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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.

Humax FOXSAT-HD freesat HD | Freesat
Thursday 28 March 2013 6:10PM

ted: Is this a satellite box (Freesat) or a terrestrial one (Freeview)?

As Michael says, if it's satellite then you can't because Yesterday is only available on satellite via Sky's subscription service.

It is only available from full-Freeview transmitters, i.e. those that carry the Commercial (COM) channels.

The Newhaven relay does not carry COM channels. Only "if" you can receive from Whitehawk Hill (adjacent to Brighton Racecourse) or Rowridge on the Isle of Wight might you be in with a shot.

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Humax FOXSAT-HD freesat HD | Freesat
Thursday 28 March 2013 6:13PM

ted: If this is a satellite receiver then you won't be able to receive Yesterday on it at all. If you can receive Yesterday on Freeview then you would need to use your TV or another box to do so.

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Roger Millard: If you have two aerials diplexed (combined) into one feed, then perhaps this is the cause of your difficulty.

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Mark: An operator full of oxygen has a coverage obligation, so you may get 4G.

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Sarah: If the aerial is a communal (shared) one then it is probably not your responsibility. It may be that the aerial system is filtered to only allow through frequencies used by the transmitter. As BBC services are on a new frequency, such a system will require adjustment.

You probably need to get on to your landlord about it.

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Sarah: Have you attempted a full retune? What about a manual tune on UHF channel 49?

Digital UK suggests that four transmitters might be available at your location so you may, until the communal aerial system is rectified, be able to receive BBC from one of them using a set-top aerial.

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Sarah: I suggest that you attempt reception using a piece of wire about 30cm long in the inner part of the aerial socket.

Assess which direction you are facing and so which transmitter(s) "may" be best and therefore which to try first.

Digital UK suggests the following may be possible for your location:

- Illchester Crescent C41 vertical @ 211 degrees

- Mendip C49 horizontal @ 185 degrees

- Barton House C26 horizontal @ 65 degrees

- Montpelier C27 vertical @ 5 degrees


Theoretically, at least, your wire aerial should be horizontal or vertical, according to the polarisation of the signal, but it may be more a case of trying it to see which is best.

The channel numbers above are those for PSB1 which carries BBC standard definition which is what you're now without.

You may find that using the aerial lead in the back of the set and then putting the wire into it means that the wire can be sited in a better location such as stuck to the window.


I have one of these set-top aerial for use when a fixed one isn't available:

SLx Indoor Digital Aerial ANR310 UHF DAB Fully Flexible Caravan Motorhome | eBay

It is directional and can be set horizontally or vertically, depending on the polarisation of the signal being received.

Whilst not all areas are suited to set-top aerials, if it works and the main one has failed then it provides some level of service.

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Mark: Communal aerial systems may need adjustment where they are fitted with filters to only allow through (from aerials) the frequencies used by transmitters.

Speak to the organisation that runs the accommodation - I should imagine that they will have a deluge of people reporting the same issue.

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Alan Coomber: Do you have two aerials combined into one feed? That is, one for Washford and one for Wenvoe? If so, then your diplexer (the combiner) may "split" at C51 which means that ITV from Washford on C50 is now not being picked up by your Washford aerial but your Wenvoe one instead.

If you have a Wenvoe aerial as well, and I can see on Streetview that there are a few houses like this, then you may have an issue.

Washford only carries Public Service (PSB) channels whilst Wenvoe is a full service transmitter as it carries Commercial (COM) channels as well.

Removing the Wenvoe aerial from the equation would therefore leave you without the COMs. You could, of course, feed them into separate receivers, perhaps using a separate set-top box to view regional content. That said, as Wenvoe is in Wales it carries a different variant of BBC One, BBC Two and ITV. If it were a transmitter of another English region BBC Two would be the same.

Washford now uses 59, 50, 55
Wenvoe's COMs are 42, 45, 39

It's crude, but it may work if you use a splitter in reverse. A diplexer is a filtered splitter. Not sure if you could get a C48 diplexer.

Try a manual tune on UHF channel 50, if your receiver allows.

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Alan Coomber: I will explain it again:

The TV frequencies run 21 to 69. 61 to 69 (known as the 800MHz band) have been sold off to 4G mobile operators, which is why Washford's ITV had to come off 62.

When combining the feeds from the two aerials you can't just connect them together (or if you did it might give unpredictable results). The diplexer has two inputs, each of which will accept a particular range of UHF channels.

Assuming that you have a diplexer that "splits" at C51 then the input that is fed with the Wenvoe aerial allows through channels 21 to 50. The Washford input allows through channels 52 to 69. The "split", therefore, is 51 which doesn't feature for either.

The effect of this in practice is that whenever you tune to anywhere from 21 to 50, you are using your Wenvoe aerial. And if you tune between 52 and 69, you are using your Washford aerial.

As I say, I assume you have a diplexer that splits at C51.


Looking at the channels Washford used for analogue, I am now puzzled as ITV and BBC One used 39 and 49 respectively! Perhaps, in actual fact, you had a poor picture on them as you were using your Wenvoe aerial.

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