All posts by Dave Lindsay
Below are all of Dave Lindsay's postings, with the most recent are at the bottom of the page.
Ken: If it is only picking up channels during the last half of scanning, then it isn't picking up Shotleyfield so there is probably nothing to be gained from unplugging the aerial (as there is nothing to avoid).
The fact your aerial is pointing the opposite way and opposite polarisation is probably enough to mean that Shotleyfield is not picked up.
If you have a set-top aerial and you can site it in site of the Shotleyfield transmitter, then you could perhaps, as a test, see if it will tune in to that.
Shotleyfield is a small relay and like many others only broadcast analogue prior to switchover. Those who could not re-align their aerials on Pontop Pike would have had no Freeview until switchover.
After switchover these relays only carry Public Service (PSB) channels, so you will probably want to keep with Pontop Pike if you can. Thus, those who cannot receive from anything other than one of these relays get only PSB channels.
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Dave: Not sure - perhaps roof-top will be required. DUK certainly "thinks" COMs are variable, although as I say above, take it with a pinch of salt.
In any case, Caldbeck's COMs (those channels that don't broadcast from Whitehaven) are on low power until 24th October when Northern Ireland completes switchover. So I wouldn't try anything until then. See my posting above 30 August 2012 10:44AM for a greater explanation.
If your aerial is a Group B one, then this will not be suitable for Caldbeck which is all group A.
Wideband yagis have less gain at group A channels, so if you get a yagi, then get a group A one. See:
Digital TV Transmitters
On that page, also follow the link to "the wrong aerial for any A group transmitter."
Also, have a look around to see if your neighbours have switched to Caldbeck, although the low power COMs may mean that there is presently no advantage as only PSBs will be available (same as Whitehaven).
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Dave: If you want to carry out some research, then see how good the signals from Caldbeck on UHF channels 25 and 28 (BBC and ITV respectively) are. HD is on C30, if applicable.
When the COMs go on their full power, this won't be as great as the PSBs. This means that if you can't receive the PSBs from Caldbeck, then logically you aren't going to get the COMs post 24th October.
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DF Parlone: See:
Digital TV Transmitters Nationwide Page 2
Tacolneston is now Group E (for PSBs+COMs).
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Geoff: C26 is BBC (North East) from Bilsdale.
The automatic tuning scan runs channels 21 to 69.
Emley Moor's channels are 47, 44, 41(HD), 51, 52, 48
Thus, if you start the scan unplugged and plug in at 30%, you should be plugging in around the mid-30s.
I think you could be at Hemswell. I looked on Streetview and all the aerials appear to be on Emley Moor, whereas Hemswell Cliff's are on Belmont. The difficulty is the higher ground at Hemswell Cliff. It is unfortunate really because Lincolnshire is such a flat place which is ideal for the propagation of TV signals.
Keep your eyes peeled for east-facing aerials which means that they are pointing at Belmont.
You could always try a manual tune (if your receiver allows) to see if you can pick up anything from Belmont off the back of your aerial. For Belmont, BBC channels are on C22 and ITV, C4 etc on C25.
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doug thwaites: You won't do. HD Ready (<--click the words) means that the set can show HD pictures but does not have the means to receive them off the air.
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Ashley: All transmitters broadcast HD after switchover. So if you have an aerial insalled that allows reception of standard definition pictures then it will be expected to provide HD ones as well, subject to use of a suitable tuner.
The most common misunderstanding is that of the term HD Ready. It means that a set can show HD pictures but does not have the means to receive them off the air.
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Alan: Wideband is fine as it covers the whole band.
Group K is Group A (bottom third) plus Group B (middle third).
I'm not sure that I can be much more help to you. With your symptoms the likely possibility appeared to be that you still had a group A aerial.
Is it possible to bypass the booster (as a test) by connecting the feed from the aerial to that of the room where the troublesome PVR is?
If the booster has a separate power supply then remove the power supply first and then remove the booster.
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Mick Carter: Portslade transmitter relays Whitehawk and therefore carries BBC South East. Its presence should, once tuned correctly, play no part in your reception.
You say that you have BBC One South (on UHF channel 24) from Rowridge on logical channel number (LCN) 1. But with Portslade carrying BBC One South East, as Whitehawk, then you will probably find that there is another BBC One South East further up in your 800s. As Whitehawk uses higher channels (frequencies) than Portslade, it will have been "found" after Portslade which is why it's higher up. The thing to do is bring up the signal strength screen and identify which is which; Portslade's BBC is on C41 and Whitehawk's is C60.
The channels used by each of these three transmitters are:
- PSB1: BBC One
-- Rowridge=C24
-- Portslade=C41
-- Whitehawk=C60
- PSB2: ITV1
-- Rowridge=C27
-- Portslade=C47
-- Whitehawk=C53
- PSB3: BBC One HD
-- Rowridge=C21
-- Portslade=C44
-- Whitehawk=C51
- COM4: ITV3
-- Rowridge=C25
-- Whitehawk=C57
- COM5: Pick TV
-- Rowridge=C22
-- Whitehawk=C56
- COM6: Film4
-- Rowridge=C28
-- Whitehawk=C48
There may always be others, but these are all those suggested by Digital UK.
Portslade only carries PSB channels, so viewers who cannot receive from another full-service transmitter will only be able to view those channels. For this reason, even though Portslade is a better signal, you will probably want to stick with Whitehawk.
In order to tune to Whitehawk's six multiplexes, wipe the memory and manually tune to them (five if it's not a HD receiver). You should hopefully be able to wipe the memory by doing a scan with the aerial unplugged (failing that, some sort of reset maybe). If your receiver allows manual tuning, then you can do it that way.
Or you can aim to have the aerial unplugged on the lower channels used by Rowridge and Portslade. If there is no manual tuning then this is probably your only option.
The scan runs channels 21 to 69. It will be tricky because Portslade's highest is 47 (PSB2) and Whitehawk's lowest is 48 (COM6).
If there is a function to scan for "new" services/channels, whilst not wiping what's already stored, then you might use this to capture 48 later. In which case, run a full scan (not "add channels") and aim to get the aerial in for Whitehawk's lowest PSB channel of 53 (51 if it's a HD receiver). This gives you a bigger target gap (48 to 52 or 48 to 50) to get your aerial in for. Plug in at 56% (if it turns out that you get C47 from Portslade tuned then you will have to try again leaving it a little later). Once you've done this, you should have all of Whitehawk's multiplexes except perhaps COM6 on 48. Then run the "add new services" but have the aerial unplugged for the first 50% and (hopefully) it will add the other channels. As it will probably pick up Portslade, but these should go into the 800s as the proper LCNs are now occupied by those of Whitehawk (which was the purpose of the initial scan). Unplugging the aerial for the first 50% is to prevent it putting COM6 from Rowridge on the main LCNs and sticking Whitehawk's in the 800s.
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Friday 28 September 2012 5:17PM
Ken: Whenever working on a problem like this, it is important to change something. Perhaps carry out a factory reset and then do it again.
This time, now we know that you are receiving from Pontop Pike, have the aerial unplugged for the first 50%, then plug in and unplug once it's found the first one.
If it still performs a retune on startup, then do a factory reset again, but this time attempt to get all Pontop Pike's channels tuned. Again, avoid Newton and Shotleyfield by unplugging the aerial for the first 50%, then plug in and leave it in.
If that doesn't fix it, then I'm all out of ideas. Others more knowledgeable than myself will hopefully be along soon.