others) are half power to its PSBs. Winter Hill is much more powerful than Lancaster.
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Jane: Bring up the signal strength screen on BBC One and confirm that it is tuned to UHF channel 45, which is that of Blue Bell Hill.
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Ash: There are a number of factors to be aware of and consider.
The COM channels from Waltham are at half power to the PSBs, the former being 25kW and the latter being 50kW.
All channels from Sutton Coldfield are 200kW.
Looking at Streetview and satellite images there are quite a few trees in your area that may perhaps rule out, or otherwise make difficult, reception from one or both transmitters.
Sutton Coldfield carries West Midlands programming and Waltham carries East Midlands programming.
You don't have clear line-of-sight to either transmitter.
The Derby transmitter, situated in Littleover at the Fire Service HQ, relays Waltham's PSB channels. It is on practically the same bearing as Sutton Coldfield and may be available to you. Its purpose is to provide East Midlands programming to those who otherwise receive from Sutton Coldfield. It does not carry the COM channels so you would have to rely on Sutton Coldfield for them.
For a list of PSB and COM services, see:
DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex
In order to receive from Derby you may have to resort to manual tuning.
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Ash: I've provided you with a reply to your earlier posting:
My Freeview | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
The answer is not a simple yes/no one. It may be more a case of try it and see. It is certainly the case that you don't have line-of-sight to either transmitter so neither may be excellent. Sutton Coldfield is slightly closer and more powerful.
I suggest that what you do will depend of whether it is just PSB channels you are having difficulty with or just COM channels.
If it is PSBs then you can try tuning to the Derby relay for which you probably won't need to adjust your aerial. If it is the COMs then you will require a wideband aerial for Waltham as COM4 is on a Group A channel (bottom third of the band) and COM5 and COM6 are on C/D channels (top third of the band).
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Leo: All it means is that your TV is tuned to the BBC signal from one of the (West?) Midlands transmitters and Winter Hill for ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and some others.
Bring up the signal strength screen and read off the UHF channel number (or frequency) that it is tuned to and we can identify which transmitter it is.
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Graham Cole: I would suggest that the signal amplifier is pushing the level of the signal up too high:
Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | Digital switchover | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice
If this is the issue then it may be that it is just managing to cope with it at 50%. At times it goes higher.
Think of turning the sound up on a piece of audio equipment where eventually the sound will distort and you loose quality. That's effectively what is happening if your TV signal is too high.
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Eric Brightwell: I would suggest that this is more likely be caused by the vegetation in the signal path and the fact that you don't have line-of-sight to the transmitter. The high ground on which Cookham Dean sits is two miles away of which there are trees on.
If it is worse during high winds then this would certainly tend to suggest trees might be playing their part.
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janet ludlow: The answer to the question depends on which transmitter you are using. Which transmitter are you using?
If you don't know then there may be three possibilities:
Findon - a bit anti-clockwise of north - only carries PSB channels
Whitehawk Hill - adjacent to Brighton Racecourse which is to your east
Rowridge - the main transmitter which is on the Isle of Wight and is a bit anti-clockwise of west. If your aerial is horizontal then switch it to vertical polarisation for better reception of the COM channels.
Is this a communal aerial or your own?
See here for a full list of Freeview services by group (each group is a multiplex, which is a single signal):
DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex
You say that you have lost Yesterday, which is carried on COM6 (as shown above). The BBC is on PSB1.
Does it affect any other multiplexes?
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Graham Cole: I would try bypassing the amplifier by connecting the incoming aerial feed to one of the sets. If the power supply is not where the amplifier is then you will need to remove the power supply before bypassing the amplifier. For example, the power supply could be behind one of your TV sets, it sending its power up the aerial lead into the amplifier, if it works that way.
If your amplifier acts on the hifi signal (FM radio?) then this may have a bearing on the solution.
If the amplifier has a variable gain control then that may want turning down. Failing that installing an attenuator before it will reduce the signal before it is amplified again.
As you are so close to the transmitter (it being relatively high powered for a relay at 1kW) you may get away with an unpowered splitter. I would use one with threaded f-connectors, such as this one here:
Konig Satellite F-Splitter: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics
That said, I am concerned that you are unable to access your loft and of course urge you not to do more than you feel able to. It is a Bank Holiday weekend and all and it is well known that most DIY accidents happen on Bank Holidays!
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Thursday 23 May 2013 4:34PM
Big Baz: Really Nice Recipes - Pigeon Pie